Best Christmas gift ever!!!

This Christmas I got one of the best gifts a mom could ever ask for-- my little Maggie started smiling! We'd seen glimpses of her smile while she slept but hadn't seen that real social smile until a few days before Christmas. I'm sure all you parents can relate to the feelings it stirs up when you see your baby smile back at you...especially after weeks and weeks of caring for your little one and getting virtually no response back! That first month+ is undoubtedly special, but I must admit that I get tired of that seemingly unresponsive blob! I mean that in the most endearing way of course. ;) In fact, I've been pondering lately how the newborn-parent relationship is probably a lot like the human-God relationship. I mean, God gives and gives and we take and take but don't really ever give anything in return. Yet God does it all because he loves us, just as I (as a parent) do all I do because I love my baby. It doesn't matter that she's not giving anything in return-- I love her!! But, I suppose I've revealed the main difference in the analogy-- God never gets weary of the process nor expects anything in return. Thank goodness!

So the next best gift I got was finding out that my sister and my newphew Mathew are coming out to visit me in January. Yippie! Can't wait to see them!