The Butler Family: Merry Christmas Owen!

Christmas this past year was really something special! Owen was at the perfect age to really take on the spirit of Christmas and participate like a true believing two year old. For as long as Wade and I have dated, we have always went to Kentucky for Christmas. But this year, we decided it was time to start our own family Christmas tradition and be at home.

Christmas Eve was jammed packed with all things Christmas. We opened our Christmas pajamas, sang Christmas carols, threw carrots on the roof for the reindeer, made Santa's favorite cookies, wrote Santa a letter, and fell asleep to the reading of "Twas the Night before Christmas."

It was perfect!

And, Owen was very in tune with what was going on. We would ask him who was coming to see him, and he would sweetly say, "Santa Claus" with a big smile on his face. We would ask him what he would be bringing him and he knew the answer was presents. Owen was pure innocence at its finest.

I don't believe that I've ever seen anything sweeter in my whole life than that little two year old in his red pajamas waiting for his pal, Santa Claus, to come. Owen loves Santa and no matter where we would be, he could spot him a mile away. If we were at the mall, he would zone in from the second floor and if Santa caught his eye, he would wave in the distance and Owen would wave back with pure excitement.

Before I was a mother, I heard many debates about Christmas; it's meaning, and the dreaded dispute that teaching your children to believe in something that isn't real is just an old fashioned lie.

And if you were to ask me what I believe, I would say that is nonsense and that teaching your children to believe in something they can't see builds faith. Santa Claus is real. It just so happens that instead of being a round man in a red suit pulled by a sleigh of reindeer, he is really a mom and dad scurrying around the night before, setting out presents, putting last minute toys together, and doing everything in their power to make one day special for the children they love.

And what is truly wrong with that? I love that Owen believes in Santa and that he loves a man he's never met. His childlike spirit is contagious and his faith rubs off on Wade and I as adults. His innocence gives me hope and his unconditional love teaches me the type of person I want to be. A lot of the times as the parent, I feel so responsible for what I should be teaching him. But the truth is, he is teaching me.

Every day.

He keeps my life fun and free and puts me in my place when I'm being a cynical adult. He keeps me grounded and loves me even when I am not all that lovable.

And you better believe I would do anything to make his life wholesome and good. My job in loving him is to create memories in his heart that he can dig up whenever he needs them to know how much we love him, even when we are not here to remind him one day.

He will be grown soon enough and will have plenty of time for the worries that being a grown up can bring. And as long as I have the choice and his little hand in mine, I will fill his life with as much happiness, love, fun, and faith as I can. This was the greatest Christmas I have ever had in my life. Gifts or no gifts, it makes no difference to me. The true gift was seeing the happiness in his eyes and knowing that without a shadow of a doubt, he knew how much we love him.

Christmas Eve