Just Like Butter: December 2010

Christmas always seems to sneak up on me. Here it is the day we are heading home and as usual I'm rushing to get everything wrapped and ready to go! I hope this Christmas is Adam and I's last as just us and I can't help but think about Baby Cook. I've been somewhat hesitant to use that term given it's always seemed like Baby Cook was just a possibility instead of a reality. But I received an email from a friend this week wishing us and the future Baby Cook a Merry Christmas that helped me realize that's okay to say now. Thinking about our son or daughter this Christmas brings a lot of mixed feelings. I am much more hopeful and in a much better place this year for Christmas because of the adoption. At family gatherings where I see parents with their children I can actually think that might be us next year. I'm also much more aware of the meaning of the season and more spiritual given the path we have went on for the past year. All good things! On the other hand this is our child's first Christmas, and we are not there with them. Most likely they are spending it in an orphanage over in China without a family. I know they have caregivers and many other children with them but it is still very hard to think of your child without you for their first holiday. I pray that they are warm and can feel how much their future family loves them from far away! They do have a present waiting under our tree for them. Hopefully they will be able to open it next Christmas or shortly thereafter. It was much harder than I thought to buy a gender neutral, age neutral small gift! Especially at the end of the Christmas season at Target. I wanted to get a stuffed animal but nothing cheesy like a teddy bear so I ended up with.........Sesame Street's Count von Count! A little bit weird but Baby Cook is going to have to learn to deal with a little weirdness living with us, thought why not start early!

I also realized I could easily turn in to one of those parents who goes crazy to get the exact toy I want for our child. We were on the hunt for a Barbie for our niece and we wanted to get her a somewhat Asian American looking Barbie. Harder to find than you would think, something I hadn't thought too much about until I went shopping for dolls of different ethnicity. Anyway it must have been the most popular Barbie this season because everyone was sold out online. After visiting 3 Targets and a Walmart I found one! As I grabbed it off the shelf I wanted to shout out "HA!" to the people standing around me and run with it to the checkout. Unfortunately I had to get groceries there which slightly tempered my excitement by the time I reached the checkout. I must say it was a small rush though.

Still did my usual holiday baking and actually got my Christmas cards I had printed 2 years ago sent out! I scaled back to only a few types of cookies but I did make one type I have been wanting to make for a couple years. They are called Seven Layer Cookies. They always looked really pretty and they actually taste quite good too! They were much easier than I thought too. Layers of almond cookie with apricot jam between and bittersweet chocolate on top and bottom.

I really enjoy this time of year and I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and hope I get to see as many of you as possible!