We Figured It Out!

Prompted by my friend Janet’s inquiry about Christmas present plans, Ryan and I got to work tonight brainstorming ideas for Vivienne. We decided several years ago that we would give each child three special presents on Christmas, symbolizing the three gifts of the Magi, helping to keep the focus on Jesus instead of on loads of presents. Of course, we want our gifts to bless their socks off though! This will be the first Christmas that Vivienne will be consciously blessed by the gifts we choose, so we’ve been trying to come up with just the right thing! So, here’s what we came up with this year:

A little rearranging in our basement will carve out the perfect space for Vivienne’s new *play room*. We’ll hang our full-sized chalkboard up on the wall, set up an easel, a little desk and a chair that we already have. We’ll design a little reading corner with a floor lamp, a new child-size chair (for some reason, Vivienne loves just-my-size chairs) and a bookshelf with her favorite books. Then, we’ll lay down a large tumbling mat that will be just the right amount of padding for her sweet dance/tumbling/what-was-that?-I-hope-she-didn’t-learn-that-from-me moves. To top it all off, we’ll set up a little CD player (Perhaps with a microphone? But ONLY if I can find one that works flawlessly and doesn’t require batteries!) so she can sing and dance to her favorite tunes (i.e. “The Tigger” song).

R and I divvied up the projects tonight. (Poor guy is responsible for all of the manual labor; I’m in charge of the shopping and decorating!) I’m so excited to frame some of Vivienne’s artwork and make this a special place for her. Our house is relatively tiny, so this space will be a haven… especially in February when the little baby seems to require more space than a 7 lb. person should! 🙂

+ +

(These are just pictures I grabbed from google for those of us who still like picture books. I’ll be conducting my research in the weeks to come, so if you have any specific product recommendations, by all means, let me know!)