did you hear that?

this is the first Christmas that zella really gets it. we have had so much fun with her this year. she understands the concept of Santa and is still scared to death of him. we did make it to the mall to wave at him this year. i gave up on making her sit on his lap. she just wasn't having it.
so last night we were at my parents house for Christmas eve. and on the way home we were telling zella that she needs to go to sleep when we get home so that Santa can come to our house. we told her that Santa can only come if she was asleep. so we got ready for bed, brushed teeth and i was tucking her in, going over our bed time rules. go to sleep, stay in your room. the usual. i was telling her that we had a big day on Christmas. we were going over to grandma and grandpa's house, we need to go to... this is when i stopped my sentence suddenly and turned around towards her window, as if something had startled me. i turned slowly around back to her and said,
"did you hear that?" her eyes got really wide and said
"what?"
"I think i heard some jingle bells..."
"what?"
"i think i heard some jingle bells... do you know who has jingle bells?"
"no"
"Santa..."
ok, so now i have her attention, i go back to telling her that she needs to go to sleep... i do it again...
"did you hear that?"
eyes as big as they can get, huge smile
"yes, i think i did mommy..."
i say, "lets go look out the back window to see if we can see Santa..."
we jump out of her bed and run down the hall, through the living room and jump on the couch that faces our backyard. we stick both of our noses on the window and look. i leaned back just a few inches so that i could watch her reflection in the glass. her little eyes were darting back and forth, trying to see something.
"did you hear that?"
"yes, i did!!"
"quick, you have to be asleep for him to come to our house, he is waiting on you!!"
she jumped up off of the couch as fast as she could and ran down the hall, back into her room and jumped back into bed. i was right behind her. she then asked me
"what do the elves do?" and i told her that they make the toys. she said
"no, what do they do in my house?"
"they make sure you are asleep so that Santa can come by..."
she thought about this and then yelled
"i love Christmas!!"
we laughed and i told her to go to sleep now
"did you hear that?"
and she got a huge smile on her face and i said good night and left her room.
i stood in the hallway for a few minutes, my heart was so full of happiness it was about to burst. it was so fun for me to experience the magic of Christmas, the excitement of Christmas with her. and i wondered if my parents had this much fun with my sister and i. i hope so, because it was fun!
or, i guess i should say
it was magical!!
merry Christmas
jill b

i hope you enjoy today like a 4 year old.