The Burkett Bundle

It's autumn, and I have very mixed feelings about this season. These are a few things I love about this time of year: changing leaves, cool breezes, football and postseason baseball (when the Red Sox are still playing).

After Karyssa's appointment yesterday, we are also looking forward to her being DOC Band-free! Her physical therapist at Cranial Technologies said that it will be four more weeks, at the most! Although she is beautiful in her crown, I'm so excited about kissing her head and putting little barrettes in all of that hair that she is growing!

The main thing I dislike about this time of year is the promise of winter. I hate cold. Not that I love the scorching summers around here, but I'm the kind of person who would much rather be hot than cold. Yes, there is heat and air-conditioning, but walking across a parking lot in summer, although uncomfortable, does not inflict physical pain on me like walking across that same parking lot in cold weather with an even colder wind.

Another thing that has always annoyed me about this time of year is the extreme commercialism of Christmas. It's crazy to me to walk into a store in September and see Christmas trees and bows, and know that they have nothing to do with the birth of the Almighty, but everything to do with the "almighty" dollar.

Well, this year is a little different. I'm still dreading the cold, but I love seeing early reminders of Christmas. Last year, the only Christmas lights I saw were the ones on the top of the church that I could see out of my hospital room window, the ones on the tree that Jason set up for me when I came home on bed rest, and the ones that I saw on the way home on Christmas Eve, when I was discharged from the hospital, but had to leave my babies there.

The five weeks leading up to Christmas were not what I had expected when I learned that Jason and I were going to be blessed with twins. Christmas Eve was bittersweet. Christmas Day was spent in the NICU, and Christmas dinner was whatever they served in the hospital cafeteria. We celebrated, but it was a much different celebration than any I'd had before.

This year, though, is so exciting. This year, and for many years to come, I will see Christmas through Kyran and Karyssa's eyes. The lights, the tree, the stockings, everything will be new to me. I will learn more about the birth of Christ by teaching it to my children. I know they might be too young to understand, but I don't think anyone is too young to hear it.

This will probably be the best Christmas ever, so Wal-Mart, Sears, Target, I say bring it on! I'm ready to start celebrating!