A Very Special Gift

Even though I don't even know who Mia is, she's with me every day in my heart. Since she has a stocking hung and an ornament on the tree already, she'll be here with us in spirit for Christmas, too. So I wanted to make sure there was something extra special for her under the tree. She already has clothes, toys, dolls, books, and even a few pair of penguin pajamas so I was having a hard time coming up with something that would have some special meaning. But I was at the mall the other day and passed the Build-A-Bear workshop. Inspiration struck! Especially when I saw they had Mumble the penguin from the Happy Feet movie. So I asked my niece and nephews if they would make him for Mia.
Here they are each putting a heart inside. But not before making special wishes first. They had to rub the heart on their heads to make her smart, tummies so she wouldn't be hungry, hearts so she would know she was loved, muscles so she would be strong, and some other stuff the cute little high schooler that worked there told them. Then they sealed it with a kiss and stuck all four hearts inside Mumble. It was very sweet. And will be a great memory for all of us to tell Mia someday.
Teagan was trapped in his stroller most of the time but here are the other three at the grooming station. They're fluffing and brushing him after he'd been stuffed. If you look closely you can see the Bengals uniform hanging on the display in the background. I was definitely tempted.
Well, there's Teagan in the back supervising and giving orders. The store was very busy with shoppers so he had to be confined. Poor kid! It sucks being the baby sometimes.
In the end, after trying several outfits (yes even including a Bengals sweatshirt) we decided just to keep it simple with a hat, scarf and mittens. Mumble is a little... how shall I say... "plump"... so the clothes were really stretched to the limit on him. Here is Tatum getting him dressed.
Proudly displaying their creation outside of the store are Teagan, Tanner, Travis and Tatum.
The finished product with his birth certificate. I love how it has Mia's name on it and says it was stuffed with love by her cousins. They decided that his name should remain Mumble just like in the movie.
We came back to my house where they put him under the tree to wait for Mia. They don't really understand the concept of how much time has to pass before she'll come home. When I told them it could even be all the way until next Christmas or later, Tanner said in shock and disbelief "You mean I'd be 10!" Yep buddy... you'll most definitely be 10 before you meet your cousin. So after all the penguin construction, we relaxed with some pizza and watched Rudolph. And I was once again reminded that my house is not kid proof, especially not the Christmas decor. Oh the changes that'll be happening. But for now it shall remain ... until a baby lives here.