Christmas Morning

  Before we went to bed Christmas Eve I asked Andrew what time was okay for the kids to get up in the morning.  I was thinking, if it was before seven or even eight we should send them back to bed.  Andrew said he'd defer to me.  Well, Liz and Lainey woke up (noisily) at two a.m.  Two a.m.!!!  They had already opened up their books and were ready to go downstairs (Santa always leaves them a wrapped book at the foot of their beds that they are allowed to open immediately and read while, in theory, we sleep in).  I went to the girl's room and sent them back to bed.  Andrew had to do the same thing again at three a.m.  When Liz crawled into my bed at six a.m. and announced that her sisters had gotten a play kitchen and she had gotten lots of Legos and that she knew all of this because she had gone downstairs and shaken her presents, I just gave in and got up.

Holiday jammies and stockings:

My siblings and I did a joint gift for my parents this year: a copy of some artwork my grandpa used to own.  It's an original painting of his cabin (originally built by his father in the 20's) done before he expanded it.  It was really fun to have my parents in town for the holidays.  It's the first time we've ever had family visit us for Christmas.

The usual present opening chaos:

I intended for the girls to exchange gifts among themselves (homemade with help from parents or purchased with money they earned themselves).  Only Liz participated this year.  She bought all the girls bracelets (Nana and me included).  Liz also regifted to Lainey a set of fairy books she had enjoyed reading and promised to read a chapter to Laines every night.  You can see how excited Alaina is about it.

Santa gave Liz lots of Lego sets which she was pretty excited about.  She also got a Monster High doll (a "scary doll" according to Lainey who also wants one).  Drew and I gave her a photo book commemorating her baptism the previous year and Nana and Papa gave her some money to spend at American Girl Doll store.

Lainey also got a couple small Lego sets from Santa (and boy did she give a good reaction--squealed and hugged them). She also got an Ikea kitchen to share with Ellie, a couple food sets, and something to trace letters on (I had actually purchased that last one for Liz five years ago and had never gotten around to giving it to her).  From Andrew and I she got an alphabet book (as did Ellie) and Nana and Papa gave her money to spend at Build a Bear.  The best thing about Lainey was she didn't get anything that she had specifically asked for (a train and a teddy bear), but she was so incredibly excited about everything she did receive and never mentioned the train.  Well, Christmas Eve when we handed her pajamas to open she said, "I wonder if this is my train or my teddy bear."  We were like, um, neither.  Remember every Christmas Eve we give you jammies?

Once she found the candy in her stocking, Ellie refused to open any gifts (though she did seem to like them after her sisters unwrapped them).  Elle didn't have that many to open really--just a couple food sets and some blocks from Santa, and a giant stuffed monkey from Nana and Papa.  It's kind of silly that Drew and I worried so much about Ellie having a gift that was meant just for her (the blocks) since everything else from Santa was meant to be shared with Lainey. That darn monkey was her absolute favorite (and Andrew's least favorite).  She picked it out herself at Costco and carried it through the store, hugging and kissing it, periodically saying "I love you monkey."  Adorable.

My sister-in-law sent the girls a tea set (plus fun stuff like fancy hats, hot chocolate mix, and cookies).  They loved it and insisted on eating their breakfast of monkey bread on the tiny plates (and filling the tea pot with milk).