Christmas Day

Christmas Day was a wonderful day for us all! The fun just kept on coming! I loved watching my two kids opening and playing with presents all day. It was just so sweet and so fun. Daniel and Annabel wore matching pajamas for Christmas morning. Well, Annabel slept in a different pair of Christmas pajamas (which you can see in the Christmas Eve post) because you just never know when Annabel's diapers will make a mess on her pajamas...I wasn't willing to take that chance (even if I did have a back up pair of matching pajamas!) with our special Christmas morning pajamas. So, we put her special pajamas on in the morning. And I have to say they looked SO cute and so festive in their candy cane striped arms and legs, complete with Mickey and Minnie on their shirts! I was so glad I stumbled on these pajamas at the Disney store. Annabel's shirt even said "My First Christmas"- how perfect is that?!

Daniel was very excited to see what Santa left for him. He first noticed "lots of many" presents and the candy canes Santa hung on the Christmas tree which he thought was just silly. I managed to get a couple pictures of Daniel and Annabel in their pajamas in front of the tree before all the fun began. And fun it was again! Daniel was a whirlwind of activity with opening the presents again and again, he loved helping us all open our presents, too. About halfway through, he wanted to start playing with some of his new toys, so we did. We also took a break to eat the cinnamon rolls Daddy made for breakfast. And then we opened a few more presents before we put Annabel down for her morning nap. We played while Annabel napped and as soon as she was up, we headed to Grandma Cheryl and Grandpa Gary's house for the afternoon.

Daniel was very patient about opening more presents- in fact, just like the day before, he just wanted to go play with the toys downstairs while we waited for brunch. Grandma Cheryl made a very yummy brunch. Daniel ate a great meal and so did Annabel. Then we started opening presents! Annabel was happy to play with her new toys this time, for a while, but after that fun wore off, she was after our presents and wrapping paper again! Grandma Cheryl also put bows on all the presents which were a big hit with both Daniel and Annabel. Daniel helped Aunt Christina pass out the presents, and of course he helped us all open our presents, too. We actually made it all the way through all the presents before Daniel wanted to start playing. I was impressed with his stamina on Christmas Day!

Annabel took a short nap while Daniel played with toys, new and old. Then we looked in the stockings that Grandma had for us. We ate some snacks, packed up all our loot, and headed home. We played some more at home with our new toys. It was a lot of fun to check everything out.

And I mentioned in the Christmas Eve post how Christmas started with a bang...well, let's just say it ended with a bang, too! (Yes, another messy diaper like you wouldn't believe! I'll spare you the details, but I'm telling you- this girl will have some interesting stories when she grows up!)

My tired babies slept really well that night, which was good- they needed it after a busy two days and they really needed it because then they each woke up the next morning with a cold. I knew Annabel was coming down with something- but I didn't know Daniel was at the same time also until that next morning. At least we'll get over it quick this way! The colds haven't slowed them down one bit, luckily. We've had a lot of fun playing with our new presents all week! And they love each other's presents, too!

Enjoy TONS more pictures again!

A first glimpse of what Santa left us!
Daniel loves his new Christmas Cars movie cars.

Annabel crawled right up to the presents and picked this one out!

Two cute kids in cute matching jammies!

Annabel's pajamas say "My First Christmas"! She's a cutie and the best present I received this year! I will also say that this was the first time Annabel showed ANY interest in the tree!

Daniel helped Annabel open her presents.

Daniel got a few new trucks for Christmas!

I love Annabel's expression here!
She sure loves musical toys...just like Daniel did!

Daniel carried this big present all the way out from next to the tree!

Another cute expression on Annabel.

Picking out more presents!

Annabel had fun tasting all the presents!

Annabel looks so cute watching Daniel, while snuggled up in Daddy's lap!

The fun keeps on coming!

A study in how Annabel does presents:
First she happily bangs away on them...

With a little help, she pulls off the paper...

And finally, she tries to eat the paper!

I can't get over how cute my Annabel is!

Annabel peeks around the corner of this big box!

My happy boy!

Still going strong opening more and more presents!

Grandma Cheryl calls...Annabel was so excited to talk to her on speaker phone.

Daniel talked to Grandma Cheryl, too- he looks so cute and grown up holding the phone.

This is what Daniel gave Annabel for Christmas...a shirt he decorated for her!

Playing with new toys...I love how they are side by side!

My sweet little Annabel all dolled up and ready to go to Grandma's!

Annabel and Aunt Christina

Time for more presents at Grandma's!

The bows on the presents were a big hit with Annabel!

Annabel plays with a new toy, while we are all busy opening presents.

Daniel made a tower with his new cube puzzle blocks.

Grandma gave us one of those big floor piano mats...it's been a hit with Daniel and Annabel! I LOVE it- have always wanted one! Thank you, Grandma Cheryl!

Daddy and Annabel play with Daniel's new harmonica! Annabel was so excited she had to help Daddy! How cute is that?!

Best picture I got of my two kids in front of Grandma's tree!

My little family!

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! We sure did!

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve Day at Grandma Mary Kay and Grandpa Larry's house and we had a wonderful day. Daniel and Annabel were both lots of fun!

All week- up until Christmas weekend that is- Annabel had been sleeping very well- like 5 or 6 hours at a time well! So we were getting good stretches of sleep from 2:30 until 8:30! This meant that her nap was at lunch time, however, but since you never know with Annabel, we just really had no idea what our weekend would look like and when we would make it to the grandparents' houses Saturday and Sunday. I go to great lengths to really protect Annabel's naps, since she is such a poor sleeper otherwise...but we were ready to even have her nap at their houses. Well, Saturday morning came and Annabel decided to get up at 7:00 this time- like I said, you just never know! So she had a good nap early at home before we headed over to Grandma's house; I was glad since this meant she would last longer and be happier for the afternoon.

Lunch was still cooking when we got there, so we played for a while before we ate. I was surprised- Daniel rushed in to put our presents under the tree, but he didn't even mention opening them. He just wanted to play downstairs as usual! So off he, Grandpa, and Daddy went down the stairs. After we ate lunch, plates were cleaned up while Daniel played both inside and outside! And THEN we finally opened presents!

It was a lot of fun to open presents this year. Sort of a whirlwind of activity- I had a hard time keeping up with what everybody got, who gave it to them, and so on because Daniel went SO fast! He was just so excited and SO eager to help everybody open their presents. It helped that he knows how to spell his name- we had him look at the tags and practice spelling his name each time...of course he thought they all spelled Daniel! Anyway, he was a lot of fun! And Annabel LOVED the wrapping paper! She would dive for the ripped paper scraps every time she got a chance! And she's quick, too. Annabel also basically loved everything that was not hers- Daniel's toys, my books, Ben's movies, and so on. She wanted it all! We tried to distract her with her new toys to no avail...she was more interested in the paper, boxes, and our presents! It was really too funny.

After all the presents were opened, Annabel took a very short nap, and Daniel of course wanted to open his new toys up and play with them, so we did! Daniel also got to help Grandma make gingerbread cake for dessert- he loved helping of course. We played downstairs some more while the cake baked. After we enjoyed the delicious cake that Daniel made, we played a little bit more while Annabel took another very brief nap, and then we headed home after that.

We stopped to see the lights at a local house that does a huge light show to music (they even have their own radio channel so you can listen to the music in your car!). I'd been wanting to go check this out and I thought Daniel would enjoy it since he was really into the lights this year. We pulled up to the house, and I turned around to see Daniel completely OUT! I guess no nap and all that unwrapping activity means you are SO tired you can't even be awakened to check out the lights! I was bummed he missed it, but Ben and I enjoyed the light show. I LOVE Christmas lights- they're up there with fireworks for me on the list of things I love! Annabel was asleep, too, of course, since her naps were so short, so it was quiet in the car. A nice peaceful moment for Ben and I- I enjoyed that in the middle of all the Christmas busy-ness!

We came home, unloaded our loot, and got ready for bed. First we had to put Santa's key on our front door, since we don't have a chimney. We also put out some cookies and milk for Santa on our new very adorable cookies plate and milk cup painted by Aunt Christina. Our favorite part of the day...we all read Christmas books in Daniel's room, even Annabel. What a special memory that is for us. We read every night of course, but Annabel is usually already in bed, and even so, reading all our Christmas books (I have quite the collection of some cute and even silly and clever Christmas books!), hanging out in cute Christmas pajamas, and just having a few minutes to ourselves as a family...it was all so nice. A perfect way to end Christmas Eve.

Oh- and one last sweet, funny note before I share pictures- Daniel and Daddy had read one more story while I was finally putting Annabel to bed, and before Ben left the room, Daniel told Daddy that Santa doesn't come for Daddy, but "don't worry, Daddy. I will share with you." I loved that!

Enjoy TONS of pictures...and this is only Christmas Eve!

Annabel woke up from her morning nap, ready to get up and go!
(Yes, she stands up in her crib- this is a new thing in the last week.)
You also can't tell, thankfully, but Annabel gave us quite the first Christmas present-
a super super messy diaper- I'm just glad she got that out of the way early on!
And so Christmas started with a bang!

My two sweet children all spiffied up and ready to head to Grandma's!

Annabel in front of the Christmas tree

Daniel put our presents for Grandma and Grandpa under their tree right away!

Annabel sports her Santa hat! She actually wore it for a loooong time!

I love Annabel's expression here!

Play time before lunch!

Let's eat!

A strangely warm-ish Christmas we had...Daniel even went outside to play!

Time to open presents!

Daniel wanted to help EVERYbody open their presents!

Annabel just wanted to taste all the presents!

Annabel got her hands on every bit of wrapping paper she could!

Annabel loved shaking this tissue-wrapped present- it made such a fun swishy noise for her!

See? More tasting!
Nevermind the new toy in her lap...she wanted my present!

So cute!
Yes, the hat is still on!

Daniel put his new ornament on the tree right away!

Annabel sports her new poncho from Aunt Rose!

Daniel sports his awesome new Air Force jacket from Uncle Brad and Aunt Rose!

These trucks are Daniel's favorite presents...he got a log carrier, a cargo carrier, and a low loader. He LOVES these trucks, which I knew he would! Annabel loves the logs- she gets so animated with them!

Daniel helped Grandma make gingerbread cake.

Annabel had the most fun riding Grandma's old Fisher-Price horse. She was just so excited- this is her excited face! She was practically moving the thing herself, bouncing up and down. It was so fun to watch her. And she was on this for a long time, too!

Getting ready for Santa!
Daniel first tested the key in the lock, and then he hung it on the knob.

Even Annabel had her own keys to help!

Cookies for Santa!
Check out our cute Cookies & Milk plate and cup painted by Aunt Christina!

Of course Daniel wanted cookies, too!
Grandma Cheryl painted his special snack plate.

Pouring milk for Santa.
When we first told Daniel that Santa needed milk to go with his cookies, he was immediately concerned about Santa being allergic to milk. So cute!

We continued our family tradition of exchanging ornaments on Christmas Eve.

This is pretty much how Annabel was all day...she wanted what Daniel had!
Thank goodness Daniel is so patient with her!

What a very Merry Christmas Eve we had! And that was only just the beginning!