Christmas (Part 1)

Part one of Christmas starts off with our family Christmas celebration just the four (soon to be five) of us. Even though our kids are still young enough to not fully comprehend all that comes with Christmas, Jayden is most definitely getting there so it's important to us to start now with things that will help hold up the facade that Santa is real. Although I didn't bust out the cookies & milk & note to Santa (and I definitely won't go as all out as my dad who, up until this year, dressed up as Santa and the whole nine for my younger brothers), we made a point of not filling stockings or putting gifts under the tree until after the kids were snug in their beds. Soon will be the days of separate wrapping paper and disguised handwriting to fool the kids, but I think I have a year or two left before I have to jump over that small hurdle. Most importantly, I want them to be home on Christmas morning. I want them to be able to wake up each Christmas morning and be excited to see the plethora of gifts under the tree and relive the wonder and excitement of being a kid on Christmas without worrying about being shuffled around to see various family.

It was nice to just relax and let the kids go hog wild opening their gifts, watching our cramped living room turn into a war zone riddled with wrapping paper shrapnel, and eventually having them bust out all their new toys to play with. It was not a Christmas to disappoint that's for sure. Our kids were pretty spoiled with action figures, trucks, cars, motorcycles, toy guns, clothes, goodies, & more. They are still thoroughly enjoying their toys and Aaron and I have found it funny that some of the things that Jayden really wanted have become Jaxson's favorites (the Handy Manny tool set & fireman "guys") while some of Jaxson's toys (the Iron Man action figure--- since they always fought over the ones Jayden has) have become Jayden's favorites.

The boys could have cared less about opening the clothing items for the most part, so Aaron and I got to partake in some unwrapping (we gave our presents to each other early). Please excuse the obligatory Christmas pictures of my less-than-glowing pregnant self. I think we mainly have some pictures of me to prove I actually do exist (since I'm usually on the other, and safer as of late, side of the lens) but they are less than flattering as I'm now about as huge as a house and in definite need of some coffee...or something. Anyway, here are some of the pictures from our Christmas together, just our little (but growing) clan...

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve started out with my sister & her kids, as well as my mom, coming over to our place to open presents. My mom came over early and we had a nice breakfast of pancakes, eggs, & bacon, and then my sister followed mid-morning with her clan. I have to say that it was actually really nice having people come to us because we usually are the ones running around from house to house in all different directions on Christmas and the days on either side. My sister lives in Gold Bar, my dad in Sammamish, and Aaron's family in Gig Harbor, so pretty much anywhere we go leaves us with at least a 40 minute drive in any direction. This also allowed us to *try* and give our kids a good nap before our evening trip to Aaron's brother's place not too far from where we are (I say *try* because despite the fact that we put the kids down with hours to spare, our oldest never went to sleep and then proceeded to go in and wake his younger brother up even though we told him not to...fun night, let me tell ya!).

Anyway, the kids had a great time. It was a bit of a rush as my sister had to meet up with her in-laws from the other side of the water, so they didn't stay long, but it was nice getting to see them if even just for a little bit. As usual, Grandma spoiled the boys with lots of Matchbox cars & motorcycles (mainly for Jayden although both boys play with them) and Barney DVD's for Jaxson. My sister & clan got Jayden a Nerf gun (which both him and Daddy love) and a shakeable Elmo toy for Jaxson (we have the same thing except it's Cookie Monster and Jaxson loves that one too). We got presents for my sister's family from their list, but my all-time favorite was getting the Snuggie for my sister. She was dead serious about getting a Snuggie and I just couldn't pass up the opportunity (she actually broke it out that night and sent me a picture of her hanging out in it, hehe).

Next up after our kids' failed attempt at a nap was Christmas Eve dinner with Tommy & Samantha. Since they were doing Christmas morning with Samantha's family, we wanted to do something just us (Nana Joan also came along). It turned out to be a relatively good night despite Jayden's crazy attitude & spending lots of time in "time out" for tackling his cousin & being overly defiant (hmmm... maybe because he didn't get his nap??). The boys all lined up in the living room to play/watch basketball on the TV while the girls finished dinner & played Scrabble. We had a wonderful dinner of turkey, mashed potatoes & gravy, green bean casserole, stuffing, & rolls with pumpkin pie & cookies for dessert. It was a feast! :)

After dinner, the kids opened presents...and this time Jaxson actually surprised us by getting into it. We got Brayden Cars on Blu-Ray & a pink fleece blanket for Lexi. Our boys got Wall-E on Blu-Ray & Toy Story/Cars plastic bowling ball/pin sets. We hung out for a little while afterwards before taking our cranky kids home to sleep... and sleep they did since they slept so soundly that Aaron and I were able to play Santa without any awareness from them and they didn't wake up until about 8:30 Christmas morning. :)