A very merry Christmas, indeed!

'Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse


The stockings were hung by the chimney with care
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there


The children were nestled all snug in their beds
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads...



We had such a great Christmas. It was really busy, but in a good way.

Thursday Harrison helped me (ha) wrap presents. And of course I had to sneak a little dress-up in there for a couple of pictures.



Then, like I mentioned before, my mom, grandma and I went to see the Nutcracker Ballet. It was so much fun! We had a nice little ladies' night out including a DELICIOUS dinner at Birraporetti's before the beautiful performance. It was extra special this year because I kept thinking about how in a few years I'll have my own sweet little girl to bring along.




And I couldn't resist buying my very first girly thing for Chicklet. An ornament to remind me of her first ballet...it counts even though she's in my belly, right? :)


 
On Friday, we went to the Christmas Eve service at our church and then headed back to Mom & Tim's for dinner and to exchange gifts. We draw names and I really like the simplicity of that.









Harrison didn't even make it home before he crashed out in his carseat. Which was great, because Rick and I had a lot of work to do preparing for Santa's visit. And when we were done, it was nice to settle in next to the cozy fireplace and exchange our gifts. Then we retrieved the baby from his crib to try out sleeping together as a family for the first time. It went well for Rick and Harrison, but it was absolutely miserable for me. Rick sleeps through pretty much anything, but I don't know how he managed to sleep through the constant tossing and turning of the wee little boy sleeping in between us. I feel like I woke up every 15 minutes, partly because I kept getting a foot in my face and partly because I was nervous about (Rick) rolling over on top of him. It's fine for Christmas Eve, but we definitely won't be making it a habit of letting him sleep with us!





It was so much fun to watch Harrison wake up on Christmas morning and discover the goods that Santa brought him.


More toys?! Good, b/c I'm on a quest to take over this house with all my loot.

Digging the wagon. Especially climbing in and out and in and out and in and out....

Checking out the stocking

And tasting all of its contents

This was one of the biggest hits. Maybe now he'll stop trying to break mine?

All of his stocking stuffers

A drum filled with lots of  noisemakers, complete with two drum stick weapons. Yeah, Santa's judgment may have been a little off on this one...

Back at my Mom & Tim's, we enjoyed a delicious Christmas lunch, watched some Christmas movies, and then did our White Elephant gift exchange.









Somebody, ahem, seems to have regifted their White Elephant gift from a previous party. And now it's sitting at my house. Thanks a lot, Mom!



Please tell me how this is not creepy. It kind of screams pervy child predator to me. Ha!

To close out our Christmas, Rick and I made a gingerbread house together after Harrison went to sleep. It was the first attempt on both our parts, and I think we did pretty good, if I say so myself:



Hope everybody else had a great Christmas, too. As much fun as it's been, I have to say that I'm ready to decompress a bit from the holidays and get back to our normal routine. Oh, and take down our tree. It has been a "boundary tester" pretty much every minute of every day that we're at the house, and I'm definitely ready to stop policing the hands away from the ornaments!



Comments

Anonymous said…
looks like a great time for all... glad you had a wonderful christmas..next year will be even busier... ha ha we had a good one too. love all of you mary

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