Favorite Christmas Moments

As I said in the previous post, Christmas this year was really eye-opening for me.  I can remember going through my stocking on Christmas morning as a kid and seeing my parents give each other looks of anticipation and excitement.  I recall thinking to myself, What are they so excited for?  Santa didn't bring them much and I only bought them one thing.  But now that I'm on the other side of the Christmas dynamic, it's completely clear.  Watching my kids open presents that I painstakingly and lovingly chose for them is better than any material present I could receive.  Well, except maybe for my mini-van ;)

So that's the big moral of our Christmas story, and here are many pictures from our morning at Grammy and Auntie Amanda's and our evening at Nana and Papa's house to illustrate our joy.  Jax and Tommy really enjoyed each other's company and Em was a total Daddy's girl (as usual).  Please excuse Em's pj ensemble--she had the most beautiful dress to wear, but being the little chubbers that she is, it was too small!  Her poor arms could hardly get through the sleeves, and you should have seen me trying to take it off again!  I should have planned a back-up since this was pretty likely to happen, but I didn't, so she rocked her pj's all afternoon. 

Christmas morning started well before 7 a.m.  JDubbs, Jax, Em, and I snuggled in my mom's big bed before heading out to the living room to see what Santa brought us.  And what to our wondering eyes should appear?  But a leftover Santa hat, flung carelessly on the floor, and you better believe Jax thought that it was truly Santa's hat left there by mistake.  "Santa forgot his hat!  Santa forgot his hat!"

And the magic never stopped.

 There was more family, more celebration, and more delightful Christmas decor at Nana and Papa's house, where we spent the afternoon and evening.

  

  

And the boys played and played.

  

Finally, because Papa never misses an opportunity to be creative and fun, there was a scavenger hunt to discover our last Christmas gift for the whole family.

We're going back to Maine this summer and we have three cabins in a row!  Hooray!  We had such a wonderful time this summer, but with Em being so young and exclusively breastfeeding, it had its difficulties.  But even with those, we had a fabulous time.  Imagine next year when we have an almost 3-year-old, Tommy will be two, and Em will be 16 months?  It's going to be great.  Thank you, Nana and Papa, for such an exciting present!

And so, another Christmas is in the books.  But what an amazing time we had!  Lots of memories and photos to cherish, and gifts to keep our kids busy through the coming winter months.  We couldn't be more blessed!