Christmas Morning

Ah, Christmas morning. Cozy inside and a blanket of snow outside. Perfect!

Going to bed, we told the girls a million times not to come out of the bedroom, but to yell for us and we would come get them. Emma apparently did not hear any of that and came to our room at 7:15 to wake us up. I freaked, but then realized that she had not seen a thing because she saw the dining room window first and everything was covered in snow. I lead her back to her room with her eyes closed and John and I got the camera ready. Before going out to the living room, we all hung out on B's bed and read Luke 2 and told Jesus Happy Birthday!

Emma went to bed very concerned that Santa would not know which chair was hers and which was Brooklyn's, so I put their little pillows that my Mom had made when they were born in each chair. Santa gave them a new PetShop House to play with together! He also brought new Doodles, slippers and a PetShop Pet for the new house. Their stockings were full of fresh Playdoh, new toothbrushes, fun Band-aids, toe nail polish in crazy colors and a few little chocolate treats!














The girls were so excited about their PetShop house and practically forgot their were also presents under the tree too. They each got 3 gifts from Mom and Dad this year representing Jesus' 3 gifts from the Wise Men.
Emma received a Curious George shirt, a Barbie 3 Musketeers game for the Wii, and a Make Your Own Pop Up Book. Brooklyn picked a new Mickey Mouse puzzle out for her at the Dollar Store. She had not asked for any of these things so I was a little nervous, but she loved it all. She has made both Pop Up books (will have to post those later) and has enjoyed playing her Wii game. (so has John!)
Brooklyn got a Disney Princess necklace, a Cinderella shirt and some food items for her to feed her baby doll. Emma picked out a Princess and the Frog wand from the Dollar Store. She had asked for food for her baby many times, so I knew she would love that. She had seen a Princess necklace at a store back in November and the sweet girl never stopped talking about this necklace. I couldn't find it at the store when I went back, but I found it online. We spent $12 on it and that included the tax and shipping. I could not wait to give it to her! She was so excited! These were her words as I was putting it on her and asking her if she liked it, "It is all I have ever wanted." I could have squeezed her to death at that moment.
















What the girls really wanted for Christmas (along with their Daddy) was a kitten. A real one. I like to visit kittens and play with them, but I would take 5 dogs over a kitten any day. It was a running joke that John was going to surprise us all with a kitten and many threats by me to leave him if he did. :) I thought it would be fun to give the three of them a little surprise. Yes, it would have thrilled them had this thing been real, but the girls loved this just as much. I'm not so sure about John.

John and I have never done big things for each other for Christmas, so it was low key for us. I re-wrapped the xbox game that he bought as his Christmas present back in November! He got some new socks, iTunes card, a frame for one of his photographs and don't forget the new cat. :)
He renewed my Real Simple subscription, gave me the Pioneer Woman's Cookbook that I asked for (and I love it. Read it cover to cover it was so entertaining!), and I got a certificate from him to take the girls profile pictures and turn them into silhouettes! Woohoo!

After presents, I put our Happy Birthday Jesus Monkey Bread in the oven and started making our other food. The girls and John continued to play with all the new stuff. We ate really cheesy eggs and bacon, then sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and chowed down on some Monkey Bread. Yum!
The girls could not wait to go play in the snow, so after breakfast we bundled them (and John) up and they went to play for a bit. The wind was blowing so much that it was bitterly cold and they did not last long. They came back in for hot chocolate and played some more with their toys.

It was a great morning and so fun to be at our house with our family of 4. It was laid back and we enjoyed moving at our own pace.

Once we learned that the roads to Little Rock were clear, I started packing us up. We packed lunches for the car, piled everyone (including Belle and many presents) in and headed south to see my family. More to come on our Christmas in Little Rock.