It’s Christmas Day and I’m already blogging Christmas! I figured I’d take advantage of Eliana’s nap and the boys being entertained by their new stuff. Otherwise I probably wouldn’t sit down to document this Christmas until sometime next summer.
I didn’t even come close to doing Christmas Cards this year. Next year that will be my goal. So this is what I made on Christmas Adam (the eve of Christmas Eve):
Eliana is riding a reindeer. The kids put antlers on her rocking horse. Then they busted out little jars of sprinkles and used them as maracas. They were cracking up.
On Christmas Eve we started at Grandma and Grandpa’s house and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus. (Grandma’s annual tradition.)
Then we went inside and opened the presents that all the cousins got for each other. The boys got car stuff, a big cardboard space shuttle, and Eliana got a guitar. Lots of fun to be had!
Then Grandpa and Grandma brought out the gifts they bought for the kids. I didn’t take pictures of that because I was too busy getting video of the echoes of joy that were ringing throughout the living room. “YAY!!!! I GOT MY VERY OWN CAMERA!!! (Diego) WHAT??? A GRATER?? THAT’S WHAT I WANTED!! (Celo)” And the cutest dollhouse ever for Eliana. The kids were in heaven.
Then we got on our “Christmas Best” and headed over to see my side of the family.
The kids only opened one present each from Tata and Tato: a glow in the dark marble thing for Diego, a remote control dump truck for Celo, and a baby doll for Eliana. More big smiles.
Usually the present opening doesn’t even begin until midnight at my extended family get togethers, but Celo was begging us to take him home, so we opened their gifts a tad early and left at 11:20. Because of how late it was, the boys crawled straight into bed when we got home and left the Santa cookie prep up to us. We gave them one last reminder that no presents would be opened before 7am, and prayed that they’d be tired enough to sleep in on Christmas morning.
At 6:15AM, Diego ran into our room and said, “GET UP GET UP GET UP! PRESENTS!!!” We whispered, “Merry Christmas to you, too. Go back to bed. Come back and get us at 7.” Are we horrible parents? At 7:00 on the dot, Diego bounced back into our room and said, “IT’S SEVEN!! LET’S GO!” Celo was exhausted but stumbled out of bed and found his energy when he saw all the presents. We decided not to wake up Eliana quite yet. Here are the boys opening their first gift.
Each present was received with, “Yay! That’s what I wanted!” After they finished opening their presents, Eliana woke up and opened hers. She remembered the drill from the night before right away and tore into her loot.
Here is Diego with his gifts from Santa: “Dancing Lights (by far his favorite), a “video game” (Leapster 2), and a game for the Leapster.
Celo’s Santa presents: Tractor Legos, a digger that he can actually sit on and use, and a little construction site (his favorite).
Eliana spotted the remaining cookie Santa left behind and helped herself to it. Breakfast of champions.
I tried to get a picture of her with her presents but she was being a clown and wouldn’t look at the camera. She just threw her head back and did a fake laugh. Pretty hilarious. Anyway, Santa went way easy on her because 1) she has a million relatives who buy her gifts, and 2) she’s 18 months old. So she got 3 books, a movie, hairbows, and a little baby doll.
Marcelo and I did not really exchange gifts. Well, I got him a new wallet and hat from the kids and he got me a new blanket for baby photoshoots from the kids. But that was it because….well, because we bought a house this year, so isn’t that present enough? I think so. I felt sooo happy and sooo grateful spending our first Christmas in our new house.
What’s this?? Diego sitting quietly and entertaining himself? Noooo. Unheard of. Definitely worth Santa’s midnight Black Friday trip.
Eliana, who never took a bottle in her life, kept trying to drink from her new baby’s bottle.
She was very upset that I was taking pictures of her and wouldn’t open her eyes. Stinker.
We’ve had a great morning together just relaxing and playing with the new toys. The boys got some fun card games in their stockings, so we tried those out and ate some of their bubble gum and tried to learn how to blow bubbles. (Unsuccessful and quite frustrating for some.) With the whirlwind of the last couple weeks still hanging over me, it has been blissful just being home today and enjoying each other’s company with no need to rush around. Yes, we skipped church, shame on us, but Marcelo and I both decided that we just needed some quiet time together. He’s with the boys playing with tractors right now and they couldn’t be happier. Later we’re heading to Marcelo’s aunt’s house for a big family lunch, and then after that we’ll go to my parents’ house for dinner and to exchange a few more presents.
December started out crazy but we’ve been able to squeeze in some time to go look at lights, watch Celo’s preschool Christmas program, and just enjoy the Christmas season. The kids really seemed to understand the meaning of Christmas much better this year than ever before, which made it extra special. We talked a lot about the nativity and read lots of books. The boys wrapped up some old toys and Diego put them out by the door with a sign that said, “Toys for kids who don’t have any presents.” Very sweet.
