Christmas!

Christmas with a 3.5 year old and a 1.5 year old is SO much fun! Kaitlyn was really excited about the idea of Santa and his reindeer this year. She dutifully left out cookies and milk for the big guy and carrots for Rudolph. Sorry Dancer, Prancer, et al. No goodies for you this year! Ethan was still pretty clueless about the whole Santa thing, but Kaitlyn's excitement was contagious and he got into the spirit too.

When we all got up the next morning, I was expecting unbridled enthusiasm from Kaitlyn as she ran into the living room to see what Santa brought. And she was very excited when she first got up. But when she actually walked into the living room, I think the idea of a strange, odd-looking man coming into our house while she was asleep and leaving presents became a bit overwhelming. The picture below reflects my kids' personalities beautifully. Kaitlyn watching and figuring out everything from a comfortable distance and Ethan diving head first into the fun-looking toy. Santa brought the kids a train set and (wisely) left a note saying that it was for both of them and that he wanted them to share it. Other than a few skirmishes over who gets to play with which train, we haven't had any major incidents...yet.

As you can see, though, Kaitlyn quickly warmed up to the idea of unwrapping new toys.

The only thing she wanted from Santa this year was a horse puzzle. I'm not really sure where she got that idea. She loves puzzles, but the horse-theme was quite random. Nevertheless, Santa brought her what she asked for and she was absolutely delighted. I think she's only worked it once since she got it though. Good thing it didn't cost Santa a lot of money :)

This is what Ethan did most of the morning. Occasionally we were able to tear him away for a few minutes to open another present.

He was pretty awestruck by this large present...for about 5 seconds. Then he moved on to other things. I don't think he understood that there was a toy inside the box. He never once indicated a desire to open the box and see what was inside. I guess he thought we just gave him an empty box with a fun picture on the outside?? Since he had so many other toys that he was already interested in, I decided to hide it away for a rainy/snowy day when we're all in need of a new toy distraction to maintain sanity. I wonder if he'll remember it at all when I pull it out again in a few weeks...probably not!

Mom and Jim came up to Nashville again this year on Christmas Day. We were a little nervous about road conditions that morning because of the snow we had received, but it all worked out okay. I had a lot of fun cooking the big Christmas meal and was so thankful that we didn't have to pack the kids up and travel with them.

After Christmas, we all headed to Memphis to celebrate with Jeff's family at his sister's house. His parents drove down from New Jersey and his grandparents flew up from Florida. 14 people (10 adults and 4 kids under age 4!) all staying in one house. Lots of craziness but tons of fun! We took pictures of the present-opening extravaganza, but apparently forgot to take any other pictures during our stay :(

Here, Ethan is opening a present from Mimi and Papa...and is surprised to hear their voices coming from the book! I'd never seen a recordable book before. What a neat idea!

Ethan and Daddy opening a truck present.

A sweet picture of Uncle Andrew showing Kaitlyn how to work her new ladybug toy.

Mimi made Kaitlyn and me matching aprons. Kaitlyn loves helping me cook, and she insists that we wear our aprons now when we're working together in the kitchen.

I'm already looking forward to Christmas in 2011 when Ethan will be a little older and Kaitlyn will hopefully be even more excited than she was this year. I love Christmas with kids!!!