Christmas Day 2010

Christmas morning in our house began just like I imagined... kids at the top of the stairs waiting to come down and see what magic had transpired overnight. I didn't really know how much of this Mairead was understanding, but when Nana told her that it was Christmas and that Santa came, she was pretty darn excited, so I guess she understood that part! She was so happy to grab the WonderPets and make her way down the stairs.


I love that her hair is waving behind her as she sprints into the room-- her excitement was so much fun to watch.


When she did enter the room, she pretty much froze for a second as she took it all in. It was easy to tell that she was surprised and amazed at what had happened since she went to sleep the night before!

Jack and Ben were excited, too, and of course, brought their blue blankets with them.

One of their favorite gifts was this slide/climbing apparatus. Mairead said, "Look! It's a playground in the purple house!"

After some time on the slide, Jack and Ben settled in with some new books.

Soon, the Crowders arrived with Lily. This was her second Christmas, though she was only five days old for her first one, so this one was much more fun!

She looked and felt like an adorable, soft stuffed animal in this cute coat from Jimmy and Jessica.

Jen and Mike gave the kids this cool device that plays songs and is a camera so the kids can dance along and see themselves on tv. They seemed a bit mystified by it, but I think it is going to be a hit.

Then, it was time for grown ups to open their gifts. Everyone was so thoughtful and so generous-- thanks, everyone!

This is a custom made Hannaford shirt. It's a running joke in our house that Dave is their best customer. He does all of our grocery shopping and he is there literally 5-7 times a week!

Seriously. How cute is this kid with the cheeks?

And this kid isn't too bad herself. She is getting so grown up looking- we just think she is beautiful.

This picture was taken just before the boys headed to bed.... all three of us were pretty exhausted by that point!

This might be Mairead's favorite gift. It is a little tent shaped like a turtle that was opened after 8pm and was put together only at Mairead's insistence. She LOVES it and will spend over an hour playing in there. She has collected some blocks, a few cars, some little farm animals, and her brothers' pillow pets to stock the place. She couldn't be happier in there!

After the kids went to bed, things may have gotten a little silly... this picture represents a very long story involving some funny looking hats and probably too much egg nog.

We had an amazing Christmas and felt so lucky to be surrounded by family and friends. We have so much in our lives to be thankful for and we celebrate all of that at the holidays. Thanks to our family and friends for making this Christmas so wonderful for us and for our children.

Christmas Eve 2010

We hope that all of you had a wonderful holiday and that you are all safe and snug at home after the big snow storm! We have been busy enjoying the new gifts from Santa, and recovering from Christmas. After the holiday, our house always looks like a very festive tornado went through it, so digging out takes a while! Add that to the fact that there was some very real digging out to be done after the 15 inches or so of snow that fell last night, and we have been busy!

As always, we spent Christmas Eve at our cousins' house and gathered with the family for a great time. Mairead loved exploring all of the Christmas decorations, especially this nutcracker. The kids had no idea what was to come the next morning, so they were pretty calm about the whole thing. I am sure that will be very different next year when they can anticipate Santa's arrival.


Jack


Ben

The beginning of the night was pretty low key and the kids were doing great despite a new place, new people, Christmas trees, and presents. They took it all in stride.

But then.... terror. From the look on Jack's face, you can probably tell who arrived...

AHHHHHHH!!!! Santa!!!!

Mairead loves Santa and was literally jumping up and down when he walked in the door. Her brothers were already screaming in fear of him. I hope they grow out of this quickly... Santa is a pretty cool guy.

I love the look on her face. She had just noticed Santa walk in and she lit up.

She also loves candy canes, so this was pretty awesome.

Poor Emily was trying to console Ben as he screamed about seeing Santa.

I love this-- a sweet picture of Nana and Santa, but Ben is in the background throwing himself around trying to avoid the guy in the red suit.

See? Santa is pretty cool! She sat on his lap for a long time, happy as could be. After others had a turn, she wandered back over and perched herself on his knee and made herself comfortable. Obviously, that was a good spot and she should be in it!

Jack took refuge with Jimmy.

While Ben took his blanket and got the hell out of there.

Jack's pajamas say, "Dear Santa, I've been good." Ben's say, "Dear Santa, Define 'good.'" Pretty cute, huh?

Of course, after the kids are snuggled warm in their beds, Santa's elves had some assembling to do. Molly tried to help out.

This thing turned out to be one of their favorite gifts, but man, was it hard to put together! Not complicated, but it required superhuman strength to pop the pieces into place. Luckily, we had a Daddy and a Grampy who were up to the challenge.

We went to bed exhausted, but so excited for the kids to come down and see the excitement of Christmas morning. I will post those pictures soon!