The most wonderful time of the year has arrived! And passed, actually. All of the stress that leads up to this holiday season is finally done. The presents were wrapped (well, those that made it to our house before Christmas Eve, that is), the cookies were baked (albeit, a little burned and undercooked...all at the same time), and Santa made it to South St Paul without any issues (little does he know that his cookies were all dropped on the floor by sweet little Ava...hope they were good, jolly man!)
The next big thing is to ring in 2011. A new year and a fresh start...at least that's what we're hoping for!
But, back to the chaos of Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve with Scott's mom's side of the family, and had a great time watching all of the kids open their gifts. Ava was so very patient. We didn't bring any of her gifts with us, as we wanted to open them at home on Christmas day - so as her cousins were all ripping into theirs, she played it cool. When she finally had one handed to her to open, she asked, "For me?" I felt so bad that she didn't have many to open, but this also taught her patience, and to learn that not everything is about her. But, man, she LOVED the Barbie guitar that Santa brought for Tatiana! She did NOT want to give that back at the end of the night...!
My favorite moment of the night was when Grandma Deb had all four girls (ages 2 - 6) lay down on the floor, and close their eyes. At this point, Deb brought out their final gifts - pillow pets! The girls loved them so much! Ava's is a unicorn, and she dragged it around by the tail the rest of the night...so cute!
Once we got home, it was important that we read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" to her, and set out eggnog and cookies for Santa. We're just getting started into the whole "Santa" thing, so we wanted to be sure that we did it right from the beginning. I remember Christmas Eve being a magical night...and I want the same for Ava.
The next morning we discovered that Ava knows very well what "More, More, More!" means. We let her open all of her gifts first - it just was easier that way! The last gift we had her open was a play kitchen from Gramma Karen and Grampa Doug. We hadn't assembled it yet, and she was incredibly patient waiting for us to do so. Granted, she was about 1 foot away from us the whole time during assembly, holding a plate of fake food, but she was patient!
She's had so much fun playing with all of her new toys...and we've had a nice Christmas together as a family. With all of the build-up that accompanies the season, it's almost a let down when it's all done. We're left with mountains of snow, cold days, and good memories. Just enough to get us through until the spring!
Hope your Christmas was merry and bright!
The next big thing is to ring in 2011. A new year and a fresh start...at least that's what we're hoping for!
But, back to the chaos of Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve with Scott's mom's side of the family, and had a great time watching all of the kids open their gifts. Ava was so very patient. We didn't bring any of her gifts with us, as we wanted to open them at home on Christmas day - so as her cousins were all ripping into theirs, she played it cool. When she finally had one handed to her to open, she asked, "For me?" I felt so bad that she didn't have many to open, but this also taught her patience, and to learn that not everything is about her. But, man, she LOVED the Barbie guitar that Santa brought for Tatiana! She did NOT want to give that back at the end of the night...!
My favorite moment of the night was when Grandma Deb had all four girls (ages 2 - 6) lay down on the floor, and close their eyes. At this point, Deb brought out their final gifts - pillow pets! The girls loved them so much! Ava's is a unicorn, and she dragged it around by the tail the rest of the night...so cute!
Once we got home, it was important that we read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" to her, and set out eggnog and cookies for Santa. We're just getting started into the whole "Santa" thing, so we wanted to be sure that we did it right from the beginning. I remember Christmas Eve being a magical night...and I want the same for Ava.
The next morning we discovered that Ava knows very well what "More, More, More!" means. We let her open all of her gifts first - it just was easier that way! The last gift we had her open was a play kitchen from Gramma Karen and Grampa Doug. We hadn't assembled it yet, and she was incredibly patient waiting for us to do so. Granted, she was about 1 foot away from us the whole time during assembly, holding a plate of fake food, but she was patient!
She's had so much fun playing with all of her new toys...and we've had a nice Christmas together as a family. With all of the build-up that accompanies the season, it's almost a let down when it's all done. We're left with mountains of snow, cold days, and good memories. Just enough to get us through until the spring!
Silly girl...she cleared out one of her little toy boxes to sit inside.
Crazy dogs...they could easily get lost in the snow piles here!
All dressed up to go to Great-Grandma's house
"Hey, what was that?!?"
Playing with her Little People house...she is fascinated by the toilet (it flushes.) Another sign for potty training...
Notice the unicorn in the kitchen.
Pillow pet sighting!
I have to admit, she was very tidy in her gift opening fashion...
"Let me go, I know there's more for me!"
The kitchen...and my fine wrapping job using comics.
"Order up!"
Comments