Christmas

Christmas came to our house yesterday! There were three very happy and excited kiddos around these parts... We had a wonderful (all-be-it long) day! I have learned a thing of two over the years, and thus they were told 7am was the magic hour. They were welcome to get up at any point, however they couldn't wake ANYBODY (siblings or parents) until 7am. About 5:20 or so the first of the little feet began to pitter patter over my head, and bless their little hearts they fed the horses and just ogled the piles without touching anything! Around 6:30 I started to rouse Bill, and he was awake enough at 7 when they came down to get up without grumbling. A first as far as I can remember! I'll have to do this again next year as it worked out very well for us, the kids were just about bursting with excitement and Bill was much happier! I had set up the coffee pot, so it just needed to be switched on and the horses had their breakfast and we were ready to go... Santa was good to us; the stockings and tree were loaded!
Clearly a major highlight of our Christmas was Olivia's big gift. Bill and I got her a cell phone... she has been pestering us for one, assuring us she "needs" it... and we agreed that the time was right- Kids and technology. sheeze! She was certainly thrilled. We got her a very nice touch screen model and added her to our plan- so she can make calls and text and we will go from there. I had the grand idea to hide the box among the gifts (I fully charged it, wrapped it last second and left it turned on) and then ring it under the tree. I thought we could have her squirm for a while and ring it a few rounds before she found it, but Billy guessed the box right away and she opened it among her first gifts! She was one happy girl~ Bill on the other hand is a bit jealous. He thinks her phone is nicer than his...

The phone was a big deal for Olivia but I got spoiled too! Bill got me the most amazing gift, and I felt a bit badly as we said we weren't going to do presents for each other- you know how this goes... but, with the financial stress of the season as well as baby expenses, we really didn't need to do extravagant things for each other... we really have all that we need. I did mention though, that before the baby comes there are a few things I want... a new camera (a nice SLR please!!) and a new head for our central vacuum... Well Mr. Houston listened and spoiled me terribly. He presented me with a lovely new Canon EOS and I couldn't have been more excited! We had fun playing with it, and some of these shots were taken once I figured it out... I am so happy to have a nice camera to record the baby with! I love my Easyshare, and have not had much trouble with it... I just really wanted an upgrade. For sure, an unnecessary expense, but man oh man... I sure am one lucky lady! And, to boot- I got him bedroom slippers.... sigh.

Savanna got a new camera too, and a docking station for her i-pod. Auntie Anna passed her her "old" phone to use until the contract expires so she was pretty happy at the end of the day. She also got clothes and some toys- Wii stuff and an easy bake oven plus some other goodies too. Billy got a new bike, a few DSI games he has been coveting and was the major impudence behind an X-box 360 (which is for the family, but was something he asked for) and a few games for it. He got pokeman cards, spy gear and a nerf set/game as well as some "constructable" gifts: legos and erector sets, playmobile. Olivia got her phone and a drafting table as her major gifts. She got some great art supplies and clothes too. A few computer and Wii games and she was pretty stoked with her gifts. All in all, we were all spoiled and treated to all the things we really wanted and had a great day with family around.

We opened as a family in the morning, then Bill's Mom and Dad and sister/brother in law arrived for a yummy brunch. We had round 2 of gifts with them and cleaned the living room for a second time! Then later in the afternoon my parents and sister/brother in law and nephews arrived for round 3! We had some munchies opened AGAIN and picked up paper and boxes AGAIN then all packed into the car and headed up the street for a lovely dinner at Anna and Ed's. Bill's sister Anna just redid her upstairs, including kitchen/dining/living room and we had a very nice meal there with both sides of our family. Even Bill's farther afield sister Krista and his brother-in-law Brad made it from Mass. It made for a long day (especially for my Mom who worked nights at the hospital Christmas Eve.) but the kids were great, and we made it thru without a meltdown! I was so impressed!

I love Christmas and in my opinion today marks the countdown until next year... I get so excited at the opportunity to spoil the kids and love watching them light up as they get all the things they really don't think they could possibly get. Today Savanna is a bit run down and fighting a bug... but otherwise we are just playing with our new stuff; enjoying the gifts of the season. It is such a nice treat to have a restful relaxing day to recover and relish in the love and generosity of our family and friends! Now we can start anticipating next year, and now the baby countdown really begins!