On the 400th day of Christmas...
Well maybe we didn't have 400 days of Christmas but we had a lot. I counted 11 events in two weeks, that includes New Years. Keep in mind this all started just a few days after Emmy's 4th birthday which followed right behind Thanksgiving, which was immediately followed by the birth of my new nephew! And it has all been awesome. We had a great holiday with our TWO kids! There is no better gift than that.
Emmy was so much fun this year. All of the Santa-stuff is so great with a 4 year old (good for threatening for good behavior too!). She loved all of it. Aidan REALLY liked Christmas lights. He would squeal every night when we turned ours on, just like it was the first time.
As usual, our families and friends out did themselves in the gifts department. I know some parents who worry about the excess of the holidays, but I'm fine with it! Mainly because I put almost half of the toys away and will get them out through out the year as surprises and bribes. It's like having a Toys-R-Us in the basement. Of course it was harder to do this year than last year, Emmy was keeping a mental inventory of her gifts. She'd be drowning in new playthings and say, "Hey Mommy, where's ________"(insert name of any very small, stocking stuffer that I wouldn't even think she had noticed). We tried to strike a balance, Emmy and I went through old toys and picked out things to donate. And we are starting a tradition this year of sending something to her orphanage, not just in the spirit of giving, but also to keep the connection in her mind and give us lots of opportunities to talk about it. This year we collected new baby blankets. We also are sending photos to Aidan's foster family and plan to begin the donation tradition for something in Guatemala next year.
Here are Emmy and Aidan with their grandparents and new cousin.
Emmy was so much fun this year. All of the Santa-stuff is so great with a 4 year old (good for threatening for good behavior too!). She loved all of it. Aidan REALLY liked Christmas lights. He would squeal every night when we turned ours on, just like it was the first time.
As usual, our families and friends out did themselves in the gifts department. I know some parents who worry about the excess of the holidays, but I'm fine with it! Mainly because I put almost half of the toys away and will get them out through out the year as surprises and bribes. It's like having a Toys-R-Us in the basement. Of course it was harder to do this year than last year, Emmy was keeping a mental inventory of her gifts. She'd be drowning in new playthings and say, "Hey Mommy, where's ________"(insert name of any very small, stocking stuffer that I wouldn't even think she had noticed). We tried to strike a balance, Emmy and I went through old toys and picked out things to donate. And we are starting a tradition this year of sending something to her orphanage, not just in the spirit of giving, but also to keep the connection in her mind and give us lots of opportunities to talk about it. This year we collected new baby blankets. We also are sending photos to Aidan's foster family and plan to begin the donation tradition for something in Guatemala next year.
Here are Emmy and Aidan with their grandparents and new cousin.
Aidan on Christmas morning with his Mickey Mouse airplane (and Cheerios!) 
Emmy with her scooter (that she rides through the house! Come on Spring!)
Sitting out cookies for Santa and taking a taste for quality-control.
Making the a fore mentioned cookies.
Aidan going up and down the stairs at my mom's house, his favorite activity - even over opening gifts.
Emmy in one of her Christmas dresses.
Aidan, drowning in the "love"!
posted by Lisa & Dave | 4:38 PM
3 Comments:
Sounds like everyone had a great time. The kids have really grown. Hope to see you guys at FCC this week.
Mary
Sounds like great traditions!
Looks like Santa was good at your house too.
Can there ever be too much Christmas? All that love and family, it's oh so good.
We enjoyed sharing the time and the presents but especially the happy faces watching them open gifts.
Love,
TaTa and Ralph
Post a Comment
<< Home