BEST CHRISTMAS EVER! Seriously, this was probably my best Christmas in my recollection. Everyone was healthy and happy (except my grandma was in the hospital!! We missed you Grandma Jean!!)
Emmy got in on the fun this year, which was really cool!
Eli got up at 3 am and came in to talk to me to see if he could go down. I told him no... Then he went back to bed and came back in at 5 am. Think he was excited? I went ahead and decided to just pump and go down. My mom had given Whit a night off from the baby so Eli went and woke him up and Emmy was also awake so we all went downstairs sometime before 6 am! Here are Eli and Emmy examining their stockings.
Emmy got a dog purse (so did Dora) and some candy... She had no idea what was going on but she liked the dog purse! You can't see if but behind Whit, the kids got a new table and four chairs to replace their very tiny table with just two chairs they had gotten 2 years before from Santa.
Eli was practically giddy... he got the bag of jewels he had been wanting so much. He also got lots of candy and some geodes to crack. He got glow in the dark silly putty and lots of other fun goodies. I love stockings!
Here are a few shots of the tree and its presents...
Uncle Brian arrived around 6:30. He was happy to be off work! I told him to pick up Emmy. She protested that decision a bit... but the other kids were super happy to cuddle up to him. I thought this one was hilarious.
My mom continued to watch Tessa during the present wrapping.
My dad was happy to be there...
Emmy was a complete mess. But she was HAPPY! She now says "Cheese" when you ask her to do a photo. It's really funny. It lasts one second though, so good luck catching it. I did catch it here because I already had my camera up!
She LOVES these antlers. Puts them on herself, too! Haha. And she's completely obsessed with books right now. She will frequently climb all the way up the stairs and go around to the reading room to get a book and bring it down to you so you can read it to her. Kinda cute!
After getting bent out of shape that Brian picked her up, she decided she really liked him after all and kept climbing up on his lap! It was really funny! Poor Brian spent a lot of time with Emmy on Christmas morning. He was a good sport.
Emma was pretty much surrounded by Eli and Dora at all times. She gave them each a handmade hedgehog. Eli's had a scarf, and Dora's a flower. Cute!
Whit's first big present...
A little break while he was unwrapping to show you Amethyst's new hat Emma made her. Looks like a Dr. Seuss hat doesn't it? Love it! You can barely see the tassle at the bottom. So fun!
Whit finally got his present open. It's a Walther PPK! The story behind that is I worked really hard to surprise Whit with this... but I mentioned it to one of Clint's friend at Halloween (Whit was working) and when we ran into the same guy (a fellow gun nut) at the screening of the new James Bond Clint put on, he says, "Oh hey, nice to meet you. I hear you're getting a Walther" to Whit. DOH!!! Kinda blew the surprise. My parents packed it in a Taste of Texas Package so Whit thought it was steaks. At least he had a last minute surprise. Sort of!
Here are the kids opening their fort kit from Aunt Libby!
Look, I was there too!
Dora got Brave from my parents--and the doll and horse, too. You could see them a bit earlier, but she also got a Unicorn on a stick (as requested) and a "fast pink four wheeler." Eli has one too and they have loved riding them around together. Emmy has inherited Dora's old tiny slow one.
Eli got a terrarium and lamps and a lizard, also as requested from Santa. He also got a ton of science stuff. A science kit from my parents, a volcano kit, a dinosaur bones excavation kit from Hugh and Lila, a gemstone excavation kit from me and Whit.. .and so on. He had a BALL with that stuff on Christmas day and the day after. He's still doing science experiments one at a time with my dad. Oh and he got an ant farm (ants showed up a few days later) and that has been a TREMENDOUS hit, too.
Emmy loved loved loved these eggs. Which was good. Other than those, all she got was a baby doll and stroller! One year olds have no idea what's going on!
Whit and Brian got matching G-shock watches from "Santa."
Here's Dora with her Brave doll. She also got a cool tree with lots of animals and baby animals. I don't think I got a shot of that one.
Here's Eli's dino excavation kit.
Brian and his buddy...
My mom and Tessa. Santa loves her! I love her tiny feet!!
Lila made Whit and I a "B" for Baker for our kitchen. I also got a new DINING SET, and a new blue G shock watch. Oh and a cute silver kangaroo necklace! I love it! Oh and a double belgian waffle maker from my parents. Thanks mom and dad! I guess I didn't get a photo of this but Whit also got a new Mac Book Air. It's the new one and Clint spent a lot of time uploading all kinds of stuff to get it ready for Whitney. Whit and I also each got a new ipod for the kids to play with.
And finally, Eli and Dora got an ipad to play with from mom and dad. Their main gift though was the new playground. We gave it to them early so they'd have something to play with while the baby was occupying all mom's time. :-) They have loved the ipad, though!
What a fun and exciting Christmas! The kids are finally old enough to get really excited and also truly understand a little part of the Christmas story. It was fun teaching them about our Savior and explaining it was to celebrate his birth that we gave gifts to one another. Merry Christmas 2012!!! We were so blessed this year--a new baby, and three other healthy little angels. How could our joy possibly be more full? (Well, maybe with a good night's sleep... but that will come eventually!) We are looking forward with joy and happiness to a very Happy New Year!
