Christmas this year was the best one we've had with Eli since he was born. I told Josh a couple of weeks ago that the Christmases we with have with him over the next few years are going to be the ones that we will always remember and cherish. Not that we won't do it with every other Christmas, but hopefully you understand what I'm saying. There's just something magical about children between the ages of 2 and 6 and I know it's going to be a very special time for us then.
Eli woke up around 7:00 am Christmas morning. Of course, Josh was already awake, so when Eli got out of bed, he immediately said, "I go see Daddy!" He ran down the hall and met Josh, who was expectantly waiting for his little boy to get up. Josh took Eli to the living room to look at all the presents that had magically appeared during the night.
This looks posed, but I promise it wasn't. He did this completely on his own!
Most of you know that our family chooses to give only 3 gifts from Santa. If you haven't heard the story before, here's a quick summary.
Nicki mentioned it to me after Eli was born, because Dr. R (we shared the same pediatrician) told her about it when Jonah, Nicki's oldest boy, was just a baby. Dr. R said that her children only get 3 gifts from Santa because baby Jesus only got 3 gifts when He was born. She said that is a great opportunity to remind children on Christmas morning of the real meaning of Christmas. Isn't that a great idea? We thought so, too, and we have adopted that as one of our Christmas traditions. Santa loved the idea as well, so every year he brings Eli 3 gifts :)
Eli's first gift from Santa was a pair of John Deere boots. I can't tell you how many times over the past year, my little boy has wanted a pair of boots. We borrowed my brother, Caleb's, red boots from when he was little for a long time, but Josh kept calling them Wonder Woman boots. I guess Santa realized Eli needed some real farming boots, so he brought him some John Deere boots. Eli was very excited about that!
He was so happy to finally have a pair of boots!
Eli's second gift from Santa was a set of real golf clubs just his size. These things are quite possibly THE cutest thing I've ever seen. I can't wait until it warms up and I can take pictures of my two boys hitting the golf course. They're going to be the cutest! After Eli opened his golf clubs and played with them a little bit, this is the conversation the we had.
Mommy: Eli, who brought you those golf clubs?
Eli: Santa!
Mommy: Are you going to go golf with Daddy?
Eli: Uh-huh! Mama, day (stay) home.
Mommy: You mean Mommy can't come with you?
Eli: No, no, no. Mama day (stay) home.
Mommy: Well, who is going to go play golf then?
Eli: Daddy and Eli!
It's already two against one, I guess. I am pretty excited about them getting to spend time together though. I know Eli is going to soak it all up because he LOVES doing things with his Daddy!
He had to try those out immediately!
Eli's third gift from Santa was the game Memory. Eli didn't really care about it at that particular moment, but Santa knows that he loves to play Memory on my phone, so I think he was doing me a favor by giving him the real thing. Thanks, Santa!
We all got our stockings down next and opened those. We all got toothbrushes, toothpaste, chapstick, candy, and lots of other great things.
Santa put Silly Putty in Eli's stocking this year and he was fascinated by it.
Josh and I told Santa that we would do each other's stocking if he'd do Eli's for us, so it was funny to see that Josh and I bought each other almost exactly the same stuff. I guess great minds think alike!
The loot from my stocking
The loot from Josh's stocking
Eli helping Daddy go through his stocking
Someone's going to have minty fresh breath :)
Sharpie pens-the coolest things ever!
Keys to my car that I got last week.
Josh didn't want me to forget that it was one of my presents.
Rules go out the window on Christmas.
We let Eli have a few pieces of candy, and he enjoyed them thoroughly!
I asked, "Eli, what's in your mouth?" expecting a verbal answer.
This is the answer I got... HA HA!
After Eli opened this three gifts from Santa and we did our stockings, he moved on to the gifts from us.
This is a nap mat that I ordered from Etsy and it's the best thing ever. It has a blanket and a pillow attached. It rolls up and even has a strap so he can carry it on his back.
Eli thought he'd try it out to see how he liked it.
New hooded shark poncho towel for bath time.
At one point, Eli grabbed Woody and told him to help him open the rest of his presents.
He put Woody's hands on the tissue paper and showed him how to take it out of the bag. I love watching him do imaginative play with his Toy Story characters.
A new monkey backpack for school.
Now he and Douglas won't get confused over backpacks anymore!
(They both have the Skip Hop puppy dog backpack right now.)
Josh and I agreed to not spend a lot of money on each other, but then he went and got the family and new-to-us car, so I decided I'd have fun and order him something I knew he really wanted but would never buy for himself. His surprise gift was a infrared cooker. He was quite surprised and very happy!
Eli opened all but four of his gifts, so I helped with those because they were just practical items like clothes, and we started playing with some of the games he got from us. One of the games he really liked was this Button Art. You use these giant buttons to match colors and you create pictures. Oh, and you probably notice that Eli is missing clothes. He can undress himself now very easily and loves to do it all the time.
After I put some more clothes on Eli, he and Daddy got to work assembling Daddy's cooker. Eli decided to use the new tool set Jordan got him for Christmas. I don't know what Daddy would have done without Eli's help ;)
Once the cooker was assembled, it was time to cook something! Just by chance, we had some babyback ribs in the freezer, so Josh took those out to cook. While the cooker was warming up, he and Eli got in some practice with Eli's new golf clubs. How many golfers do you know that golf in John Deere boots?
Daddy set the ribs in the cooker and we all came back inside to enjoy the warmth while the ribs cooked. Here is a picture of all of Eli's gifts he received this Christmas from Santa, us, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. Our little boy is definitely loved! It is such a blessing to have so many people that love your child just like he's their own. I am so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends. Thank you all for giving to my little boy. He loved each and every gift!
All the Christmas excitement finally got to Eli and he crashed on his new nap mat.
It was a WONDERFUL Christmas and I can't believe it's already come and gone. It is my hope and prayer that with each Christmas we have together, Eli will come to realize that there is more to Christmas than just Santa and gifts. I tried hard this season to teach him and read books to him about the true story of Christmas. I know he's not going to understand everything, but I want him to know that Christmas is when we celebrate Jesus. I want him to know that without the gift of his son that God gave this world so long ago, there wouldn't be anything to celebrate at all. Jesus is truly the reason we celebrate Christmas!
