Christmas Day

Christmas Day! One of my favorite days of the entire year. Growing up, I can remember going to bed Christmas Eve so excited that I couldn't sleep for fear of missing Santa's arrival with his bag full of goodies. I probably got no more than 4 hours of sleep every Christmas Eve growing up. Even after the childhood excitement about Santa coming wore off, I still had trouble going to sleep all those nights. Every year without fail, even when I was in college, I would wake up about 3 or 4 in the morning and I would quietly sneak into the living room to take a peek at the tree. I loved sitting there in the stillness. I wouldn't disturb anything under the tree. All I did was look at the presents that were there just waiting to be opened Christmas day. Eventually, I would go back to bed and wait until it was time to get up to open gifts. Without fail, my brothers and I would wake up around 6 every year. We would go into the living room and just sit anxiously waiting for my parents to get up. We had been forewarned that we couldn't wake Mom and Dad until at least 7 o'clock. Do you know how long 60 minutes seemed to take when I was a kid? It seemed like an eternity! Finally, the designated time would arrive and we would pile into Mom and Dad's bedroom to wake them up. We couldn't wait to see what Santa had brought us! We'd pass out gifts and stockings and then we'd open gifts. My brothers and I would always count our gifts to see which one of us had received the most that year. We always knew that the dollar amount that was spent on us was the same, but it was fun to see how that translated into actual boxes and bags. The rest of the morning was spent playing with our toys, trying on our new clothes, eating Christmas candy, getting Christmas lunch ready, and spending time with family. I loved it! There are so many things my family did (and still does) that I want to carry over into my family. I want to make Christmas magical for Eli like it was for me growing up. I know that this year Eli was too young to understand (and if I'm honest, he'll probably still be too young next year) but I want to start those traditions now, so that when he is older, they will be as special to him as they were for me.

This year Eli and I were up early (that's one thing that didn't change from my childhood!). He's been sleeping so well at night. I couldn't be happier! He usually is in bed anywhere between 10 and 11 (we're night owls!) and doesn't wake up until 4 or 5 every morning. It's been great! He ate his breakfast and then promptly went back to sleep. We went into the kitchen to check on our milk and cookies. Sure enough! Santa had been to our house! Only crumbs were left on the plate and all the milk was gone.

Just woke up and ready to have Christmas!

Santa liked our cookies and milk :)

By that time, Josh was up, so he and I made coffee and got into our Christmas pajamas for our Christmas picture in front of the tree (one tradition I plan on continuing). It's not the best picture by far (next year, I'll make sure I don't look so pasty white!) but it's our first Christmas picture as a family. How sweet!

He's resting so he has plenty of energy to open all his gifts from Santa!

Family Christmas picture '08

You'll notice in the next picture that Eli only has 3 gifts. Another Christmas tradition I am starting this year is this one. Josh and I know several families that do this with their children. Santa only brings 3 gifts because baby Jesus only got 3 gifts when He was born. We think this is a great way to remind Eli about the real meaning of Christmas (JESUS!) every year.

Eli with his 3 gifts from Santa.

I got Eli's stocking down for him, but as you can he was much more interested in sleeping. It appears one little boy waited up for Santa too long! In his stocking, he got more NUK bottles (by the way, Bottle Boot Camp worked! Eli loves drinking his milk from them now, thank goodness!), a bottle of Mylicon (gotta love gas medicine!), and batteries (do you know how many baby toys require batteries...ALL of them!).

After Josh and I opened our gifts from each other, I helped Eli open his 3 gifts from Santa and his gift from us.

The first gift from Santa was the movie "Cars". I grew up watching Disney movies and now that Eli is here we can start on our Disney collection. Hopefully, some of the ones that have go into the vault will come back out again. I have been warned by Josh that we can only give him boy movies though. He's scared of him falling in love with princess movies, I guess.

His second gift from Santa was two Praise Baby DVD's. Our good friend, Nicki, let us borrow Jonah's Praise Baby DVD's to see if Eli liked them and he did, so we bought two of our own. He loves watching the bright colors and images that come on the screen and we love it because all the songs reinforce the message of God's love.

His third gift from Santa was two new books. They're both in black and white and as you know, babies love contrasting colors, so I'm sure these are going to become some of his favorite.


Then Eli opened his gift from us. Since his birth was so close to Christmas there wasn't a single toy or gadget he needed, so Josh and I got him some cute winter outfits from Old Navy. He really didn't need clothes, but these were too cute to pass up.

Christmas wasn't complete until Maggie, our golden retriever, had received her gift from Santa Paws. Poor Maggie...since Eli was born, she just hasn't gotten the attention that she used to get. We try to play with her as much as possible, but it's just not the same. Eli has been outside to meet her a few times, but she's pretty much just interested in being rubbed by us. (She doesn't know she's a dog!) I can't wait for better weather so Eli and I can play with her in the backyard. I think they're going to love each other once they really get the chance to be around each other more. Maggie was so excited to see that Santa Paws brought her a humongous Busy Bone (it kept her busy for about 10 minutes and then it was gone!)

The rest of our Christmas day was spent hanging out around the house. It was so nice to relax and enjoy the day with each other. We missed being around family and friends, but we were able to catch up with my parents on the webcam before they ate their Christmas dinner. They are coming in the weekend after New Year's so Eli will get the chance to experience Christmas again with them. We can't wait! This Christmas truly was the BEST one ever. We feel so blessed to have this little boy in our lives. I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas as well.

Our best present this year :)