Christmas Came.....Fast!

Christmas Eve

On Monday, the four of us finished up some last minute business. Henry went to visit Grandma Granny in Morgan for a few hours while Dad tried hunting Elk one last time. (The snow proved too much and he couldn't get very far up on the mountain even with the 4-wheeler) Reese and I did some last minute shopping for the guys. Later, the family pieced on small sandwitches, chips and dip and other finger foods. Of course we watched A Christmas Story on television since it started in on its continuous loop that evening. Henners was particularly struck by two scenes in the movie: 1) When he saw Ralphie sitting in the bathroom with a bar of soap in his mouth, Henry shouted, "Oh, no! Ralphie has naughty behavior!", and 2) When he saw the scene of Ralphie and his family driving back from picking out a Christmas tree and they sing Jingle Bells and conclude the song with a raspberry noise at the end. Henry instantly fell in love with that version of the song and sang it that way nearly all night long.

Reggie Came to Our House

Every year, one of Santa's elve's named Reggie comes to see us and delivers a package of new pajamas for the whole family. Reggie showed up around 5:00 pm on Christmas Eve and rang our doorbell. Henry was so excited to see who was at our door. At first he thought it might be Santa. But when he opened the door, he only found one package addressed to our family. He ripped into the paper and had it torn apart quickly. Then he looked up at us and said, "It's a box!" He then went on about his business playing with his dart gun. Jeremy and I had to explain that he needed to also open the box (a concept lost on him at this point). He opened it up and found spankin' new pj's for the entire family!

Off to Bed

Reese retired fairly early on Christmas Eve, around 6:30. She was all about her warm bottle and some beauty rest. Henry followed about an hour later. But before that, he spent most of his time jumping into our bean bag and shouting "To Infinity, and Beyond!". Before he went to bed, we layed out Henry's favorite cookies for Santa and some milk. He was not too happy about the thought of Santa eating his cookies during the night. I showed Henry that I left a few for him to enjoy the next day. We looked at the Christmas tree and stockings before we headed up to bed. I asked Henry one last time what he wanted for Christmas, and he gave me the same answer he gave me all month long, "I want presents". Good boy.

We Started at 4:00 am, How 'Bout You?

Yep, folks, I think I was feeling a little too cocky about the early bed times of Reesie and Henry. First, Reesie woke up at 2:00 am because she was hungry. Then Henry woke up at 4:00 am because he wasn't tired and needed, or so he claimed, to watch Night at the Museum. Reesie woke up at 4:30 for a little cuddling then zonked out for a few more hours. Luckily, Henry didn't remember it was Christmas morning, so we just treated it like any other morning and let him lounge in bed with some chocolate milk.

Around 5:00 am Grandma Jo and Grandpa Brent arrived. Bless their hearts, they traveled 40 minutes through heavy snow to see their grandchildren open presents on Christmas morning! Henry was so excited and asked them if he was going to their house. We then explained that Santa had come in the middle of the night to bring presents to him and Reese while they were sleeping. Henry then noticed that Santa had eaten the cookies we left for him and drank the milk too! He shouted, "Santa ate the cookies! Santa ate the cookies!" We ran downstairs with him to see the presents under the tree. Henry continued to state to my parents "I want to go to your house", after every present that he opened. But pretty soon, he would get distracted by what new present Santa had brought him. The rest is a blur..... here are the before pictures....

...and here are the after pictures...

Spoiled, but Not Rotten
Can I just tell you how spoiled little Reesie and Henry were on Christmas? I won't list everything, because it's much too much and far too long, but I have absolutely no idea where everything will fit in our house!

After we opened presents in the morning we had a big breakfast. Reesie must have smelled the bacon, 'cause that's when she finally woke up! I say finally, but in reality it was 8:00 am, right on schedule for her.

We spent the late afternoon and evening and Grandma Lauri's and Grandpa Wayne's house. The kids played with all their cousins, aunts and uncles and grandparents. We had a delicious prime rib dinner and Grandpa's world famous potato salad and opened even more gifts.

The gifts from Santa and others recap:

Reesie:
Main Gifts: Bookcase / future doll house, books, cabbage patch dolls, clothes, more clothes, stuffed animals, glow worm, little bongo drums, Mini Star activity set, stuffed animals, piggy banks, Munchin music box, handmade quilt, and so much more.
Favorite Toy: As of press time, she loves her glow worm, her stuffed bear with lights inside that changes color and her Mini Star activity set the best.
Favorite Memory: Mine is watching Henners pet her head and wish her a Merry Christmas without even asking him to.

Henry:
Main Gifts: Dinosaurs, Robots, A robot-dinosaur, stuffed animals, books, drum set, 2 huge remote control cars, hero dress up set, spiderman action figures, spiderman shoes, lots and lots of playdough, clothes and an acoustical guitar.
Favorite Toy: As of press time, hard to tell. He loves the drums and the guitar, but constantly plays with both remote control cars and has them battle it out. Once in a while he throws the robo-reptile in the mix with the cars just for fun. Also covets his sister's Mini Star activity set.
Note: Jeremy and I get such a crack out of the hero dress up kit. It has a policema, fireman, cowboy and pirate costume for him to play with. Jeremy calls it "Henry's Village People Starter Kit". Also, Henry enjoys just wearing the sunglasses around the house and doing his best Velma impersonation from Scooby-Doo by tossing his glasses on the floor and exclaiming, "Oh, no! I've lost my glasses!" When he finds them he says, "There, that's better. Let's solve a mystery!"
Favorite Memory: When I asked him, he said that Santa eating his cookies was his favorite and then he sang Jingle Bells to me.

Jen:
Main Gifts: Huge Humidifier (oh yeah, baby!), Dirt Devil Cone vaccuumm in white, facial gift certificate, 30 Rock & The Office DVDs, gift cards, money and coat.
Favorite Toy: Henry's robo-reptile, (What can I say, it sits, it eats it acts like a little dog)
Favorite Memory: Peeking in at both kids and watching them sleep on Christmas morning knowing that this was the last year in a long time that both of them would be in bed early and stay asleep through the night on Christmas Eve.

Jeremy:
Main Gifts: Gift Certificates, more gift certificates, leather football, money, clothes, hats, candy and other misc items.
Favorite Toy: His new i-phone he picked out just 2 days before Christmas and Henry's remote control Hummer.
Favorite Memory: Knowing that we had all the batteries we needed to get through Christmas and watching the kids with their toys.

Good Jeans Day

The day after Christmas, I dressed Reese up in her first pair of jeans! I was so excited that we even staged a photo shoot! Jeremy kind of scratched his head as to why the jeans were such a monumental milestone in her life. Reese and I just laughed. It must be a chick thing that he doesn't understand. By the way, she looked lovely in her jeans!