We made special arrangements with the North Pole this year after Josie informed us that Santa should just wait outside and let Rudolph bring her presents. We figured since Rudolph was already taking custom orders that we'd go ahead and have him split Josie's Christmas deliveries into two shipments as well. So, on Christmas Eve Rudolph brought Josie's first wave of gifts to our condo and he delivered the others to her grandparents' house on Christmas morning. That's right - two Christmas mornings! What could be better?
We were so excited to give Josephine her first experience making holiday memories in her own home and started some new traditions that we hope to continue for years to come. On our Christmas Eve, we made reindeer food for Santa's team so they could find our condo in the city. Josie had a blast mixing the oats and glitter, and we all giggled as Josie dumped the whole thing on the sidewalk outside!
Following Josie's lead, we decided to leave a snack for Rudolph instead of cookies & milk for Santa. Josie wanted to leave him glittery shredded wheats, sparkly oats, and macaroni & cheese. We also wrote a letter to Rudolph, who was happy enough to leave a letter back to Josie. And one of my favorite stories from this season is that Josie asked if she could leave out her high heels on Rudolph's table so that he could try them on when he was in our house.
Here's the letter Josie dictated to me as I wrote to Rudolph.
We'll just call the rest of these "scenes from Christmas morning" because they kind of speak for themselves. Enjoy!
(That fourth stocking was for Carissa, don't get any ideas - we're not pregnant - although we certainly hope to have better luck accomplishing that feat in 2010 than we did in 2009.)
If these next two tell you anything - this is the sun rising as Josie was unwrapping presents - and what a spectacular sunrise it was!
Despite lots of excitement about her new kitchen, doll, books, horse stable, bubble-bugs, and a whole bunch of other goodies - the biggest smile we got all morning was over this huge bowl of blueberries. Which is just so Josie! Wow, we love this little girl!
Really, I think the best part of Christmas this year was seeing it all again through Josie's eyes - running down the hallway to see what Rudolph had put under the tree just before daybreak, watching her rip through the presents and excitedly exploring each one, saying "thank you" to us and to Rudolph as she opened her gifts, the random "Yay" and clapping as she bounced around the condo on the morning of Christmas Eve, way too many gumdrops and candy canes, her little voice singing "Rudolph" for the 100th time and almost making all the way through "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas", Josie telling complete strangers about her big Christmas tree that we decorated together over the course of a week, and all the other seemingly insignificant moments that all came together to make this Christmas one of the most memorable weeks of our lives. I'm already looking forward to next year!
