Christmas morning at our house (on the 24th) was just about as close to perfect as it could be. Josie got up at the normal hour (thank goodness) and was all smiles for the next several days! Per her letter to Santa, he left a couple of presents under the tree in her bedroom and put the others under the big tree downstairs. Josie was SO excited to see that Santa, Mrs. Claus & all the reindeer gobbled up all of their cookies and chocolate milk. And Santa even left a note back to Josie thanking her for the three pictures she made him. (Would you believe he even hung them up in his North Pole Bedroom just like Josie asked?!)
Yep, it was all Christmas magic. Josie skipped around the living room and had some great quotes along the way: "This is the best Christmas ever!" - "The elves made this in the toy machine just for ME!" - "Does Santa shop at TJ Maxx?" - "Thank you Santa!"
Here are some of our favorite photos from our Christmas morning. Enjoy!
We tried really hard to emphasize that Christmas is about giving and not just getting, so we were both really proud when Josie wanted to wait for Lou to open his presents from her before she unwrapped a single thing. And honestly - the satisfaction Josie got out of seeing Lou open his presents confirmed her generous and loving spirit. She's just such a sweet, sweet girl. (I should mention she also insisted that Santa bring a couple of things for Roly Poly. Santa listened and left her two little rattles in her stocking.)
It was really important to me to let Josie pick out whatever she wanted to get for her family. Her logic on picking presents was priceless. She wanted to get Lou yellow socks "because he doesn't have any yellow ones I don't think" but settled for white ones with the orange Puma symbol when yellow was too hard to find. Then she insisted on getting him two Lego guys "so Daddy can play Legos with me when Santa brings me mine."
A little overwhelmed about where to start first -
That Christmas morning smile -
Legos! "Santa did get my letter!"
Fun with "The Cuddle Chimp" (an electronic chimp that she saw downtown at TJ Maxx a couple of weeks ago and instantly added to her Christmas list) -
Chimp Peek-a-boo -
The new sled -
Using her new stamps to spell her name -
Testing out those Legos -
Other hits included: a set of spinning wooden tops, new dry erase easel & magnetic board, more Usborne sticker books, a shopping cart & cash register and lots of new books! (And while it's an understatement to say that this Christmas was way more about gratitude for what we already have than anything else, I will add that I was beyond-surprised and extremely grateful to my dear sweet Lou who about knocked me off of the couch with the surprise "little blue box" tucked into my stocking. What a beautiful gift - a shiny silver locket to hold the pictures of my two daughters! It will truly be something I treasure *forever*!!
2 comments:
There's only word for this: awww!
This sounds like a perfect beginning to a Christmas season. Thanks for sharing the stories and photos, the phrases. Oh what wonderful memories you have. thanks for the photos and sharing. Laurie
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