Wonderful and White

Have I mentioned how much I love Christmas? I love everything about it. The tree, the decorations, shopping for presents, wrapping gifts, watching those little expressions as they rip the wrapping paper, baking cookies... all while taking in the true meaning of the Holiday. Yes, I've always loved Christmas.... but it's quite possible this was my favorite one yet! The girls are at such the perfect age - old enough to really understand and enjoy it, but still little enough to be genuinely excited about little presents like dollar store coloring books.

Josh is usually the first to wake up on Christmas morning. The last two years he has been trying to drag everyone out of bed at 6am! But since we were up until 3am as Josh assembled the wood play kitchen that Santa delivered... we actually got to sleep in this year. Luckily we got up just in time... Kaylee was about to come out of her room as Josh got to her door.

Since their Santa present wasn't wrapped we had the girls close their eyes and brought them to the kitchen to see if Santa ate the snacks we left him. (We got home too late from my niece's bday party to make cookies so I let Kaylee pick the treats - she chose Oreo Truffles, Muddy Buddies, marshmallows, red licorice and a glass of milk. Oh, and baby carrots for each of the reindeer (she made me count three times to make sure we had enough for Rudolph!) Kaylee was very excited to see that Santa had enjoyed her treats and left a thank you note in its place.

Once the cameras were rolling, we turned the girls around to see their brand new play kitchen (complete with pots and pans like Mommy's.) Their little feet couldn't run fast enough! Kaylee has been wanting a play kitchen for a year now and was so happy that Santa had remembered her wish. And Jadyn was just as excited! She's still a little short to reach everything, but loves to open and close the oven and can put things in the microwave if she stands on her tippy toes. After about 15 minutes of graciously accepting cups of "hot chocolate" and "cookies out of the oven" we asked the girls if they were ready to open more presents. But they just wanted to keep playing! So cute.

Of course, it didn't take a whole lot of convincing once they realized there were more fun things waiting for them under the tree. As you can see, the girls made out pretty good! (Part of the problem with starting Christmas shopping in the summer... you forget just how much you bought!)

Josh and I just loved sitting back, watching our sweet little girls and seeing how genuinely excited they got for every present they opened. Jadyn looked like such a big girl opening all of hers... and would give each thing a big hug after taking it out of the wrapping paper. Of course they loved everything but had a couple favorites. In addition to the play kitchen, Kaylee fell in love with her Horse-Drawn Barbie Carriage and was very excited to play all her new games.Not surprisingly, Jadyn was most excited about her new baby dolls. She carried them in her arms all day (giving lots of hugs) and insisted that I change their outfits over and over. Oh, and she was also a big fan of her toy vacuum, and didn't seem to mind all the effort it took to push it around!





We also gave Kaylee some crowns and princess shoes to go with the dress up outfits that her Aunt Mandi and Aunt Angel got her. The girls had a blast with them... especially Jadyn! She is definitely our girly girl out of the two.

In the afternoon, we headed over to my moms house for round two of presents (plus a yummy Prime Rib dinner!) My parents always do so much for everyone and find the perfect presents! One of Kaylee's favorites was her new Tinkerbell suitcase, complete with a Tinkerbell pillow, blanket, and jammies for the nights she stays at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Jadyn got a Minnie backpack for her gift... and thought that made her a big girl!

Oh, I should also mention that Kaylee was very excited for the Wall-E movie. As soon as she opened it she gave it a big hug and insisted that Daddy take it out to the car for safe keeping.

Josh and I were spoiled too. Our favorite gift (though they were all wonderful!) was a date night kit with movie tickets, red lobster card, and babysitting! I'm pretty sure we'll be cashing that in soon!

It was such a beautiful day. Even though there were lots of presents involved, we all remembered the real reason for the holiday and had a wonderful time just being together. Kaylee reminded us several times that it was "Jesus' birthday" and that we should be thankful for him. I am thankful for Him... and thankful for this sweet family of mine.