Christmas was different and new and exciting this year. Different, as my mom came down to visit for Christmas! I can't remember the last time I was able to spend a Christmas morning with her, years and years ago to say the least and it was such a blessing to have her in our home to celebrate with us! New, because it was Paytin's very first Christmas and the first Christmas Brayden really "got" Santa and understood he was coming! And exciting, because with two young kiddos, a mountain of gifts, a tradition of singing Happy Birthday to Jesus over Cinnamon Rolls, and new toys to play with for all, who wouldn't have a great time?!
Christmas Eve was relaxing and wonderful. Mike wasn't feeling the greatest but we were all able to enjoy the evening together. Mike made a delicious dinner for us to enjoy, we got the kids in their jammies and went to look at Christmas lights, Brayden and I made cookies for Santa, we got some adorable pictures of Paytin in her Christmas tutu, and we watched the Charlie Brown Christmas (tradition) together. We also enjoyed our brand new Night Before Christmas book (one of those ones that you can record yourself reading), even though it kept malfunctioning and Mike and my mom and I couldnt stop laughing. Then after the kids and Grammy went to bed, Santa's elves went to work getting everything ready for the big morning!
After I nursed Paytin around 2ish in the morning, I was so excited it took me almost 2 hours to fall back asleep!
Christmas morning did not dissapoint in the slightest :). It was everything I hoped for and so much more. I tend to build things like holidays up in my mind, wanting them to go the perfect way, and am sometimes dissapointed when everything doesnt go according to "my" plan, but I had resolved to be flexible and ENJOY the moments and in that, everything went perfectly! Brayden came running downstairs after Mike and I finally had to wake him up around 8, to see his table and chairs and new bike with training wheels that Santa had left him, he was so excited and very very happy and then got to open his stocking as we all opened ours. He kind of had a look about him and said quietly, "Santa didn't bring me my plane." Not too sad or anything, but very matter of factly. It was SO sweet and SO cute and something I will remember. See, growing up in my house, Santa left all the presents unwrapped under the tree, but at Mike's house, Santa wrapped some of the presents and left others out. So in creating our own family traditions, we went ahead and wrapped some and left some unwrapped. Santa had simply wrapped Brayden's plane in Santa's special wrapping paper! He has been asking for this plane from Santa for about 6 weeks, and after seeing Santa twice in person to tell him he would like a plane, and getting a letter in the mail from Santa that he was on the good list, and then getting a video from Santa, his heart really was set on this plane "from the Cars movie with Finn in it". It was a $20 plane, and the fact that it was a cheap gift that he asked for, that he wanted with all his heart, was just SO endearing and precious to me. He loves that plane and I love the magic that it embodies, the Christmas magic :). Stockings are something that we grew up having in our family. Santa would fill them with goodies when he stopped by on Christmas night, but Mike's family didnt do stockings. That's another tradition we love in our family and have decided to carry on, like an advent calendar and other such things.
After the inital fun that Santa had come, we enjoyed opening our wonderful gifts from our loved ones and not one person was anything short of ecstatic. Even our sweet little Paytin who was just smitten with her very first baby doll from Grammy. She immediately starting hugging it and sucking on its thumb and hand ;).
Mike's family joined us at our house that afternoon for us to all open presents together then as well. Brayden went out and rode his first "big boy" bike that Santa had brought him, and his awesome Razor scooter from Grandma and Grandpa while sporting his rocking shark helmet from Mike's folks. It was just so much fun, so so so much fun and I was constantly reminded all day long, completly aside from the material things we were blessed with, just how MUCH and how MANY people we are truly blessed by, and how much we have to be thankful for. I loved hearing Brayden talk about how Jesus shares presents with us on His birthday, and that thats why we have a star on our tree, really just brought the whole day full circle for me :). I don't know how our 2012 Christmas could be any better than this one, but I'm already looking forward to it!!!
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