Merry Christmas everyone!!!! Hope everyone is having as merry a Christmas as we are. We have been taking advantage of this time to relax and enjoy the season. Bella has gotten into it a little more this year. She knows who "Santa" or should I say "HoHo" is and gets very excited when she sees him. She even recognized him on her Santa paper this year which is what he wraps her gifts in. We spent Christmas Eve doing some things around the house and a little bit of baking. Bella had a blast opening some early presents which were Christmas PJ's for the family and in true girly-girl fashion, had to try hers on right away. Bella got to wear her Christmas PJ's two days! She also got a baby doll that takes a bottle from Priyal and Bhavik which she took care of all day.
Last night we went to Mama and Papa's for Christmas Eve. We had an amazing dinner with loads of treats and then we opened some presents. Olivia, Bella and Colin got some presents (lots of presents) and then we did the adult gift exchange. I got a mani and pedi and Ryan got a drill so we were both pleased as punch. Thanks a bundle Kaitlin and Scott. Tim has been doing a new diet/workout regiment and Danielle gave him this life-size cover for Muscle and Fitness magazine with some huge guy on the front and a hole for his face. Many people tried it on and it was pretty entertaining. Bella got her one true love from Mama and Papa. A cozy coupe. She has been infatuated with this little car forever and now she has one of her very own. Actually she was hilarious during the gifts. She got one of those foam alphabet puzzle mats from Scott, Emily and Colin. She had to set it up right away in the kitchen and once that was done, she would come into the family room and steal every ones gifts and stash them on her mat. She reminded me of a little animal storing up for winter. Papa didn't even get his Cardinal pull-over out of the box before she snuck off with it.
We headed home around 10:45 to get ready for Midnight Mass. We got ready in record time, Ryan and Bella put together the cozy coupe and we even squeezed in a very quick timer picture in front of our tree. It was pretty good considering we did this in one take before we ran out the door. Mass was very nice and Bella decided she would stay up the entire time. She finally fell asleep for the first time on the way home from mass. She missed Santa dropping off her gifts but he worked pretty fast.
Christmas has been pretty perfect so far. I got the first thing on my list... SNOW!!!! What a wonderful thing to wake up to on Christmas morning. And it keeps getting prettier through the day. Bella finally woke up officially around 9:00. Ryan already had coffee made and all of the Christmas lights on. Once we headed downstairs she was only interested in her old toys but then she found her table set and then the kitchen. She also got a stroller which is a pretty hot item. She was a little confused later in the day because she got into her stroller and then there wasn't Carson or Ellie to push her around the house. That is how it normally works. Oh well... back to the kitchen. Ryan and I got some fun gifts also. I was a little more spoiled (which is normally the case) as I got a purse, a book, some tennis shoes and a new flip video camera! He even went and had our family portrait printed the way I wanted and it looks amazing on our wall! Ryan got a lot of clothes from J.C. Pennies. I even have him on video saying "St. John's Bay...really!" Yep, he is a dad now and these are stain-resistant and wrinkle free. Dockers next year. The only thing that wasn't clothes was a picture collage I put together for the basement.
Ryan cooked a yummy breakfast which we both enjoyed and Bella begged to get down and play. Our last presents were actually from my parents and we received it in the mail with instructions that said do not open until Christmas morning. What a present it was too. The first one was a big box which weighed like nothing and the other one was a small box which was pretty heavy. When we opened the big one, a mickey mouse balloon popped out and there was confetti in the bottom. Below it was a card. The second one Ryan unwrapped shortly after and in it was "The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World". As we started to put the pieces together I pulled out the card and started to read it and right about then, my Dad called to say Merry Christmas. Everyone else had just opened theirs. Lissy has the cutest picture on her blog of these Mickey Mouse balloons in the mist of the Christmas Mess! Anyways, the real gift was a gift card to Walt Disney World and the plan is that we will start planning a trip with the whole family sometime in the next two years. YEA!!!!! I'm so excited and I have even started reading my book! THANK YOU GRANDMA AND PAPA!!!! Merry Christmas. I'm just sad I missed the looks on you two's faces when everyone opened their balloons!
Tonight we are headed over to Ryan's Aunt Therese and Uncle Dennis' for Christmas night and tomorrow we are doing Christmas with Aunt Mary and Uncle Ed at Ryan's parents house. I'm so excited to meet all of the new babies! Ryan and I are both off all week so we are going to try and do some fun things, get some work done around the house, hang with Bells and then we are heading back to Kirksville for some Early Christmas time! Enjoy your Christmas and your family!
