Christmas Day 2009

I love Christmas and Christmas morning bring such joy and excitement. I love going to bed the night before with the presents tucked under the tree everything just waiting til morning. Isaac woke up first, right around 7am. Francis got up with him and waited for Grace to wake up. She had gone to bed late the night before and I knew she wouldn't get a nap. I also hadn't gotten a lot of sleep because of getting up to nurse Ruth. So, Grace got up around 8 and we headed downstairs soon after. They were beyond excited when they saw the tree and read the notes left from Santa. We then sat together and read the Christmas story. This has become a favorite tradition of mine started back when Francis and I had our 1st Christmas together. I love the chance to pause and really remember what the day is about. I think it shows the kids where our priority should be and it gives us a moment to pause together as a family before it gets busy. Here are a couple of pictures from our reading time:

Daddy and his girls

Excitedly opening their stockings- mini boxes of cereal were a big hit!

Ruth wasn't quite ready to get up...

She loves her new buzzing teether :)

Gracie and her flyboat

Isaac giving us the gift he made at school...notice the paper going into Ruth's mouth...

and this was the result! The paper was in her mouth less then 3 seconds and yet it turned her entire mouth GREEN!! (and her hands and mine too!) It was a mess.. of course I asked Francis to take a picture while getting wet wipes to clean her up!

Isaac and his new duplo fire station set

Our breakfast, Berry French Toast Bake (mmmmmmmmm)

This is Ruth's second round of present opening...she needed a nap before we were done opening (not because we had a ton of gifts...but because we take our time opening everything!) :)

Her new favorite rattle...

She didn't want to let it go to open her next one!

Ruth and her new baby

Gracie showing off her new pjs that match her baby!

My 3 babies!

Ruth's 1st Christmas...

Wearing her new Baby Legs for the 1st time... she looks too cute!

We had a wonderful relaxing day together. We didn't leave the house...no one stopped in to see us. We love this. We decided early on that we wanted to have Christmas day just to ourselves. After hearing friends stories of how they spent the day running from one place to another it just reaffirmed to us that this is the way we want to keep it. We enjoyed a relaxing morning opening presents, eating a late breakfast, staying in our jammies and playing with new toys. Too soon it will be just Francis and I...for now I want to hold onto these quiet precious moments as long as I can! :)