Christmas Fun

Shaun and I have just been saying that this may have been the best Christmas yet!  The girls are at such a fun age for everything to be so magical.  They were so excited all month long, and would write out their lists to Santa, we decorated sugar cookies, and we had fun watching classic Christmas movies.  I think another thing that's made this holiday so nice is having Christmas in our very own home.  I can't stress that enough after so many years of living in someone else's basement.  And yet another factor that was so nice was the great variety of toys and gifts the girls got.  They were on cloud 9, and that meant we were on cloud 9, and that made this Christmas just about perfect in every way.  

Nothing is more amazing and fun than to see your children so extremely happy!

Christmas Eve Nana and Papa came over and had dinner with us, and then the girls were able to open their presents from them.  Since I grew up always opening gifts with my family on Christmas Eve, it's nice to do a little of that with my own family.  They also opened up one special gift from us (matching Repunzel pj's seen below), and then we went on a special drive to see Christmas lights at Bull Run Park.

 Ella and Amelia enjoyed opening their gifts from Nana and Papa, a microphone for Ella and a truck with blocks and horses for Amelia).

 My cute girls in front of the tree in their Christmas pj's.  

 The drive was eventful.  It started out great, and the girls were looking for Santa in the sky (another great memory from my childhood I'm happy to see continued).  But about 15 minutes into it, Amelia threw up all over the car and herself.  Uuugh!  She had been a little lethargic, but it really surprised us.  We're still not sure what it was, but she seemed better afterwards, and wanted to keep going on the drive.  We drove through Bull Run Park where they make a mini wonderland of lights.  The girls were in heaven (minus the pukey smell in the car of course... oh well, it made it memorable for sure).

When we got home, the girls were exhausted, and thankfully Amelia seemed to be on the mend, so we read stories, said prayers, and it was off to bed for them.  But we still had a long night ahead of us, plus we had a car to clean out:(

 After some hard work and a visit from a certain someone, our house was ready for Christmas morning!  Shaun and I watched "elf" while we worked on being elves ourselves.  Santa brought the girls scooters, and Ella got her dragon and her leopard.  Amelia got a baby doll and a giraffe.

 Shaun's mom sent the girls home made blankets that are so soft Shaun and I are coveting them a little, and hats and pajamas.  She also sent the dolls from Frozen which was perfect since the girls in the movie are sisters and resemble my girls a little in their personalities.

 And then, the moment we'd all been waiting for.... CHRISTMAS MORNING!

Amelia was thrilled with her scooter.  She calls it her "cooter."

 I think she was almost as excited about the candy in her stocking as she was the scooter.  That girl and food.  Apparently she's not sick anymore.

 The super soft blankets from Grandma C

 ... and the Frozen dolls

 Shaun's sister sent super cute dresses that the girls ended up wearing Christmas Day

 And she also sent My Little Ponies and these fun Doggy purses that Amelia is "modeling."

 Ella made me a picture that said, "Ella loves Mommy." with a flower on it.  Seriously, may have been the best gift I've ever gotten.  Shaun also spoiled me and got me a necklace and earrings and a gift card to my favorite store (Talbots).

 Hats from Grandma C

 Ponies from Stephanie

 and the look of joy on Christmas morning

 Ella's favorite gift this year was her leopard, a last minute addition to her Christmas list.  I was laying beside her two nights before Christmas when she told me she wanted a leopard with black spots that sits on it's bottom.  Thank goodness Santa knows how to find last minute leopards.

 The girls also got footie pi's from Grandma, and here they are singing with papa's microphone.  

These girls were in heaven... and so were we!

So Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!