Christmas festivities continued. . .

Christmas Day

• Ruby tried to wake up around 4:00 AM, then Alex at 5:00, probably because of excitement and anticipation of what Santa left for them. As we rocked them and put them back to sleep, we tried to avert their eyes from the stash. They went back to sleep, and Bennett woke up at 6:30. Then I had to keep him distracted, until finally everyone was up around 7:00 and the fun began!
• The boys went immediately to their trucks, and then inside the tent, laughing and playing just as I had always imagined it. I don’t know who was more giddy though, the babies or the parents.
• Ruby went straight to her new doll and said “Bebay” so sweetly, as if she knew right away that it was hers forever. She now sleeps with it (and doesn’t forget to bring it with her when I take her out of her crib) and said “Bebay” over and over and over again while she’s holding it. (The boys sometimes want to hold the dolly, but they let Ruby play with the trucks to make it fair.)

• They all love the instruments and are thinking about starting up a band.
• As soon as the kids got bored with the toys in the packages, we took them out of the packages and the fun began all over again. They loved everything Santa brought them! But the foam blocks, that the kids later showed us how fun they are to take huge bites out of (which we suspected, but gave them a whirl anyway), were put away for later.
• The Riberias came up around 8:00 for pull-a-parts, and Strata. Everything tasted so good, and brought back memories of Christmas mornings past. And it’s so great to have family here to make it even more fun and festive.
• The Ribs. went back down to their apartment for their presents, and KC and I enjoyed some present opening together while the babies were asleep. It was a nice to spend that time together talking about the things we got for each other, and there were even a few surprises (hint: what is a girl’s best friend?) We chuckled at the contents of our stockings we filled for each other. Both set of parents were very generous by giving us cash, among other things, that will be put to great use. Camille had our family in the Robinson gift-giving rotation, and gave each of the babies an adorable pair of shoes. Ruby looks hilarious toddling around in them. And the tradition continues with the Calendar Melody and I put together for all the Grahams. I’m very excited to try my hand at sewing with my new sewing machine (I bought a pretty basic one during the Target Black Friday sales, to see if I was any good at it. In a few years, I might upgrade, but this will definitely due for now.) We were very blessed with a bounteous Christmas this year.
• We finally changed out of our pajamas, and got ready for the day around noon, when the Milnes came over to play. The brought the makings for scones, and her famous 12 layer jello. We ate, talked, played games, and watched crazy babies play. A fun-filled afternoon.
• We were so full from the Milnes’ delicious treats (thanks again guys!), and tired from the day’s events, that we decided to hold off on the steak dinner we had planned for the evening until the next day. Elise and Jeff also had plans to go to his aunt’s house. Everyone cleared out around 5 or so.
• After KC and I put the kids to bed at 6:30, we did a little clean-up, turned on Christmas Vacation (thanks for the Netflix tip Jonny), and watched and laughed as we ate pistachios, clementines, and chocolate. Sounds like a good dinner to me.
• 8:00. That’s when I went to bed. I couldn’t keep my eyes open, as much as I wanted to see Clark Griswold get that bonus. It’s a good thing though, because the babies wanted to wake up a lot in the night. Must’ve been all the excitement from the day, or maybe it’s the silly colds they have AGAIN! Don’t worry, we didn’t let that ruin our fun Christmas memories.

All in all, Christmas was wonderful and magical and memorable. I’m so happy to get to share it with my children. Doesn’t it feel like Christmas was a month ago, rather than just four days?! Time to take down the decorations, and pack up the Christmas movies and CDs. Oh, and don’t worry, we did get around to that steak dinner on Sunday. I’m sure it tasted much better than it would’ve, had I made it when I was half asleep, and hardly hungry. Next up. . .New Years!