Christmas 2007

This Christmas was wonderful! Bailey was old enough to understand Santa Clause, and the elves that were watching, and that the pretty papered boxes under the tree actually had something in them! On Christmas Eve we had plans to send Nate off snowmobiling while the girls and I stayed home and really got ready for Santa. You know, baking cookies for him and his reindeer, and cleaning so that he wouldn't trip when he brought our gifts in. Well, that was the plan, but we had another visitor when we woke up that morning. An old (and frequent this year) friend we call the flu. I was the only one who got it, but it changed the day. Nathan stayed home to help the girls get ready for Santa, and I stayed on the couch. After about 12 hours of the worst, I felt better. I asked permission to attend the Christmas Eve dinner at Nate's brother's home and they said it was fine. They also had some germ issues :). The more the merrier?? We had a wonderful dinner (Steph always makes delicious dinners!), had fun acting out the Nativity (Bailey-an Angel/Nate-Narrator/JoAnn-Video Recorder/Brinlee-a random wanderer throughout), went and saw an amazing lights display (it was coordinated to music!), and the girls opened up one present each in their Christmas Jammies. This year the present was a new book. Bailey got Alice in Wonderland because imagination has become such a large part of our lives, and Brinlee got a board book about different things in the home. It was lots of fun. We drove home watching for Santa's sleigh in the sky, and both girls were out by the time we pulled in the garage!

Christmas morning came when Nate couldn't sleep anymore (another long story about Christmas Eve Day....another time!), and he woke Bailey up at 7:30. She had to go and get Brinlee before she could go and see what the living room had in store! In the end, you can see that Bailey had plenty to be excited about! She did get the long awaited for Princess Belle shoes, plus 5 other pairs of princess shoes.

Brinlee was happy with her new baby, until it wouldn't stop crying! She loves her frog that sings her to sleep (and so do her mommy and daddy!) The white teddy bear was for Brinlee, but Bailey has adopted it as her own now. It lights up and is a really good nightlight for her. And it is on a timer! Since her Christmas lights came down, she needed something! The castle is in both pictures because it is for both girls, and they love it. Sharing has not been an issue yet, and I am grateful for that! After the morning with our family, we went down to Nathan's sister's home and had a family breakfast. This is always delicious, and am glad that I was feeling well enough to really eat!

Christmas Dinner was just us, and it was so fun for me. I went all out (oven lasagna and all!). Okay, it was easy. But I did add a salad, breadsticks, and fun punch. We ate on Christmas plates. This was especially fun for Bailey. A small plate on a big plate was something she had never seen before. It was so convincing to Bailey that dinner was a big deal, that she ate some caesar salad. Wow! I was so proud of her! I told Nate that he is in charge of taking the pictures from now on since he can't behave in pictures when he is in them. This is the better of two. He is such a dork sometimes!

Christmas of 2007 is a happy memory for me. I hope that they continue to be just like this one!