Our Greatest Gift

Christmas came so fast this year. It took a while for us to get in the Christmas spirit with it still being warm outside and us being so busy with soccer and homework. Somehow, we managed to pull it all together, and Christmas was as magical as ever.

We always spend Christmas Eve at my mom's (more on that later), so we got home around bed time. The girls put out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for Rudolph and hurried up to bed. 

Surprisingly, they fell asleep quickly, and Santa was able to work his magic. He stuffed the stockings full of goodies and left lots of fun stuff under the Christmas tree.

The only thing the girls asked him for was a real fish. They wanted a bowl with a lid, so Toodles couldn't eat him. Grace had a slight panic attack at Grammy's when she realized that Santa might be bringing them a fish that night. It went a little like this: "Grace, why are you crying?" "I'm just worried that Santa is going to bring us a fish, and Toodles will try to eat him, and I don't want anyone to die, and it's too late to tell him that I changed my minddd."

Grammy was a quick thinker and told Grace that cats only like orange fishies. All was right in her world again when I texted "The Elf Hotline" to let them know that WE DID NOT WANT AN ORANGE FISH! They elves said that they were on it and we didn't need to worry. When Santa dropped the fishies off, he had their elf, Clarabelle, leave a note that let them know the tank was cat proof. Phew!

The next morning, the girls woke up and stayed in bed. I heard them talking, but since they weren't getting out of bed, I decided to brush my teeth and change the baby. Finally, I heard them come running. Grace ran in my room and exclaimed, "Santa came! He really came!".

This girl had been a little worry wart all week long. Every night she would tell me how anxious and worried she was feeling, but she couldn't tell me why. She even broke out in red bumps on her chest that we dubbed "worry bumps" due to her anxiety. I was really starting to worry about her. Especially because we didn't know why she was so upset.

Fast forward to Christmas morning when she started seeing all of her gifts under the tree. She sounded so relieved when she yelled out, "Santa really did come, and this really is a good Christmas! We were good this year!". I think that she had been so worried that Santa might not come, because she wasn't being on her best behavior and kept fighting with Charley. This crazy kid was so happy, and she didn't mention being worried once the whole day.

The girls were all so cute noticing the different gifts around the tree. Santa didn't wrap his, because we didn't want to spend so much time unwrapping stuff. They had a blast discovering everything and opening and loving each gift. It was so fun to watch them show Perry her gifts and ask her if she was loving her first Christmas.

Charley was in shock when she saw the mess Santa made out of the cookies.

The girls got new bean bag chairs, since they are getting older and spending more time reading books and doing homework on their iPads. (Also, this is the only picture I got of all three of them the whole day!)

Perry loved her new rocking unicorn and could not get enough of the wrapping paper.

Charley played with her Hatchimal.

Perry napped in her new, bigger DockATot Grand. She was starting to get pretty snug in her Deluxe sized one.

Christmas is usually crazy for us as we run from house to house, and our kids collect more gifts than we know what to do with. This year, we tried to do more practical gifts, since we knew they'd be getting toys from other family members. We only had one place to go, so we got to spend the morning playing at home with the girls enjoying all of their new things. We built houses and castles with their new MagnaTiles, watched them play Punch Out on the new Nintendo, and even made pancakes for breakfast together. 

At lunch time, we headed over to Zacarias' house to celebrate with the Espejo family. The kids all had so much fun running amok and giggling together. They all got super fun gifts including movie tickets and an annual pass to the new Seaquest Aquarium that just opened. We had so much fun spending time with them all and enjoying the yummy ribs that Zac and Stef made for lunch.

We headed home after a couple of hours, and Daddy helped the girls hatch their Hatchimal, which Charley thought was a real-life animal. They were so funny waiting for it to come out. Char was a little disappointed when she found out it was just a toy inside.

Poppa and Gran came over for dinner and brought more presents. The girls opened them, and again, Perry loved the paper best.

The girls got Trolls blankets, book sets, and fun coloring stuff. Their favorite were these Trolls scratch and color books that they played with for the rest of the night.

Perry also got some new books and loved chewing on the tags.

The day was over, and it was almost time for bed. I had to get a few last Christmas shots of Perry first. She kept trying to crawl away until Daddy showed her the lights. Then she was mesmerized. I got some of the cutest shots of her playing with them, while Daddy kept pulling them out of her mouth.

I also had to get a picture of her in this reindeer costume that had been worn by both Grace and Charley. I love things of the girls' that Perry can reuse. It's so fun to remember Grace and Char as babies doing the same things as Perry in the same clothes.

Gracie:

Charley:

Everyone was exhausted after our busy day, and we all went right to sleep.

We had such a great Christmas this year. Grace even said at the end of the day, that while she liked her presents, she loved getting to spend time with everyone. I love seeing the girls' outlooks change as they get older and understand more. They asked more about Jesus this year and the Christmas story, and we actually had to look stuff up to explain it to them. They were so excited to tell Jesus 'Happy Birthday' in their prayers that night. Their curiosity challenges us to learn more, which is a blessing in itself. We are so lucky to have such amazing little girls. They're definitely our greatest gift, and I make sure to thank God for them each and every day.

Merry Christmas!!