Christmas Morning At Our House

Christmas morning was so much fun at our house. Ryan was up at 6:00. He was showered, had made a pot of coffee, and also our special cinnamon twists. I heard him rustle around 7ish and he plopped down in bed.

We sat there for the longest time waiting for Mallory to wake up (last year she woke up super early) and heard nothing.

Finally we heard her moving around and then the noise of her climbing down the stairs. She ran down the hallway and we heard...nothing. Finally she peeked her head into our bedroom then back in the hallway and then peeked into our bedroom again. By then Ryan and I were silently giggling to ourselves. We were surprised to hear her climbing back into bed! We wanted to know what she was thinking at that point.

About five to ten minutes passed before we heard her climbing down her stairs again and rush down the hallway. This time we heard a, "Yes!" She peered into our bedroom a few more times without waking us up. We could not believe it when she climbed into her bed again!

Another five minutes passed and during that time we heard her feet pounding her mattress (her feeble attempt to wake her brother up who is in the bunk below her). Ryan and I were giggling as we waited to see what her next move would be. I wanted to put her out of her misery...but didn't.

Finally Ryan went into her bedroom and asked what that loud noise was. That was all it took for Mallory to say, "Santa's been here!"

Once Miles woke up he bounded down the hallway and gasped as he looked underneath the Christmas tree. It was so cute seeing both of them in awe. What a sweet moment!

Then they began looking through their stockings. They were super excited with the gummies, suckers, and special items that were in there. Miles really liked his new James engine and Mallory really was happy when she opened the Tinkerbell movie she has wanted for quite some time.

There were two things under the tree that were not wrapped. One was a teddy bear for Mallory (with the plump belly she had requested) and the other was Miles' new pet...Spike the dinosaur. Mallory hugged her teddy bear tight from the moment she realized he was hers and Miles was a little hesitant about Spike. He warmed up quickly and ended up terrorizing all of us once he became used to the controller...and Spike.

I was surprised with Mallory. At one point she opened the ABC scrapbook I had been working since this summer for her (Shutterfly is a great place to do things like this). She opened it and smiled as she took the time to look through each and every page. I was excited to see her appreciation for something I work this hard on. She sure is growing up!

After the fun of opening the presents it was Ryan and my turn to take over. For those of you who have children you will share my frustration in saying that many of the toys that were opened require an adult to take them out of the box. I am always amazed with how much plastic, twist ties, and tape that many of the toys (especially Mallory's) have. Phew! Getting through all of that was an accomplishment.

From there our house was full of exploring with the new toys and things that were opened. We had breakfast and relaxed and enjoyed everything. You will see from these remaining photos the fun that we had. It was a Christmas to remember.

I hope you enjoy all of the pictures I have posted and that you have had a very Merry Christmas!