We decided to have our own Christmas celebration a few days after we returned home from visiting my parents, which gave us a couple of days to rest, clean, and get things prepared. Michael ended up wrapping most of the girls’ gifts early in the afternoon on the previous day, but, as usual, we still stayed up much too late on our “Christmas Eve”. I was practically praying that the girls would sleep in the next morning.They didn’t get up until about 8:30, so we were all happy when we finally made our way downstairs!They couldn’t wait to get started on those gifts, but of course, I made them pose for a photo first.BOB books for everyone! I got an amazing deal, so I was able to buy 5 boxes of them. By the end of the morning, Kaya could tell the shape and weight of a box of books even before unwrapping it.“MORE BOB books?!”, she laughed.
Kaelyn is obsessed with dinosaurs. Now I just need to learn the correct pronunciation of all of their names…Preschool practice writing!My little Minnie Mouse-obsessed girl didn’t have her own Minnie stuffed animal, and cried for the one at Grandma Gina’s house when we left after Thanksgiving. So… of course I had to get her one. Skye from Paw Patrol!And a giant Skye! This Chubby Puppies camper was all she could talk about for months, and she has still been playing with it every day!Chubby Puppies for Kaya, too! This was one of my favorites, because when she opened it, she gasped, “My set!!!” She’s been wanting this Calico Critters nursery for a long time.Of course, you need some baby kitties for the nursery!Grandma Debbie sent them the tree house!For Nella, I wrapped up something that we already had, but she had never seen before……the singing Fisher Price puppy! (remember how much Kaya loved this?) Nella was immediately in love, and I just can’t get enough of her smile here.This present ended up being the biggest hit of them all for Kaya… her Bootsie cat! Leading up to Christmas, she kept telling me she wanted “the cat that makes 20 sounds!”, which was just her way of saying she wanted this one, haha. It’s probably the closest thing we’ll ever have to a real cat.We wrapped up this water slide and pretended it was a gift for Michael, which he opened last. The girls were a little confused, but really surprised!I also gave Michael the Pie Face game, which was really a gift for the whole family. I love how he laughed as soon as he saw what it was!Where is Nella?
Playing in the pile of wrapping paper, of course! She also wore her very first pigtails on this day.We took a break from playing with new toys to have some “reindeer donuts”!I love how it is so easy to make them happy with the simplest of things. The rest of the day was spent playing with their new things, resting, and cooking our traditional pot roast dinner. Kaya just loves her Bootsie, who goes everywhere these days.We had dinner at the end of the day!Nella apparently really really likes pot roast! My very favorite part of the day was snuggling up with my sweet girls, playing together, and getting hugs and kisses from them. Those are the best memories.