Christmas 2012

Christmas Day was pretty laid back for us. Roman and I got to bed at a fairly decent hour the night before which is good because we had Braeden jumping up and down in our bed starting at 5. I am all for getting up that early on Christmas, but convincing my other two that it's a reasonable waking hour is an entirely different story. We let Braeden go out and check to see if Santa had come and open a couple of his presents while we, not so quietly, waited for the other two to stir. He did a pretty good job of occupying himself, but it's really hard to wait when you can see everything right there in front of you!

We let him give Daddy the gift he had gotten him because he could hardly contain himself any longer. Braeden was totally into the spirit of giving this year. It was wonderful to see him delight in making other people happy. 

While we waited for Evan and Maggie, he and Daddy played Daddy's new gift, Battleship.

By six o'clock we could wait no more and went to wake up the others. Even Evan who does NOT appreciate being awoken before he is ready, willingly got up to see that Santa had visited during the night. 

They were excited, but a bit groggy still.. 

And then the fun began. Even Maggie was all about opening her own gifts this year. She's not as fast as the boys because, well she's 1, but she held her own. 

Then it was on to my parent's house to open presents with them and my brother's family. 

 These are the birdseed birdhouses that the kids made for my mom. They turned out awesome and are super easy to do!

It was a wonderful Christmas. We celebrated with friends over the weekend and then spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with family. I think the kids had a great time without being overwhelmed. I was able to relax and enjoy it all which was fantastic.