December 2016 was one for the books. It was a rough month & I have never been so sick in all my life. Enough trips to the ER to last a lifetime. I spent the afternoon of Christmas Eve in the Urgent Care with Noah who had strep throat, & then at 2:30 am on Christmas morning Ruby started throwing up. Life is like that sometimes - the hard coming all at once. But we survived, & in spite of all that was going on, it was still a really wonderful Christmas with much to be thankful for. Holidays are simply the best with little kids & Christmas just can't be topped. I love the anticipation & the excitement & getting to see the joy my children experience.
Our annual nativity - Ruby always takes her role as Mary so seriously.
Noah was insistent that he be the angel this year & he was so serious about his part. He must have sung "Glory to God" a thousand times that night. I love the way kids are naturally so interested in the story of Christ's birth.
Christmas Eve! They got to open their jammies that their elf brings them every year & then we let them open their gifts to each other as well. It was so cute to see them so excited about giving to each other & so pleased with the presents they had picked.
Christmas morning!
Noah's smile makes me laugh in this picture. It was the best I could get & all he wanted to do was open that big present behind him. It was his train table & he couldn't have been more excited to open it.
Ruby was thrilled with her dollhouse. This turned out to be the biggest labor of love. I thought I had got an amazing deal on it & when Tyler & I took it out of the box 2 weeks before Christmas we just about died - everything had to be painted & assembled - I'm talking every single one of those shingles on the roof had to be painted & glued on one at a time. My little brother saved the day & put in a ton of time on it while I was so sick. I'm just glad the paint dried in time to wrap it!
Ruby especially got into the spirit of giving gifts this year & had a present for everyone. It was mostly various toys & jewelry that she had taken out of her room & stuffed in bags & then somehow mysteriously ended up back in her room after Christmas was over. But it was a really cute start & she was so proud of herself & everyone's reactions. And I loved how she came up with the idea entirely on her own - she's always so thoughtful.
Noah playing with some of his trains - this boy could not have been more fun this year at Christmas. He was so into all of it & especially loved waking up each morning & running downstairs to see where the elf was hiding. And he had endless questions about baby Jesus, & angels, & Santa & reindeer etc. etc.
