Christmas has drastically changed since the last time I blogged about it. My previous blogs on Christmas described how I couldn't hear "All I Want for Christmas is You" by Mariah Carey without longing for a baby. The next year, right around Christmas, I was expecting Maggie. Now, two years later, I have Maggie and John Crawford! As this is the first year that Maggie understands what Christmas is all about, I have to say that Christmas is more fun with kids than it was as a kid!
For Christmas Eve, we hung around the house, got one last minute gift, went to Mama's, opened pajamas, and went to see Christmas lights. Maggie has an obsession with Christmas lights. It doesn't matter how tacky or small, she gets so excited! When we got home, we read "A Reindeer Christmas". We have read that book almost every night since Thanksgiving! It is a surprise find. One of my students gave it to me last year at a shower for John Crawford. Then, we prayed and Maggie went to sleep. About 10 minutes later, I realized that we had not put cookies out for HoHo! Jordan said we should wake her up, so I did. She was so confused! She put out one cookie for each person in the house and two Hershey kisses "'cause I like chocolate!" Then, she went to bed and HoHo came!
She woke up at 6:35 on Christmas morning. When I went into her room, I reminded her that HoHo was supposed to come. When she came running into the living room, she bypassed the easel and presents and went straight to the cookies! Jordan had left one with just a bite out of it. She picked it up and ate it! Then we got her focused on the gifts from HoHo. She still wasn't quite excited about Santa coming. She opened her broom and had a few "ooohs", but the biggest "oooh" came when she opened her baby doll and learned that it sang "Ring Around the Rosies". She is quite obsessed with that song right now, so this was the best present ever! HoHo also left her a bath fishing game and sippy cups that would not fit in her stocking. When the grandparents arrived, she opened a "10 Little Monkeys" book, bunny sweater, Minnie Mouse slippers, and iPad Mini from us. Then Granma and PopPop brought her money, an iTunes gift card, and an iGuy! She was not as excited about the iPad Mini as I thought she would be until it was in the iGuy.
John Crawford had slept through all of this excitement, but he woke in time to open his gifts. He got a singing monkey, a tool workbench, and an airplane from Santa. He had no idea what was going on! Granma and PopPop brought him diapers (hooray!), pacis, rattles, socks, books, an Old Navy gift card, and money.
Then Jordan and I cooked breakfast. We made birthday pancakes, bacon, and eggs. I made Maggie's pancakes look like a reindeer with bacon antlers. We sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus and Maggie blew out the candle. As soon as breakfast was over, Keith was holding John Crawford and thought he smelled funky. He gave him to Nana, and realized that he had poo juice on his shirt! JC had his first blowout on Christmas day! Commence bath time!
After the grandparents left and the babies were bathed, we opened stockings. JC got a hand-puppet book, an elephant puppet, bottle name bands, an Elmo bath cloth, and another book. Maggie got a Santa Pez, a candy cane filled with M&Ms, a Cookie Monster bath cloth, wooden beads to string, and a pretend hair dryer and brush.
After nap time, we went to Nana and Pa's to celebrate. On the way, she wanted to sing "Rudolph". Her favorite carols are "Rudolph", "Jingle Bells", and "Frosty the Snowman". We exchanged gifts with Nana, Pa, Keith, and Emma-Leigh. John Crawford got a walker, clothes, and a bath towel. Maggie got a baby doll carrier/high chair/swing/stroller/packnplay, a book, a dress, and a bath towel. JC talked and blew raspberries, and Maggie had a great time playing with Emma-Leigh. She loves to hide from me. We've found her in the bathtub and hiding under pillows. My babies keep me laughing!
John Crawford has slept through most of the day. Maggie has been mystified by everything! She's in such a good spirits! After she ate her lunch, she wanted to dance with me while we listened to Christmas music. She has played with almost every toy, hers and his. One of her apps on her iPad repeats everything she says, and all she wanted to tell it was "broom and baby doll". We are just SO blessed! As a child, I remember opening gifts passing so quickly, but today it seemed like just when the gifts were supposed to be over, more would appear! We try to only get them three gifts from Santa and three from us to limited greed and excess. They are both such lucky babies to always have what they need and a lot of what they want.
As parents, Christmas takes on a whole new meaning. God gave his son to the world. We try to give gifts that bring surprise and excitement, like Jesus. Meanwhile, we try to teach Maggie about giving to others. Her other favorite Christmas book is "Pete the Cats Saves Christmas". Pete's mantra in this book is "Although I am small, at Christmas we give, so give it your all!" Maggie made a shoebox for Operation Shoebox, stuffed a bag with goodies she picked out for a ministry in Spartanburg, picked out gifts for a child in foster care, and gave gifts to those who are special in her life. She even wrapped up one of her own toys to give to Nana! I think she understands the point of giving!
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