Christmas 2010

Every year on Christmas Eve we head to my parent's church for mass and then back to their house for some good food and great company and a visit from Santa Claus.  The kids love spending time with each other and opening a few (ahem....a LOT) presents before heading home to bed in hopes that Santa did indeed have them on his GOOD list.  And, of course they all were on the good list :-)

By the time Chris and I get home it is quite late with quite a bit to do that includes getting our breakfast casserole ready for the morning and helping Santa arrange all his presents "just so" under the tree.  Then, we kick back with a drink, some Christmas carols and only the tree lighting up the house.  It's a brief bit of quiet bliss before the morning starts the festivities again and it's a favorite of our Christmas traditions.

This year Santa had the girls on the VERY GOOD list.  Did you know he had a very good list?  I didn't, but he explained to me that I had never made it past the GOOD list so he wasn't surprised to find out that I didn't know about the VERY GOOD one.  Hmm.....I wonder if this has anything to do with how much he liked Julia's cookies?  They were very tasty and decorative! 

This year was a bit of a magical year for Julia.  I think at the age of 5 you are so filled with wonder and excitement that everyone around you can't help but be filled with eager anticipation for Jesus' Birthday and everything that comes along with His birthday!  She loved every one of her gifts and has been playing with each and every one of them every day and I think the joy of playing with the new toys will take a long time to wear off.  Santa brought her the cash register, walking kitty and tea set that she wanted and he also thought to include Cinderella's Wedding Gown and a play school set.  When it was time to get dressed Julia donned the wedding gown and wore it all day!  She told me that when she was on Santa's lap she told him that we are going to Disneyworld next year and that is the reason he brought the Cinderella dresses for her and Emma.  Thank you Santa for being so thoughtful!

Finnegan meets the walking cat while lounging on the blanket and playing with the sock puppet Santa left for her.

  

Emma was sound asleep not a bit worried about Santa's arrival but her slumber was cut a bit short when Julia decided to wake up early.  We managed to coax her to wake up enough for us to venture out into the living room as a family, but she really started to wake up when Julia helped her look at all her new toys.  She received a Barbie and Pony and the Pony walks when you press the button on his back.  The pony caught me off guard with how quickly he walks and Barbie took quite a few spills on her Pony!  I'm glad to say that Emma has not seen any similar falls during her weekly pony rides at The Center - thank goodness!  She also was thrilled with her Penguin Race game that I added a battery interrupt switch to so she can activate it with her switch.  I am hoping this will help us teach her stop and go better since she doesn't seem to want to ever stop on her Cooper Car that we are using to get her ready for a power wheelchair.  So far she is a bigger fan of go than stop with the Penguins, too, but I think it is just a matter of time before she starts to play the Stop/Go game with me and the Penguins.  A remote control puppy was also a big present for her.  It is so cute!  He is a yellow lab and will walk, sit and bark based on the buttons you push on his bone shaped remote control.  I plan to add these commands to her iPad so she can see very quickly that when she pushes a command on the iPad that something happens.  I hope she has fun with this one as I am always looking for more ways to motivate Emma to communicate other than her smile, cry and eye gaze.  She also received Cinderella's Wedding Dress and a big girl tray table that will go over her ChildRite chair when it is set on some wood to elevate her feet a bit.  Julia loves the tray table and has already made a request that Santa puts another one of them in his bag for her next year.  Oh, how I got a laugh out of that one - with Santa scarcely out of our house we are already thinking up things for next year!

Two other presents that were instant hits came from the grandparents.  Julia received a pink microphone and immediately put on a show for us after dinner that would have rivaled Hannah Montana (and yes, she received that movie which she loves and will likely use as inspiration for more of her performances).  She started out a little shy since this was the first time she wasn't using a baby bottle as a microphone, but eventually started dancing around, taking the microphone out of the holder, rocking the stand back and forth and doing turns.  I captured some of the performance on video and will post a bit at another time.  Emma received a pink hippo tent and when she realized what it was when I opened it she squealed out loud and gave such a happy reaction.  She didn't react much to the rest of the presents other than interest, so I was more than thrilled to see her reaction to the tent.  She has been playing in it quite a bit and it usually rocks back and forth from all her laughter in it.  The tent folds flat when not in use which makes me super duper happy, and it is large enough when opened  up that Julia can wheel her tea set right into the tent and have a tea party with Emma while Emma watches Beauty and the Beast on the DVD player which is something they did on Christmas morning.  

Christmas day was spent playing with the new toys and eating some yummy food.  Both sets of parents were able to join us for dinner at our house and I was so pleased to use the plates I inherited from my Nan.  It was a lovely meal filled with laughter and love and we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and ate a delicious cake made for Him for dessert.  This really was a magical Christmas.  

I know that many people that read this blog are always on the lookout for good presents for children like Emma, so I've included the links to some of the items she received (note:  The item was not necessarily purchased where the link leads you to because I just included a link to the first item that popped up in my google search!) in case you were wondering.

Christmas Kisses

Emma has started giving kisses lately - both unsolicited and solicited.  She gave Chris many, many kisses the other night after Julia's school Christmas party.  She loved when we told her to give Daddy kisses and she would turn and open her mouth and place it on his cheek.  She did this over and over again giggling the whole time.  Chris just loved it!

The other night after a round of heavy duty playing before bedtime (thus her disheveled look!), I held Emma on my lap and she lifted herself up and planted a kiss right on my cheek.  She was so happy with herself!  And, I was thrilled with the gift of her kiss.  Chris thought to grab the camera and take a few photos that I share with you here.  This was truly a magical moment for me.

We hope you experience some magic this Christmas season.  Merry Christmas to you!

Dear Santa

Julia wanted to write a letter to Santa the other day and asked me to write it for her.  She dictated it to me because she thought it would take her too long if she wrote it.  Here is the letter:

Dear Santa,
I've been a good girl.  My sister has been, too.  I love you.  I hope you have a great time having my cookies.  I would like a walking cat, a cash register and a tea set.
Love,
Julia

Sooooo cute.  I love how she tells Santa that her sister has been good, too.  She is always looking out for Emma.  I just love how she tells him to have a good time eating her cookies!  We've been baking a lot and she keeps telling us not to eat the cookies because they are for Santa.

I'm looking forward to seeing if Santa leaves Julia and Emma a note like he did last year because I'm sure he won't leave any cookies on the plate :-)

Mall Santa

On Friday the girls dressed up in some Christmas outfits and we headed to the mall to see Santa.  This is the first time they've ever been to see the mall Santa up close.  We've looked at him from afar the past few years but never ventured up to sit on his lap.  This year we decided it was time to pay him a visit.

I was thrilled that we arrived to see Santa waiting just for us - there was not a child in line!  He seemed to have a steady stream of visitors after us, but I think timing our visit to him with the last day most public schools are in session and are having their holiday parties was a good plan.  Julia walked right up to Santa and had a long chat with him while I took Emma out of her chair and fixed her outfit and handed her over to Santa.  Emma was NOT pleased at all to be with Santa and started screaming crying immediately.  Thankfully, though, the mall Santa has a secret weapon - lots and lots of people walking by his throne.  Emma had to stop crying to get a good look at all the people walking around.  She is just that nosy!  And, while she forgot about being on Santa's lap I started playing peek-a-boo with her while the photographer snapped a few photos and we ended up with a pretty good photo with Santa.  I can't get over how much Julia looks like a little lady in this photo.  I think she doesn't have a smile because there were so many photos taken and I guess the person selecting the photo to print focused on the best one of Emma thinking we didn't want to capture the blood curling screaming moments before she smiled.  I do want it to go on record that Julia did have a smile for a lot of the time she was sitting with Santa, though.

Since our visit with Santa took about 5 minutes total we had time to hit a few stores and finish up all our Christmas shopping.  The crowds were pretty heavy even at 10:30 am and were outrageous when we left around 12:30 pm.  Thankfully, we shouldn't have to visit the mall any more before Christmas because I don't deal so well with the huge crowds.

Here are a few photos I snapped of the girls when we stopped to throw a few pennies in the fountain - our one tradition each time we visit the mall because a girl can never have too many wishes!

Speaking of wishes, I want to take a moment to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Recap of my day

Today was just filled with FUN!  It's the kind of day that just fills me with all kinds of happiness!

Emma went to school this morning and Julia and I hung out for a bit - had some breakfast, did some shopping, made some cookies, wrapped some presents, played house.  Then, we went to pick Emma up from school, found out she was having a happy day so we stayed for circle time and the craft before coming home.  Once home, I took out the iPad and asked Emma if she wanted to go for a nap and she said no.  I asked her if she wanted to watch a tv show with Julia and she said yes - 3 times.  We are trying hard to establish a consistent Yes/No response in Emma again and when I asked her about the tv I was certain she was answering what she wanted because I asked her multiple times and she responded the same way each time.  I consider this progress.  After watching a bit of Dinosaur Train, Emma went down for a nap and Julia and I ate a late lunch and then decided to play downstairs.

Emma took a very short nap today, so when she woke up I brought her downstairs to play with us and we managed to play for over 2 hours until Chris came home to no dinner but a happy, giggly bunch of girls.  We had a tea party and did some flash cards.  Emma used her iPad to tell me she had enough of the cards and I consider that progress, too.  Then, Julia built a beach retreat out of blocks and Emma commando crawled with very little assistance into the retreat.  We followed it up with a snack and then Julia put on a show for us.  She is quite the performer which is so funny given that she is quiet and reserved in front of new people but is always ready to show off her singing and her dancing.

For today's performance she donned a costume and used a baby bottle for a microphone, put on her high heels and jumped on the coffee table stage.  Emma had a front row seat and cheered her on the whole time.  When I started singing along Julia told me that only she and Emma could sing because it was their show.  Oops...I think Julia has figured out that I sing terribly off key.  Then, Julia had to go backstage to change costumes and Emma guarded her door from fans and then she was back on stage for another song.  Since I had my camera downstairs I managed to snag a few photos of the big concert to share with you.

First Act, outfit complete with high heels

Changing Outfits, Emma as Bodyguard

Second Act

Emma is her biggest fan!

Julia adds in some fancy dancing to keep the crowd entertained

We finished off the afternoon with a friendly soccer game where Emma was running around in her KidWalk with me helping to steer it while she consistently kicked the soccer ball and played a game with Julia.  Both girls were in fits of giggles and my heart was filled with joy by the time the game was over.  Chris came home to a happy house, even if it wasn't filled with any semblance of a dinner.

I did manage to heat up some leftovers and then we rounded out the night with a dance party before putting the girls to bed.  I just love these kinds of days.  Even if Emma is screaming her head off that we put her to bed.  I don't think she wanted the fun to end!