Christmas 2012

Christmas wasn't what we had originally planned but it turned out to be wonderful. We were expecting our new baby boy on Christmas Eve and were hoping he would come early to be home with us for the Christmas season. Christmas Eve came and no sign of baby showing up anytime soon. We spent the evening together for our last time as a family of 3. We had some dinner and went to see all of the Christmas lights around town. While we were looking at one of the houses, we saw Santa Claus walking into their front door. It was a great way for Graham to see that he was visiting the houses so he needed to get home and get to bed. When we got home, Graham discovered that the elves had brought him and his baby brother some new jammies, a blanket, and a new friend to sleep with. Graham loved it. He got right into his jammies, posed for a few pictures and then told us he needed to go to bed.  I've never seen a kid go to bed so willingly. We didn't have to fight him once. I wish every night could be Christmas Eve! Once Graham was in bed, Eric and I watched a Christmas classic, Home Alone, and then went to bed ourselves so Santa could come.

Graham woke up Christmas morning around 7:45am and crawled into bed with us, as usual. He asked to watch a show, so happy for the opportunity of a little more sleep, Eric and I let him. About 10 minutes into the show, he asked for a drink and a snack. We told him to go out to the kitchen and get his sippy out of the fridge, thinking he would see the presents. When he came back into our room, he was complaining that he couldn't find it and needed our help. I told him to go look on the "copy" table (he calls it a copy table because he says we don't drink coffee) and see if I left his drink there. We listened as he ran out to the front room to find his drink. All the sudden, we heard an intake of breath followed by his little feet running as fast as they could down the hall. "MOM!!! DAD!!! Santa brought me presents!!! HURRY!!!" We all got out to the front room where Graham was anxiously dancing around, waiting to open his presents.

 Graham got a big piggy bank to put all of his "quennies" in. It took him and daddy a good 1/2 hour to put them all in.

 Eric got a motorized helicopter last year that ended up being broken. When we took it back to exchange it, they had run out of them so he was devastated. Of course, I had to redeem myself this year and get him a new one. He was one happy guy!

Graham got:  In his stocking
a new electric toothbrush
Bubble bath
Superhero underwear
and some candy

Presents:
Candyland, Chutes and Ladders, Hungry Hippos, and UNO
Mr. Potato Head
Walkie Talkies
LOTS of Hot wheel tracks (we got him a lot of new tracks and wrapped them all indivdually. He was very happy to get them but after every track that he opened, he exclaimed "another hot wheel?!?!" I guess we better be a little more creative next year. )
A couple movies
Coke bottle piggy bank

Eric got: In his stocking
Shaving Cream
Body wash
A new toothbrush
Cologne

Presents:
Helicopter
Guiness Records 2013 book
Some new shirts and sweaters
Puzzle


Julia got: In her stocking
Body spray
A new toothbrush
CD

Presents:
Rings
A new paddle for the mix-master
A large mixing bowl
Slippers
Painting in the nursery framed

We got more presents from friends and family as well.

We had a great Christmas, just the 3 of us. It is full of memories that we will have of just Graham. We love our little family and are so excited to add to it.