Christmas morning
At last, the big day. Christmas morning in our house starts at the reasonable hour of 9:30 - we have a firm restriction on when the kids can wake us up, and they hold to that restriction incredibly well. The past two years, Nick has had the girls sleep up with him in his loft bed the night before Christmas, so the three of them are together when they wake up Christmas morning. It's incredibly sweet.
Once we trundle downstairs, the kids start with their stockings:
That's Nick discovering an autographed photo of Eagles tight end Brent Celek in his stocking, signed, "To Nick." My sister arranged it through a friend of hers. Thanks again, Kate!
I've noted previously that Maria has a talent for making funny faces when we take her picture, especially when she's opening gifts. She was true to form on Christmas:
Before long my parents and my sister come over, all still in their pajamas, so we can all exchange gifts together:
One of Anna's big gifts this year from my parents was a My Twinn doll:
Nick, meanwhile, came in for about seven soccer jerseys on the day, including this shiny new Ronaldo/Real Madrid jersey. Trust me (and Nick's smile!) when I tell you that it's a big deal:
The way to Maria's heart these days is with lots of clothing from Aeropostale:
The kids also give us thoughtful little gifts that they've found for us. Anna went for Chelsea's fascination with small dishes and got her a very small ceramic pot with lid, which was filled to overflowing with caramels:
Curiously, there don't seem to be any pictures of me from Christmas morning. Perhaps it's for the best - I'm usually working a terrible case of bed head.
Once we trundle downstairs, the kids start with their stockings:
That's Nick discovering an autographed photo of Eagles tight end Brent Celek in his stocking, signed, "To Nick." My sister arranged it through a friend of hers. Thanks again, Kate!
I've noted previously that Maria has a talent for making funny faces when we take her picture, especially when she's opening gifts. She was true to form on Christmas:
Before long my parents and my sister come over, all still in their pajamas, so we can all exchange gifts together:
One of Anna's big gifts this year from my parents was a My Twinn doll:
Nick, meanwhile, came in for about seven soccer jerseys on the day, including this shiny new Ronaldo/Real Madrid jersey. Trust me (and Nick's smile!) when I tell you that it's a big deal:
The way to Maria's heart these days is with lots of clothing from Aeropostale:
The kids also give us thoughtful little gifts that they've found for us. Anna went for Chelsea's fascination with small dishes and got her a very small ceramic pot with lid, which was filled to overflowing with caramels:
Curiously, there don't seem to be any pictures of me from Christmas morning. Perhaps it's for the best - I'm usually working a terrible case of bed head.
