Even More Christmas

Just in case the kids didn't get to open enough presents in the 3 Christmas celebrations so far, we threw in another 2 for good measure. Christmas "morning" at Jason's parents was lots of fun for Ellie and Max. Ellie loves her cousins, Paige and Kameron, as you can see from these pics. We can't wait for next Christmas with a new baby cousin for Max to climb all over.

And our Christmas celebration with the extended Freed family at Aunt Pam's is always crazy, noisy, and great. We love all of our family and feel so blessed to get to spend time together.

Rockstar Ellie with her new guitar...now she has a guitar just her size for our Wii Rock Band battles.

Ellie is ready to melt some faces.

Present opening fun.

Every kid loves to make the giant nutcracker talk.

Best buddies.

Max styling in his tuxedo shirt.

The beautiful princesses.

Christmas Morning #2

Santa also brought gifts to our house for another exciting Christmas morning, the day after Christmas. Ellie had some questions about this, but since there are no rules on Christmas presents and when they're received, she was quickly appeased. The kids had a great time tearing open presents and playing with all their new stuff. It was nice to not be on a time table, so the kids could just leisurely open and play.

All during the holiday season, Ellie would see things on tv or in magazines that she wanted. We told her she had to be a good girl and put these items on her list for Santa. She heard this so much that even she said, "I'm getting a lot of stuff on my list, huh?" But the one thing that she kept asking for over and over was a Princess bike and Barbie helmet. And luckily Santa obliged. We're waiting for some warmer weather so she can get really good at riding her new 2 wheeler.

Last Christmas, one of the few items that Ellie asked for was a shopping cart. Well, things happen, and there was no shopping cart for Ellie under the tree last year. She didn't seem to notice, so we moved on. But this year, we found a cute shopping cart and thought she would still enjoy it, so it made it under the tree this time. She was very happy to open the box and said, "Finally. I had to wait a long time for that shopping cart." Yes, she has quite the memory.

Christmas Morning #1

Yay for Christmas morning excitement! After going to Grameo's house on Christmas eve, we all headed back to my mom & dad's so we could wait for Santa together. Santa brought some of kids gifts to Gran and Papi's this year, and boy were they excited. Ellie gets it now. Christmas is tons of fun. Max enjoyed the excitement, noise, pretty lights, fun paper, and new toys.

Christmas Eve at Grameo's

Christmas Eve this year meant another gathering at my Great Grandma's house. Grandma is 96 years old, and we've been going to her house on Christmas eve my whole life. Her tiny, little house can barely hold us all, but it's such a great tradition. For me, Christmas is not quite Christmas unless it includes going to Grandma's.

Cute Max and Ella in their Christmas outfits, ready to head out the door.

We're so excited for Christmas.

Max, Ella and Ellie really enjoyed their Great Uncle Dale this year. Uncle Dale can make kids laugh like no one else.

The mayhem of lots of cousins opening gifts.

He Lost His Head

I have a ceramic nativity scene that Ellie really enjoys playing with. While it is breakable, it is not expensive, so I don't restrict her from it. One day, she sadly brought me Joseph with his head broken off, and this is what she said.

Ellie, quite remorseful: "Sorry, Mom. I broke dis."

Me: "Oh, that's okay. It was an accident, right?"

Ellie: "Yep."

Me: "What happened?"

Ellie: "He fell off the top of the house." (meaning the wooden creche)

Me: "Oh." (pause) "What was he doing on top of the house?"

Ellie, matter-of-factly: "Trying to get baby Jesus."

Me: "Oh." (pause again) "What was baby Jesus doing on top of the house?"

Ellie: "I don't know. He shouldn't have been up there, huh?"

Maybe I'll look for a nonbreakable nativity next year.

Go Rams

We got to take the kids to their first Rams game this month. We had great seats (thanks to a Partner at my office), and the Rams actually played pretty well, but of course they ended up losing. Ellie wore her cheerleader outfit- who cares that it was an MU Tigers outfit - because in her words "the football coach will be happy to see my cheerleader outfit." We stuck around till halftime so Ellie could watch the halftime show, and everyone enjoyed the afternoon.

Better luck next season, Rams!

All Dressed Up

We all got dressed up for a Christmas open house at my cousin's house. Laura and Ella came in for the day so the mommies got to do a little Christmas shopping, while Jason offered to stay home with the 3 kids (what a great dad!). Then we all got into our holiday attire and headed to Festus for some festivities. Everyone looked quite adorable, and it's always nice to spend time with family during the holidays.

Caught Red Handed

While not quite crawling outright, Max is able to scoot and pull himself where he wants to go, and often times he wants to go to the Christmas tree. Many times we'll be in the kitchen, notice the Christmas tree moving a little, and find our little guy under it with a big grin on his face. He's even starting to get into the wrapped presents a bit. He tore a tiny piece of tissue paper off of one of Ellie's gifts, to which she of course cried, "He ruined it!" But who can really be angry at that face.