As Little Will and the Girls Grow: Recap of Christmas 2010

What made the Christmas season fun this year was seeing it through Will's eyes. I kept thinking how special it is that he actually believes there is a Santa, he actually believes that his Elf on the Shelf (Markle) visits Santa each night to report on how he has been, he actually believes that 8 reindeer, led by Rudolf, are coming to his house on Christmas Eve. I guess some people say that its just terrible to lie to your kid about it blah blah blah, but I just think it shows how incredibly innocent young children are and makes me appreciate my kids at this time in their lives all that much more. They don't know about all the "bad things" out there, and truly "live in the moment", loving Christmas and everything magical that comes with it.

I also discovered how difficult it can be to be "Santa" to a child who believes Santa makes all these toys. Will requested many things of Santa that changed often. But his top 2 things were the Buzz Lightyear Twist and the Buzz Lightyear Punch. Now these are the names he gave to the two Toy Story rides at Disney that he loved so much. One night, as I was trying to figure out what in the world he wanted Santa to bring, I tried to explain to him that Santa couldn't bring him a Disney ride because it wouldn't fit in the sleigh, etc etc. And Will got mad at me for telling him what Santa could and could not bring. He got really upset about it, actually. I finally learned that the Buzz Lightyear Twist that he wanted was this figurine he saw in the shop after the ride at Disney. It has Buzz in a mini replicate of the car on the ride that you get into. As soon as I figured that out, I hopped on to EBay and excitedly realized that a) I could buy the exact thing he wanted and b) have it shipped in 3 days to be here by Christmas. Then, Ellis bought the Toy Story Mania Wii game to fulfill this other request (we never were sure exactly what he wanted). The game is almost exactly like the ride, so Will loved it. It is pretty fun (if not a little exasperating!) to "play Santa!"

So here is our month of December (with lots and lots of pictures!):

This was taken while we were at Disney. Faith worked with my parents to have this picture taken and put it in a pillow as a Christmas gift for us. :-)

Will had Breakfast with Santa again this year (the girls stayed home with Grandma to have their morning nap instead). The PTO of our day care put this on for the second year in a row and I hope they keep doing it every year.

Will beemed with excitement to see Santa.

And he had tons of fun doing arts and crafts.

After Breakfast with Santa, we picked out our Christmas tree. Ellis picked it this year and, I must admit, it was our best tree ever.

I am very happy too with the stockings I found this year. I envision they will be the kids' stockings until they have their own children, much like my brother's and mine were. :-)

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, we headed to the upstate to spend time with Ellis's family. We are so thankful that Ellis's mom had enough strength to visit with us and play a little with the kids. And we also got some great shots of the kids with their cousins, Kate and Anna.

Carter

Then, we raced home, got all the children to bed, and then Mommy and Daddy got "ready" for Santa.

Christmas Morning

Bapa and Grandma came to our house Christmas morning. I quietly got the girls all fed with their breakfast before Will woke up and my parents arrived. In true Held Tradition (from my family), Will had to wait patiently at the top of the stairs until all the adults had their coffee and cameras ready. Then, chaos ensued. The girls enjoyed watching everything, and Will really tore into the gifts this year. He was so excited about everything (and also excited to find more presents waiting to be opened).

Will waiting at the top of the stairs.

Grandma with the kids and me.

The family Christmas morning.

Will opening the "Buzz Lightyear Twist."

Bapa reading to Catie.

Daddy reading to Carter.

Christmas at Bapa and Grandma's

The next week (after Will's birthday), my brother and sister-in-law came to visit and we celebrated Christmas again at Bapa and Grandma's. I love seeing Steve and Mary and wish we could see them more often, especially with a little baby nephew on the way!