Christmas!

Somehow Christmas was here and gone in no time flat. I partially decorated, lights were partially hung, the Elf on the Shelf was partially implemented (meaning he was brought out and then never moved from his initial nook on top of the clock), Santa was never visited (gasp, for shame!) and presents were bought at the very last minute.

But I did sing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer a gazillion times seeing it was some cute little toddler's new favorite. (Would've loved a nickel for every time I said "like a lightbulb.") And we talked about Baby Jesus and his birthday. Which, by the way, is extremely confusing if you're 2 1/2. Because if I'm getting presents and it's a birthday, then doesn't that make it my birthday? Tricky.

Something else sweet happened this year that will be experienced on occasions few and far between. We were able to spend the holidays with ALL our parents: Mimi and Dude on Christmas Eve, Grandpa and Mamaw on Christmas day and Papa D and Mimichele after Christmas. Score.

The highlight reel.

Harold (aka Hay-row) the helicopter was a total hit. In fact, we couldn't go to bed tonight without finding Hay-row.

Presents are best opened pantless. With boots. And cute cheeks hanging out. (Truth be told, there was more hanging out of his undies than we realized. So... many pictures are un-postable. But-oh-so-funny.)

Crew Bean and his new book.

Gee, Uncle Nate and Aunt Azure. Thank you for getting me a drum. My parents just LOVE my mad skills. Oh, and a drummer's not legit unless his tongue hangs out.

So, minor snafu in the Santa gift department. Santa's sleigh (also known as UPS) was delayed due to a recent bout of bad weather. Which meant that come Christmas Eve, we had no Santa gift. So Jeremy treks out on Christmas Eve... to Walmart... to find something, anything, that we can put out "from Santa." And voila....

We have a Thomas the Train track set that was received so well, the original Santa gift is now being stowed until birthday. "For me?" he asked incredulously. We felt like parents of the year.

There are more pics floating out there somewhere, but these are the ones on hand at the moment. The boys made a major haul. And the family time was sweeter than anything I could imagine. Almost as sweet as this...