Our wonderful Christmas

Christmas this year was so wonderful.  I love spending holidays with family and friends but it was so nice to have a little quite time just the three of us.  We have been thinking a lot about traditions we had as kids and ones that we want to have with our kids during Christmas time so I'm sure we will try a few out before they become real "traditions".  This year was the best Christmas I've had since I was 8 years old and got a pogo stick (yes that was my favorite Christmas present of all time) just because it is so fun to watch your children get excited and experience the magic of Christmas.

  On Christmas eve we spent the day just hanging out before Joie took her nap.  We decided it would be fun to go to the movies every year on Christmas eve so this year we all went and watched "Tangled" which was absolutely darling!  Joie loved every minute of it.  After that we went to Andrew's Aunt Janet's house for a little get together with the siblings and cousins who didn't go out of town for Christmas.  We came home after that and put a pizza in the oven.  We always did Pizza on Christmas eve when I was a kid.  While the Pizza was cooking Joie and I made Reindeer food.  Reindeer food, for those of you who don't know already, is made with Oatmeal and glitter  and it is so the Reindeer and can eat something while Santa is in your house.  It also helps the Reindeer find the house because of the glitter.

After we spread the Reindeer food on the yard and ate our pizza we gave Joie a bath and read the Nativity story out of a couple of Joie's books and we took the little baby Jesus figurines from our Nativity sets and let Joie hold them to try to help her understand the real reason we celebrate Christmas.  After that it was time to open our "Christmas eve present".  When I was a little girl my grandma on my mom's side sent us a present every year that said "open christmas eve" and they were always pajamas.  My grandma actually still does this but now she sends two pairs.  One for me and one for her grandson in law.  So my mom has decided to continue on the tradition and sends jammies for Joie now.

This year they were Minnie Mouse jammies.  Needless to say she was thrilled.  After that we assembled a plate of cookies and a glass of milk for Santa.  I told Joie we should write Santa a note and I asked her what she thought we should say and she said "hmmm....Santa, here's is your cookie!" I asked if we should also thank him for the presents and she said ok.

She went to bed after that.  When she woke up in the morning I went to go get her and she was so excited that she started reciting her list of things she asked Santa for.  I took her out of bed and told her to run and go find her toys.  I think she was a little shocked at first.  We had been talking about Santa coming for so long and he finally came.  She then was so excited after that, especially when she realized she got everything she asked for.  This big difference between this year and last year is this year Joie was so excited to tear into the presents.  It was just so fun to see the magic of Christmas through my own Child's eyes again.  Christmas is definitely better as a parent than it was as a kid.

This picture was Joie's entire Santa list.  When people asked her what she asked Santa for for Christmas she would always say "Hanta bring a "weee" (which means slide).  Hanta bring a choo choo.  Hanta bring a kitchen."  She received all the things she asked for.

She got tons of other fun presents too.  My favorite of Joie's presents was Princess Potato Head.  I think its pretty cute!  It was such a wonderful Christmas.  

The Low Family also got a wonderful belated Christmas present.  Our newest little nephew Landon Jacob Low was born today and he is an absolute doll.  We went to go visit Landon and his mommy Erika and Joie loved him so much.  She kept kissing his head and saying "my Joie's baby" and she cried and cried when we left him.  It made me really happy because I have been really nervous that Joie won't like our new baby or will be jealous and mean but after seeing her today I think she is going to be a very overprotective wonderful big sister who will have to be watched very closely because she may smother the baby to death.