Holiday photos

I just realized I completely missed Thanksgiving here somehow. Oh well. No excuses. Thanksgiving was nice. Lots of food, ate at the in-laws house. My mother joined us. That's it. Now on to Christmas!

Yes, Santa does visit our house. Maya has an incredible fear of Santa. So no photo ops with my wee ones sitting on Santa's lap. I don't want to pay for the psychotherapy we would need if that was forced on the poor kid. But we are trying to get her to understand the good in that jolly old elf. Everyone was trying to ask Maya this year about Santa, and poor kid would just look terrified. They would ask what he's bringing her, or if he was coming to her house, or God forbid the "you have to be a good girl or Santa won't come see you" phrase! She does NOT like the man and does NOT want him in her house, so that threat certainly held no power over her! But we explained more than once how he'll come here, but she will be asleep and she won't have to see him at all, and that mommy and daddy will see him and just take the toys he leaves and keep them for her and Maria until they wake up. And we put out the required cookies and milk because he's going to be hungry after bringing all those gifts for her and Maria! She still didn't really 'get it' until Christmas morning when she saw the loot! It was the cutest thing ever to see her eyes get so big when they came downstairs! I think this is the last year we'll have to sleep in a little. Maya is an early riser in general, so we had to wake Maria up to get them downstairs at the same time. But enough words. On to the pictures!

Favorite toys this year: I'd say for Maya the Wiggles guitar was a huge hit, as was the Sleeping Beauty Vanity Table. She loved playing with the curling iron and Aurora's hair! For Maria, she loved the animal choo-choo train. As for non-Santa gifts, Maya absolutely adored the little ironing board and iron that Gran gave her, and also the Elefun game that Omi got for her. Those have been well used in the week since Christmas. Maria loved all of it ... the Little People toys, the Learn about Town she got from her speech therapists, and all the musical toys (including her own Wiggles guitar)! Maria plays very well on her own, and all these toys allow her to do that. But she also plays well with Maya and her toys, when they are not arguing over whose toy it is, that is. One of Maria's current words used daily is "mine!" Maya loves all her toys, but she mostly loves whatever it is that Maria has in her hands at any given moment. I used to love, love, love getting gifts for my birthday and Christmas. But I can honestly say that this has been my very favorite Christmas ever, and would have been if I had not received one single gift. And my gifts meant nothing compared to the gift I received in my girls' smiles and laughter and utter joy Christmas morning. It's the same way they light up when they see Gran, or Omi, or Aunt Lisa. So imagine having Omi and Gran AND presents on Christmas morning, all in one place! My mom spent the week with us, and Gran came over Christmas morning to see what Santa Clause left them. I was up until 4:00 that morning putting together all of the things that Santa brought (because of course Santa brings many of the toys in boxes, because he outsources much of his toy production these days, and he just doesn't have time to assemble EVERYTHING and still make it around the world in one evening), plus making sure the breakfast casserole was ready to put in the oven when we all awoke, and making the honey bun cake I wanted to have ready for our guests. So 7:00 a.m. arrived mighty early that morning, but I wouldn't change a thing. Oh wait, I did decide that next year, I'm going to see if Santa can arrange to deliver some of the outsourced toys early, and I'm going to distribute them to my own outsourced help. And Aunt Lisa and Uncle Robert, and Uncle Russell and Aunt Kathy, and maybe a few others can help assemble some of these gifts and store them until Christmas Eve. So that way, mommy can get some sleep next year! Think Santa could arrange that for mommy??