So this is Christmas

Lil M and I went to Sis' for Christmas on Christmas Eve this year. Dad and Janice were there. It was our normal Christmas (sans Santa for that morning). We did our normal stuff, breakfast pizza and fruit salad. TONS of presents to open. It was a very big morning (preceeded by a very long night). After that, Lil M and I took a nap and then went to the Christmas Eve service with my Dad. It was nice. Lil M got a new dress at Christmas from Grandma and Grandpa. She wore it all day and the next. She seemed to like the service because the whole rest of the weekend she played "chorus" and said she was going to practice a lot. Brought me a book at one point and said we were going to sing the ABC's... that the "director" told us to stand up and all. LOL it was pretty cute.

By the time we got home it was 10:30pm or later and she didn't go to bed until probably almost midnight again. Yikes. So, Christmas morning wasn't quite as fun as I thought it might be... it was still fun, mind you, but we were both exhausted. She opened presents... and got her "batar" (guitar) from Santa that she wanted (except it wasn't "all pink"... she was a little disappointed in that for a little while). I got her some Kai Lan pajamas and she said she didn't like them, or Kai Lan as much as Dora. I knew then that she was tired from the big day before. So, we took a break on the presents.

Since we got a later start in the morning, her nap was also later. And I was determined to have her at least rest for awhile because she was up obscenely late two nights in a row... plus, I was exhausted and had a headache (due to my own lack of sleep, i'm sure). So... we missed Christmas at my best friend's. :( I know they missed us and I missed being with them, but I was just so tired. When we got up, Lil M opened the last of her presents and we sang Jesus Happy Birthday. She was in a much better mood and even said that she liked Kai Lan (unprovoked) more than Dora... to which I replied... does this mean you want to wear your new jammies? She said yes... and this was the first time I got the new dress off her in two days. LOL (ok, except during the one nap-time). I promise to post pics.

All in all, we had a really great Christmas. I was glad we didn't do Santa, per se, at my Sister's house this year. I thought that would be kind of confusing. Plus, we didn't really do much of Santa anyway. It was nice having Mommy Mia time, too. I think next year I'd like to take another day or two off to recouperate. :) Back to work this week and am still exhausted. Definitely got out of our normal routine this weekend. But it was worth it.

We didn't end up making a cupcake for Jesus' birthday, but as I mentioned, we did sing Happy Birthday. We also read the birth story every day for over a week. Lil M likes the story about the woman with the baby in her belly. We might make the cupcake tonight and read the stories again.

Oh, and I tried to find A Charlie Brown Christmas movie and couldn't right before Christmas. My Dad got Lil M a book, though, that has the music and we read that, too. :) Great minds.

Last night, she made a 'lemonade' stand out of boxes in the family room and served me lemonade and strawberry lemonade using her new toy mixer. (all pretend, of course) She also served me cupcakes and cookies. Last week, she had a tea party with her animals in her room using her cups and some puzzle pieces as cookies. LOVE her imagination. :D

Peace.