Christmas 2011

I know that I am SO behind in blogging, but we have been so busy lately. We had a wonderful Christmas, and I want to make sure I share all the fun things we did this year.

Christmas is my very favorite time of the year! I've always loved it, but with two little ones, it's even more special. I do think that things can get a little overplanned, and lots of mommies can get overwhelmed with all the stuff going on though. So, this year I really tried to just enjoy my time with the girls and not completely overwhelm all of us by trying to fit in every little thing. It was a success. We had a great time! The girls and I enjoyed ending our semester at MDO with fun Christmas parties, and we were so excited to have two whole weeks off. David had almost that same amount of time off with us, so that made it even more fun.

Annie was in a sweet Christmas pageant this year, and she was an angel. She didn't sing very loud (or really at all), but she looked adorable, and we were so proud of her!

We shopped, spent time with family that we don't get to see very often, ate lunch with friends, spent time at church, and just enjoyed being together.

We even enjoyed getting to know a sweet elf named Snowflake! :)

On Christmas Eve, the super fun festivities got underway. We met my family at Northpark for breakfast at Corner Bakery. (If you have never eaten breakfast there, you are seriously missing out. It was my first time, and it was amazing!) We did a little shopping, and then headed over to the Castillejos Christmas. The girls LOVED being with their cousins, and we had a blast openning presents and just hanging out. The kids opened their gifts first, and Annie couldn't have been more excited. She and Charlotte both got a sweet new baby doll with matching strollers for each. The LOVE them, and Annie always says that "Flower" (her new doll) is her favorite Christmas gift.

(Annie went and put all her presents on a rug while the adults openned theirs. It was so funny...almost like she was doing inventory or something. Ha!)

After naps and the adults getting to open their gifts, we had a lovely dinner and headed to the Christmas Eve Service. As much as I enjoy singing the Christmas carols and hearing the Christmas story, we will NOT be back at a Christmas Eve service until the girls are much older. They were both great, but just not ready to sit still for that long. Charlotte was wearing a beautiful red dress and pooped all over her Papa during the service, so that dress didn't last too long. Annie had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the service, but otherwise did great. It was just not a fun experience for mommy and daddy, so we will just wait until they are older to try that tradition again. :)

After the service, we went back to Oma and Papa's for dessert and put our pj's on. We took the girls home, and we all slept in our house for the first time ever on Christmas Eve. We missed being with my family that night, but it was so fun for our little family to be together at home.

On Christmas morning, David and I had to wake both girls up. They were sleepy! We went down stairs and Annie was so excited that Santa ate his cookies and milk. We got to look through our stockings and see all the things Santa left for us. Annie got a doll house and Charlotte got a little alligator play thing. (I can't find my camera at the moment, but I will post some pictures of the actual Christmas Day soon.) Then, we had breakfast and went back in the living room to open our other presents. The girls got some really cute things, and David and I enjoyed our presents from each other too. Annie openned a cute little Tinkerbell lunch box that she had seen at the Disney Store. She didn't seem too excited about it and mentioned some paints. It was kinds funny because when she openned her last present (which were the aforementioned paints), she just got so excited and said, " This is just what I was looking for!" It was such a sweet moment. David and I loved being at home with our girls. After openning all those presents, we loaded up again and headed to the Berry Christmas festivities. We openned presents, took naps, and ate a yummy meal with my family. The girls loved all their gifts and especially enjoyed playing with all their aunts and uncles.

It was such a special Christmas, and I am so looking forward to many more with both our girls. I am truly blessed with such a wonderful extended family, and then just the most amazing husband and 2 smart, beautiful, and sweet girls. God is so good!