Lily's Christmas began the day before Christmas Eve in Louisiana. I decided it would be best for Lily and I to spend the time before Christmas with Ernie, so we were there for the two weeks leading up to Christmas then we all went to Charleston together. Before we left, Lily got to open all her gifts from Mommy and Daddy.
She really got into the gift opening aspect of the holiday this year. Even last year she grew tired of opening gifts after only a few, but this year she couldn't open them all fast enough.
Her favorite gift, by far, was her Easy Bake Oven. We left it in Louisiana, so unfortunately she hasn't gotten to play with it yet. I know, I'm such a bad mama. But she had been begging me for one for weeks. I was worried that it was too old for her, but she loves baking with me so much that I figured she'd be fine. I'll tell you how it works out once we actually use the thing.
After she finished, she enjoyed playing with all her new toys for a a few minutes (I know again, bad mama) before we had to leave on our LOOOOONNNG journey.
Just as we were ready to go, however, she insisted on wrapping all the gifts she bought for everyone. I think she did a pretty good job, if I do say so myself. At least as well, if not better, than Ernie did on his gifts ;)
After making our way to Alabama to pick up Jade, we went to Charleston. The rugrats were thrilled when they woke up Christmas morning to see that Santa had left them everything they'd asked for in their letters to the big guy this year.
Top of Lily's list was a Rapunzel Tower, and let me tell you, this was not an easy one for Santa to get. It took the joint efforts of three families to find one. Finally, we were successful two weeks before Christmas. Now, I am not a patient person when it comes to Christmas presents. As soon as the tower was delivered, it killed me not to give it to her. I must have asked Ernie daily if we could just give it to her. Luckily, Ernie has much more patience in this regard than I.
Santa also left a V.Reader with several books, but this was more a request from Mama than from Lily. She dug it, though. She is still trying to figure it out, but I think it is the coolest toy EVER. Definitely worth the price (only $60, if you're in the market for one. It is fabulous!)
The gift she wanted almost as much as the Rapunzel Tower was the Rapunzel doll where the animals help braid her hair. Let me tell you, I HATE this toy. It is the most obnoxious, difficult-to-care-for doll ever invented. Her hair is impossible to keep neat, it is deuced difficult to attached her hair to the animals to "braid" it, and no matter how careful you are, the hair always gets tangled when you try to braid it. But Lily loves it, and I suppose that is what is important.
I love this picture. It shows her excitement every time it was her turn to open a present. She was dancing with it, barely able to contain herself. I know presents are not the most important part of Christmas, but it sure was fun watching the chaos of opening all the gifts Christmas morning. Everyone was there. Niecy and her two boys, Jade, Nicky, Silvia, Jordan, and even Butch and Jennifer and their boys came. It was a regular Hamilton Family reunion.
After all the gifts were opened, the kids (and yes, I include Ernie and Butch in that group) went outside to test out all their booty. What resulted was an all-out nerf gun war.
This war, as you can see, was very serious business. It lasted for at least two hours, continuing on and off throughout the day.
Lily, who is her Mama's child, took no interest in the juvenile antics of her cousins, uncles, daddy, poppa and sister and instead had fun playing on her own. When we visit Lousiana, she doesn't have a yard to play in, so she took advantage of being home to play her little heart out in that huge yard.
Jaxon joined her at some point and they both had a blast running around until dinner.
I forget when I am away from Charleston how nice it is to have a big yard for Lily to play.
By the end of the day, she was so exhausted that she litterally keeled over in the middle of playing with her toys. One second she as up and giggling, and the next she was passed out cold on the couch.
It was a great holiday and Lily and I were very grateful to finally spend some quality time with Ernie.
Having Jade with us was a big highlight and we were so lucky to get to spend Christmas with her this year. Even if it was only for a few days.
I know I'm a week late, but Merry Christmas to all of you. I hope yours was as fun-filled and utterly exhausting as ours.
1 comment:
Merry Christmas! I'm glad you were able to spend it with Ernie and that Lily got all her little heart desired.
PS Clara got a toy for her birthday that annoys me just thinking about it. It's a little Cinderella and the slippers come off and they are about half the size of a pinto bean. I'm pretty sure they were lost within 5 minutes of opening the gift.
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