By the time Christmas came this year, we were very ready for it. On the night that James's first (of three) final paper was due, Charlie got quite wheezy and needed to be taken in to the ER. That turned into a 3-night hospital stay. Normally, that would be a bit stressful, but when it's during the week that James needs to be writing 2 papers that add up to about 25 pages each.. it's quite a challenge. James's professors were very understanding, but he still had the deadline of needing to go back to work since he had taken off so much time. After the papers got turned in, Charlie's breathing took a turn for the worse again. We managed to stay out of the hospital that time, but three doctor's visits in four days left us tired too.
Here is Lucy on St. Lucy's Day (Dec 13). We baked a special bread together that took all day to make. The anticipation added up to this:
Charlie's new favorite thing: hooray!
This year's Advent wreath (apparently, it's also traditional to have all red candles instead of 3 purples and a pink).
Which brings us to Christmas Eve. Lucy was so excited.... so so SO excited. We skyped with both sides of the family in the afternoon which pushed back nap time quite a bit. By the time we woke her up for dinner, she was having a hard time getting back into the Christmas spirit.
She perked right up once we mentioned presents. Before opening presents, we put our last ornament on the Jesse tree (the Nativity) and sang a Christmas carol.
Here is a link to a video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoiesA_1RjM&feature=youtu.be. The first part is Lucy counting all of the ornaments on the Jesse Tree. After that, you can hear her say, "That is the whole WORLD of presents!"
Trying to get a decent picture before opening presents... difficult.
Slightly better.
Charlie surprised me by appearing very knowledgeable about how this whole unwrapping gifts thing goes.
Lucy of course, is an old pro. Here she is recognizing one of her favorite library books.
She held it up for all to see and then very ceremoniously carried it over to her bookshelf.
James, excited about a new book.
Me, excited about a new book.
Please excuse the copious gift opening pictures. We promised the grandparents we'd get plenty of pictures of it all!
A special gift from Grandma Stanley-- this is an apron she got from Germany when she was a little girl.
A "jammie dress" made just for Lucy. She refused to take it off for two days.
Here she is modeling a purse that James and I made her. It was a collaborative effort, made with no pattern. It still needs some decorations, but we are very proud of ourselves.
Here is Charlie opening his walker wagon, which I still need to get a picture of him on. It is so sweet.
A cash register so that Lucy can play "Ma'am," as she calls it. (As in, excuse me, ma'am, could I buy these pears please?)
After opening presents, eating too many Christmas cookies, drinking egg nog (or soy nog for me), we went to midnight Mass. Everyone always thinks we're crazy for taking the kids to midnight Mass and they are probably right. But here is proof for you. These pictures were taken AFTER mass. Around 2am. They still look pretty good to me! Charlie slept through it, but Lucy stayed awake the whole time. After mass, she danced around the manger scene for about 15 minutes.
We spent the next day sleeping in, feasting on crepes for brunch, staying in our pajamas, listening to Christmas music, playing with new toys, and feasting again at dinner. A very happy and relatively quiet Christmas.
Merry Christmas to all of you! Lucy reminds us every morning, "Merry Christmas! It's still Christmas for TWELVE DAYS!"
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