2014 Christmas Morning

Christmas day 2014 was an exciting day in our household for many reasons.  First there was the obvious; it was Christmas...meaning it was Jesus' birthday!  Then, there was the excitement of family visiting and of course the thrill of sharing presents with one another.  Next, it was Avery's very first Christmas and Asher's third...but probably the first Christmas that he really seemed to grasp what was going on.  Finally, it was our first Christmas as a family at home.  Since Eric and I got married in 2002, we have been switching off spending Christmas with either his family or mine.  There has only been one Christmas that we stayed home all day and that was because we went on a cruise right after Christmas and it would have been too hectic to travel.  Since we now have two kids though, we have decided to start a new tradition and spend our Christmases at home.  Sure we will still travel during the holidays, but Christmas day from this point forward will be spent at our home with our boys.

So this Christmas we woke up in our own beds and Eric and I were probably more excited than the kids to share our first family Christmas together.  We had a great day and took TONS of photos, so I've decided to split the day into a few different posts, the first being this one: Christmas Morning...

When Eric and I awoke Christmas morning, we grabbed Avery and headed downstairs to turn on the Christmas Tree lights and then greet Asher.  I took a video of Eric going into his room and wishing him a Merry Christmas, and then another of Asher as he walked into the living room and saw all the presents under the tree.  I thought it would be this monumental moment and he would get all excited, but I should have known better.  For anyone that has ever seen Asher first thing in the morning, you can probably attest to the fact that he is NOT a morning person.  Rather he is more of a "do not talk to me until I wake up person" on most days.  Christmas morning wasn't any different.  He wasn't crabby, but he also wasn't the giddy toddler that I expected.  When he walked into the living room, he didn't pay any attention to the tree and rather pointed out the diapers in the room's diaper bin!?  Then Eric took Asher into the dining room to go see if Santa and his reindeer ate the treats that we left.  By this time, Asher had woken up a bit and was a little more excited, especially when he realized that the cookies and reindeer food were indeed gone.  We shared our fun family Christmas morning moment and headed back into the living room.  At this point, Asher finally paid attention to the gifts under the tree and gave us a shy but excited smile.

Video: Santa's Cookies

About this same time, my parents also got up to wish us a Merry Christmas and join us for the gift-opening.  Before any presents were opened though my two favorite Christmas traditions took place: First, we gathered as a family to pray for the coming year, thank God for the past year and praise Him for all He has done for us.  Second, we turned on the Alabama Christmas album to listen to as we opened our gifts.  Then, (once we had taken a few family photos) it was time to start tearing off the paper, and NOW Asher was pretty excited!  :)  We opened up all the gifts and took a BUNCH of pictures.  It was a great family time and took a large part of the morning.

Avery's 1st Christmas

Brotherly Love <3

Me & My Boys!

Before anything was touched.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care?

Avery talking to Grandma

Asher checking out Dad's present

Asher also got to give Eric his gift that he picked out and he was super excited.  Papa helped him wrap it up the previous night (Asher did most of the work, but didn't quite get where to put the tape).  Below is the sequence of events...

Asher holding his gift for Daddy.

Eric opening the gift.

Both boys very excited about the new football.

Eric asking Asher to "go long"

Asher got the football and immediately chucked it back to Eric.

Asher gets a "thank you" hug from Daddy.

...then we opened more presents...

Since Avery is only 3 months old, Asher got to open all of his gifts.  I think he really enjoyed the double present-opening duty, but next Christmas he may not understand why he doesn't get to open as much??

"Ho-ho's" boat!

<3

Grandma showing Avery his new gift...

...he loves it!

Eric got the mini frying pan he's wanted forever (to cook eggs for Egg McMigrins)...

...I think Asher was confused why it isn't in his play kitchen...

...it was also the perfect size for Avery

The one thing I really wanted this Christmas...a new figurine of me & my boys! <3

Asher got his first robe, but wouldn't wear it for a picture...he does look adorable in it though! :)

Checking out his new dinosaurs and dinosaur book.

Grandma got a new figurine too...her rocking a grand baby

Christmas snuggles

Avery slept through most of his first Christmas morning.

Asher got some Thomas trains from Uncle Clint & Aunt Kathy...we tried to get a picture to send to them....

He's awake!

Asher helping Papa unwrap a present...I find it a bit ironic that Mom wrapped it in a Perdue chicken box!  (anyone who knows my dad would know that he HATES chicken!)

Eric opening our gift from the boys...they made us some "beauful" ornaments!

Eric holding up Asher's ornament

The boys snuggling with Grandma

Eric and Asher putting the boy's hand-made ornaments on the tree.

I really wanted to get Asher a Mr. Potato Head set that had lots of fun pieces to play with...To my surprise it was actually quite difficult to find, but Kohl's pulled through for me!

Papa & Avery

Four Eyes?

Avery loves his new toy...I see now why it was voted one of the best toys for babies...and it was only $6!

I got a massage gift certificate from Eric...can't wait to use it!  ...Eric keeps telling me to use it now, but I've been so tired lately, that I don't want to fall asleep during the massage and miss the whole thing!

A Lego Architecture book for Eric.

Asher got his 1st sled for Christmas...Since he had never been sledding, he thought it was a boat!

Asher is also VERY interested in space shuttles lately.  He and Eric frequently watch launch videos on YouTube.  Thus, Eric really wanted to get him a space shuttle to play with...I also found him space shuttle jammies, but with all the toys around, he couldn't have cared less.

Showing me his space shuttle!  (love Eric's excited face in the background.)

Asher putting all his new toys into his "boat"

Pushing the boat around the house.

Christmas Snuggles with my boys.

By the time that all of the presents were open it was late morning and we were all ready for some breakfast.  So, even though we had not gotten around to our stockings yet, we took a break from the living room to whip up some "birthday" waffles to celebrate Jesus' birthday.  I gave Asher a waffle covered in strawberries and some whip cream (it looked like a santa hat, but no one figured that out until I mentioned it) and then placed a "2" candle in it for +/-2,000 years.  :)  Then we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and Asher got to blow out the candle.  When we finished singing and the candle was out, Asher looked at me and asked, "Jesus coming?"  :)  He was confused why Jesus didn't show up to his own birthday party!  Laughing, I thought, "well actually Jesus is here" and "yes, Jesus is coming again," but....how do you explain that to a two year old! :)