Our year has flown by and the kids have grown up so much. For the first time ever I have a 4-year-old and no baby so that has been an adjustment for me. Of course having three 4-year-olds has certainly kept me as much on my toes as any newborn!
As much as I sometimes hate to see everyone get older I do enjoy all the moments we have with them. Christmas was especially great with the girls understanding what was going on for the first time. Unlike last year where they stopped in the middle of opening presents this year they spent the whole time asking for more :)
Like every other year we don't put any presents under the tree before Christmas morning so when the kids go to bed the tree is decorated but bare underneath. Last Saturday morning it looked like this:
The girls went to their new bikes from Grandma and Grandpa first till I made them sit down and wait for gifts to unwrap.
Because I LOVE opening presents (really I love watching the kids open theirs) I wrap just about everything. A few things were unwrapped but for the most part even the floss and toothpaste in the stockings gets wrapped. And call me a mean mom but I don't let the kids tear into their gifts - we try and do things orderly so we can take pictures and enjoy the moment for as long as possible!
The kids enduring a photo while waiting for some gifts...
Julianna got some loot:
Rachel's pretty excited about her new gifts:
Alyssa prefers to sit on her bike and examine some of her new stuff - including her Toy Story bodywash!
Opening their gifts from Granddad (Kirk's dad):
Alyssa got her Aerial make-over or at least pretty close - she's been putting lip gloss on a hundred times a day every since...
Julianna is hiding behind her Baby Alive doll - one of her very favorite gifts - she can feed the doll and change it's diaper - she's already a mom in training! As for Rachel she got some more drawing tools and she loves them!
Kaitlyn and Caleb opening their big gifts from Uncle Michael:
Aunt Kim and Uncle Daniel bought the kids a Wii Draw tablet which is really cool! We bought Pictionary to go with it and have had a great time playing it (okay, it's not just for the kids...)
Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa got the kids their own computer which will be so helpful
The girls big gift from Mom and Dad (us) were the Fisher Price iXL game systems. They LOVE them and play them often. My only negative is that they run out of batteries quickly - thankfully I coupon and get them cheap but still little girls can go through batteries FAST!!
Kaitlyn got a digital camera and Caleb got his spy remote-controlled camera car that he had asked for. They were too excited to smile for a picture - at least I think that's why they won't look at me :)
Not to be left out we got a few things of our own. I'm rocking these new boots with my sweatpants right?! I promise NEVER to go in public like this :)
Kirk's looking handsome in his new jacket:
And my most favorite gift (well, somewhat tied with the dishwasher my parents gave us which is awesome too!) was my new nook!! I love it - it's awesome.
After everything the family room looked a little well, destroyed. Notice Caleb's already playing his new Wii game from Grandma and Grandpa. We didn't waste anytime digging in to our goodies.
The girls took their first rides on their bikes - so cute with their dolls strapped into the seats behind them. They had to ride in the garage because it's a bit cold outside go around the block but by next summer the world better look out - we'll have 3 crazy girls riding around!
We were certainly very blessed this Christmas and grateful for all of the new things we were given. We are praying for a prosperous new year and hope that you have a good one too.
God bless you all in 2011 and a very Happy New Year!
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