Christmas 2014

I always get up mega early on Christmas morning so I can get ready for the day before all the babies get going! The big kids were up pretty early but we wanted to let the babies sleep as long as we could. I think everyone was up by around 6:45? The big kids were ADORABLE with their excitement. They were in G-Mama and Big Papa’s room peaking out the window to see how the reindeer ate their food and they were telling us all about how they heard Santa when he came in the night. 

Cousins all line up with the youngest first to go out and see what Santa brought! (technically Tess should be in front and she did “walk out” first) 🙂

Santa brings each child 3 gifts and wraps them in special Santa paper. This year all my kids wanted smaller items which worked out well since there sure isn’t very much floor space now with 6 granddads!!!

 The thing that Kye wanted the most was “bouncy shoes” Like I’m glad Santa could find them because all Mommy could find were some on Amazon from the 90s. Legit. 

 Since Kye wanted a Nerf gun Britt wanted a “pink gun”. She was pumped!

 Her big Santa gift was an Anna doll with matching dress for Britt to wear!

 Kye’s was a big crane he’s been wanting

 Tess had Santa gifts too 🙂

 Here’s a video of Santa’s gifts! 

Payton was SO cute with her doll!

 Britt was excited over new panties in her stocking haha

Growing up we always ate Christmas cookies during our present opening 🙂 Continuing on the tradition! Tess actually nursed while we did stockings and presents got passed out, then we did the cookies

My girls!

This year was insane. We’ve had a “first Christmas baby” three times now. When Kye had his first Christmas he was 9 months old. He was crawling, playing, he was FUN. Britt’s first Christmas she was a newborn. I nursed her and she was sleepy and just basically laid there and napped! It was easy to be focused on Kye still because Britt didn’t really require much attention and she slept so much at that age! Tess was the hardest age to have a “first Christmas.” She wasn’t old enough to sit on her own or crawl or be entertained really by any of the gifts, including the process of present opening. She also though was old enough where she was awake for majority of the time we opened gifts. She was just at a strange in-between age that didn’t work well for Christmas! I talked to another friend who had her third baby around the same time Tess was born and she agreed. I felt like the whole morning was spent playing “pass the baby” and “try to keep the baby happy” and somehow try to focus on the other two kids too! It was CRAZY! I did my best to focus on each child and give them my attention, but it was pretty much impossible! I don’t think I could even tell you one gift that anyone else in the room opened haha! I had a hard enough time keeping up with my own 3! We even ended up not opening majority of Tess’s and at the end one person held her and the rest of us took turns opening her gifts for her 😉 

Kye was SO excited this year!

 And Britt was a SUPER fun age b/c she truly got into every present she opened 🙂 

She’s always watching me get ready and asking to “wear makeup” (I use an empty brush on her eyes) and so I thought it’d be fun for her to have some little girl makeup to play with in our bathroom when I’m getting ready 🙂 

 I get a lot of practical gifts for my kids…like new placemats 😉

 Not too sure about it!

 Don’t worry…these weren’t all for him!

Britt was so precious this year. She was just SO sweet and SO adorable! Mr. Rusty said several times that she made his Christmas this year. She brings so much joy to everyone she’s around and is always wanting to make sure everyone feels loved and included!

 Usually the men pass out the presents but the big boys got to help this year too!

 Keeping this girl happy was a full time job 😉 

 I’m so glad Z snapped this picture! This accurately shows how wild and fun our Christmas mornings are! I don’t know how Mrs. Charlotte somehow manages to really and truly be with each baby during the morning! She is a Super Woman and makes sure all of her grand babies get that G-Mama loving!

 I was so pumped about this gift 🙂 Crocodile is her favorite animal!

 So much JOY

 First Christmas as a family of FIVE

I was really excited when I was doing my Black Friday shopping and came across a larger sized Donald Duck for Britt on super sale! I knew she’d love it and I was hoping to have it in time for her birthday but it ended up not arriving until closer to Christmas. She was SO excited!

 Yay for Princess dress up clothes!

On Britt’s 1st Christmas we got her a baby bracelet with her name on it so I wanted to do the same for Tess. Um. Have y’all ever priced baby bracelets? CRAZY expensive! I waited and hunted and finally found some deals on Black Friday. But it was still the most expensive gift we bought for one of the kids this year! 

 I think our Christmas was probably similar to everyone else’s…FROZEN overload! 

 When I grow up can I pllllease be as beautiful as Mrs Charlotte???

 Britt made a book for us for Christmas 🙂

 I didn’t get to see Carter much but I heard he was adorable opening! 

 After the kids finished opening they went into Mrs. Charlotte’s and Mr. Rusty’s room to watch a movie so the adults could open!

 Merry 1st Christmas Tess!

 The last gift of the year b/c it totally got forgotten about! Oops!

 Of all the presents she got…she loved the doll her brother (and sister) got her the most 😉

 Kye said his favorite was the crane

 He was a big helper cleaning up!

After we got loaded up we headed to Little Mama’s for breakfast. I need to make sure next year to actually FEED my children breakfast. Oops. They didn’t eat anything but a couple cookies while we opened presents and the food at Little Mama’s was their lunch. They were still pretty much starving when we got home so we had to feed them some more food real quick before naps! 

Zach built this kid’s table for Little Mama out of old wood that was used for fencing at Big Daddy’s for many years. When Mr. Rusty was a kid he actually helped put the fence up so it’s all very sentimental 🙂 

 He surprised Little Mama with it!

 Checking out the work

 Getting to enjoy the new table!

Tess is not a fan of a lot of commotion and it was pretty loud at Little Mama’s. I didn’t mind just having a chance to SIT and enjoy HER. I felt like she got so jipped for her 1st Christmas b/c we weren’t really able to give her the quality time and attention she deserved. The big kids were plenty happy outside with their cousins and I was content as could be snuggling my littlest love!

 I LOVE Little Mama’s tree every year! 

We got home and it was a mad-dash for naps! We were all SO lazy. I even got a nap in while the kids slept 🙂 After nap we began our tradition of doing straight up NOTHING for the whole week following Christmas!!! 

I was super pumped to open this cool thing we got for tess! It’s a Go-Pod
. It folds up like one of those chairs and has lots of spots to hook toys and such. When you have three kids its always a question of “where can I put the baby?” and now she has an easy-to-move spot to always sit! I’ve read up on it and the reviews were awesome, even up to the toddler ages! 

This was the other favorite Tess present! It’s a Fisher-Price Kick and Play Piano Mrs. Charlotte got one for both of the babies and I think Carter loves his too! It’s awesome and you can hook it up on the side of the crib or pack and play as well. I plan to do that once she’s sitting on her own for her independent playtime. Tess loves to push the keys and to chew on the tiger’s paws. The big kids enjoy it too!

We just unload all the gifts in the dining room then have fun opening up everything and enjoying it all! It’s one time that having a massive mess is just FUN!

Looking for the pickle hidden in our tree! (Next year I’m moving this to the 23rd as well!)

The final gift opening is at our home and it’s the presents from Grammie and Grandpa 🙂

They did awesome!

It’s fun to unwrap Christmas presents on Christmas morning…but it’s even more fun to start opening the packages and actually getting to enjoy the gifts! I am SO excited about Britt being the age for playing dress up. I knew she’d really enjoy having princess dresses and it’s so adorable to see her come out of her room all dressed up “beautiful” 

I’m glad Santa got Kye his bouncy shoes b/c he really, really wanted them. I’m also glad it was from Santa and not from Mommy and Daddy. B/c Mommy and Daddy knew that they would be used all of ONE time and then be forgotten. Well Santa, Mommy and Daddy were right 😉 Here’s a video of Kye using his “bouncy shoes” You can see why all the reviews of them talked about how kids get broken ankles and need to wear a helmet for them hahahaa

We had a wild, crazy, and wonderful Christmas!

Emily Parker

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