Christmas with young kids is so much fun! We had such a wonderful Christmas, and I hope you did too. When we put Lily to bed on Christmas Eve, I wasn't sure she would make it through the night. First, she had a cough that had been waking her up at night for several nights in a row. Second, she was so excited about Santa coming! We told her not to get out of bed because Santa's magic disappears if she comes out of her room and sees him. Thankfully, she stayed in her bed all night until 6:22 AM which is when she came into our room. She walked in, looked at Ryan and said "Daddy, let's see if Santa brought any presents!" The three of us got up, decided we would let Mia sleep a little longer and went into the family room.
Here is a picture of Lily catching a glimpse of the gifts from Santa. He left her a beautiful Victorian doll house, and he left Mia a grocery buggy with a few groceries because he knows how much she loves to push things like this around. Lily was thrilled! He also left a small Santa hat for each girl. Lily had asked him to give her a Santa outfit, so we explained he couldn't give an entire outfit, but he was happy to give each of them a hat. She seemed very happy with that.
Lily couldn't wait to start playing with the doll house. It is an eight room house (though it was only partially decorated because she received a few more rooms from my parents later in the day), and it had a mommy, daddy, preschooler girl, toddler girl and twin baby girl and boy. She immediately set about feeding the dolls and pretending they were talking to one another. She was having a lot of fun with it. In fact, she had a great time with it until we finally decided to wake Mia up at 8 AM. Lily was so patient to wait all this time.
Mia came out and was excited to see her buggy and hat. She immediately wanted to put the hat on. She kept calling it a "Ho Ho Hat" because she calls Santa Claus "Ho Ho." She literally wore it all morning. Both girls have worn their hats often since Christmas morning.
Lily received another big surprise this morning...a real bike with training wheels! She saw this huge red bagged package when she came out. She asked Ryan what it was, and he said "Oh that's a present for later." She said okay and moved on to playing with her doll house. However, as the sun started to come out, she started being able to see through the bag. About 8, she came over to me and said "Mommy, I figured out what's in the bag. Do you want me to tell you or keep it a secret?" I told her to keep it a secret. She replied "Okay, but I'm going to hint. It has wheels, pedals, a seat and it's purple." Once we got Mia up and said it was time to open presents, Lily pointed to the big bag and said "That one's mine! Let's open it first!" She was thrilled to receive this bike!
She picked up riding it very quickly. I have a feeling the training wheels will come off soon. We let her ride it around inside the house because it was icy and starting to snow outside.
After opening this one present, we decided to do stockings. Both girls had a lot of fun pulling out all their surprises. They both received a big lollipop, stickers, small coloring book, art supplies (Mia received crayons while Lily received water paints), small book, a new toothbrush and a small toy (Lily received an I Spy card game while Mia received a kaleidoscope). All items were a hit.
C'mon Mom, can't we go on and open our lollipops?
Looking at some of their goodies. Mia loves to brush her teeth, so she got caught up looking at her new Winnie the Pooh toothbrush; it took some coaxing to get her to pull out everything else!
Trying to figure out the kaleidoscope.
After all the stocking gifts were opened, we moved on to open gifts. The girls were so surprised and happy with their presents. I love seeing the excitement on their faces when they open their gifts as they anticipate what's inside and then squeal with delight upon opening it. 4 and 2 are definitely fun ages! In addition to her bike and doll house, Lily received a bike helmet and bell, Search & Find books, magnetic princess dress-up dolls, Color Wonder stamps, finger paints and paper and a Joke book. She loves telling jokes, so we got her a book to teach her some real jokes that actually make sense! In addition to her buggy, Mia was excited to receive a toy piano, puzzle, Disney figurine pack, Little People fire truck, basketball goal and Mickey Mouse book set.
Having fun working on her new puzzle.
Ringing her new bike bell. We have heard this bell a lot since this morning.
Taking a break to play with Mia's new piano.
Slam dunk!
After opening all of their presents from Mommy and Daddy, it was time to open gifts sent from Grandpops and Grandma Jan and also from Great-Grandpa and Lois. I hated that we couldn't see them over this Christmas season, but we really appreciated them sending gifts for us to enjoy.
Great-Grandpa and Lois gave each girls an art project (Lily received a doll decorating kit and Mia received a sticker activity kit), a book (Duck and Goose for Lily; Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear for Mia) and a new lullaby CD (U2 for Lily and Beach Boys for Mia - both were by Rockabye Baby which takes popular music and turns it into lullaby music - so cool!). Not surprisingly, the girls loved all of these items!
Can't wait to see the CD inside!
Yea for a new book!
Can't wait to see what Grandpops and Grandma Jan sent!
Lily loved this flower tiara from Grandpops and Grandma Jan. In fact, she loved all the cool gifts from them. The girls received stickers, jewelry, hair accessories, finger puppets, puzzles, books, tutu and matching purse, fun plate, wooden farm set and lacing set. They had a blast opening all of these awesome gifts!
Talk about an exciting morning! By now, it was about 9 so we ate a little breakfast and had fun playing with all the new toys. Here's a sweet picture of Mia pushing her baby doll around in her new grocery buggy while wearing her "Ho Ho Hat." She was having a lot of fun!
About 10, my parents and Meme came over to visit and see all the girls' goodies. They were more than happy to show everything off to them. However, when it came to picture time, Mia wasn't so cooperative. She was exhausted from being woken up and all the morning's activities.
Lily and Papa had a good time together.
Granna read "Ladybug Girl" from Grandpops and Grandma Jan to Lily. She always loves a good book!
After about 30 minutes, Mom, Dad and Meme were heading out to Wayne's house to visit them too. They invited Lily to go along with them, so she got ready quickly and had a great time with them. A few minutes after they left, we put Mia down for a nap because she was so exhausted. Ryan and I were able to relax and look through our new goodies too. Once Mia woke up, we had fun playing together and then playing with Lily when she returned. It turned into a very nice, relaxing day for us all.
What a wonderful Christmas morning!
Mia wanted to try too. She's a cutie too!
Taking it in from a higher vantage point.
My two favorite kangaroos.
Mia getting a lift to see the tiny monkeys. We had never seen this exhibit before, so it was fun to stumble upon these and see something new.
The girls really just wanted to play on the playground most of the time, so we only visited the animals for a little bit before heading over. Lily was ready for the see-saw!
She loves climbing this vine.
Having fun together.
Lily tried the rope wall today and enjoyed it. I love this new found courage she has discovered over the last few months.
Mia loves the twisty slide!
We rode the carousel a couple of times too. First they rode on panda bears and then on elephants. Both had a blast!
After the carousel we rode on the little train. It's not terribly exciting, but the girls had a good time. They both thought the tunnels were pretty cool, and they enjoyed riding past the petting zoo too. Mia wanted to hold Ryan's hand the whole time which was really sweet.
What a great way to spend the last day of 2010! 
