Christmas Morning

On a typical day, Jacob usually wakes up just before 7:00 AM. Christmas morning, we knew we needed to be up before him or all the presents would be opened before we even opened our eyes. So, Heath, my parents and I all got up just after 6:00AM. We positioned ourselves in the living room, cameras in hand, to capture the moment as Jacob walked into the room and saw what Santa had brought. We waited and waited and waited...and waited. With the stormy conditions outside, Jacob's room stayed dark longer than usual. It was close to 9:00 before he woke up. Can you believe that?!? If only we had known. We all could have used a couple extra hours of sleep!!!!!

When Jacob saw the tree and the presents, he remained totally calm, as I knew he would. He walked up to his Handy Manny workbench and whispered, "Wow." He was also very concerned about Annabelle and searched for the gifts Santa brought for her. Then, it was stocking time. Anytime Jacob pulled out a tiny toy, he said, "Annabelle can really choke on this." So thoughtful -- always thinking of his sister. Well, for that moment anyway.

Once his stocking was sufficiently emptied, all the way down to the toe, he wanted to go get his sister out of bed. He grabbed a little pig Santa left for her and ran down the hall to her room to wake her up.

Annabelle was a little startled by the abrupt wake up call, but when Jacob handed her the pig, she smiled and gave it a big hug. She loves stuffed animals and baby dolls - a girl after my own heart. :) Then it was stocking time for Annabelle. Stockings are so much fun. Going through my stocking has always been my favorite part of Christmas morning. You just never know what kinds of things you will find stufffed down in there.

Once Annabelle found Puffs, it was all over. She was concerned with nothing else except figuring out how to get into that container.
I realize she may be holding Hershey's Kisses, but let me assure you, Santa did not leave those in her stocking. :)

After the stocking, Annabelle moved on to her presents. She absolutely loves her new little chair.

And Jacob loves his Handy Manny workbench.

The rest of the morning is kind of a blur. All I know is that it ended with a sea of wrapping paper and boxes and we had used up a pack of 24 AA batteries and had started on a second pack. EVERY toy takes batteries these days, and lots of them.

When Annabelle walked into the room, the puppet theatre caught her eye and she got really excited.

Sing us a song, you're the piano man....Sing us a song tonight.....

Jacob's new piano even has a microphone attached. I'm pretty certain he's going to be the next Billy Joel. :)

Leave it to Annabelle to notice Santa left a few crumbs on his cookie plate. "Not to worry, Santa," Annabelle said, "I'll take care of these for ya." And she did.

Conclusion: Between Santa, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and Mommy and Daddy, I'd say Jacob and Annabelle are totally spoiled. And we still have another Christmas to celebrate in January with my sister. Now....I realize Christmas is over, but Santa, with all these toys, I have a request of my own: A bigger house!!!!!!