Christmas Day

Josh's big gift? An IPod - these are his mini speakers.

Ellie's "Princess" Ride-on toy. No, her feet do NOT touch the ground -- maybe soon. But, she does like all the buttons and taking things out of the storage in the seat.

Wii Guitar Hero -- dual controllers so he and Braiden can play at the same time.

Overkill

More Wii goodies and his "Man this is soft" robe

Josh LOVES his robe

Popcorn gift bag with movies

Loving her doll house. She kept trying to stick her head inside it so she could see it

The cat even loved the doll house

She was more impressed with her stocking than what was in it

This is what sleep deprivation looks like - poor Kevin

Happy with her blocks

MeeMee comes to visit

DeeDee and his hat

Visiting Itunes for some downloads

Getting tired -- this is new.

I'm not sure if it's because she is teething or if she's just discovered her thumb.

As you can see from the photos, we all had a great Christmas. I even got my birthday wish -- a NAP on the couch. Later in the day, after the grandparents came to see the "goods", we went out to the women's mission to help serve Christmas Dinner. I'll admit that I didn't do much in the serving area; Kevin and Josh did, though. I was able to visit with some of the women though, and Ellie was a great hit. She got held by several of the women who admitted that they were sad and missing their children and grandchildren. Since we've returned with Ellie, it seems as if something in my heart has switched and I'm (sadly) more in tune with the hurt in the world. I want to do what I can -- however small -- to help. I feel "indebted" for all the blessings we have received. I've committed to pray for one woman at the mission who is in a rehab program and has two children, 12 and 10. It might be a small gesture, but it is something I can certainly do.

After the mission, we went to Chef Wang's for my birthday dinner. It was WONDERFUL, and my friend, Susan, came as well. We went to her house afterwards and enjoyed some time visiting, watching Joshua's Ipod speakers blink and watching Ellie crawl around -- well, shuffle on the floor, I suppose.

Sadly, she SCREAMED bloody murder ALL the way home. She got so mad she threw up at one point and we had to pull over to clean her up. Not surprisingly, as soon as we got home and got her out, she was fine. These "episodes" only seem to be worse at night. They are horrible. I hope it will soon pass for her.

Happy Birthday, Jesus. We're so glad you came!! Thank you for all you have done for our family and most of all, for our salvation.

***

I've come back to add a little more on this post because I realized I didn't post some of the things I want to remember in years to come. This was Ellie's first Christmas and we were SO blessed to have her home. I remember sitting on the couch thinking, "WOW!" How lucky are we to have her here? It's a struggle, somewhat, finding that magic line of making sure each child feels special, has the "same" amount of presents and feels the "same" amount of love. I want Josh to know that he is still JUST as important as ever and just as loved. And, I want Ellie to have the most special wonderful first Christmas (that she'll never remember, eh?) that she can. I struggle each day feeling torn between the two and hoping that one day I'll "get it right". What's the secret??

Now that the rush of the holidays is past, I am actually enjoying the time with both Ellie and Josh, who are both playing with their toys. Sunshine (the dog) thinks she's Ellie's babysitter and Ellie has just flipped onto her tummy and is crawling all over her rug. We are going to to really have to start watching her or get the "corral" that the Davidsons have to keep her in one place. She is such a curious little one taking it all in all the time. She looks like a hoot owl with her head spinning all around to see everything. She just looked up at me and said, "HI!!!" with that big two toothed grin she has. Such a long wait and so very worth it. She is changing before our eyes everyday. Her face and cheeks are puffing up; her hair is growing longer. She has a mohawk right down the center of her head with some "horns" curling up on the sides. Her hair is becoming darker too.

It was a good Christmas. Truly good.