Merry Christmas!! Every Christmas is special, but this one was especially great for us. Scarlett and Clark's first Christmas. In all honesty, they couldn't have cared less. To them it was a couple days of short naps, late bedtimes, and lots of people, but it was great fun for us to watch them experience it all. Brooke and Harrison are at the best age for Christmas. Brooke was literally shrieking yesterday morning, "Tomorrow's Christmas! I'm so excited!"
We always do the Christmas Eve children's mass and then go to Rob's parents after to celebrate with his extended family. Mass with 4 kids is a juggling act, but snacks and books got us through. Santa showed up at the end of mass and invited the kids to join him at the manger and sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. Brooke thought it was great and jumped at the opportunity. Dinner and exchanging gifts followed after, and I managed to get zero pictures of all the kids. Harrison and Brooke were willing to pose for a picture in front of the tree before bed. I asked them to not pose, and Brooke promptly told me she likes posing. Then Harrison mimicked her posing. These two. :)
Scarlett was up to nurse at 6:20am, so I was already awake and had coffee made when H and B came bouncing in at 6:50. Scarlett went back to sleep after her morning top off, and we got some one on one time with the big kids to do stockings before the babes were up. My parents arrived soon after the babies woke, so we had breakfast before diving into presents. French toast casserole, sausage and egg casserole, muffins, fruit, minosas, blody marys. Holidays that involve breakfast food are kind of my favorite.
The rest of the day was a blur of opening gifts, trying to organize said gifts, snacking on leftover breakfast, drinking iced coffee, and playing with new toys. The babies weren't much into opening gifts. They just wanted to play and hang out on laps. When Brooke opened the balls for the bounce house, they suddenly became very interested. They both thought the balls were great, especially Clark. He crawled back and forth through them laughing the entire time.
Rob's parents, brother, and niece joined us early in the afternoon. More gift opening, eating, and playing with toys. Rob got a VR headset in his stocking, and it was definitely a favorite of the day. Brooke and Harrison decided they were all about it, and it was what caused the major meltdown of the day that put two 4 year olds in bed by 6:15. I knew an early bedtime would be needed, but I had no idea how spent they were. Christmas is so much fun and so exhausting for them. Scarlett and Clark made it to their usual bedtime and even got to have some FaceTime with my brother and brother in law before bed.
I didn't take nearly enough pictures, but I know I'll remember Clark's excitement with the balls. How much Harrison loved his super hero city. Brooke riding around the house on her BB-8 scooter. Scarlett's obsession over everything her big brother and sister were doing. Christmas with young kids is truly one of the best parts of parenthood. Harrison and Brooke are old enough that they remember things from last Christmas, and I'm sure they'll be talking about today for the next 365 days. It was as wonderful as we could have hoped for, even with the major meltdown. I hope you all had a wonderful day celebrating with your loved ones. Merry Christmas!
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