First Christmas!

Charlie and Lily's first Christmas seems to have been a success! The babies really enjoyed themselves these past few days, and to say that Joe and I had an awesome time would be an understatement. This was by far our best Christmas ever, and we know it will only get better each year!

Charlie and Lily kicked off the holiday on Wednesday night with a visit from Aunt Linda. She brought the babies some gifts, including one of Lily's fast favorites - her first purse. Linda gave Lily a cute little change purse in the shape of a handbag and Lily loved it. She held it in her hand all evening - she was too funny! We were also treated to a quick visit by Aunt Rhea and Uncle Larry, who were kind enough to bring Joe and me dinner. Yum!

Christmas Eve brought my side of the family and tons of gifts! Joe and I hosted my mom and dad, sister and boyfriend Aaron and Nana for dinner. After we ate we sat down for the first big round of gift opening. Charlie and Lily received tons of great presents - clothes, savings bonds and toys from Nana and toys, toys and more toys from Crackers and Aunt Jill. Before the night was over, Santa stopped by for a visit with Charlie and Lily. They had been so good that he had to come see them personally.

On Christmas morning the babies awoke to some gifts from Santa, including two special surprise gifts left by Santa (aka Daddy). He wanted to give the babies something they would love looking at. Charlie received a little baby photo album full of pictures of Charlie and Mommy together and Lily received a mirror! After enjoying some monkey bread, we all piled in the car and headed over to Grandma and Grandpa's house for another round of gifts. Oh, the presents that awaited Charlie and Lily there! So many adorable outfits and fun toys.

Mommy and Daddy also received some wonderful presents, with the best being from Uncle John and Aunt Rebecca. They turned all of our blog posts into a book! It's a beautiful, hard cover book with all the posts and pictures from the blog since the day we started it. It was such a meaningful and thoughtful gift - we love it! (And John, it just might be good enough to cause Joe to forgive you for all the Phillies clothes you gave Charlie and Lily...)

After Grandma and Grandpa's house we stopped by the cemetery to visit Annaleigh. She was on our mind a lot these past few days as the holidays really seemed to highlight her absence for us. We miss her so, so much and wish with all our hearts that she could have been here to celebrate with us. It felt good to spend just a little time with her this Christmas, even if it wasn't at all the way we wished it could be.

The rest of our day was spent at home unwinding and putting away the mountains of gifts. Charlie and Lily tried out some of their new toys, but mostly they napped to recover from their busy holiday. Thank you to everyone who helped make Charlie and Lily's first Christmas so special!

Lily and her new purse. She's all ready to hit the mall!
Lily loves her Christmas dress. So pretty.
Crackers loves her Charlie!
It's Santa! Too bad Lily couldn't bother to wake up to say hello. Charlie was happy to see him though!

Mommy kissing Santa Claus. Don't tell Joe...
A special note from Santa.
Charlie and Daddy check out Charlie's Santa gift.
"And I got a rattle and a dolly...."
Stockings at Grandma and Grandpa's.
"What is it, Mommy? What is it?"
With Grandma and Grandpa.
Yay, Christmas!
Enjoying one of their gifts from Crackers. (The mirror was Lily's special gift from Santa!)
Christmas is exhausting. It's hard being showered with presents.