Merry Christmas

We had a great Christmas this year.  We stuck to our tradition of splitting Christmas Eve/Christmas Day between the grandparents and keeping Christmas morning at our house.

This year we spent Christmas Eve with Tutu and Popo.

Olivia loved all her presents and is always happy to lend a hand if you need help opening your own!

She made ornaments this year again for Popo and Tutu and then helped hang it on the tree.

Opening boxes is hard work!

But a Doc McStuffins toy makes it all worthwhile

We made a calendar for Popo and Tutu with all pictures of them with Olivia from the past year.  They loved it!

Uncle Drew and Aunt Jenny got Olivia this Goldie Blox Dunk Tank which she LOVES!  (PS - 5 months later she still regularly pulls this out of the toy closet!)

Tutu's Peppa and George stuffed animals and Peppa nightgown were a huge hit!

After lunch and a nap, we woke up to play with the Dunking Booth

And then headed to dinner at Jaspers.  Like last year, the tree in the Woodlands Market Street was decorated beautifully!

We came home that evening and sprinkled "reindeer food" in the front lawn so the reindeer would know where to stop.

Then it was into our Christmas PJs and we put out cookies/milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer, and read The Night Before Christmas.

  

And, she woke up BRIGHT and EARLY (i.e. 5:30) the next morning to see if Santa came.  Luckily he did!

The first present she opened was from Phillip the Elf.  He left a note saying he would be back next year and gave her an Elsa ornament for the tree.

Santa brought her 2 of the things she wanted most on her list - Callico Critters and Magna-Tiles.

And she got an Anna dress from mommy and daddy

I was happy with my new vest, purse and a sweet pot holder that Olivia made us in school.  It has a gingerbread girl that she painted + a recipe for gingerbread cookies on it.

And Matt showing off the pot holder and his new Sonicare toothbrush (Santa and the Toothfairy are good friends, I guess?)

And she was insistent that she could get the stockings down all by herself!

After the presents were all opened, Olivia and Matt played a little while I got breakfast ready.

And daddy did a little early morning napping...

But some breakfast tacos + cinnamon rolls rallied the troops!

And, then we packed up and headed to my parents' house.  Olivia insisted on wearing her Peppa Pig tutu (not one of the 15 pairs of Christmas PJs I bought her, but I decided to pick my battles) and she fell asleep about 5 minutes before we turned onto my parents' street.

But, as soon as we got there and she saw the presents, she woke right up!

Mimi was surprised by her level of "enthusiasm" for present-opening.  The phrases "careful", "breakable" and/or "fragile" don't really mean much to her!

Daddy got some new grilling accessories

Olivia got some My Little Ponies

She also made an ornament for Mimi and Grandpa that she helped them open

Naz needed some help too, I guess

We had some playtime after all the presents were open

And a second nap for poor, tired daddy

Someone else refused to nap that day!

Olivia helped Yazzie take care of Crosby and got pretty comfortable with him

And as always, there was plenty of delicious food!

One of the presents that we gave Olivia was tickets to Disney on Ice the day after Christmas.  My daughter, who fights me on a daily basis to wear dress up clothes informed me that she would not be wearing a princess dress to the show.  That's right, the one time that wearing a princess dress is encouraged, she refused to do so.  This girl!!

But, I think she loved the show (and her blue sno cone!)

It was a very fun (but very exhausting) Christmas holiday!