Tuesday, December 30, 2014

"Mommy, wake up! Santa Was Here!!"

"Santa Came! MOMMY! DADDY! Santa Came! And he filled the stockings!"
This was my wake-up call on Christmas morning, and it absolutely warmed my heart to hear the excitement in Zander's little voice. When I rolled over to check the time though, it was way to early. 3:30 AM early to be exact! "Um, Zander, can we maybe go back to bed for a few more hours? It's very early" He pouts but walks back to bed.
7:00 I'm awake, but laying in bed still. Waiting for the stampede of little children footsteps to come down the hall. Without fail, 5 minutes later, Zander is back. "Mommy!!! Santa left a BIG box and it has MY NAME on it!" (the little things like him being able to read his name makes my heart happy). The excitement in his voice is the best Christmas gift for me. He's dying to open the gifts. I calmly tell him that we have to wait for Daddy and baby sister to wake up so they can open presents from Santa, too. He pouts some more. He's dying to rip open the paper. I offer him hot chocolate and eggs for breakfast, and he perks up. He agrees.

I love sharing a quiet breakfast with Zander. We talk about letter sounds, numbers, how rain is made. His desire to learn is amazing.

Finally, we hear noises from down the hall. Ainsley and Daddy are awake! Zander starts squirming in his seat. "Is it time to open presents now, Mommy??" "Soon, baby. Let's let Ainsley eat a little something and Daddy get a shower in." I swear Zander had the patience of a saint on Christmas morning. The amount of times I had to say, "sorry just a few more minutes" was the equivalent of watching paint dry to a normal adult. He held out though.

The pay off was priceless! Hearing Zander and Ainsley's squeals of excitement as they tore open the next gift was just magical. "OOOH! SO COOL!" and "OOHH! LOOK WHAT SANTA GOT ME!" I loved each moment of it.

Of course, being the bad blogger that I am I got zero pictures of them opening gifts, but I don't care at all. I was in the moment. I was able to watch them tear into everything without being behind the lens. The joy on their little faces seeing everything that Santa brought was amazing. I'm zero percent sorry for being away from the blog for almost a week now. The memories that were made this past weekend were incredible, and absolutely the best gift I could ask for.

Today, I'm grateful that Josh and I were able to give the kids such an amazing Christmas. But I'm even more grateful that Zander is starting to learn the true meaning of Christmas. We read the story of baby Jesus, and he's starting to understand it's better to give than to receive. I'm grateful that both of my kids are so well behaved and aren't greedy. Not once this past weekend while we were visiting family did I hear from either of them, "ugh, that's ALL I got" or anything similar. Zander and Ainsley were even thrilled to get new socks in their stockings from Santa. To me that just warms my heart to know that I'm raising them right. I'm grateful they're so well behaved when we visit family, and that I'm not raising spoiled brats.
best parents! ;) 
Today I'm linking up with Emily for a Grateful Heart and
with Amanda sharing these sweet conversations from Christmas Morning.
Ember Grey: Grateful Heart
Knock on Wood
I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas, and I truly hope you got to experience the magic of Christmas like I was able to. It was the best Christmas AND birthday for me!
my sweet babies Christmas Morning
 photo TRLSigNov2014_zps7a838dc4.png

19 comments :

  1. 3 a.m. HECK NO! Ha! :P But what a good boy for not just going in there & ripping the gifts open when he seen that they were there! :P

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  2. How sweet! You're definitely raising great kids! Glad you took a break and enjoyed yourself!

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  3. Ahhhhhh! Love it :) What a great momma! We had to hold them back for a few hours on-and-off too. We told our oldest what time to look for on the clock, and she literally counted e.v.e.r.y. minute down for us, until we finally just got up. You look gorgeous in your pictures! Happy New Year!! xoxo

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  4. bahahahah! That's exactly why I sent his butt back to bed! oh my gosh. this kid is a trip sometimes! I think he was scared to open them because he thought santa was still watching. That naughty list is a good tool ;)

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  5. Thanks so much sweetie! It feels great to hear from family and friends that they're good kids. :) they may test me endlessly at home, but outside of the house & they're good I'm happy!

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  6. Zander is the same way with certain things. He will watch the clock like a hawk if we tell him "the little hand has to be on the 11" or something similar. LOL. you're doing a great job yourself, mama! Happy New YEAR!

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  7. awww!!! So, so sweet! I love hearing about the moments you have with your little ones - it warms my heart. You are a wonderful mom, Melissa!

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  8. awww you're making me blush! :) Thank you so much for the kind words! I really enjoy bragging on my kids. lol.

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  9. OMG how amazing! I remember one year Forest unwrapped all his presents early and then wrapped them back up. Mom had to booby trap our gifts from then on! Zander's patience is wonderful and such a good quality to have. You are such a good mom!

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  10. Love love love. I have zero regret being away from the blog either - and I don't have any pictures of Christmas morning either. It's forever etched in my mind :)

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  11. Good for you! I love your no apologies for being in the moment and being away from the blog to really enjoy this time. We all need to do that without guilt now and then. You're a good momma:)

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  12. awww thanks so much! I'm very blessed to have such wonderful children. Although, I have a strong feeling Ainsley might not be quite so patient as she gets older. LOL. At least I have one, right?

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  13. EXACTLY! :) it was such a wonderful feeling knowing I didn't HAVE to do anything other than be with the family. :) my favorite time of the year!

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  14. thanks so much! That really means a lot. I definitely enjoyed the time off, and managed to get a few ideas for some blog posts. :)

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  15. Awww! I love that! What a sweet sweet sweet boy!!!

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  16. Ahhhhh SO CUTE!!! What a precious morning you had with Zander - although up at 330, yeeeesh! So glad you got him to go back to bed lol. I'm so happy that you had a great Christmas, and that your kids are such good ones. You're awesome!! :)

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  17. Sometimes it's nice not to be consumed in taking pictures. I pretty much left my camera alone this Christmas and just soaked up every moment I could with my family. :-) Thaks for linking up to Two For Tuesdays!

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  18. You know it's okay to not take pictures. Enjoy your time with your kids because it goes by so fast! I didn't take ANY pictures this holiday season and I don't even care!

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  19. we had the same kind of morning! haha! kids make Christmas so fun!!

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