Christmas Morning!

On Christmas morning, Katie Anne was still not feeling well.  She'd had a rough night with her stomach virus, so she actually laid in her bed for almost an hour after we told her she could go and see what Santa gave her.  Even though we told her that Santa had brought lots of the things she'd asked for, she said that she needed to lay in her bed and rest for awhile before she could get up.  That's a pretty sick kid when she'd rather lay in her bed and rest than go and see all her presents!  Luckily, she felt like getting up and checking out all her goodies at 7:30 that morning.

Walking in the living room to see all the surprises...

Wow!

Happy First Christmas to SJ!

 Checking out her "design your own" cardboard cottage...

 This was actually a gift from Mommy and Daddy, not Santa - and Katie Anne loves it. 

Opening her stocking - an IPod Shuffle!  Katie Anne loves listening to the Glee, Disney, and Kids Bop songs on her IPod.

 Christmas pups in their new holiday outfits!

 Abby and Ginger got special Christmas chewies, too.

Mommy and Daddy didn't exchange gifts this year, but we did get great things in our stockings!

 SJ loves his Sing-a-ma-jig!

 Katie Anne still felt really weak during Christmas morning.  She was so pale and still really tired.

 We brought her "lily pad" cushion from her room (that's what Mommy slept on in KA's floor last night!), and Katie Anne had to take frequent breaks and lay down while playing with all her new Christmas toys.

 Luckily, after a few hours, she was feeling a ton better.  By about 9:30, she had eaten a good breakfast and regained a lot of her energy.  Then, she was really able to enjoy her fun stuff!

 The reality of our sick Christmas- the nebulizer treatments must go on, even on Christmas morning!

  Katie Anne with her big gift from Santa - a princess bike!

 After Katie Anne felt better, it was the old favorite stuffed animal Peach's turn to be sick, along with his new friend Uniqua.  Katie Anne turned her cardboard cottage into a doctor's office, and when she opened her new doctor's kit, she was all set to care for her sick babies!

 SJ loved all his new toys!

 We waited several hours to open presents to give KA a chance to feel better.  Unfortunately, that meant SJ was really tired by the time we got around to unwrapping presents!  Here he is with his packages from Mommy, Daddy, and KA.

 Katie Anne was feeling almost back to her old self by the time we started unwrapping.  Here she is with her gifts from Mommy, Daddy, and SJ.

 Gigi took Katie Anne shopping on Dec. 23 for gifts for all of us.  We had no idea what she'd picked!  She got a Glow-worm (or a "lullaby glower" as she calls it) for SJ, and he loved it!

 I took SJ to Walmart and let him "pick" a toy out for KA, too.  Out of the three possible toys I held up to him, he clearly showed the most interest in these Magic Rise Cupcakes, so that's what he got for her!  She thought they were wonderful!

 Katie Anne got a Wii game for Daddy...

 and an umbrella, two rings, and earrings for Mommy!  She did a great job picking out presents for us!

 Opening her doctor's kit...

 Little SJ fell asleep while we were opening presents, but he slept clutching his two favorite gifts so far - his photo album and his Glow-Worm.

 KA and Daddy building with her new Lincoln Logs...

Hide and Seek Jojo was a big hit!

 Hiding from Jojo behind her new bike...

Wow - it's snowing outside!  A real white Christmas for us!

Katie Anne and I got bundled up and ran outside to see the snow - we didn't know how long it would last!

 Trying to catch a snowflake on her tongue...

SJ missed the first few flakes of his first snow... he and Daddy were taking a mid-day Christmas nap in the recliner in the nursery!  He got to see the snow later at Gigi and Granddad's house - we got several inches of snow on Christmas Day!

I will admit that Christmas started out on a low point for all of us.  With KA too weak to even get out of bed and little SJ not feeling like himself at all, it was a bleak beginning to our Christmas morning.  I was so sad that SJ's first Christmas was going to be a weak one!  Luckily, everyone felt much better by mid-morning, and we were able to go on and have a fun Christmas Day.  Even though it was not the Christmas we'd planned for - we never dreamed both our kids would be so sick for Christmas - we still had a wonderful time together on our first Christmas morning as a family of four!