Merry Christmas!

Our 2008 Christmas Story:

Our Christmas Eve began for Delanie with a playdate with Caleb. Delanie and Caleb played with trains and balls, while Delanie narrated much of what happened. When we went to say goodbye, Delanie gave Caleb a big hug and a kiss on the lips, it was too cute!

Daddy got home from work early so we could attend Christmas Eve services at a local church. The 4 pm service was geared especially for kids, and there were probably between 50-70 children under the age of 10, so Delanie had plenty to look at. There was lots of singing and a live nativity scene. After each person finished at the mic, whether it was singing, speaking (or praying), Delanie would exclaim, "Yaaayyyy!"

We got home relatively early and grilled a few steaks, to take advantage of the 60 degree weather. Delanie ate a good portion of a hot dog dipped in ketchup. After dinner, we indulged in some Christmas cookies.

We lit our tree and each opened one gift - our new Christmas pajamas. This is part of a tradition that I remember from my own childhood. We chnaged into our new "jammies" and settled dow on the sofa to watch, "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas." Around 7, we put a cookie out for Santa (this caused a bit of a tantrum, as Delanie did not understand this concept AT ALL) and headed to bed.

This is where our Christmas story gets interesting. I agreed to put Delanie to bed so Dave could begin assembling her play kitchen - her big gift from santa. Well, Dave went to get the dolly and was overwhelmed with pain in his chest area. At first we thought nothing of it, but when the pain didn't get better, we started to get concerned. And, when you google "chest pain" there is nothing pleasant to read. So, we left the kitchen in pieces on the floor and headed to the emergency room. Fortunately, we were able to track down Aunt Kate to come stay with Delanie.

Dave received an EKG and chest xray, along with a lot of monitoring of his vitals. Doctors quickly ruled out a heart attack and confirmed that everything was working correctly. They think he pulled some muscles in his chest and they also saw the beginnings of pneumonia in his chest.

We got home around 12:30 am and were exhausted. We woke up at 5:30 so we could set up the gifts under the tree and stuff the stockings.

Delanie woke up around 6:30 am. Here is a video link:




After seeing the initial train set and playing with it a bit, Delanie opened her stocking. Here is a clip:




Delanie had a lot of fun opening presents. She kept getting distracted by her new train set, so presents took almost 5 hours to open. She was especially drawn to her new baby, which she will be able to add to her collection. She also really liked her tea set and her pots and pans- all purchased as accessories to her kitchen (thanks Mimi), which she didn't get on Christmas day. But, she realized that she could ask for her snacks in her teacup, and she could pour Cheerios and goldfish in and out of multiple containers without getting into trouble. She got a set of silicone bakign cups with feet on them (thanks Mamo), which are for actual baking. But again, they made great Cheerios holders. Delanie really liked the colors too, she would say "purple cake" or "orange cake" to get the holder she wanted. And, then there was this great stuffed bear (thank you Grandpa and Grannie) that Delanie wanted to jump on because he was so soft. Santa also brought a set of giant blocks, which brought much excitement from Delanie.

We enjoyed a Christmas breakfast of snowflake pancakes and sausage. We took a lot of phone calls, both because it was Christmas and because people were concerned about Dave. It was wonderful to talk with so many family and friends.

We enjoyed the rest of our day, with some time playing outside, some more time playing inside and a much-needed family nap time. We stopped by Papa Dave and Nana's house for a bit, before heading back home. Delanie had an early bedtime and Dave and I began a new movie (thank you Nick), but I fell asleep in the first 20 minutes.

Friday morning, Delanie got her new kitchen! We unpacked all of the appliances that she got with it (Thanks Mimi) and set it all up. She spent about an hour playing with it. We'll post a video soon!

Thank you everyone for all the wonderful gifts, it will take us several days to get through them all and really play with each of them! Overall, a wonderful Christmas, and we are so fortunate to have our health and our families!

Merry Christmas!