The Christmas Episode

 I'm not really wrapping up Christmas yet... because it's not quite over.  We celebrate all the way to Epiphany.  However, I may not have the energy to post by then as I've got a wedding tomorrow and lots of editing to follow. 

We started Christmas Eve out with brunch at our dear friends (have I mentioned how awesome it is to live a block away from friends?  I love it!) and watching the Broncos game (the boys are trying to pretend it didn't happen).  Mommy made the mistake of not bringing many toys for our little one... which meant a whole lot of cranky by the end.

We gave Anni her little present while our potato soup bubbled in the crock pot.  Her first reaction was a very cranky stare-off (trust me, the video is not pretty), but once Daddy showed off that the cars could roll and crash, it was all gravy.

We continued the tradition of Daddy reading The Night Before Christmas.  This started as a tradition when I was growing up.  As far back as I can remember, we would gather all the candles we owned into the living room and light them.  Then, by the glow of those candles, my daddy would read us The Night Before Christmas. 

Christmas morning, Anni awoke (with a clatter) at six o'clock.  Yeah, it was a little early.  We had some great plans to reveal her big gift (a kitchen), but when we did it, she was pretty cranky.  This seems to be a theme in our gift-giving process.  However, Daniel and I demoed (is that how you spell that?  no way...)  it and she got into it pretty quickly.  The early wake-up call turned out to be a blessing so Miss Anni (um... and her parents) could play with her sweet new kitchen.

By the way, we love this kitchen (wooden and non-toxic paint); however, if you do buy it, be forewarned that it took my husband (with a little help from me) three hours to put together.
 

This face makes it worth it.

The Christmas Day ensemble.  Nonna finished it off by bringing red sparkly shoes when she met us for Mass. 

Miss Anni spent a lot of our visit taking the ornament she gave Nonna and Papa off the tree, pulling the hanging loop off, and delivering it to an adult to fix.  (She even learned the word fix, she did it so much.)

We were all thoroughly spoiled.

And just when we thought we were all done, Papa came down the stairs with a "stay at Nonna's" present.  Miss Anni's very own castle, where she played peek-a-boo to her heart's content.  (And, while I'm really not into the whole princess thing, it's really the overly plastic and cheap Disney princess stuff that bothers me, so we had a whole lot of fun.)  

Anni loves the piano, which works out well, because Daddy loves it too.  She likes to run to it from the other room, bang out a few notes and turn around with a big, "YAY!", encouraging us to clap for her brilliance.  When Daddy plays she likes to sit right next to him.

Outfit courtesy of Nonna... I absolutely love it.  And, there she is pulling her ornament apart again.

"The Lip" has made itself known recently.  We blame teething, but kind of love it.

Anni discovered that she loves Raffi this weekend.  Nonna dug out Daddy and Uncle David's old tapes  and we all clapped and danced until we were thoroughly exhausted.



Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.