Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! It's been a long day here in the H house. Last night, EJ went to bed around 9:30. She gave up her room for Grandma and Grandpap to sleep in, and she has been sleeping on the futon in the extra room on the third floor. She wanted to be closer to the rooftop so she could hear Santa, plus there's a window seat in the dormer to watch for his sleigh to cross in front of that beautiful full moon we had. We grown-ups retired for the evening around 11:15.

At 12:30, she heard Santa and came down to our room to say she couldn't go back to sleep. We encouraged her to try a little harder and sent her back upstairs. About 20 minutes later, she returned. We kindly (or as kind as you can be at nearly 1 AM) explained that there was NO WAY we were getting up for at least another 5 hours, so we didn't care if she laid awake up there until then. When she returned for the third time at 1:20, she asked if she could sleep with us and in order to allow me to get some sleep, I obliged. What a mistake. We have a king-sized bed, but I still woke up with a stiff neck and shoulder, as she was in my way all night!

Anyway, she finally awoke around 6:35 and we found that grandma and grandpap were already downstairs waiting for us, as she had told them she would be up at 6. I think we unwrapped the final gift around 9:30! Here's the loot:


The first gift EJ opened was a K'Nex carousel. She spent a lot of time admiring the ferris wheel one at the toy store a few weeks ago, so Santa knew she would love this.


It took Sophie a while to warm up to the concept of opening presents, despite the fact that she shreds every tissue within a 20 foot radius of her. But once she figured out there were toys inside those packages, it was pure glee. Here she is literally sitting in one of the gifts while shaking her new maracas:

Then, Sophie opened up a new baby doll from Grandma and Grandpap H.

As soon as it was out of the box (which was not quickly with all the little clips and ties), she knew exactly what to do with the baby's bottle:

Grandma and Grandpap H got EJ a new jewelry box to help organize her earring collection:

The last thing EJ discovered was a new iPod in the bottom of her stocking:

She also got this really cool RoboPet...this thing has amazing movement! Sophie likes to chase it around.

Sophie really enjoys this new gear toy from Uncle T, Aunt P, and cousin H. I helped her put all the gears on, and then she pressed a button which makes them all spin and move! I didn't know it was going to do this, so I'd put my hand up to my mouth in a fake gasp and smiled, and now Sophie does the same each time they start to spin. She is really imitating a lot of things and sounds this week!

Santa left a package for EJ, Grandma H, and I. It had new Nutcracker sweaters for EJ and I, as well as three tickets in the 7th row for Saturday's matinee performance in the big city!

EJ got this really cute and very lifelike puppy from Mamaw and Pap-Pap S. It uses a battery and "breathes" so it looks very real. She named it Patch, in memory of Mamaw's previous dog (now in doggy heaven), as it looks just like the real Patch:

We hope that your holiday was as happy and exciting as ours. Having little Sophie here was the best gift we could have asked for and we're grateful that she's finally here to celebrate with us after waiting through two previous Christmases.