Christmas Morning--Just us & Max

When we decided to have kids one of the things that we both felt strongly about was Christmas morning. We would go to sleep on Christmas Eve night in OUR home and the kids would wake up and experience the magic of Christmas in their own home. They'd run down the stairs with great big eyes filled busting at the seems with excitement to see what Santa had brought for them. 

& that is exactly what we have done. I thought Christmas as a little girl was magical, it has nothing on Christmas' now. Watching the boys light up with joy, excitement and thankfulness--there's no better feeling. Magical.

This year we took the family pjs to the next level - and got matching pjs. This may have to be a new tradition as I didn't really get out of mine the entire day except when the South family came over and then as soon as they left, the pjs went back on. 

But back to running down the stairs -- we have a rule on Christmas morning. They have to wait until at 6 am and they can't go downstairs without coming in and waking us up. Justin and I wake up, get a few things done & then we head downstairs so that we can video their reactions & watch as their excitement turns to joy.

This Christmas was extra special as our family grew by 4 feet. Yup, Logan asked Santa for a lizard, a real one, & Santa did not disappoint him. He came down the stairs, turned the corner and headed straight for Max -- he had already named him, just in case he showed up. It was literally love at first site and since meeting Max, the rest of us have taken a backseat. Honestly, I'm okay with that -- their bond is pretty special and it needs to be, Max will be around for many, many, MANY years.

Kaden headed straight for his Vego Viro -- Santa had some extra help from some very special elves on tracking down this bad boy. It was the hot gift of the year but all the work that Santa and his elves put into tracking this down was worth it when he saw it.

Santa's gifts are among the highlights of the morning BUT the top highlight is when the boys exchange gifts. This was only our second year doing this but it's easily become one of my favorite traditions of the holiday. I take each boy shopping and give them a dollar limit they must stay within. This year they both were able to stay within that budget and simultaneously buy gifts that wouldn't fit in your average size box. They were both beyond proud of their work and so were Justin and I, they really chose gifts that they knew their brother would love. 

Kaden chose a skateboard for Logan. Logan choose a football and soccer ball for Kaden.

Perfect.

And the weather was so nice on Christmas that they were able to get out and play with their new toys. They spent as much time outside as they could this Christmas morning and it warmed my heart in so many ways. And if Logan wasn't outside learning how to ride his skateboard, he was inside keeping his eye on Max.

The best part of the day, just being with the boys, all three of them. We didn't have an agenda, we didn't have things that needed to be done at home, we just got to BE. To be with each other. To play games. To put puzzles together. To watch Christmas movies. To just be. It just doesn't happen as often as it should so when it does, we try and make the most of it and we did. It was another magical Christmas--for so many reasons.