Celebrating Christmas!

The Christmas holiday has been especially exciting and joyful this year.  Avery is really looking forward to Christmas and seems to have a much better grasp on the idea of the holiday this year (as is expected).  When we talk about Christmas or do anything related to the holiday (shopping for gifts, wrapping them, decorating around the house), she's full of questions.  I just adore her little questions and the things that she comes up with...it gives me a whole new perspective on things.  

We visited Santa at the Inside Columbia offices this year and were so happy that we did it there this year.  In past years, we've gone to Bass Pro and were happy with the experience, but we didn't know what we were missing at the Inside Columbia celebration.  The offices were decorated beautifully and the entire thing was handled so well.  Santa was in a separate room from all of the activities, which made the visit with him so much more special.  There were several activities available for the kids to do while they were waiting for their turn to visit with Santa...coloring, cookies, cakes, all the best things.  When our turn rolled around, we found Santa in a separate room with all of his attention focused on Avery.  He allowed Avery to take her time to warm up to him, and we weren't rushed at all.  He was so nice to Avery, and when he asked her what she wanted for Christmas, she said, "books!"...best response ever.  It makes me so happy to hear that of all the things in the world that she could have wanted, she chose books!  It's times like that, when I think that I just might be doing an ok job with this little girl.

Our celebrations continued with Christmas at Grandpa and Grandma Cover's house.  It's so nice to see all the kids gathered together at the same time, and I really enjoy watching how they interact with each other and how completely different all of their personalities are.

Avery got a dry erase workbook from Chelsea so she can practice writing her numbers and letters...it was a great gift from Chelsea, as always.  The expression on Avery's face tells you just how she felt about it!

Another one of Avery's favorite gifts is her guitar that she got from Grandpa and Grandma.  Jeremy and I are also super excited about this gift! (can you hear the sarcasm?)  She loves to play "songs" on it and dance with Paci Baby!  Avery got so many fantastic gifts, but I think that the best part was watching Avery and all of her cousins' faces as they opened the gifts.  I think that gift-giving has become more fun every year and I constantly look forward to those times!

We had yet another opportunity for celebration with the best friends we could ask for, Jackie and Jason of course!  This year we were included in their family celebration with Rick and Julie (Jackie's parents), Ellen (Jackie's sister) and Ron (Jason's dad).  They were also kind enough to have some birthday balloons to celebrate my birthday (I think they were actually more for Avery, but I wouldn't have it any other way).

Avery was so surprised to find out that she was getting a present, and she requested that Jackie be the one to help her open it.

Jackie and Jason had heard from Santa that Avery wanted books, and that's exactly what she got...Dr Seuss and MICKEY!  I just love this picture...with her little legs crossed!

After the excitement of presents was over, Avery became interested in Ellen's gadget...an iPad (or the like).  She and Ellen really hit it off, and Avery was so quick to pick up how to operate that thing...I think she could probably teach Jeremy and I a thing or two.

She loved the games and had so much fun with Ellen!

On Christmas Eve night, we added a few ornaments to the tree that we had acquired in the past few weeks and got ready for Santa's arrival.

I think Santa left quite the haul for Avery...this picture was taken just after Santa left.

On Christmas morning, Avery woke up and walked to our bedroom, right past all the gifts waiting for her in the living room.  She didn't even notice all the new toys set up.  We gave her a few minutes to wake up, then reminded her that it was finally Christmas and Santa had come...she was ready to go after that.  Like in years past, we just let Avery set the pace for the morning.  We went through all the stuff Santa brought first, playing with each one for a while before moving on.  Notice that Santa fulfilled Avery's request for books!

Santa brought Avery some great gifts...horses and a barn (or a hen house as Avery likes to call it).

While Jeremy really enjoyed watching Avery play with her new gifts, he wasn't really impressed with how early the day began, so he decided on a little catnap on the couch!

After some time playing with all of the gifts from Santa, it was time to move on to the gifts from Jeremy and I.  She didn't take quite as much care opening and playing with each one like she did with the gifts from Santa...he brought the more exciting ones until...

the iPad!  She is obsessed!  She calls it her un-computer, I'm not sure why.

Jeremy and I spent lots of time researching the best electronics for kids and even bough a couple different ones.  However, they all ended up being sub-par in one respect or another...very small screen, expensive games to buy, poor long-term investment.  Eventually (and after a lot of debate), we decided on the iPad.  It would be more of a family gift as well.  So, we saved our money, researched the best educational apps and were so excited to give it to her.  It's proven to be a great investment!

After a morning of playing around the house, we got packed up and headed to Clinton to celebrate with Nana and Papa and all of the cousins on that side of the family.  Snowflakes were the pajama theme this year.  It's kind of hard to tell, but they all have matching snowflake pajamas...so cute!

We opened a couple of presents that night to help extend the experience then headed to bed so we would be well rested for the chaos to ensue in the morning.

Jack posing for a close-up!

A good-night kiss for "Baby Jack."

I'm pretty sure that this was Avery's favorite present for this round of gifts...a horse RV to go with Avery's barn...it's a good thing that Santa is in such good communication with everyone about what he was bringing for Avery.

After the morning at Nana and Papa's house, we went to my grandparents' house.  I'm not sure why, but this was the only picture I managed to get of that visit...perhaps my finger was tired from pushing the shutter-release button so many times over the past few days.

The Christmas celebration continued on New Year's weekend with a lunch with Great Grandpa and GG.  We always enjoy our time with them, and they always seem excited to see us (that feeling never gets old).  Avery decided to help GG open her present, but she didn't seem quite as excited about the picture of herself as GG did...good thing it was GG's present!

"Thank you" kisses and hugs for Great Grandpa.

This year celebrating Christmas was the most fun I've had in a long time.  It was so great just watching Avery give presents, receive presents, teaching her that the giving is even more important than the receiving (which is kind of a hard concept for a two and a half year old to understand)...some of my favorite memories!