Merry Christmas

The gifts are opened. The living room is a mess. Ella is overstimulated and Mike is geeked about his latest gadget. I imagine his new Garmin will keep him entertained for quite some time. It's been quite the day.

Ella is having a ball and her parents are exhausted. I guess that's the mark of a good day. She received too many packages for me to even recall what she unwrapped. Ella was visited by Santa twice this year. He came Friday night at our house and then last night at grandma's house. She definitely has enjoyed everything associated with the season and Mike and I have enjoyed observing her as she experiences all the joy and chaos.

For Christmas Eve, we celebrated with some of my mom's side of the family. After a white elephant gift exchange and tasty chicken noodle soup prepared lovingly by my brother, we headed to Christmas Eve service. We debated whether or not to take Ella. She was telling us she was tired as she has had some difficulties sleeping while at grandma's house. As much as I wanted my husband and my daughter with me for the service especially since Uncle Justin had a solo, I had visions of a massive meltdown during the candle light silent night. Ella seemed to catch a second wind.

She actually provided lots of laughs as we sat in the pew. She enjoyed waving at Justin in a rather over-the-top, animated way as he sat in the choir loft. She was very much into checking out the surrounding people, and she would clap after each song and proclaim, "It over." One of the best moments was her loudly requesting me to sing "Wheels on the Bus" while the rest of the congregation was singing a hymn and after she broke a pencil, she requested her daddy to fix it. She actually did fairly well and lasted through most of the service until I went to check her diaper and she loudly proclaimed, "I just wet." I took her back to the nursery, and Mike relieved me so I could take communion. He tried to bring her back for the singing of Silent Night, but she demanded "I play first."

Fortunately for Mike and I, she went down fairly easily, which allowed MIke and I to get some sleep, which we desperately needed. It has truly been a good day. Hopefully, we'll have photos to share in the next few days.

Merry Christmas all.