Christmas Morning

They were SO patient Christmas morning, we didn't even open gifts until about 2 hours after they woke up! It was fun and relaxing to be at home, making OUR family memories together. I LOVED this day!

I think Ainslee has learned the "Chandler" smile from Kaylee

Auntie Crista and Uncle Harry really spoiled these girls ROTTEN this year! Here is one of the things they got, a chef's costume.

The entire time we opened gifts from Crista and Harry, we were Skyping with them so they could share in the gifts they gave. It was so fun!

Then it was time for the big reveal upstairs. Kaylee happily tore down the sign that has kept them out of their playroom for the past 6 weeks.

Then the sign got stuck on her sock, so Ainslee helped her out.

Their first look at the room

Kaylee was THRILLED!

Ainslee was thrilled too, but she is much more cautious than Kaylee

Kaylee jumped right on the ladder

Then she checked out the reading area (I still need to get some comfy seating in this area)

Ainslee went to all the "old" toys first. She LOVES that baby stroller and all baby accessories!

Then we broke out the paints.....

After ALL THAT Christmas fun, we napped. Then Amma Rita came over to celebrate some more.

Ainslee got a new purse loaded with lots of goodies, pretend keys, phone, lip stick, makeup mirror.

And then there were more dress-up clothes

At one point Kaylee was in a dress-up dress, on the play phone, AND drilling the table. Talk about some multitasking

Then we played some Candy Lane, while Ainslee made us a snack

THEN, nearly 2 hours late, we ATE! Not only did we lose track of time, but there were a few "set backs" in the meal prep. The biggest was the BIRD that flew into our house. I'm still not quite sure if he wanted to warm up inside or if he thought he could get a bite of our fabulous meal. He was in the house for about 15 minutes, and it went something like this........Kaylee laughing/freaking out excitedly, me freaking out and screaming my head off every time the bird flew to a new location worrying how much poo I was going to have to clean up, Ainslee watching everything very intently mostly focusing on what big sister is doing, Rita trying her best to help out but stay out of the way, and Marcus trying to be a "bird wrangler" and basically yell at me for freaking out so bad. It took him about 4 trys to actually capture the bird, but he did so successfully and released him back outside. It was so much excitement that we didnt even take any pictures.

I served spiced carrot-apple soup, fried turkey (courtesy of my dad), green beans with caramelized shallots, perfect potatos au gratin, and corn bread stuffing (I added extra herbs and wild rice to this recipe). The entire meal was DIVINE! Too bad Ainslee had to miss it! She was pooped and asked to go to bed without even eating dinner.......poor baby.

And for dessert we had another PW favorite, caramel pumpkin cheesecake. I made ours GF and just used regular graham cracker crust. This is a recipe EVERYONE should try!

We had such a perfect Christmas! I LOVE my family, and I cherish these memories! Marcus was able to take a few days off after Christmas so the extra family time was even better. I cant wait until NEXT Christmas!