Adieu, Christmas...

I hope everyone had a splendid holiday! Ours was jam packed with fun...late night Cranium that went on for hours, LOTS of tasty food, mimosas and martinis, dog sleepover pals for Olivia and Phil...a Newfoundland named Dante and a Basset Hound named Winston. My whole immediate family drove from Minnesota and Wisconsin to spend Christmas with us. It really was a good time! We saw the new Sherlock Holmes movie, which I definitely recommend, made large, elaborate meals, and generally, enjoyed each others company. Christmas morning was a bit of a present explosion...with 9 people and 4 dogs in the house, there were gazillions of presents to be passed.

Ada Louise thought the mad gift rush was fun at first, and then started to melt down into over-stimulation mode. She is just loving all the new treasures she received...well, all but the giant stuffed animal Pug I bought for her. I thought it was the perfect gift since she LOVES dogs...everyone else thought it was a bit scary. As you can see from my previous post, Olivia the Pug felt a kinship with this stuffed Pug and has decided to show her the ropes of the house.

Overall, 2011 Christmas was wildly successful! It was great to have my family come and visit our new digs and explore our new town with us. It was also fantastic for my brothers to spend some time with Ada Louise, since we don't get to see each other that often. I think Ada Louise really loved all the people around. She had a great Christmas....I can't wait to see how much she will change before next Christmas and how much more she will understand and partake in the holiday. Having children really changes Christmas, in a good way! I used to be so focused on what gifts I was getting for Christmas...now, I can't wait to see the look of excitement on Ada Louise's face when she experiences opening gifts, seeing Santa, and inspecting every last ornament on the tree. I didn't want to focus on myself, at all...I just wanted to soak up every little moment and every little reaction she had to all the newness.