Christmas Part 2

After a long winter's nap, the girls were back in action and ready to take on the pile of presents that was still lurking under our Christmas tree -- some of which was left over from the morning, some of which made the trip from Connecticut with Andy's parents.

Morgan's first discovery in Round #2 was a Leapfrog Tag reading system. As soon as Mom downloaded a couple books onto the reader, we knew she was going to love "reading" Princess books on her own, and playing games.

Aimee, Russ, Henry and Alex arrived in the afternoon, and Round #4 of presents was underway! Gwen unwrapped a Dora guitar then entertained everyone with her dance moves.

We kept it pretty casual for dinner this year: appetizers, appetizers, and more appetizers. For dessert, Morgan sunk her teeth into one of her Christmas favorites: Caterpillar cake made by our friend (and avid Saucier Than Ever reader) Ruth. Yum!

After dinner, the girls finally got around to opening their "big" gifts from Mayie and P-Pa: beautiful wooden cradles for their baby dolls.

After putting their babies to bed, Morgan and Gwen had a little time left over to play before it was time for us to put our babies to bed.

Another exciting Christmas Day was over. But even after all this, there were still more presents to open. So our Christmas festivities had to go into sudden death overtime on period on Monday morning.

The girls opened up a bunch of new clothes from Mayie and P-Pa. Gwen unwrapped a new "Smelly Ellie" elephant, which -- like her older elephants -- she promptly crammed in her mouth (hence, the name "Smelly" Ellie).

Finally, the girls unwrapped their last gift (a light that looks like a fish tank -- which immediately became the centerpiece of their table). Christmas 2011 was officially over.

Christmas Morning 2011

This year, it felt like it took forever for Christmas to arrive. But when we saw how much stuff Santa brought for the girls, we realized he must have been packing his sleigh the whole time.

Gwen was the first one to wake up Christmas morning (5:50am, for the record). Morgan woke up shortly after that. We managed to divert them into our bedroom to watch TV while we got a little more sleep. Unfortunately, about half way through the Dora Christmas episode, Morgan remembered that it was Christmas. After that, NOTHING was going to keep them from going downstairs.

When the girls made it to the living room, the first thing they noticed were the new chairs, monogrammed with their names. Morgan has old chair that was in dire need of replacement. Gwen only had a flat old pillow and a Boppy to lay on (which she getting very attached to). Long story short, both girls were due for an upgrade to first class seating.

For Morgan, this will be remembered as the "Christmas of Disney Princesses" (big Princess dolls, little Princess dolls, baby Princess dolls, and Princess outfits). For Gwen, it'll be remembered as the "Christmas of Dora the Explorer" (baby Dora, exploring Dora, play date Dora, Boots, Swiper, Backpack, and even a Dora guitar).

Morgan's random present request from Santa this year was a "real" hamster. We eventually convinced her that a pink toy hamster would be better. And Santa delivered -- two toy hamsters, actually.

Gwen's Santa list included a Dora doll and an Aqua Doodle. Morgan was a big fan of the Aqua Doodle when she had one when she was Gwen's age. (She's still a big fan.)

Christmas was a good opportunity to round-out our Sesame Street collection as stocking stuffers. Welcome to the family, Cookie Monster, Big Bird, Prairie Dawn, Telly and Murry.

Speaking of stocking stuffers, everyone got dental flavored dental floss, including waffle, cupcake and bacon. (Delicious... I think.)

As the morning rolled on, the girls unwrapped all sorts of fun stuff. Morgan's gifts included a set of 7 Princess dolls and a fresh supply of Play-Doh. Gwen's present haul included a Dora "Backpack" and a racetrack.

In another annual Christmas tradition, the excitement of Christmas morning got the best of the girls. The remedy: snuggle time with Mom. Before long, though, the girls were back in action.

By the end of the morning, the girls were ready for a nap and the house was ready for a heavy-duty cleaning -- because Christmas wasn't over yet... not by a long shot.

Christmas Eve 2011

When you're little, waiting for Santa to arrive can make Christmas Eve feel like the longest day of the year. Thankfully, Ariella had plenty of fun activities planned to make the time fly by, including our annual Graham Cracker House decorating extravaganza.

Last year, Gwen was too little to build Graham Cracker houses. This year, she happily joined in the fun. She added candy and cereal to her house. But she enjoyed most was rocking back and forth to tunes playing on Aunt Lindsay's iPod.

Around 5pm, Ariella and Lindsay took the girls for a ride to see all the Christmas lights on people's houses. So the girls got to eat their Christmas Eve dinner on-the-go.

When they arrived home, there was just enough time to put out cookies and coffee for Santa (and carrots for the reindeer) before it was time to go to bed. After all, they had a big day coming up tomorrow.