Christmas Morning

Christmas morning finally arrived, and it didn't take Morgan long to notice her first present: a her own ball pit! In fact, she was still at the top of the stairs when she cried, "What is it?!? I see the ball pit!"

Morgan ended up spending most of the day in the ball pit -- with guest appearances by just about everyone in the family -- and took occasional breaks to open presents, of course.

The girls checked out their stockings first. Morgan's stocking was stuffed with a "Rex" flashlight (dinosaur gift #1), a coloring book, bracelets, markers, and a NY Subway "C" train (the one that goes to Aunt Mimi's apartment in Brooklyn.)

Gwen's stocking had stuffed Oscar the Grouch and Grover dolls, stacking cups, board books, and a bunch of fun bath toys.

After stockings, we headed to the dining room for breakfast. Keeping up with a Christmas tradition, Ariella cooked her delicious cinnamon rolls. Then it was back to the living room to continue opening presents.

We thought for sure that Morgan would tear through the pile of presents. But instead, she meticulously opened each gift, then wanted to play with each one before moving on to the next present. After opening up Ernie and Super Grover dolls, she made sure the entire Sesame Street gang reunited for Christmas. (She's so thoughtful.)

Morgan and Gwen each bought gifts for each other. Gwen got Morgan a cool set of dinosaur refrigerator magnets (dinosaur gift #2). Morgan got Gwen a fun ball popper, which she helped her open.

The girls each got gifts for Mom and Dad, too. Dad got tree ornaments with the girls' handprints on them. Mom got stuff that came in pretty blue boxes.

The girls ran out of steam about half way through the pile of presents. Morgan headed back to her ball pit for some down time. Gwen decided she was perfectly comfortable on Mom's lap, so she just took a nap there.

Morgan eventually mustered up the strength to open up some rubber dinosaurs (dinosaur gift #3). Then when we heard Mayie and P-Pa pulling into the driveway -- which seemed like a good time to give everyone a break.

Of course, this was hardly the end of the Christmas fun. Stay tuned.