December 24th

First, the stockings. I remember my mom would give us our stockings on Christmas Eve morning to help keep us occupied. So we sent Ethan on a hunt for his stocking, and then he and Kate got to open their little toys. I got Ethan a little Christmas puzzle and stamp/sticker set and a football ornament with his picture in it. Kate got a book about a puppy.

Later we read stories together. Ethan loved all of Grandma's books, and some of them were books from my childhood, which was kind of fun.

For lunch, we went to the mall, where Kate and Ethan got to ride a train together. They loved that!

After dinner, we got dressed for church and Kate and Ethan even sat down for a pic together (I tried to get them to look at the camera, but it just didn't work):

I wanted to title this post "The Christmas Miracle" because there were several on Christmas Eve.  One was that my kids were pretty decent during church that night.  The past two times we've attended my parent's church, it's been somewhat of a nightmare, so I was relieved when we made it through.

The next Christmas miracle was that Kate started walking!!!!!!  All day she had been practicing standing up on her own, and we would clap and she would clap and it was adorable.  Then, as we were getting ready to eat dinner after church, I looked down to see Kate, taking steps, on her own.  No one was coaxing her or waiting for her or cheering her on.  She just turned around and took 3 or 4 unsteady steps. Isn't it cute when they are learning to walk and hold their arms out and toddle along?

All I could say when I saw Kate walk was, "Kate!  Kate!  Kate!"  Not as in, "Kate, what are you doing?!"  but "Everyone look at Kate quick before she falls and we never see this again!!!"

My nephews called those steps the Christmas Miracle.

As Tim and I reflected on our favorite parts of the night later that evening, for me it was definitely a combination of our church service (not because the kids were decent, but that the music was great and it was a nice remembrance about the real meaning of Christmas) and Kate finally taking her first steps.  I had been getting discouraged when 18-months was approaching and the cute clothes I had gotten months ago for a toddling little girl still wouldn't work for our crawling Kate.

Here's the kids' table:

Grandma and Grandpa Choo-Choo got Kate a dolly, doll bed, and a baby blanket and pillow.  She loved, loved, loved this and played all evening with her new baby.  She "rocked" the baby in the bed and re-arranged the blanket over and over again. 

Ethan's special gift was his very own suitcase.  He loves that thing and carries it all over our house, still, and probably doesn't even realize how handy it will be when he actually goes on a trip.  He just loves zipping it up and opening it and throwing his basketball inside. 

Next my sweet, aggressive daughter kissed her cousin Lincoln.  He totally didn't know how to react, but let's just say Kate got lots of kissing in and Lincoln was very patient (and confused?).

As much as I love Christmas Eve, I had an uncomfortable feeling when it got to be really late and Ethan was still awake.  He doesn't do well when his sleep schedule is disrupted.  But, whatever, it's Christmas.  Like I was going to make him go to bed while we all opened presents.

Before he went to bed, Ethan's cousin Jagger read him some books: