Christmas Day

After being up later than their normal bedtimes on Christmas Eve, both Clara and Taylor slept in well on Christmas morning. It will probably be our last year of this luxury! We had to remind the girls that Santa had come and they ran out to the tree. Santa left a doll bed for Clara and a big girl bike for Taylor. They both seemed pretty sleepy for a while, but once they found a little CANDY in their stockings, they were soon bouncing off the walls. Clara was more interested in Taylor's bike and the matching "hat" (helmet) than her own gift.

Above, Clara is digging into the her stocking. She found the lollipop right away and really wasn't as impressed with anything else, well besides the gummy candies!

All holiday season when we asked Clara what she wanted Santa to bring her she said she wanted "Toys & Candy." When we queried further, she said "blue toys" and "bunk beds." We assumed that the "blue toys" actually referred to Blue's Clues, but we were unsuccessful in finding any in of the stores. Luckily Santa was crafty and made Clara a one of a kind Handy Dandy notebook with the Blue's Clues logo. Clara played with a bunk bed toy in a doll house when we were doing some Christmas shopping with my friend Kate. That single experience had quite an impression, so Clara got her own doll house furniture including the bunk beds.

Cousin Taylor got a new table and tea set for Christmas and both the girls had a blast playing tea party with Grandma and Grandpa.

The other hit of the day was Clara's gift of a PINK cozy coupe from Grandma & Grandpa. Despite our dislike of this toy (see Project Cozy Coupe Fascination Extinction post) my parents knew that she would love it and they were correct. She lit up immediately when she was unwrapping it and waited patiently as Papa Bob & Grandpa assembled it!

This year Christmas took on a whole new meaning for our family. Clara made the season so much fun and got excited about the little things making it magical for us as well. There was so much build up that she had a little trouble realizing once it was over. In fact, she still frequently sings "Santa Claus is Coming to Town."