That night, I wrapped presents, filled the stockings, and Grant put together bikes for the girls. I'm not gonna lie, I was so wiped out that I would wrap a few presents then try to take little cat naps. Grant ended up wrapping the last few presents after assembling the bikes.
Sunday morning, we couldn't wait to hear the girls reactions when they got up and saw all the presents and the stockings. They did not disappoint! They were so excited, but since Christmas fell on Sunday this year, we decided to just have them open their stockings first, and then we'd get ready for church. And yes, I am that mom that puts new toothbrushes in stockings. At their age, they get excited about anything!
Oh, we did let them open their birthday gifts from Uncle John and Aunt Sarah.
Surprisingly, they handled not opening the rest of their presents really well. They played with their new easel, which was already set up and not wrapped, and the swings that Grant had just put up, and they were perfectly content.
We eventually got ready for church. Aren't they pretty?
When we got back from church, we still weren't going to open presents, because Grant's parents were coming over later. So I got some lunch ready and Grant was eager to get the girls on their new bikes. This picture was taken moments before Cami fell. Don't worry, her face broke her fall, as you'll see in later pictures.
We ate, they took naps, Grant's parents came over, so it was finally time to open all those presents!
The day after Christmas was Kendall's party day. She had been a little confused about when exactly she turned 4. Periodically on Christmas Day we'd mention it, and she'd say, "I'm not 4, I'm still 3!" So we explained that her birthday was on Christmas, but her party was the day after. She still struggled a bit with that concept. Regardless, when she got up on Monday, she knew she was 4. She was pretty eager to help me with her cake, so she did. And like all good helpers, she got the reward of licking the spoon!
It was finally time for the party. It was pretty similar to Cami's - just family, plus one other family, who have been friends of the Spear's for years. Grant's been working on a tree house in the backyard for a while, and while it's still not totally finished, he got it to the point that the kids could play in it. That was definitely a highlight for the kids, I'd say...
This time, my mom helped me with the pizzas. She was in charge of the dough, and I did the toppings. As you can see, she was feeling her inner pizza-maker. And she also had a little help from Cami.
Once everyone had their fill of pizza, it was time to open presents (third day in a row of presents - Oy!)...
Then it was time for that cake Kendall helped me make earlier that day! Kendall had asked for chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and sprinkles, so that's what she got. I used this recipe, by the way, and it was pretty amazing.
Oh, and in case you couldn't tell, she had a Hello Kitty themed party. We forgot to get a picture of the decorations, so we got one after the party, when she was wearing her beloved Hello Kitty nightgown (thanks, Michelle!).
We've had a great last few days, but I'm kinda glad it's all over - I'm pretty worn out! Now I should be able to focus on getting everything ready for the baby.
You're awesome. Those girls (and Grant) are so lucky to have you taking care of them and loving on them! :o)
ReplyDeleteI agree with Melissa. I can't believe you pulled that all off and then actually were able to blog about it. You rock. I feel like you should be using these amazing bouts of energy to head up to Chicago for a New Year's Eve plus kids reunion. We'll hit up all our old haunts, this time with kids in tow. Miss you!
ReplyDeleteGreat photos! It looks like everybody had such a good time. I hope you're able to get some rest in the new year.
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