Baby's First Christmas

We had a lot of fun today enjoying Eliza's first Christmas - even if she had no idea what was going on! She woke us up bright and early at 7 a.m. this morning (after a middle of the night screaming session since she is teething) so we decided that we might as well get up and open presents.

I've had a hard time keeping her away from the bows on the presents but she didn't really want anything to do with unwrapping them. Since her birthday is coming up in 7 weeks - we got her 3 little presents for under $30: a Playskool Pop Up animals toy, some Macarana toys that play music, count, etc., and a few balls. So far the balls have been the favorite since she can roll them and chase after them (I'm worried she is taking after the dogs a little too much).


Rob and I got the video game "Rock Band" for Christmas. And yes, I really am becoming a video game fan with these musical games! Rock Band lets you form your own little band with a singer, drummer, and two guitar players (one plays bass). Our friends Nicole and Jason came over and played with us for a little bit and then we had my Uncle Vern and cousins Jacob, Jessica, and Natalie came over this afternoon for an early Christmas dinner and many rounds of Rock Band.

I'm normally very stringent on my nap schedule for Ellie unless we are traveling or it's a holiday or something. Today I tried to get her down for her afternoon nap but she wanted nothing to do with it. I figured it was Christmas and I would just put her to bed early. We put her in her high chair for her snack and we were loudly playing Rock Band in the same room when we caught this:

Made me feel a little guilty! I guess all the excitement of the day got to her.

We were able to spend Christmas Eve dinner with Rob's family last night and then I came home and was able to talk to all my brothers and my dad on a conference call last night. It was already half way through Christmas day in Korea when we talked to my brother Kevin! So crazy. It's so fun to hear the missionary experiences of my brothers - even though I miss them!

I know this is a long post already but I have to share a cute little story about my neice Avery who is 2 1/2. Rob's brother Warren is in the process of building this massive playground in their backyard. It was supposed to be a surprise from the parents on Christmas and amazingly they were able to keep it a secret pretty well. The playground is 3 stories high (taller then the house) if that gives you any idea. Avery went out and saw it this morning and said "My daddy built me a Castle". Through the eyes of a 2 year old - it really does look like a castle! I will post pictures of it as soon as they are finished building it.