Christmas Eve

 The excitement is raging in our little family. The playhouse is done...last night! Santa cookies made, shopping done, bread and clam chowder cooking, kiddos clamoring, and Christmas music jamming the airwaves. What a perfect, lazy day. Can't wait for tomorrow.

Yesterday I made a monumental decision. Santa is picking up the kid's binkies for the crying, baby elves in the North Pole this evening. We are going to wrap a box Santa can take. Phillip started throwing his binky across the room and screaming for me to come give it back, over and over, throughout the night. I came to the point of entertaining the thought of pinning his binky to his PJs, then thought about my THREE year old daughter, nearly four, still sucking hers. I am dreading this step, but the lack of sleep cannot get much worse. Both kids are waking up 4-8 times per night, often alternating. I crave a night with no interruptions. Wish us luck! The baby elves are going to give the kids a cute note and maybe even a little surprise. Amelia went to bed sucking on a plastic bandaid toy. Phillip cried for over an hour, poor kid he gets the boot by default.

Last night Ella and Amelia exchanged gifts. Amelia exclaimed that Ella's gift to her, "was the best first gift I've ever gotten!" I snapped a photo showing the height difference between my shrimpy Amelia and the tall Ella. Cute gals, eh?! Amelia is about 10 days older. Alison gave me a cute watch band and a gift certificate for some luscious fabric. The best part of her gift was securing some time with a local photographer. I assisted Kelly Highby photograph a set a twin boys last Friday. Alison picked up my kiddos and let me play for a 3-4 hours. That was a super fun time.

Wednesday our ward had our Christmas party. Right before the party I got a stinkin' cute hair cut. Amelia told the guy who cut my hair to make my hair straight like hers. He did with super cute results. Amelia took some photos of me. I may need to hire her services, she did a good job! The dinner was potluck. Our gym was jam packed with folks. Christmas brings out a lot of folks we don't often see. I think for the first time most of the food was consumed. I did not take any stew home! After dinner we had a little program. I sang "Immanuel, Immanuel" by Sally DeFord. My first solo in MANY years. I felt just a tad bit nervous, ok multiply that by about 100.