Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Today Was Ava's Second Christmas

I know this will change in the next few years, but mom and I were more excited for today than you were. So much so that we had to wake you up!

I had slept in a little bit (insert sarcasm here) until almost 6:00 a.m. and as the clock slowly crept to 8:00 a.m. I went to check on everyone. Mom was just stirring and you were still beside her (yep, you finagled your way into our bed again). We decided it best to gently wake you as we had a time frame to hit the road and make it to Grandma and Grandpa's house. 

Once you were awake we tried to build the excitement but it went over like a lead balloon. You had no idea what we were so thrilled about. 

"Ava, look who came last night!" mom said as she showed you the tree with all of your gifts underneath. Your facial expressions told us all we needed to know. 

Slowly you woke up and began to get the point, opening your stocking and excitedly saying "Minnie!" when you saw the markers and coloring books. 

Then it was on to the presents. You got the concept of tearing the paper but if there wasa word of the day, it would be "dainty" as you tore just tiny little pieces of paper off at a time and handed them to me. 


Get your Snicker's, we're not going anywhere for a while. 

Uncle Joe has a penchant for loud gifts, When visiting on our Myrtle Beach vacation over the summer he bought you drum sticks for you at the Hard Rock. For your birthday he got you a rubber chicken that when squeezed has a ridiculously loud cackle. 

For Christmas, it was a set of cymbals. These little brass suckers are loud! It didn't take long for you to figure them out. 


I think these will remain in the basement!


He's also thoughtful, though. I'm always sending him and Uncle Kris images and video of your artistic abilities telling them that there's a little Grandpa Kessler in you. Accompanying the cymbals was a Crayola dry-erase crayon drawing board. It even has lights to make the crayons glow when used in lower light settings. 

Once we were through all of you gifts it was time to pack up and head to Shelby. You slept nearly the entire way, not waking until we got in their driveway.

After a nice lunch of ham and scalloped potatoes it was time for more gifts. There was a mound of presents overflowing from underneath the tree at your Grandparents. 

Rather than open one-by-one, all gifts were divided and it was a sort of free-for-all. Mom and I concentrated on you first, letting you open your clothes and toys before we dug into ours. 

There was a tinge of Disney theme with Minnie Mouse clothes, Pluto and Donald plush toys to go with your Minnie and Mickey's at home, even a motorized Minnie Mouse four-wheeler from Aunt Holly. 


We were warned not to get mad about the four wheeler ahead of time. How could we? It was too cute. 

We need to work on your driving skills a little, but you'll have 15 years to figure it out. 

One of your other favorites that I know will get a lot of use ... your very first basketball hoop courtesy of Grandpa Fenner! Of course we put it together right away.

Without hesitation you grabbed the ball and dunked it. A born natural. 



Of all the toys and clothes and other gifts, one that you liked the most and really clung to for the day was a set of six owl magnets. You wouldn't let them go. At one point I looked over from the couch to where you were sitting with Grandpa and he had a round pizza pan for you to stick your magnets on. 

We had one more stop for the day before calling it a night. We went over to your Great Grandma and Grandpa Kempf's for the evening. While there with your grandma's siblings - Great Uncle Mark and Great Aunt Shelly, and second cousin's Chase, Brittany, and Grant, you opened more gifts. 

Among a few other things, your Great Grandparents gave you a purple coat with silver hearts emblazoned on it that had Sophia on the chest. You wouldn't let it go!

In all, it was a great day. We had a lot of fun and like I mentioned earlier, I'm looking forward to the next few years as you gain an understanding and are excited for the day!

No comments:

Post a Comment