Their first Christmas!

Christmas was

wonderful!

I may have had a slight

teary mini-breakdown on the 23rd

just thinking about how grateful I am that

THIS YEAR

my babies are

HOME.

THIS YEAR

we aren't begging some

committee somewhere on the west coast

to allow us to be their parents.

We ARE the parents.

THIS year

we weren't 

looking at grainy photos

with sad eyes

and sickly bodies.

THIS year 

we had squeals of delight,

laughter that brought tears,

and overwhelming

gratitude.

Sure...

we had our bouts of

"oh my gosh they are

SO overwhelmed

and

SO tired

and 

SO needing a nap!"

but mostly

it was lots of fun!

Hearing #6 walking around

the house all day on Christmas

repeating

"Happy Birthday Baby Jesus! 

Happy Birthday, baby Jesus!"

like the last line of the traditional birthday song...

just too sweet.

Baby Boy 

terrified of the tennis-ball-sized

toy chipmunk

that squeaks

and races across the wood floors...

but thinks flying down

the toy roller coaster

is lots of fun!

Go figure.

And #5,

who thought she 

was going to get to 

"hold baby Jesus"

on Christmas

since it was His birthday

after all!

And the bigger four...

they were very sweet too.

They enjoyed helping the littles

decide what to open next,

putting their toys together,

and teaching them how to play with them.

Learning to use a Sit-N-Spin is a big skill, you know!

We had a VERY Merry Christmas!

Do you see my baby boy??

oh THERE he is! Under all that packing paper his sister is throwing on top of him!

Why can't I have a pink tricycle?

Extreme coastering. Take one.