Christmas Day

Sadly, my camera battery, known lately for not holding a charge for long, decided to die overnight, and I had no good camera for Christmas day.

It was a memorable Christmas, this being the first time Cooper understood Santa.  He woke up about 6 am, despite getting to bed late, and apparently went for a sneak peek to the living room, because I awoke to him saying in an almost crying voice, "Mom!!  Santa DIDN'T come!  He didn't bring me any presents!"  He was so upset.  However, I knew that Santa had dropped the presents and stockings on the floor, and that in the dark room they were probably out of view from the door, with the coffee table blocking the way.  I was glad Santa had picked that spot, so we didn't miss the surprise on Cooper's face.  I assured him that Santa did come, but that it was a little too early to open presents, and he needed to come back to bed.  I offered to have him lay with us in our bed, and he did, for about 5 seconds, and then he told me he was too excited and we needed to go see.  I relented, and at 6:20 am we woke up Poppy and MeMaw and ventured to see what Santa had brought.

 Santa brought Cooper a remote control truck, a nerf gun, and a Matchbox car track for the bathtub--all the things he'd asked for.  In addition, his stocking was packed to the brim.  His two most favorite toys from his stocking were the harmonica, and the flashlight.  He LOVES having his own flashlight to play with, and also loves harmonicas.  Santa must know the boy pretty well.

Nate and I gave him some board games (Candyland and Chutes/Ladders), DVDs (Alvin & the Chipmunks [a video he loves] and Beethoven [the dog movie from the 90s], along with a few other things.  MeMaw and Poppy gave Cooper a John Deere tractor that makes sounds, so now he has a big one for outdoors AND indoors.

Later we went to Abby's house for a late Christmas brunch--so yummy!  It was a great Christmas morning.  Cooper asked to watch Tangled, and he and Nate watched it while the rest of us visited.  They were the only two; it was pretty funny seeing my two boys watch a "girl/princess" Disney movie.

Nate and his Dad left to go hunting, and Michele went home to rest, so Cooper and I stayed and visited with Abby, Haleigh, and Stella.  It was a nice, relaxing Christmas day.  Cooper had fun with his cousins, especially Haleigh, who (with my permission after he begged me to let her) painted Cooper's fingernails neon green/yellow/pink.  He wore the fingernail polish for several days before allowing me to remove it.

All in all, we had a wonderful Christmas, surrounded by family.