Surprise! It's Christmas...

I really need to hurry up and work on some video clips to post on here--I have a veritable treasure trove of footage of Christmas and crawling--plus one that we took tonight that will top them all. I shall leave your curiosity piqued and get on with today's entry.

The Eve:

Allow me to set the stage a bit:Aunt Jan sent us coordinating PJs to wear Christmas Eve. Both sets had sock monkeys, which I thought to be a perfect fit for the both of us since we're both silly and have cold feet. Bronwen was ecstatic and surprised (as evidenced in the teaser entry below), and after her bath on the Eve of Christmas, we put her in her new jammies and told her to pose for a picture. At first it was difficult to get her to sit still; after all, she has just recently mastered the art of crawling (stay tuned for video!) and wanted to practice despite the altitude of her location. Luckily the strong arm of the "Mom" was there to immediately halt her nefarious schemes.

Thank you Aunt Jan!  We love our PJs. And thanks to Mimi for spying the baby-sized nightwear and telling Aunt Jan about it.  

Bronwen went to bed like an angel, dreamt of sugarplums

and pears--but not prunes-- and was awake at 6 a.m. Christmas morning.

Christmas Morn:

We all snuggled in bed for a bit before

rushing out to see what Santa had left under the tree. TJ was especially excited about a rather large gift, but it wasn't his--Santa knew Bronwen had been an exceptionally good girl and left her lots of goodies, both large and small.

Cassie helped show off the loot, pretending she was a gift under the mantle--aka, the poor man's Christmas tree.

We then paused for a moment to show off our outfits.

(and while I would love for all to believe I look this good after rolling out of bed, it just isn't so. I had showered and gotten back in my PJs.)

Then, the fun began! Bronwen was so shocked at the pile of gifts, she didn't really know what to think. She knew she had to explore further, though.

Bronwen spent the 

morning reveling in the joys of paper. She helped tear, rip, shred, and moisten (with drool) the wrapping using all the skills in her arsenal. Of course, this lasted the first 10 minutes and then she was playing with her new toys.

All-in-all it was a great morning. After all the presents were unwrapped, Bronwen took a nap, and TJ and I wished we could join her. Instead we ate, drank, and were merry. Maybe the nap wasn't missed so much. After Bronwen awoke, we packed up the car and headed over to TJ's mom and dad's house to...

open more gifts!

I know this picture is sideways, but I am currently doing battle with the new computer who will not let me rotate it, so sorry if you get a neck cramp trying to view the pic. Technology, I shake a fist at you!

All in all, it was a merry Christmas indeed. Bronwen still hasn't played with all her new toys, but that is in part due to strategically hiding a few things to save for when her "new" toys become old and boring.
Hope you all had great a great Christmas!