Christmas, 2009

Santa came!
Santa came!



Gage was all excited the night before---wanting to stay up late to see Santa. But when morning came, in true Gage fashion---he wasn't going near the gifts until we promised him that Santa was gone.
{a big man, in a red suit---wants kids to sit on his lap for candy canes, and comes into your home in the middle of the night---Gage is no dummy. He knows all about stranger-danger, and clearly believes that Santa gets no special treatment. Way to go, kid!}


Gage really wasn't feeling his best, so it took him an hour and a half to open his gifts. {as an aside: I took him to the pediatrician on Wed., told that it was probably a viral respiratory infection b/c he wasn't running fever, yada, yada, yada. Nothing to do but watch him, & give him Benadryl at night to help him sleep. GREAT. Well, it's Monday as I'm typing this. Of course, he went BACK to the pediatrician today & was dx'd with bronchitis. This happened to us about a year ago, and it was the SAME flippin' thing. Except, we were in the ER. Sounded like bronchitis, and on x-ray showed up as pneumonia. They didn't do x-rays at the pedi office today, so he could be bronchitis, could be pneumonia. We need a new pediatrician, I swear.}
Anyway---back to pictures!



Gage was very excited about his new wagon. It was a gift from GrandDaddy Longhorn.





Gage was also super-excited about his very first bike. Brought to him by Santa, and it couldn't have been more perfect. He really took to it quickly. He does better on a bike with training wheels than he does on a tricycle.


{and yes, I totally let him ride in the house. and no, we haven't gotten a helmet yet b/c we are slacker parents. actually, we didn't know what size to buy, so he has to go to the store with us to get the helmet, and this way he gets to pick out the one he wants.}

And then, at one point, I looked up, and there was Gage, naked by the tree. Santa brought him a stack of jeans. {funny...but I think Santa's elves must not sew, because Santa brought a stack of jeans from Old Navy. hmmm. who knew he shops there?} Gage is in an"I-LOVE-JEANS-&-WANT-TO-WEAR-THEM-ALL-DAY-EVERY-DAY" phase, so he needed MORE jeans. And, he's too tall for 4T, but too skinny for 5T. It's such a weird & scrawny phase...
Anyway---of ALL the cute Christmas tees he has to wear, he chose his faded Elvis shirt that Daddy brought him from Graceland...and his new jeans of course! Hey, whatever works. And we played with his cash register for quite a while. It was a big hit!

Even Ranger got in on the cash-register-action.

And, when Memaw & Poppa came over, Poppa was mandated to shop as well. Nobody escaped checking out. The cool news: even when I paid with my credit card, I always got tons of money in "cash back." Love it!


The gift wrap aftermath:


Gage couldn't wait to get outside with the wagon, and his bike, and the SNOW! Yes, in all my life I don't remember having a white Christmas here in Dallas.
We may have had ice a time or two, or flake flurries, but nothing substantial on the ground... So, we all really enjoyed our white Christmas.
:)



I cannot believe he's big enough for a bike now...







Memaw & Poppa headed back home, and the rest of the day was spent lounging. Daddy made a big breakfast that morning...I made lunch...and to be honest, I can't remember what we did for dinner! I know that I stayed in my jammies ALL.DAY.LONG. It was AWESOME! We watched movies: Aliens in the Attic, Baby Mama, & Evan Almighty. I got to watch some of A Christmas Story, which satisfied me a teeny-bit {I wish my family loved that movie the way I love it}.
And there was plenty of time lounging by the fire...


...while Daddy spent 3 hours assembling the 500 piece Lego Battleship set & gluing it together. {SANTA: DON'T EVER BRING A 500 PIECE ANYTHING BACK TO THIS HOUSE! DO YOU HEAR ME???}

It was a GREAT day.
:)