Ahhhh Christmas...

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. It couldn't have been more fun and Mabel did so well with the long day and only a 45 minute nap...she just couldn't sleep! I think she was afraid she would miss something!

Christmas eve we put out our cookies and apple cider for Santa and she went to bed around 8:00 - she only woke once at 11:30 - probably because I told her she had to stay asleep or Santa wouldn't come...well, maybe it was jsut luck! In the morning we showed her the empty plate, the lit tree with the gifts from Santa, and although she is only one and probably had no clue what was going on, she seemed excited because we were so excited. It is true that when you have children Christmas is fun again! My mother joined us and after breakfast Mabel tore into her gifts, she had such fun opening everything. She seemed very excited about all her fun new toys from Santa. She got a piano from that she loves, she can pull herself to almost on her knees when she is playing it! It is good to see her pull herself up like that, I'm encouraged that with the brace she'll learn to stand!

Then we were off to Zack parents house, Mabel did so well even though this was her regular morning nap time, and she did not sleep in the car, she hardly does. We had a great time with Zack family, opening more gifts and Mabel continued to do great. After lunch we went to our next Christmas destination and again Mabel decided to not sleep in the car, but that's OK. She was still in a great mood and excited, she didn't want to miss a thing.

We arrived at Zack's aunt & uncle's home where the majority of his father's family celebrates Christmas every year. It is a nice party and it is great to see everyone. Much to our surprise most of the family had no clue that Mabel was in a cast! I was shocked, I thought that everyone knew. We had to tell the story over and over again and even more surprising no one noticed by looking at her. I guess the Christmas pants I made her did the trick! When Zack handed Mabel to his cousin to hold she said, "Is she wearing plastic pants or something?" What?! She had no clue. Then again we explained the whole story, blah, blah blah.

You know when I learned of Mabel's cast and that it would run through Christmas I was really upset by the thought of her in this ugly cast in all her Christmas pictures and the fact that she would be in it at all, but it was just fine. I couldn't find a dress that covered the cast so I altered some pants I bought at Old Navy. I had to get a 5T to fit it over her cast and around the waist, but then I cut one side open and added Velcro and I hemmed the legs to the right length. It worked great with a cute little shirt - hey no one noticed that she was in a cast! I think most people think put a dress on her, but it was hard to find something that looked like it fit normal - her top half is a 9-12 month size and her bottom half is like 5T at the waist!

It can be hard sometimes having to repeat the story and details and answer the same questions over and over again. It can be also equally hard to remind people that NO - she can't sit in a high chair, her legs don't move! And yes, we only have two weeks left, but trust me we've put in 10 weeks and it feels like the last few weeks are taking forever!

Zack, Mabel and I had a great day after Christmas as well, she didn't nap but last night slept all night! Merry Christmas!