Christmas 2005

This Christmas was probably the best Christmas that I have ever experienced. There is just something about seeing Christmas through the eyes of your children that is so magical, especially when those children are 14 months and 2 1/2 years old. Carter started asking Santa Claus for a "Thomas Train Table" back in September. He has become fascinated with Thomas the Train and all of the characters that come along with it. Mommy and Daddy had to do a lot of research on Thomas and his friends as we were not familiar with him at all. It's funny at how quickly we have become "experts" on the entire topic! However, Carter will quickly correct anyone, including us, who do not get the names of his train pieces right! We were very nervous about both of the boys seeing Santa as we did not know how they would react to him. Both of the boys did very well-Jackson was in awe of Santa's beard and even tried to pull it off, laughing the entire time!! Carter was a little reserved at first, but quickly warmed up and told him exactly what he wanted! More than anything, it was absolutely awesome to talk to the boys about the true meaning of Christmas, and for Carter to actually understand about Baby Jesus and his birthday! While Jackson does not understand this quite as well as Carter does, he would point to Jesus in the manger and say "baby". It was too sweet!
Christmas morning was absolutely wonderful at our house. Carter woke up a little cranky, as he had stayed up until around 3:00 a.m. waiting to see Santa. I told him repeatedly that Santa would not come unless he was asleep and he would reply each time with "Mommy, I'll wait until I hear him, then I go downstairs and see Santa." (Needless to say that Santa was quite tired when he left our house at around 4:45 a.m.) We woke him up and told him that Santa had been to our house and that he had indeed left some toys for him and Jackson. He quickly returned to his wonderful self when he saw his train table full of Thomas the Train pieces! That moment was priceless to us!
Jackson was very eager to see what Santa had left him. He woke up bright-eyed at 7:30. He wasn't too happy that he had to wait on his brother to go and play with all of his new things. When he finally got downstairs, he walked around in amazement, not sure of what to play with first. He finally spotted his red "tot rod" car and got in without hesitation. He knew exactly what to do once he got in and mashed the button to make it go. He laughed hysterically as he rode around our living room! He also enjoyed playing with the train table!
Needless to say, Santa was very good to our boys! In addition to all of the toys that Santa left at our house, Mimi and Didi gave Carter a John Deere shirt, hat and tractor which have quickly become some of his favorite things. They also gave him a ride on Thomas The Tank Engine that is battery operated and goes around of the track. We have difficulty getting him off of it at times! Jackson got a rocking horse from them that neighs and shakes its head and tail when you press its ear-it is very realistic! Mack Daddy gave Carter his end table that matches the furniture in his room and gave Jackson a Winnie The Pooh TV and DVD player that we plan to use in the boys playroom.
Yes, Christmas was very magical for us this year. We enjoyed spending time with our family in Tennessee and South Georgia and getting together with our family in Conyers on Christmas Eve and again on Christmas Day. While every holiday is special, this one will definitley be remembered as one of the best for us! We hope that each of you had as wonderful of a holiday as we did!