Merry Christmas!

Jake had a wonderful holiday. We were up before he was--he slept in until almost 7:30 am. He woke up in a great mood (and why not?)

We went downstairs and in our tradition, he put the 25th snowball on our Advent Snowman. Then it was over to the tree...where lo and behold! Santa had come and left a blazing red, flying V electric guitar, amp, and purple stand-up microphone. Jake was so excited, he was almost speechless. It's sad, I'm not sure we'll ever be able to top this gift. It's all he's talked about for months, and then it was there! Peaked in the gift-giving department at age three...

Then it was time for stockings and other presents. He really liked everything he got. We got him smaller stuff, as the guitar was his main gift -- games, DVDs, blocks, etc. But his family outdid themselves as always. Aunt Abby & Uncle Keith got him a Leapster Laptop, MeMe and Pappy got him a very cool cash register, Nanny got a Light Drawer, Uncle Ed & Aunt Linda and Uncle Greg and Aunt Vickie got gift cards...he had plenty of very nice gifts. His father dropped off a few presents to open, including a very cool digital art studio.

But the big gift was definitely the guitar. He played it all day long. He would make up songs and play his heart out, then turn to us and say very sternly, "Clap!" I think he would have slept with it if we let him.

We all stayed in our pjs all day long, grazing on snacks. Everyone got to eat whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted. We watched "Shrek III" as a family that night, cuddled on the couch. Maybe it was just the Xmas spirit, but it was an almost perfect day--no fights, no tantrums, just love and happiness. A great day, other than me being on bedrest and having to spend most of the afternoon upstairs lying down....But Jake came up and asked to watch cooking shows with me, so we hung out together. He does like to watch cooking shows...and read cookbooks. If he doesn't turn out to be a rock star, maybe he'll be a chef!