Christmas Day

What seems to be evolving as a tradition in our family, now that Kamdyn has arrived, is to spend Christmas Day at our house. It's a little harder with a little one, to have Santa on Christmas morning, rush around and get ready, and then drive two hours to have Christmas in the Upstate. Instead, our family has been gracious enough to drive down to spend the day with us for the past three years. I'm sure things will change somewhat when Uncle Matthew and Aunt Holly have children, but for now, it is what it is and WE LOVE IT!!!

Kamdyn enjoys having her ENTIRE family in her house. She loves the attention and love that she receives and she particularly loves ALL of the presents that she receives. She received many great gifts this year from lots of special people, but her most favorite gift of all was her outdoor playset from Aunt Kathy and Uncle Jim. We tried to keep it a surprise until after dinner, but our plan failed! Richard assembled it in pieces the entire week prior to Christmas. We had to keep Kamdyn out of the garage for almost a week. During Kamdyn's nap on Christmas Day (did I mention what an angel Kamdyn was through all of this chaos?), they assembled the entire set. We tried our best to keep Kamdyn from the windows, but she finally spotted IT!! Unfortunately, we did not get her reaction on camera or video, but most of us saw her. Her mouth dropped open and she said, "OH, LOOK!! Somebody got a playground!" She had no clue that it was hers!

We told her that it was hers from Aunt Kathy and Uncle Jim. She couldn't stop smiling and hugged Aunt Kathy every chance that she got. Again, as our luck would have it, it was raining! She was pacified through dinner and even through most of the presents. But, as soon as she saw that the rain stopped, we had to change her clothes and play on the playground. She LOVES it and has played on it everyday since then.

Thank you, Aunt Kathy and Uncle Jim! You are wonderful and did WAY too much for us!!! We LOVE YOU BOTH!!

I guess Christmas is over until next year. I always feel kind of sad as Christmas Day comes to an end. The anticipation and preparation is always so much fun and it all seems to abruptly come to an end!! We are so incredibly blessed to have such a wonderful family who loves us so unconditionally. I feel like we never say or do enough to let them know how much we truly appreciate ALL of them. Life is Good and so is God!! Merry Christmas and God Bless!!


Miss Fancy after her nap!




Kamdyn opening her Cabbage Patch doll, Callie, that Uncle Matthew and Aunt Holly personally picked out at the Cabbage Patch Factory the weekend that they got engaged!


Table #1....thank goodness it was so warm on Christmas Day. Only in the South!!! I'm not sure where I would have put everyone if it had been a "normal" December day?


Table #2 on the inside!


Uncle Matthew and Daddy being silly!


Uncle Matthew opening his Clemson tumblers from us!


Aunt Kathy opening one of her books.


"Do you know what a torque wrench is?" Hopefully Richard does because he asked for this contraption!!


Uncle Jim, Uncle Matthew, Richard, and Aunt Kathy


Holly's Mom, Linda, Uncle Matthew, Aunt Holly
We were so honored to have Holly's Mom spend Christmas with our family this year. She flew in from Indiana and she is so incredibly nice. She fits right in with our clan!!


Ruthie, Uncle Matthew, Mama Lucy


Uncle Matthew, Mama Lucy, Richard


Me, Richard, Mama Lucy, Uncle Matthew, Aunt Holly
Whew that humidity made my hair crazy!! It HAD to go UP!!


What a sweet photo of Mama Lucy and Uncle Matthew as they watched Kamdyn play!


Kamdyn giving Pop Pop a hug "bye."


Swinging with Mommy!


Aunt Holly, Granddaddy Larry, Uncle Matthew


Uncle Matthew, Granddaddy Larry, Richard


Richard and Uncle Jim pondering life, I guess!


Ruthie had to take a turn!


Our family watching our little center-of-attention!


Surprised!


Sweet face!


Taking her first swing!


Trying to figure out how to climb up the rock wall/ladder!


Thanks to Aunt Kathy and Uncle Jim for such a great gift! And, thanks to Daddy for putting the entire thing together!!


Practicing her climbing which she so desperately needs to do!


Linda and Aunt Holly

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning was so very sweet! Our little Kamdyn slept until around 7:30. She laid in bed reading her book for a while. Finally, I went in to her room to see if she was ready to see what Santa brought her. Daddy had the video camera ready for her reaction, which was not as dramatic as I had expected from our little DQ!! She peeked around the corner from her hallway. Her face lit up with a big gasp! Then, she went back in to her hallway as if in disbelief! She finally walked into the living room and didn't know what to look at or touch first! She saw her scooter. Then, she saw her bookcase! Santa somehow lost one of the pieces to one of her new puzzles and she, of course, noticed that immediately by saying, "Hey, what happened to that piece? It's missing!" Luckily, Santa left a note letting her know that it fell out of his sleigh. No clue where it actually went. Oops!

My favorite part is always when she thinks she has seen everything and has calmed down a bit, just to discover one more thing that she hadn't previously seen! The surprise over and over again is priceless and warms my heart.

My one and only wish at Christmas is for Kamdyn to feel the same magic and excitement that I always felt as a little girl. My Mom always made Christmas so very special for me (and she still does). My Mom has always gone completely overboard at Christmas. And though I never asked for nearly half of the things I received, she always made an attempt to get me everything I asked for along with some wonderful surprises, too! I hope that I will be able to surprise Kamdyn and make her feel as special as my Mom has always made me feel, not just at Christmas time, but throughout the year!

Merry Christmas, my sweet Kamdyn!!

Christmas Eve

This Christmas Eve was spent at our house with Nanny, Pop Pop, Mama Lucy, and Ruthie. We opened our gifts with Nanny and Pop Pop first and then we enjoyed a delicious spaghetti dinner prepared by Richard. We had such a good time with some of our most favorite people!! To say that Kamdyn is rotten would be an understatement. She got so many gifts that I think she actually got tired of opening them. She got stuck on playing with a new puzzle for a while and wouldn't open anything else!

She is blessed in so many ways! And even though she doesn't quite have the words yet to express just how thankful she is for her family, her actions tell all of us how much she truly loves us. She is our little angel. Christmas through Kamdyn's eyes-------TRULY AMAZING!!!




Opening her Strawberry Shortcake movie from Tina, Jackie, and Robin.


Opening her princess dress-up clothes.


Singing away with her Hannah Montana microphone!



Chatting with Ruthie after dinner.


Getting the pan ready for Santa's cookies.




Putting the cookies on the pan!


Making our reindeer food! We don't have any pics of us sprinkling it out on the lawn, but I'm sure the reindeer loved our mix!


Saying "Goodnight" to Pop Pop.


Brushing those pearly whites before bedtime!
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Blowing Tick Tock a kiss and saying "goodbye" until next year!


Getting ready for bed.....if Daddy would get out of MY bed!!


Look at what Santa brought!!

Aquarium

One of our main purposes for going to Atlanta right before Christmas was to go to the Aquarium. Ruthie requested this family trip as one of her Christmas gifts. The Aquarium was wonderful!! Kamdyn had a blast and was absolutely delightful the entire time. We even watched a great 3D movie with Deepo the Fish. The movie had lots of special effects which we were unaware of going in to the movie! There were bubbles all over the theatre throughout the movie. Crazy streamers would shoot out everywhere during certain exciting scenes in the movie. The seats seemed to move. And best of all, (well, worst of all for me!) we got sprinkled with water during certain water scenes! Watching Kamdyn in the 3D movie was the entertainment for me. She really thought everything was right in front of her and kept trying to reach out and touch everything. At one point she said, "Mommy, are they real?" She also said during the water sprays, "Mommy, somebody is spitting!"

I must say that this was one of my most favorite family trips in a while!!

This was the first thing we saw!


Kamdyn kept asking, "Are they behind glass?" She had to be sure that there was NO WAY that these fish could get near her!!

A wall of jellyfish!


Amazing!


There were walls and walls of fish!


Some of the fish were HUGE!! Kamdyn was amazed!


Kamdyn with Deepo


Mommy and Kamdyn with Deepo


Family Photo with Deepo


Look at those 3D glasses! Aren't we cool?


The 3D movie sign!


Kamdyn driving the boat in the "Georgia Explorer's" area of the Aquarium.