Christmas and our ultrasound

Well, Christmas was a BLAST! Gracie is just at the right age where the magic of Christmas is all consuming. It was all she talked about for weeks. It was amazing to see the light in her eyes when she'd talk about Santa and the presents and our "magic chimney". She came up with that all on her own. We'd told her all about how Santa comes down the chimney and of course she wanted to see it. We explained that we didn't actually have a chimney but that Santa would figure it out. He's a pretty smart guy after all. The next day she started telling everybody about our "magic chimney" that Santa would come down. And even showed Monti and I where it was in our living room. Right next to the stockings. Nobody could ever accuse her of not having a vivid imagination. I LOVE IT!

Christmas Eve we got up and got dressed and she could hardly contain herself waiting for Monti to get home from work. He only worked half day, and so when noon finally rolled around she was dancing a jig. We loaded up and headed over to grandma and grandpa Stewart's house for the festivities there. First it was the big dinner. Gracie has determined that turkey is the best food in the world. She ate and ate and ate it.

Then it was time for the annual Stewart Nativity. Gracie was an angel. She had begged and begged for that part all week. It was pretty much a shoo in since all little girls who aren't playing Mary are part of the heavenly host. She did such a good job standing there with her little hands together in front of her. She was so excited to be part of it.

She makes a pretty cute angel!

Then we had a visit from the big guy in the red suit! She had talked about that all week too, but then when it came time to sit on his lap, we got the breakdown that we'd avoided with the mall Santa. Having cousin Max sit next to her relieved it enough to snap a quick picture. But you can see the drama.

Somewhere along the way she heard Santa speak. Our Santa that visited happens to be my brother in law Rob. He's got a super special job being one of Santa's helpers. When she heard his voice she suddenly stopped crying and stared and stared at him. Then she turned to me and said, "Mama, that's Robbie!"

This is her checking him out to see if she's right. When it got time to leave I told her to say goodbye and Merry Christmas to Robbie (who had changed back into his regular clothes) and Tracie. She said, "Bye Santa! Merry Christmas! You come down my magic chimney." I thought it was pretty funny.

After our visit from Santa it was time to open a gift. She got to open a nightgown from mommy and daddy. It was a Princess Tiana nightgown. She thought that was pretty fantastic. Soon after it was time to head home and she was sound asleep before we made it home. Can you believe it? My daughter, asleep by 8 pm on Christmas Eve? Wonders never cease.

Christmas morning was so much fun too!! She tore into those presents with wild abandon!! She's an old pro now. She loved everything and couldn't wait to help us open our presents. She'd gotten Monti a tie and handed him the package and said, "Open it daddy!! It's your tie!!"

Christmas afternoon we stopped by the cemetery to wish Harry a Merry Christmas on our way over to Monti's sister Maria's house. We had dinner and presents with the Randall cousins!! They have a way cool slide inside the house that goes from the main floor to the basement and she had a terrific time going down that over and over again. Overall, it was a really fantastic Christmas!!

Yesterday afternoon we had our ultrasound. The baby is perfect and healthy! Ten fingers, ten toes and a stubborn streak as wide as Gracie's was at this point. I knew from that what gender it was. But waited patiently til the end when the ultrasound tech announced it...It's a girl! She had her little foot curled up under her and right over all the parts we wanted to get a good look at. We finally got the view we were hoping for though. We're going to name her Rosalie Joy. She truly has brought so much joy into a very difficult year. We love her so much already and can't wait to meet this beautiful little princess!