Christmas Eve

On Friday night Caitlin we thought Caitlin might have been tugging at her ears, so we decided to pop into the pediatricians’ office on Christmas Eve to have it checked out. It didn’t seem that bad, but we had a fear of was seemed like nothing becoming a Christmas disaster. Thankfully we got the all-clear!

(Side note – I LOVE our pediatricians'’ office weekend hours. They do not take appointments. It is drop in only for three hours Saturday morning and two hours Sunday morning. Just enough for peace of mind!)

Anyway, after leaving the doctor, Caitlin and I headed to Target to pick up some stocking stuffers for the Irishman. Caitlin repeated, “Daddy – Treats!” the whole time! I was more than a little nervous about venturing out with a toddler on Christmas Eve, but she was great.

(The handful of stickers we swiped from the doctor’s office helped. I figure in the last month my co-payments alone have been far more than enough to stock the sticker basket, so we make use of it!)

Once home we ate some lunch before deciding to head off to get Caitlin’s haircut. She wasn’t thrilled about it, but they offered her multiple lollipops, so she let them cut her hair.

(There seems to be a trend going here with our daughter and bribes…)

After a quick stop to pick up one last Christmas gift we headed home to get ready for Mass. We met my cousins and their parents there. It was not our usual parish, but I wanted to find a Children’s Mass. It was a little too long for our kiddos, but it was a beautiful service in a magnificently decorated church.

(My cousin Amy took this first picture with her phone after Mass)

In the car on the way home the Irishman was able to video chat with his family in Ireland from his phone. Technology is amazing! They opened the gifts we got them for us to see. It was pretty neat. It was almost like being there!

We’d baked cookies earlier in the afternoon, but once we got home Caitlin ate the plate of cookies and milk we left for Santa. She just didn’t get the whole thing!

As I mentioned before, the Irishman and I had a very late night. By the time we went to bed Santa had already come and gone.

In Ireland, Santa always left a pillowcase of goodies for each member of Morgan’s family. My family had stockings. Our family tradition has become Santa Sacks. We leave stocking and Santa sacks under the tree for the man in red to fill. A wonderful former co-worker sent us a gift card when Sean was born that allowed us to order these beautiful Santa Sacks from Pottery Barn for each of the kids. They are fantastic. The Irishman and I hope to upgrade our Santa sacks next year!

Between Santa, family, and friends these kids did VERY well!

We went to bed looking forward to the morning so see our babes’ reactions!