Friday night, Devin assembled Finley and Jude's big gifts... Their "Want" gift. This was our second year to do 4 gifts for each other (Something they want, something they need, something to wear, something to read) and I'm continuing to enjoy our new tradition.
With that said, I had a breakdown in the middle of Toys R Us trying to pick out Jude's "want".... I feel like Jude is constantly getting the short end of the stick and I just can't stand it. I love my little guy so much and I just hate that as the second child, he hasn't had as many pictures taken of him or gotten as much undivided attention, etc. Sometimes the mommy guilt is just awful.... So here we are going to the check out at Toys R Us with Finley's big gift and this dinky gift for Jude because we seriously have every toy in his age range already. To be honest, the toy wasn't THAT dinky, but it just seemed a bit lacking. So we are about to check out and I see this tool bench. IT WAS PERFECT! It starts out at a low height, but grows with your child which I loved. Problem... it is for ages 2 and up. Jude is 10 months old... not two. I decide I don't care and we get it. So happy at this point! Crisis over. I can sleep again! =)
Saturday morning, the kids wake us up... Devin handles diaper change, etc. while I run downstairs and make sure everything is ready. We had already debated which gift Finley would go to first... her dollhouse or Jude's tool bench. She is such a tomboy! =)
She comes downstairs and for a moment just stops not knowing which she wants to go to. I think she did go to the tool bench momentarily, but then switches to the dollhouse. Jude loves pulling up on his tool bench.
While they are happy with their big gifts, Devin starts coffee and then we open our stockings. Our plan is always to let the kids play as long as they are happy while we open our gifts and then once they are in need of a switch, we let them open their stockings, etc. So far this has worked well.
I'm actually embarrassed to post what we bought for Christmas. I think we did fairly well sticking with a budget for the kids, but Devin and I both went way overboard on each other. HE WENT REALLY, REALLY OVERBOARD. I feel like I should defend our purchases by saying that we have been soooooo blessed financially this year and Devin is very good at keeping us on a budget and out of debt while still giving to many charities, but the truth is that even with that said, we spent WAY too much on Christmas this year... and sadly, we enjoyed every minute of it! Ha!
Finley:
Something she wants: Dollhouse (and she plays with it constantly! Such a great buy! We were a little on the fence about it because she is more of a tomboy than girly girl, but I think this may be changing...)
Something she needs: New Carseat (that can fit between her current carseat which will soon be Jude's and the baby carseat that will become C3's)
Something to wear: Cowboy Boots and a Dress that Daddy picked out just for her!
Something to read: Jesus Storybook Bible
She also got this cool block set from Jude!
I'm not listing their stocking stuffers, but they are in the pictures as well....
Jude:
Something he wants: Toolbench (he does play with it even though it is still a bit old for him. I think he will really enjoy this over the next year and am happy that we bought it for him!)
Something he needs: Little Giraffe blanket (Devin's parents bought one for Finley and she loves it so I wanted Jude to have one too. I have already picked out one for C3!)
Something to wear: Devin and I bought him a whole outfit at The Children's Place... so cute and so inexpensive!
Something to read: Little Lambs Bible (Finley has the same Bible in pink so I was excited for Jude to have one as well!)
He also got this fun Little People Space Shuttle from Finley. I took her to Toys R Us and picked out 4 different things and she picked the one she wanted him to have. It was really fun!
Something he/she wants: Wubbanub
Something he/she needs: diaper
Something to wear: ????? We didn't open HER something to wear until Christmas. Obviously, we ended up opening the cutest pink gown for her, but we didn't know that on Christmas Eve!
Something to read: Thank You Lord foam book and then one about the REAL story behind Santa Claus
Devin:
Something he wants: New 3D flatscreen TV!!!!!! (A story in and of itself, but I got a fantastic deal!)
Something he needs: Filing Cabinet
Something to wear: Jeans
Something to read: Book about building your own shed
Me:
Something she wants: New Camera... A Canon 60D.... I started crying. I couldn't even believe it. This was a total shock to me since I thought my dining room table was my big gift! My hubby is too much for words! (I was just a tad bit annoyed that he spoiled me more than I spoiled him... I REALLY thought this was my year to overspoil!)
Something she needs: Photoshop Elements 10 (I have PE 6 and am so excited to have an upgrade!)
Something to wear: OSU pants from the Pink collection (their OSU stuff is sooooo cute!)
Something to read: One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp
After present opening, we had our traditional Ebelskiver breakfast! YUMMY! We had an amazing morning! I really do treasure our Christmas together. Sometimes the holidays get to be a bit too crazy and I am thankful that the past few years that we have managed to carve out quality time for us to do our own Christmas. It is a priority that we must continue to keep as a priority!!!!!
