WOW!! It's hard to believe that Christmas was already almost a month ago! It seems like December was such a whirlwind, it has taken this long to recoop! I think the most exhausting part was Bode. He caught a horrible cold the first of the month and 3 doctors visits, 2 prescriptions and a nebulizer later it had turned from cold, to strep, to ear infection, to secondary pneumonia! He and I spent a good chunk of Dec. 23rd with Dr. Lash trying to figure out why he was so sick and what we could do to make it better! Luckily, we had caught it in time where his oxygen level was way down, but not low enough to be hospitalized...so Bode got to spend Christmas at home!
We spent our Christmas Eve with the Vincent family, in between
nebulizer treatments. Paige, Claire and our cousin Katherine were all so excited to check out
NoradSanta and see how close he was getting. Claire was ready to leave and go home to bed the second we got there, he was so afraid we would miss him! Of course, we ended up staying later than we planned...and then by the time we each opened Christmas
jammies, this is what Paige left for Santa.
He absolutely LOVED it! We know because this Christmas,
Steve and I got to meet Santa! It was the most magical Christmas we have ever had! All 5 of us got in our new
jammies and snuggled up in our bed to watch Christmas Story for a little bit and we all fell asleep. I felt a tap on my shoulder and awoke to find Santa standing next to me! Steve woke up to the sound of a man's voice in the bedroom (kind of gives a guy a panic attack, you know!) He asked us to follow him into the girls' bedroom. We went in to find a partially made
bunkbed. Santa explained to us that the elves had packed the
bunkbed so well in the boxes for transport that it took him longer than expected to unpack and assemble. Santa knew our girls had been so good this year and deserved this extra special present they had asked for. But Santa needed to move on to our neighbors, so he asked if Steve and I could finish up for him. We were glad to help. I think Santa's happy "Ho, Ho, Ho's" and jingle bells must have been a little too jovial, because as I was bringing flannel sheets from the basement where Santa had left them by the fireplace, I saw Paige walking out of our room and right across the hall into hers! You should have seen the shock on her face!! It was priceless!! She had asked for the bunk bed, but never in her wildest dreams actually thought they would get it. She knew just how anti-bunk bed her mama is!! I quickly told her how we met Santa, so she and I hurried to check out all the windows to check all the neighbors roofs' while daddy finished putting the final touches on the
bunkbed. But that Santa is pretty quick, we could not see him anywhere! Paige was a great help making beds and wanted so badly to wake up Claire to tell her Santa had come and brought them just what they wanted. But we knew she needed her sleep. So we snuggled the girls in their own separate beds and got a little sleep before morning.
We ended up waking Claire up around 8:30 so that we could catch her reaction on video. She opened her eyes, looked up at the bunk bed, and hopped out yelling, "Yes...I knew it!!" Unfortunately, our little "booger boy" didn't wake up quite so bright eyed.
The kids had a great morning. No fighting, taking turns opening gifts...it was a wonderful morning. Even Bode got into opening gifts this year. Although we knew that
long before Christmas. For some reason he was drawn to the present under the tree to Paige from Mom and Dad...he opened it 3 or 4 times before Christmas Day. Paige was really sweet about it though, she even re-wrapped it herself!
The girls looked so darling in their Christmas "
zippies" and I absolutely LOVED the gingerbread man applique on
Bode's cute little bum!
One of Claire's favorite gifts was the Lil' Kins kitty that Paige picked out for Claire by herself. She has not let it go, and named her Whiskers.
Bode was thrilled with his roller coaster toy. It even entertains his big sisters for a while!
Paige was dying for her very own sewing machine. She is becoming quite the domestic diva!
Poor little Bode was such a good sport through the whole morning. You can tell just by looking back at the pictures just how awful he felt, but was still finally able to squeak out a few little smiles.
After the festivities were over, I pulled the bubble bun out of the fridge to rise for a little bit while Steve and I snuggled Bode back in our bed to get him back to sleep. It was pretty comfy in there because the next thing we knew, it was 3 hours later! I was shocked that we had napped for that long! I ran to check on the girls, feeling immediate guilt that I slept through Christmas morning, but was relieved to find the 2 of them with all their new Christmas Barbies and Littlest Pet Shop happily playing on the top bunk! The only real drawback was when I got to the kitchen and found the bubble bun had more than doubled...there were butterscotch covered rolls over the top of the
Bundt pan, across the stove, down the front of the oven and onto the floor. So, although Christmas breakfast was kind of a bust, I think the rest of the day more than made up for it!
Apparently, Vincents only make stubborn children...I'm sure they don't get it from their mother. They do things in their own time, when they want. All our children have been late bloomers as far as baby milestones are concerned. Paige had a decent excuse (you'd be late walking too if your legs were covered in plaster!) But Claire and Bode are no exception, I guess. So it comes as no surprise that at 15 months, Bode is still not walking. He is perfectly content to crawl around the floor. So for Christmas, Santa brought Bode a little ride-along walker toy to encourage a little more mobility. 
It took him a few days to get the hang of it...but he has really got it down! He runs this thing from one end of the house to the other, usually with two giggly little shadows following after him. 
He can get it going so fast, that it was hard to capture a decent picture of him doing it! But at least he looks like he is having fun! He particularly enjoys doing laps around the kitchen table and the island. Notice his proud big sister cheering him on! So cute!
Note: He has also mastered pushing the baby doll stroller. No, this does not mean he will grow up with "issues". It means he is going to be a good daddy someday...when he's 40 and I finally decide to let my baby boy out of the house. On second thought...maybe he'll just be a really great uncle!
Such a proud, though kind of goofy, little smile! 
