Christmas Morning

The girls reacted to the coming of Christmas in ways unique to them. Amanda slept perfectly; awoke around 7 am and when she made it to the living room she calmly, somewhat reverently, remarked, "Oh, yes, it's Christmas. I see my dump truck and a skateboard." Elizabeth, on the other hand, the one who supposedly should be too young to understand that the next day would be a special one, would not sleep for more than an hour at a stretch, and was wide awake at 4 am playing with her new toy with her dad.

Amanda's wants were modest - a big yellow dump truck and a skateboard. The highlight of the morning was when she climbed up on the couch next to her dad and said, "Thank you for Christmas, Daddy." How freaking cute is that?




Elizabeth didn't exactly ask for anything. She seemed mildly interested in the toys under the tree, but she was obviously more enamored of the pigs-in-blankets, which were my mom's Christmas morning specialty.






Santa treated the Brantley house well this year. Despite the sleepless nights and early mornings, Brian and I are trying to savor these early years in our daughters' lives when all it takes to make them happy on Christmas morning are inexpensive toys and greasy breakfast treats.