We actually did celebrate Christmas at our house.....apparently Heber has not realized this yet. Each time I ask him to eat his dinner or clean his toy room I am reminded that Santa wants me to be nice. Maybe now that I am finally posting about it he will clue in and move on to the Easter Bunny or some other friendly fictional creeper of the night.
Daddy actually had Christmas off this year (maybe because he had surgery a week before...nonetheless we loved having him here in PJ's on Christmas morning). We put the pager deep down in the box and enjoyed the entire weekend together.
Heber was very happy to see that Santa enjoyed the cookies and milk placed in the perfect spot for him to see.
Up until this year Heber has not been very into the opening of gifts......this time he could not get enough and not only opened his own, but all of ours as well.
*As a side note, Ben is very very sad that the Browns didn't make it to the Super Bowl this year......we thought they had it in the bag!!! Sorry we still have your shirt Ray, we just couldn't part with it!*
You would think then that I would have had more time to take pictures of the whole event. I kept forgetting my camera was sitting right beside me. I missed capturing many marvelous expressions as he uncovered what lay hidden beneath the red and green paper.....he did love this book though and has requested it almost every night for a month.
Perhaps the biggest photo op blunder of the day though was the grand finale. Anyone who had the pleasure of associating with Heber (even for a second) during the months leading up to Christmas (Jan-Dec) knew that he really wanted only one thing. It was so important to him that he actually braved up this year and sat on Santas lap all by himself just to make sure that the big man knew what he really wanted.
Santa was very smart and knew that Heber would ignore the aforementioned gifts in red and green if he came down the stairs and spotted this first, so he stragegically set it up and left it hidden behind the doors of the armoire all ready to play when the rest of the Christmas unwrapping was done.
I have to say that I am very proud of Heber. Each gift he unwrapped brought with it a big smile and many many "thank you's" but his little eyes kept scanning the room for the gift that looked like it would be what he had asked for. When we were all done unwrapping Ben asked him if he had a good Christmas. Heber responded with eyes still scanning "the BEST dad!"
I couldn't resist any longer and pointed him toward the big red ribbon around the TV cupboard. He excidetly opened it and realized Santa had not let him down. I almost cried when the first words out of his mouth (realizing there was 3 of everything) were a very enthusiastic "we can all play together." The Wii has proven to be a great gift for all of us....not just because there are enough remotes for all of us to play but it is quite the bargaining tool as well!
This is what we have been doing ever since!
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I did in fact get the book I wanted for Christmas...for any of you who have not read Dan Brown's Robert Langdon series I highly recommend it.
One of the highlights of my day is watching Heber interact with his friends before and after school. It reminds me of a time when life was easy and fun.....why would we ever want to grow up? Of course, if we didn't, we would miss out on moments like this....the moments that make being a grown up and a parent easy and fun!! 
Up until this year Heber has not been very into the opening of gifts......this time he could not get enough and not only opened his own, but all of ours as well.
You would think then that I would have had more time to take pictures of the whole event. I kept forgetting my camera was sitting right beside me. I missed capturing many marvelous expressions as he uncovered what lay hidden beneath the red and green paper.....he did love this book though and has requested it almost every night for a month. 
