Christmas Morning

We woke up Christmas morning at Nana and Papa's house in North Carolina to open presents and see what Santa brought. We had lots of fun and were all totally spoiled. I have to say,though, it was overwhelming and almost exhausting to get through all the gifts- it took over 2 hours! Granted, it is Baer family tradition to take turns and open gifts individually (not easy with a 2-year-old, by the way), so that does stretch out the present-opening time considerably. But still, there is something wrong when we are almost groaning at the thought of opening more presents! My family has tried for years to cut down on the amount of stuff we buy at Christmas, knowing none of us needs a thing but also recognizing that we ENJOY buying gifts for one another- we've set monetary limits, gift number limits, one year we even did 'Homemade Christmas'. None of which have made a dent in the amount of stuff we have to open. This year we finally came to the conclusion that we are incapable of doing Christmas in moderation, so from here on out, we are nixing the adult gifts. As much as I enjoy getting gifts for my family, I think this is a great idea. Next year we will have THREE grandkids to buy for and our new plan will allow us to spend our time and energy focusing on the magic that Christmas is for little ones and the Truth that Christmas is for everyone.

Sam wanting to open 'just one' while we waited for Aunt Susie, Uncle Mike and Baby Bo.

Daddy's a good present opener :)
I heart these pj's!
Nana saw nothing wrong with letting Sam have the entire box of chocolate covered cookies for breakfast. We paid for that later.
Sam was scared to go in his playhouse- he made Clay and I go instead.Helping Daddy put together the trampoline Nana and Papa gave him.

At first, Sam threw his new cowboy boots on the floor but as soon as he put them on and heard the noise they made, he wanted to clomp-clomp all over Nana's porch.

Sam showing Bo how to play with his new floor mobile. He loves his cousin!