The Franke Family: A Wonderful Christmas Time

We really did have a wonderful Christmas this year. Leah is at such a fun age for Christmas. We talked to her all month about how Santa was going to bring her presents. Anytime we were at the store and she wanted to get something, I'd tell her we couldn't buy it but we could tell Santa she wanted it and she'd say "okay". I also tried to talk to her about how Christmas was the day that we celebrate Jesus' birthday. I explained that when Jesus was born, the people were so happy and they brought him gifts and that's why we give each other presents for Christmas. But I think the concept that she was going to get "new toys" was easier to grasp then Jesus' birthday. I guess we'll work on that part :).

Opening presents and Grandma and Grandpa Franke's

Christmas morning playing with the Incrediblock

The kitchen from Grandma and Grandpa Franke

I finally convinced her to open the rest of her presents :)

Watching the Disney parade and blow drying her dolls hair (the blow dryer actually blows out cool air)

We started Christmas Eve by going to Nicks parents house in the morning to exchange gifts. Leah got a really cool wooden kitchen set with wooden cutting food, an Elmo that sings the alphabet, and a little microphone for her to sing into. My favorite gift from them was the Harry Potter box set of the hard back books. They came in a big box that is made to look like a Hogwarts trunk. Very cool if your a nerd like me :) After their house, we headed home for Leah to take a nap. When she woke up we went to my parents house to exchange gifts and to celebrate with my aunt and uncle and a few cousins. Leah was in heaven with all the people around and all the toys and wrapping paper to play with. From my parents Leah got a few things but I think the favorite gift was a hairstyling chair with a doll and cutting supplies. She loves it, I think her favorite thing to do is use the "blow dry" to do her dolls hair. Now when she has to come a long with me to peoples homes to do haircuts, she has her own doll that she can do hair on just like mommy :) She makes such a cute little hairstylist :) Nick and I were spoiled with lots of clothes, an advent calendar (something I've been wanting for a while) and some other things.

When we got home, we put Leah to bed, cleared out the living room of all her old toys and set the presents from Santa (aka Nick and I) under the tree. Then we exchanged our gifts to each other so we could focus on Leah on Christmas morning. Nick got socks, a sweater, the movie Inception, and a Lacoste watch that he's had his eye on for a long time. I got the movie Eclipse, the new Michael Jackson cd, and.......a new camera! I've had my eye on an entry level D-SLR camera for a long time now, and Nick got me the Nikon D3000! I'm still pretty new at it and not sure how it all works, but it's been so fun to play with and I'm excited to experiment with it more. However, I need to find some other subjects because I'm pretty sure Leah's getting sick of me having the camera in her face all the time :)

Our tree with all Leah's presents from "Santa"

Christmas day we went down and got Leah and told her that Santa had come and brought her some presents. She walked in and saw her Incrediblock and all the little blocks and the wrapped presents and was so excited. She started playing with the block because we didn't wrap them. When I asked her if she wanted to open her other presents, she told me "no!" Eventually she opened all her presents and had so much fun playing with all her new toys. We played and watched the Disney Christmas parade while Nick was cooking. He mad delicious steak and mashed potatoes. Around noon, Nicks parents, my parents, and my brother Casey all came over to eat with us. We had a great meal and Leah loved showing off all her toys to everyone.