A miracle occurred on Christmas night . . . Ben stayed in his bed, drum roll please, ALL NIGHT LONG! That's a big deal around here. And this is how I got him to do it. I told him that Santa would not know that he lived here if he wasn't in his bed when he came and checked on him. I told him that Santa doesn't check parents rooms, so if he sees no kids sleeping in their beds, he assumes they are not home. And that did the trick my friends. Just wish I could some how figure out how to make that work all year long. I wish I could have seen his face when he first woke up and walked into the living room and saw what Santa left him. Instead I saw his cute little face just moments later at my bedside exclaiming,
"I can't believe it. Santa came!"
me: "what did he bring you?"
Ben: "an art easel."
me: "did he bring you a Buzz Lightyear like you asked?"
Ben: "let me go look." And off he ran.
Ben: "he did! he did! And he ate all of my cookies!"
me: "did he drink the milk."
Ben: "let me go look." And off he ran.
Ben: "he did! he did!"
Then he waited for mommy and daddy to get up and we all went and checked out what Santa brought. James and I both were treated to shoes from Santa: I got some amazingly comfortable Ugg boots, and James got a number Jordan of course for his collection. We helped Ben get down both his and Jackson's stockings and he enjoyed the little treasures they held; especially the Build A Bear gift certificates for both him and baby brother (for Ben to make baby brother his first stuffed animal).
We slowly opened up the rest of our presents one by one. I'm so glad that at least for now Ben doesn't just tear into one present, shove it aside, and then look for the next one. He opens it and then wants to open it and play with it right away, and we almost had to cox him into opening up each present afterwards.
Because we didn't have church until 12:30 (has since changed to 9am, which I prefer), we were able to really enjoy the morning. I made a pancake breakfast- chocolate chip ones for the boys- and we enjoyed some hot coco before beginning to get ready for the rest of our day. I loved that Christmas fell on a Sunday this year. In our church we don't have a meeting on Christmas unless it actually falls on a Sunday , instead we have a special Christmas service either the Sunday before or after Christmas. It was really nice to be able to go to church on actual Christmas and I felt the spirit so strongly. My favorite moment was the concluding hymn. It was Silent Night. Ben had grown familiar with the song over the last month from the Huggies commercial. He called it the sleeping baby song. He also knew that it is about baby Jesus. Most of Sacrament meeting Ben quietly entertains himself with his little bag we bring each week containing coloring books, a magnetic Noah's ark, snacks, etc. But when the song began and Ben realized it was Silent Night he climbed up on his Daddy's lap and concentrated very hard to sing some of the words of the song along with James and I. At that moment I felt very happy, very much in love with my little family, and very thankful for my Savior that was born on Christmas day so long ago!
