It's amazing how much your perspective changes when you have a little one...or little ones.  Gifts is most certainly my love language.  I love giving gifts.  I love receiving gifts.  I always go overboard at Christmastime.  I can't help it.  I tell Russ that Christmas shopping is my hobby, and my hobby only comes around once a year...so it's hard not to go bananas.

I love opening gifts too!  I love the pretty wrapping paper.  I love beautiful bows and gift bags.  I always enjoy counting the gifts, looking  under the tree trying to figure out what everything is...but I never want to spoil a surprise.  I love surprise gifts!

This year was a little different.  Don't get me wrong - I still LOVE opening gifts!  But, the feeling was different.  I found myself watching Millie Janalee, filled with the excitement of seeing Christmas through her eyes for the first time.  I was content.  I didn't need a single gift, although I'm not willing to return the gifts I did receive.  Ha!  I didn't need a thing this year.

I feel like I have my Christmas present in my arms.  My favorite Christmas gift of all!  And I get to open this gift day after day after day.  Everyday there is something new to discover or see or do!  This gift was sent from above...from His loving arms to ours.  And we are so grateful!  This precious gift is beyond anything I could ever imagine!  By far my favorite!

It's powerful to experience these feelings at Christmas as I reflect on His ultimate gift.  God sent His one and only Son to this earth as a newborn baby.  Humble, innocent, helpless.  He sent His Son to save the world so that we may have eternal life.  This gift of salvation is a gift we can open day after day after day.  A personal relationship with our Father brings something new everyday.  Each day brings a new lesson, a new emotion, a new challenge, a new depth, a renewed hope and JOY.  This gift of salvation was sent from above for YOU and ME.  For anyone who will accept it.  A gift far beyond anything we could imagine.

Now, THAT is my favorite Christmas gift!  How blessed we are!  How faithful is He!

He Came!

Yep.  We are one of those families who allows the jolly old Santa to come visit our family on Christmas morning.  My sister, brother, and I still believe!  Russ and I stay at my parents' house on Christmas Eve, and Santa knows just where to find us every time!

PLEASE excuse the mess of hair on my head for the rest of this post!  I don't think I've ever woken up with a worse hair day!  And I even brushed it.

Waking up Christmas morning with a little one has always been a dream I've held on to.  This year, we woke Millie Janalee up early to let her see what Santa brought on her very first Christmas!  Russ and I didn't get her much this year.  For a couple of reasons.  1. Her family got her plenty!  2. She won't remember this Christmas, and we are saving our money for next year when she can interact a little more.  We were so blessed that Santa came to Susu and Paw Paw's house, and Millie Janalee was pretty into it.

Russ and I took her right to the middle of the living room, where Santa left her goodies!  Oh, WOW!  Russ and I were just as surprised as Millie Janalee.  She must have been very good...and I can attest that she has been VERY good this year! 

Santa left her some new outfits...you know, in case she didn't have enough clothes to wear.  Ha!

Santa left her new, fun toys!

And, Santa left some essentials like rice cereal, diapers, wipes, and a Baby Bullet system for making her baby food.  Santa must've had elves watching how much we travel, because he brought Millie Janalee a portable DVD player too!  Now, she can watch her baby videos when we travel in the dark!  Yes, this was an essential...a luxury essential!

Santa didn't forget about the rest of us either!  Russ and I finally began to sift through our goodies and look through our stockings!  There were lots of surprises, and some fulfilled wish lists!  For those of you who have been worried about Farley, Santa remembered him too!

Megan's Santa stash

Russ's Santa stash

Farley's Santa stash

Daddy videoed Millie Janalee's first Christmas morning...until the battery died.  Note to self: Check batteries PRIOR to Christmas morning!  Oops!  Ha!  Nevertheless, I'm sure we got the main event and the Christmas morning effect before it died.

Uncie Bucket, Brodie, Uncie Lee, Auntie Kristin, Susu, and Paw Paw must've been good too!  Santa came to see us all!  We spent the next hour or so checking out each other's gifts, trying on shoes, and watching Millie Janalee play with her new toys.

Uncie Bucket with his remote control helicopter.  All the boys got one of these, and yes...they all went outside to play!

Lee checking out his new boots.

Russ was shocked to find these boots Christmas morning!  He was SOOO happy!

It must've been "the year of the shoes," because everyone but me got shoes.

Susu took a break from cooking to check her stocking.

Auntie Kristin took a break to talk with Millie Janalee about her new Bumbo.  Don't you like her footies Millie Janalee gave her for Christmas!?  Now they can match at bedtime!  Ha!

Somewhere along the line, Russ and I realized that we forgot to look in Millie Janalee's stocking.  This stocking is so funny, because Susu ordered it for Millie Janalee a while back.  However, when it came in she realized it was bigger than Millie Janalee!  Ha!  That meant...more to fill!  Santa had no problem filling it apparently...

Millie Janalee with her stocking

She found movies and bibs inside her stocking!

She found bling pacifiers and paci clips inside her stocking!

Christmas morning, my mom always cooks a yummy breakfast.  It is usually ready right as we finish opening and checking out what Santa brought us.  Our breakfast consisted of breakfast casserole, cheese grits, fruit, fruit dip, and orange juice.  It was delicious, as always!

We decided we needed a more interactive centerpiece for our Christmas breakfast, so we moved the fancy Christmas centerpiece and replaced it with our favorite thing!  Millie Janalee!  She enjoyed watching us all eat and spinning to face whoever wanted a turn.  Haha!  Bless her!

While she was sitting in the center of the table, Russ and I thought it was the perfect time to bring out our stocking we filled for her.  She got some feeding bowls, wipes, fun crawling knee pads, a little toy, and a VeggieTales video.  We just couldn't let this first Christmas go by without filling her first stocking.

Christmas Day is always a fun, lazy day for our family.  We spent the rest of the day in our pajamas playing, talking, and watching movies.  We all got a closer look at each other's gifts and talked about how much we loved everything.

Cuddle time with Susu and Auntie Kristin!

The son-in-laws admiring their boots again!

Millie Janalee had a fun-filled, playful day!  She stayed in her pajamas most of the day too with her little Santa boots.  Susu gave her this precious Christmas gown, and Auntie Kristin gave her the boots.  I think she loved them both, and she looked super cute on her very first Christmas!

The anticipation of this Christmas was more than any other!  At least since I was a child.  The wonder of Christmas from the real Christmas story to the magic of St. Nicholas.  It was such a JOY to experience this Christmas with Millie Janalee and our little family of three (plus Farley)!

And after all the wonder of the days leading up to Christmas, HE CAME!  Santa came to see us, and we were thrilled to experience his generosity with our little one!  Millie Janalee was pretty excited too!

When all was said and done...the gifts put away...the paper put in trash bags...we were still here.  Happy as ever!  Tired, relaxed, and giggling with glee as we enjoyed our very first Christmas with Millie Janalee!

Santa came to see her! 

And Jesus was born to save her!  We are filled with gratitude because He came!

Christmas Eve with My Side

One of my absolute favorite things about Christmas is our Christmas Eve service at our hometown church.  With all the chaos and fun that happens around Christmastime, it is so refreshing to slow down for 45 minutes and enjoy the sounds of Christmas, the story of Jesus's birth, singing carols and hymns, and observing the Lord's supper as a family under the dim sanctuary lights.  Lighting candles with our hometown church family and their families while singing "Silent Night" at the end is such a moving time as we think about that silent night...that holy night.  THIS is why we celebrate!  And it is so nice to stop tearing into gifts and frantically wrapping presents...and just remember His gift.

After the Christmas Eve Candlelight service, my family meets back at my parents' house for a delicious Christmas Eve supper prepared by my mother.  I can't remember everything she fixed, but we had a standing rib roast, crock pot mac and cheese, a yummy salad that I don't know the name of, green bean bundles, rolls, cream corn, and yummy desserts.  I'm sure I left something important out!  It's been over a week, and I already forgot!  This is why I blog!

Sheila and Dustin

We were so glad Sheila joined us this year!  We pretty much just consider her a member of this crazy clan.  Kristin and Lee enjoy dinner with Lee's dad's family, so we missed them during supper.  Millie Janalee got some one-on-one Uncie Bucket and She She time though.

Millie Janalee and Uncie Bucket playing Stare Out

The Christmas Cook!

The traditional table setting

Maw Maw made these napkin rings.  All the grandchildren have a set!  LOVE!

Mama's centerpiece

After a yummy dinner, lively conversation, and lots of laughter...some of us got comfortable for, what we know to be, a late night of opening gifts.  Passing out the gifts used to be the youngest children's job.  Now that we've all grown up, it's everyone's job!  Ha!  Going up and down the steps from the Christmas tree to the lower living room counted as my exercise for the day!  Ha!

Delivering gifts

Lee's mom always joins us too!

Everyone took their traditional places, and Brodie took a seat in his makeshift Christmas Eve cage.  Bless his heart!  Kristin is severely allergic to dogs.  Well, pretty much everything!  So, Brodie stayed behind this fireplace screen until he had opened all his gifts.  Then, he took his place on the back deck for the rest of the evening.

Brodie and his gifts

The whole crew...minus Russ! (Behind the camera again)

The reason it takes all night to open our gifts is because of our method.  And don't try to mess with our method!  We open our gifts one at a time!  This originated at Maw Maw's house growing up I think.  I'm not sure.  Anyway...we all open in order around the circle.  Everyone is able to see what everyone got, and we love to see everything!  This family doesn't like to miss much!  Ha!

There he is!  My love!

Rhonda has been wanting a large wedding picture for her house, so Mama and Daddy and the family gave her a large canvas from one of the pictures Russ took at their wedding.  I think she was happy!

In this family, dogs are not treated like dogs.  They are treated like "grandpuppies."  We are dog people, and we like it that way.  My parents dogsit our pups all the time, and they love it!  Our dogs sleep with them, never go hungry, watch television with them, and have special dogsitters during football season.

Brodie opening his gift.

So it's no wonder that they get their own gifts at Christmas!  After all, they are our firstborns and "grandpuppies." 

Do you think Brodie likes this look?

He let his cousin try them on too.

It was fun adding a new face to our Christmas this year!  Sheila was the perfect lap for Farley, and she did a great job jumping right into our Smith craziness!  Even opening gifts til after midnight!

She loves caramel apples!

Russ and I split the job of opening Millie Janalee and Farley's gifts.  Whoever ran out first, opened the rest.  Millie Janalee had some of the cutest outfits and fun accessories!  She's a blessed little girl this year, and we are all blessed by her!  She deserves every bit of it!

Precious monogrammed outfit from Uncie Lee and Auntie Kristin!

Perfect Party of Three owl lamp from She She and Uncie Dustbucket!

I've been looking for a keepsake box like one I was given for high school graduation.  I haven't been able to find one like mine anywhere!  Susu and Paw Paw found one!  I wanted Millie Janalee to have a special box to keep all her pictures and letters from her birthparents...and all her special adoption memories.  This engraved wooden box is perfect!  Susu wrote Millie Janalee a letter to be sealed and kept in this box as well.  So special!

Millie Janalee's keepsake box

When Kristin and I were young, Nonnie gave us a Holiday Barbie each year for Christmas.  We still have them all...still in boxes.  They were not for play.  Just for collecting.  Well, we may have snuck a few of them out of the box.  I'll never tell!  Ha!  Kristin wanted to continue that tradition with Millie Janalee and give her her very first Holiday Barbie...2012!

Millie Janalee is already dreaming of the pink Barbie convertible, I'm sure!

Millie Janalee, me, and her first Barbie doll!

No, Millie Janalee didn't make it through the whole night of gifts.  She snoozed in her "Aunt Nana's" arms while Russ and I opened the rest of her gifts for her.  Next year, she may just have to sit in the middle of the floor and open while we all go around in our circle.  Haha!  "Aunt Nana" gave Millie Janalee her very first pair of Cole Haan shoes!  Oh. My. Goodness!  So cute!  I didn't even know these existed!  Russ loves Cole Haan, so it was fitting that he opened this gift.

Thank you, Aunt Nana!

Our night went on into the late hours.  Everyone opening their gifts, waiting for their turn, snacking in between, and laughing all the way!  Christmas Eve night is always a fun one full of memories around here!

Real men wear pink!

Susu's Moni angel from Millie Janalee

The Smith girls with our sunglasses from Maw Maw for the bowl game

Mama asked for a collage of Millie Janalee pictures for a wall in her living room.  So, we fixed them up with framed three month portraits.  I think they liked them!  We gave them four 12x12 framed portraits, and they are precious!

PawPaw with two of the framed portraits

You may remember Lee's sock monkey Halloween costume this year.  Dustin and Sheila found the perfect robe for Lee!  It looks more like a smoking jacket.  Ha!  He completed his look with the sunglasses from Maw Maw!  Very stylish.

Uncie Lee

After opening gifts around midnight or so, it was time to complete our traditional Christmas Eve with another family tradition.  Since we were very young, my dad has read the same two children's books to us.  The amount of space we take up has changed, but that is all!  We still snuggle up in our pajamas in anticipation of The Christmas Story and 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.  I couldn't wait to share this tradition with Millie Janalee!

PawPaw and the Smithites

Once upon a time, we all snuggled up in my dad's orange recliner.  Piled in his lap and on the arms of the chair.  Now, we are sprawled out on the couch because that's the closest we can get.  Things may seem quite different these days.  But, when you come home for Christmas...you realize just how much stays the same!

These are the memories I love!  Traditions passed down from generation to generation.  Traditions remembered with sweet giggles and teary eyes.  Traditions I cherish.  And traditions I long to continue as my own family grows!

So much to be thankful for this year!  Thankful for a family full of traditions and sentiment.  Thankful for family full of love!  Thankful for family memories on Christmas Eve!