Although we celebrated Christmas on the 25th, it (unintentionally) stretched out through today. Being that Christmas is one of my favorite holidays (okay, my favorite), I don’t mind it lasting just a little longer!
We spent today trying to find places for all of Hannah’s new “stuff.â€Â She loves her new kitchen, and spent the morning cooking all sorts of things for us – cake, cookies, rice, and 
tea. She got a shopping cart and “food’†from her Grandma and Grandpa, and has also “gone shopping†a few times this morning…taking her new “Getting Dressed†Elmo with her. Did you know that this Elmo talks – alot? Yeah. Thankfully, my dad found the “off†button! She has also been enjoying her new legos (Mega Bloks), when Daddy would let her have them…I think he had more fun with them this morning than she did!
Things did have to get back to normal in some areas. Hannah did not nap yesterday, since we were at Grandma and Grandpa’s, and she was having way too much fun! But, she crashed about 2 minutes into the 10 minute ride home – and slept for a solid 12 
hours!!  Even with a full night of sleep behind her, she was still a bit cranky when naptime rolled around – and was out almost as soon as she laid down!! I would have liked to join her, but life had to return to normal for me too. So, instead, I cleaned up the kitchen, unloaded (and then re-loaded) the diswasher, sorted and did laundry, and, for fun, set up my new scrapbooking gadget (a Cricut cutting machine! Thanks, Mom and Dad!!).Â
But, while Hannah was sleeping, a box from her Granny and Papa Whitley arrived from Texas! (Maybe Santa is really the UPS man!) So, after her nap, we had another mini-Christmas, and she got to open a few more presents!! Papa and Granny sent her the Leap Frog “Fridge Phonics†lower case letters (she already has the upper case), and the 
“Word Whammer.â€Â (As a side note, I love the Leap Frog products! The Fridge Phonics System has magnetic letters that fit into a fridge-mounted “reader†that tells you the name and sound of each letter. The “Word Whammer†takes it one step further, and lets you combine the letters into simple 3-letter words. It also has a “word hunt†feature which asks for a specific letter, and then tells you if you are correct! It is exciting to see her already recognizing letters and their sounds!) So, we have been listening to the Alphabet Song all evening. Also in the box from Texas was a DVD of Winnie the Pooh’s Grand Adventure! She opened that one first, and asked to watch “the Pooh†all evening. We gave in and let her watch some of it after dinner…She may have a great attention span for a 20-month-old, but not quite enough to watch a full-length movie…the rest will have to wait for another day.
We also received a few gift cards, so those “gifts†are yet to be seen. Hannah and I may venture out into the crazy After-Christmas Sales later this week (after Daddy goes back to work), and see what fun things we can find. Honestly, I can’t imagine finding anything more. We have been so blessed this year by the generosity of our wonderful families…We have more than we need, and so much more than we deserve!