On the first day of Christmas

Today was the day we picked to celebrate Christmas with just the four of us. We are going to be in Arizona with Steve's family on the actual day, and we aren't going to take our gifts to one another down there. So, we decided that today would be our Christmas. And it was a great one!

The girls sorted out presents with Steve, and then we all commenced opening. Of course, most of them were for the girls - books, fleece pullovers, gloves, and such.

But their big gifts this year were Baby Alive dolls. And we know that might make some people uncomfortable - they are animatronic dolls that have the capability to process food and drink into their diapers - and as one of our friends says, who wants to see a doll like that malfunction?

But both girls ADORE changing diapers, and do it on all of their dolls/animals all day long. So a doll that TELLS them they need a diaper change, thanks them for changing the diaper, and will then sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with them is just a show-stopper in this house. We've all had fun with them, although Christina has been delegated the job of getting the babies to sleep. If you turn them off by the switch, it's not easy for the girls to get them on again. If you lull them to sleep by giving them a bottle, rocking them, and waiting for them to stop making any noises, they go into "sleep" mode and are easy to wake again when the girls want them. So, Christina is re-living a bit of our early days. And Clara and Elena are seeing how frustrating little babies can be - they don't always do what you want!

Steve got Christina a tripod for her camera - it is FANTASTIC. We all had a good time playing with this today, coupled with the remote for the camera. Clara especially loved this set-up, and took the following shots:

We collaborated on this one:

And here is an "Everybody Loves Clara" shot - not sure how we arrived at this one, but it was a lot of fun.

We went out to a Christmas party tonight, and all got dressed up. The girls took the opportunity to pose with their Christmas bears that (through the wonder of magnets) kiss each other.

Sweetie Lena likes to get right up close to the camera!

And we'll leave you with a group shot of the lot of us right before we left for the party. Here's to more family portraits in our future - this was a lot of fun!