25 Days of Christmas: Day 23 - Christmas has begun!

We officially started our first of four Christmas family celebrations on Sunday by attending a Santa brunch at Shaw's crab house with my parents and my sister and her family. We are going to my family's big extended family Christmas on Christmas Eve and celebrating with Michael's family on Christmas Day, so we needed to celebrate early. We've never been to their brunch before but it got rave reviews. It was amazing. The food was great and the Santa was incredible with the kids. We went and visited Santa first since there was no wait. I was really hoping that Ethan would go sit on his lap but it was still a long shot considering last year.

My niece Lily went first and Ethan still looked unsure even though she hopped right up on his lap.

And then, something magical happened...Santa brought out balloons!

He was a balloon-making Santa! Ethan looked up at me and said, "my turn next Mama." I couldn't believe it, but after Lily got her balloon, Ethan walked right up to Santa and sat on his lap.

Santa was wonderful and told Ethan he looked like Frank Sinatra and that he needed a hat like Ethan's. Then he gave Ethan his bells and they sang Jingle Bells. Ethan loved it and then he got a balloon sword with monkey on it. He was on cloud nine and so was I! We actually saw Santa a little later and he said, "Mama, give Santa hug?" And he ran to Santa and gave him a big hug. I hope he remembers this for next year!

Next, Violet and Sofia sat on Santa's lap and we got shots of both sets of siblings. 

Santa told Sofia he loved her shoes and that they looked like Dorothy's Wizard of Oz shoes!

He was an amazing Santa and so wonderful with the kids.

After we met Santa we went to our table and started eating. The food was really yummy, I would highly recommend it!.

After our delicious brunch we headed back to our house to continue the celebration and open presents. Ethan and Lily were really excited to be surrounded by a sea of presents!

One of the first things Ethan opened were these penguin flannel pajamas. He said, "Mama, put on, put on penguin jamas." So we put them on. He was so funny. He kept rubbing his legs and saying, "oooo, soft and cozy." We were all cracking up.

Yay, books!

Lily Rapunzel!

Then Violet got to open her presents and I opened Sofia's presents

Ethan loved Lily's new Doc McStuffins cart!

My Mom and Dad got Violet and Sofia something special for their first Christmas because they bought Lily and Ethan train sets for their first Christmas. They got them this awesome Disney Christmas tower that has all the characters on it and trains that go around and Mickey Santa flies around the top. It is so cool!

Sofia has a lot of fun toys to look forward to playing with in a few months and a bunch of cute new clothes!

Mom was up next!

Her calendar is always her favorite!

Arla was next.

Then Michael

Yay, we're going Disney World!

Then it was my turn. I got some beautiful new Kendra Scott pieces and an amazing new Tory Burch bag!

It was Papa's turn

Somehow I didn't get pictures of Teddy opening. He was probably trying to get Ethan off of him!

After presents, we just relaxed. The kids were definitely getting tired. Ethan went and got his pillow and blanket and laid down on the floor. Lily laid down next to him. These two are so cute together!

Then Lily decided she wanted to read Ethan stories before he went down for a nap. So cute!

We had a great day celebrating together as a family. And the best part is, it's just the start. We have three more Christmas celebrations to go starting tomorrow!