Life with the Bell boys: Christmas eve and Christmas day

We do Christmas with Rex's family on Christmas eve. We have dinner and then open our presents. It is fun having all the cousins together and seeing them interact. The twins are still not talking very much but they are in to everything and have totally different personalities. It is so neat to see how different and alike they can be. They are sweet girls and they are girls. They love clothes, shoes, and babies. I layed Wesley in the floor and they both would just sit next to him and hold his hands, touch him, and give him his toys. They love Max too. They get so excited when they see him and they can't wait to play with him. He is still a little rough with them and we have to calm him down but he is getting better about sharing and playing with them. That night when everyone was leaving Max told everyone, "Don't forget the holiday spirit!" Here are a few pictures from Christmas Eve.

Emma, Wesley, Jake, and Belle

Max opening up his moon sand. He loves the stuff but boy is it messy!

The girls opening up their high heels!

He loved this detective set.

Belle and Emma

Max and Pa Paw

Emma and Wesley. Emma loved Wesley. She had a little more to do with him than Belle.

Max was so excited about Christmas. Every morning the whole week before Christmas he would run into the living room and say, "Man, there still aren't any presents for me!" He still doesn't quite get the concept of time but it was funny. Needless to say when I told him it was actually Christmas Eve and Santa would really come that night he was extatic! We had no trouble getting him to sleep at all that night. He really enjoyed Christmas this year. He was so excited about every aspect of Christmas not just the presents. He enjoyed the baking, the singing, the lights, the stories, the get togethers, everything. I loved his enthusiasum for the season and his anticipation for Christmas made mine even better! I couldn't wait for him to wake up Christmas morning. We of course had to wake up him but that is okay. It gave me time to feed Wesley and have him all ready to go so I could video and take pictures of everything. Santa was very good to Max this year becuase we thought he wasn't going to get his big present but he ended up getting anyway. He was so apreciative of everything. He is such a sweet boy and has such a sweet spirit. Having kids of my own makes Christmas far better than I could have ever imagined that it would. It gives new meaning to everything. Having an infant this year makes me think of Mary and all that she indured and I could never imagine having to give up one of my babies they way she had to give up Jesus. I am so thankful that God chose to send his son to die for us and I love to celebrate his birth!

Cookies and milk for Santa

Max's letter to Santa

Santa overfilled Max's stocking

Look! Santa come for a visit!

He said, "My DS! Just what I wanted! It is just like Jessi's but hers is red!"

"My SpongeBob game for my VSmile! Santa brought me what I asked for!"

The aftermath of Max opening his presents.

Wesley is really starting to use his hands now. He wanted to get a hold of the tractor Santa brought for brother.

Look what else Santa brought Max! His very own 4 wheeler!

We almost forgot about his stocking. He had opened all his presents and had come in from riding the 4 wheeler and saw it. He said, "Oh, Wow! Look at my stocking! I almost forgot to look inside it!"

The only picture I got of them that morning in their matching pj's before Wesley pooped on his!

I hope he doesn't drive that that forever!

We then went to my mom and dad's for my family's Christmas. We always have Christmas breakfast/brunch and then open gifts. The breakfast was yummy as always but I sure did miss the hashbrown casserole and gravy. I limited myself to just one of my mom's homeade buscuits with Wesley's milk sensitivity. So far it hasn't gotten any better. I sure hope he grows out of it before he is a year old! Anyway, we then opened presents. We always let Max go first. My dad opened a few when Max took a brake. This year I was last opening mine because I videoed and took pictures of everything. I like going slow and everyone taking their time and you can see what everyone gets. We spent most of the afternoon at my parents and then came home that evening. Max didn't want to leave until Rex reminded him he had a 4 wheeler at home to ride and out the door he went. We let him ride for a little bit and even daddy took a turn. It was a wonderful Christmas but it goes by way too fast on Christmas day. Every year is more and more fun and I already can't wait for next year when Wesley will be more into it too. Sorry, the pictures are all out of order!

Rex riding on Max's 4 wheeler after we got home.