Christmas 3/6

I'm trying to play catch up, so expect quite a few posts in the next few days until we're current.

Sunday, Loran, Ella and myself celebrated our own little family Christmas. We treated ourselves to a dinner out at a local restaurant/diner that was really delicious. The waitresses loved Ella which was good, because she made a huge mess on the floor. She was loving her chicken tenders! It was a relief because after a week of not eating well, she really perked up this day and started packing the food in.

After our meal, we drove to St. Paul to see the big tree in Rice Park (larger than the tree at Rockefeller Center in NYC). We also drove by the mansions, including the governor's mansion to see the pretty lights.

Once home, we exchanged our gifts. I'd started the season telling myself I wouldn't buy much for Ella since she has the birthday and everyone would lavish her with gifts for Christmas too. Of course, Ella had the most gifts under the tree. She's just more fun to shop for. The socks that Loran asked for weren't as fun!

Ella faded fast, so we expedited her gift opening and got a quick picture of her with her treasures while she fell apart and cried. It's not the holidays until someone's in tears! Once Ella was in bed, we enjoyed the last of Charlie Brown Christmas and our own gifts.

I think the sweetest moment of the night was when Ella unwrapped her baby doll we'd given her. She was so tender, touching its face and hands. Then lifted its chubby face to hers and gave it a kiss on the forehead. *heart melting*