On Thursday morning, the 23rd, Stephen, Max and I woke up and in our little world, it was CHRISTMAS!!!! The night before we had made a birthday card for Jesus and left cookies and carrots out for Santa and the reindeer. The next morning, we had cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate, while Stephen read us the CHRISTmas story. Then, Max opened his gifts from us. He had such a good time, and it was the PERFECT morning for just the three of us! Stephen and I threw caution to the wind and decided to celebrate Max's love of music! I'm sure our headaches in a few days will remind us how crazy we were! But, for now we're loving it! We got Max a guitar and a drum set, and he's a natural all ready! He plays his guitar constantly!!! In fact, the once six strings are now down to three!! We mixed in some not so noisy gifts with those, and Max was in seventh heaven! Stephen also got Max a super sweet gift. Max is OBSESSED with airplanes. He loves to talk about them, look at them, everything except for ride on them!!! Stephen found a model airplane of a Korean Airlines plane. Just like the one we brought Max home on!!!
That afternoon we headed to my folks house since this year was our CHRISTmas with them. Max was soooo excited to see his cousins Noah and Henry!!! Those boys get along so darn well, its awesome! Thursday night we just relaxed and frosted Christmas cookies. The next morning we woke up and promptly sang "Happy Birthday" to Pops!!! Max gave him a card he had made and Pops got to open presents with his boys!!! I think that was the best part of his day!! That night, we went to the service at our church, and we were so excited to have Meemaw and Pops along with us!! And, the best part of all.....our little Max was a cow in the Nativity Scene!!! Seriously, the cutest darn cow I've ever seen! And, he did sooo well! He just sat up on the stage and smiled!!! It was so surreal to have him there with us, on such an awesome, important night in the life of a Christian!!! Stephen and I had to keep pinching ourselves!
CHRISTmas morning was awesome! Max slept in a bedroom with Stephen and I while Noah slept in another room with his mom and dad. In the morning, the boys couldn't contain themselves! They kept yelling through the wall to each other!!! So stinkin' cute! Max and Noah sang happy birthday to Jesus, and then the present opening began! Max had so much fun being Pops' helper, passing out the gifts. He got soooo much stuff! After presents, we headed outside for some sledding. The boys had gotten sleds from Meemaw and Pops, and couldn't wait to try them out. This was Max's fist time in the snow, and he did so well! Stephen was so great with him! Running around pulling the sled. Max just laughed!!! Then, we all made a snow mound (it couldn't be classified as a snow man!) together! The rest of the day was spent hanging out, and eating a DELICIOUS dinner my mom made. A perfect family CHRISTMAS!!!
Then, to keep the awesomeness going, we headed back home on Sunday morning, for Stephen's side of the family! Unfortunately, we weren't able to be with them this year, but through the modern convenience of technology, they were all able to watch every moment of the present opening! We set up our laptop right in front of the tree and Max opened his gifts as Grandma and Grandpa watched! Then, we did the same with Aunt 'Ginia and Uncle Ryan. Its really great to be able to share that with them! And, of course, Max got even more great gifts. Believe it or not, he still had even more to open after we Skyped. He had gifts from Aunts, Uncles, cousins, and Great Grandparents! I know that a family's love is in no way measured by the amount of gifts they give at Christmas. But, it truly was overwhelming to feel the love that was sent along with each one of those packages! Max has an incredible family, and I know he knows it too!!!
A HUGE thank you to everyone who made this CHRISTmas season so special. Our Max is a one of a kind kid, and its still hard to believe God chose us to get to love and care for this incredible little guy!!! I can't wait for all the CHRISTmases to come, as Max continues to learn and understand truly what and whom this season is all about!!!
