bursting at the seams!!

CHRISTMAS DAY IS FINALLY HERE!!!! It always seems like the countdown to Christmas takes FOR...EV...ER... but then suddenly it's Christmas morning and all that built up excitement comes bursting out in one furious frenzy of wrapping paper, shrieks and empty boxes!! My boys were SO excited when they woke up Christmas morning!! We were up before the sun and I think we were finishing opening presents just as the sun was peeking through the sky!! We were all laughing because Maddox was literally SO excited that he was shaking...I mean shaking, from head to toe, while he opened his first few gifts! I wish I had gotten it on video but he was shaking so hard and we were laughing so much that it slipped my mind! He literally couldn't contain his Christmas morning happiness!! It was so cute!!

The boys opened their stockings first and loved everything they found inside. They were especially excited about their new plush Darth Vador and Super Mario character pillows!

After stockings we dug right into the gifts under the tree...!!!

The excited looks on my boys' faces were priceless!! Gift after gift there were gasps and shrieks and screams!! I loved every minute of it!!

Maddox had been begging for this Star Wars cartoon movie since summer and it looks like Santa came through!!

So...MOM, when the boys were opening the presents from you and dad they were so excited but for some odd reason they couldn't get their gifts open! Ha! OK, this is kind of an inside joke, but my mom always wraps her gifts in the craziest of ways. You can never break through the ribbon, sometimes there are layers and layers of wrapping paper and you're pretty much guaranteed that something under the tree will be wrapped in a box that it didn't originally come in to try and trick you! Ha! When the boys were unwrapping their gifts from my parents they were struggling to get into them as quickly as they wanted to. The ribbon was so strong and there was so much of it that we had to help them...sometimes by using scissors! Ha!

Maddox got lots of Legos (just like he wanted!) and Ash got all sorts of Bakugan and Pokemon gear! It was perfect!

I think someone is thoroughly happy with his Christmas morning!!

This one large, green wrapped, gift had been taunting Maddox for over a week! My parents gifts arrived at our house early and so we went ahead and put them under the tree. Maddox would look at, touch and try to pick up this one large box every single day! He even kissed it a few times before he went to bed at night! Ha! He thought for sure he knew what it was...but then...

once Maddox got all the wrapping paper off and there was just a brown box with duct tape staring back at him he exclaimed "I KNEW IT!!" and then after another second passed he looked at me confused and said "What is it...???" Ha!! It was so cute and funny!! I think Maddox was pleasantly surprised with his gift!! And, no, he didn't have ANY idea what was actually inside that box! Ha!

I love this video because after Maddox opened his new Imaginext Dinosaur he held it up and just stood there, smiling. It took me a minute to figure out that he was waiting for me to take his picture! Ha! At least I know he's used to the routine of mom taking so many pictures!

After we opened all of our presents, we got dressed up and went to Christmas morning church service. It was a wonderful, packed out service! After church, we headed back home to make a late morning brunch of biscuits, gravy and (of course!) chocolate gravy! Every time I make (or eat) biscuits and gravy, I remember how glad I am to have grown up a "Wiles girl". Who else makes chocolate gravy!? Not many people I have met...but it sure is delicious! And a tradition I won't be giving up...EVER!!

After stuffing ourselves with brunch, I got right to work building all my boys' new Lego sets. I think Maddox got three new sets and Ash got one. It may not seem like much but the large ones take forever to put together. I started with the Lego Star Wars Millennium Falcon and, no joke, it took me almost FOUR HOURS to finish it! Yikes! I really do enjoy putting the Lego sets together but my biggest fear was that I would get it together and then Maddox break it the very same day. Ugh. Thankfully, though, all the Legos I put together that day (and the next...) are STILL standing! Whew!

Our Christmas was WONDERFUL!! I don't even know what all to say about it. I loved opening gifts with my boys. I feel like it wasn't rushed but it was still furious and full of energy. Christmas morning church service was beautiful and singing Christmas carols with my church family was so peaceful and then spending the day with my in-laws, my husband and my boys was more then I could have asked for. We were lazy, we ate alot of good food and we watched alot of movies. This Christmas was a perfect example of why we start counting down to the holidays in August!!