Christmas and What Not...

Our first Christmas as a family of eight. There's a lot of stockings to hang...
It's a tradition for me to make the stockings of each new family member by hand. As usual, I was running way behind this year and was actually slightly worried that I wouldn't get them done on time.

Josh picked out his fabric...which says bah humbug... all over it. Ironic right? I tried to tell him what that meant, but that's what he wanted. We asked him if he wanted Josh or Filemon or Filly on his stocking. He chose Filly.

I almost made stockings last year because we were so close to getting the kids by Christmas. We weren't sure how to spell their Ethiopian names and whether they would want to go by American names etc, so I never made them. Even though I was rushed and freaking out about making their stockings, it was so awesome because if I had made them last year, I would have never known that Jameson's favorite color is yellow! Always motivated by looming deadlines, I finished their stockings at 11:50 pm on Christmas Eve.

"Oh yeah... a book... Just what I wanted..."

"Oh Gee, Multiplication flashcards... just what I wanted..." Do you see a pattern here?

"This had better not be anything educational..."

Justine and her Just like me doll... hope the doll doesn't come with the same attitude.

Look at that smile. Isn't that sweet?

Jameson and her doll. She so wanted an "American Girl" doll. That was the only thing she asked Santa for.

Everyone kept reminding us that this was Jordan's last Christmas with us. Jordan - will you still come home for Christmas when you're in college? Please?

He is one cool dude. There's no denying it.

Is this a good look or what?