Kelley Christmas

And now to continue with the late but better than never Christmas posts...

Christmas with the Kelleys!

This was the first year that Ella really "got" present opening.  She had quite a couple of months with the birthday and several Christmas celebrations.  It's actually taking her awhile to adjust to not having "Tistis tees", Santas, and presents everywhere.  There is a good chance she is going through withdrawal.

I ended up having to work on Christmas - boo.  So, that made celebrating with everyone a bit of a challenge.  But we worked around it and managed to spend time with everyone during the holidays :)  We started out with Granna and Papa just before Christmas and Ella thought it was a great way to kick start the holiday!

Checking out the loot :)  Please excuse lack of clothes.  (There seems to be a theme here.  Ella is very anti-clothes at the moment.)

Checking out the stocking.  And, a little bit of Nico in the way.

The Gang.

I think this is Ella mid-gift opening of her socks/underwear/PJs.  She. Was. Thrilled.  It was hilarious.  What 2 year old gets pumped about socks and  underwear?  This kid.

And passing out a few other things.  Like Daddy's beer.  (From RJ Rockers for you Wofford peeps.)

Helping Mommy open some of her gifts.

Having a very serious convo.

And then Ella got a hold of the camera.  I didn't even realize she knew how to actually take a picture.  Until I looked at the camera.  Apparently, Ella was very impressed with Jason's body wash.  There were about 12 pictures like this.

Here, Granna.

Playing with her new "puter."

Just a few more things...

And, the big "tato head."  Ella LOVES her some Mr. Potato Head.

I love Christmas!!!

Showing off some of her new gear :)

After we were all spoiled with tons of gifts and delicious food at Granna and Papa's house we reluctantly headed home so I could start my Christmas night shifts.  Uck.  That is the part of my job I do wish I could change.  But, even though I had to work 3rd shift over Christmas we still had time to head on over to Adam & Amanda's house for Christmas Eve.  The set up was quite impressive and even the kiddos had there very own tablescape :)

The kid's table.  Hard to get a picture of this because the munchkins were so pumped about it they kept removing the cups/plates/presents from the table.

And, the big kid table.

And, I almost got all three looking in the same direction.  But, they are all three in the picture.  And, that's no small feat.

One more try.  By the way, this is Ella's "cheese" face.

Henry should seriously consider a career in baby modeling.  

Handing out some gifts.

Ella's Tinkerbell ornament from Adam and Amanda :)

And, Jay the Elf came too!

Papa reading everyone some stories.

And, one more "cheese" face!

Then suddenly a tickle fight broke out with Uncle Jason :)

Crazy munchkins.

After 4 nights of work I was ready for some time off!  And to start the vacation we headed on down to Hartsville to cap off the Kelley portion of our Christmas festivities.  Lucky for me, Granna and Papa let Ella and I hitch a ride with them as I had just finished working and hadn't slept in the past 30 hours or so.  Not so good for driving :) We had a great time visiting and the food was delicious!!  Ella was glad to get to spend some time QT with Bobbie (and her dancing Santa!)

Trying on the Santa hat.  That adorable vest was worn by yours truly 28 a few years ago :)  Love having things like for Ella to enjoy as well!  (hate admitting how long ago it was that I wore it)

Hanging out with Bobbie :)

Enjoying the dancing Santa.  For hours on end.

A little more Santa.  With the Santa hat.  And the Santa doll.    I think you may be beginning to see why post-Christmas has been a bit difficult at our house. 

Showing some cousin love :)

Henry also had an adorable vest.  Unfortunately, it was next to impossible to get them to both be still, much less smile.  So, this is what ya get.

The "cheese" face makes another appearance.

Last try at the shot of the two of them.  (Unfortunately, John Dickson was under the weather so he was unable to make it to the celebration :( )

Ella was excited to have her picture taken up close.

This was one of Ella's presents.  It is a bear made by her Great-Aunt Barbara out of her Great-Grandfather Dick's robe.  How special is that?  And, she loves it.  It is a staple in the "crib entourage" of toys these days.  (As a side note, Barbara also made me a teddy bear when I was around Ella's age that I may or may not still sleep with and Jason may or may not continuously try to throw away hide.)

This was as close as I could get to a picture of the little ones with Bobbie :)

Whew.  I'm worn out just remembering all of it.  But, so much fun!  And, it was worth it to get to spend time with everyone during the Holidays!  Up next, the Carnes' Christmas :)