The Pierces: "Oh No," and "Wow," it's Christmas

I cannot believe it is already Will's second Christmas. My how time flies. The Christmas festivities began on Christmas Eve when we went to Mass at St. Pius with my fam. Considering Will had not napped all day, Ben and I figured we would sit down for a few minutes before we would have to quickly leave and spend our Christmas Eve Mass out in the hall. However, quite the opposite happened. Will was a perfect angel in church, not making a sound other than the "Ho Ho Ho" towards the end that fellow church goers got a kick out of as determined by the snickers around us. For some reason when I pointed out baby Jesus to him on the altar, he thought it was Santa and starting "Ho Ho Ho" ing. It was super cute. He was so good, I had people complimenting us on how well he was doing. It was a beautiful service, truly reminding us what Christmas is all about.

After Mass, we headed over to the Pierce's to eat Christmas dinner, and it was yummy. Will also got to open a few gifts to get him prepped for the next day. He definitely enjoyed his new ride on his Harley Big Wheel, but I would say the favorite gift of the evening was his new lawn mower as he squealed with delight once he opened it. While there, we also got into an intense game of Bananagrams. (Ben and Ryan's favorite game.) I am saddened to have to admit this, but Carrie won...

Once we were stuffed and all games were played, we headed home to prep for Santa. Will picked out the cookies that he wanted Santa to have and even looked up the fireplace to see if he could catch of glimpse of Jolly Ol' St. Nick. Having not seen him, our sweet boy gave up and fell asleep. I wish we could've gone to sleep as well, but there was much work to be done... (until 2 am)

As Christmas morning rolled around,Will's fan club showed up so they could witness Will's expressions as he awoke Christmas morning. I had to wake the little booger up at 7:30 am or else he would've probably slept until 10:00. His reaction to the toy filled room was the reason I titled this blog as it is. When we first came out, he saw his basketball goal, pointed and just said, "Oh No." He then spotted his trampoline, pointed, and said "Oh No." After that he spotted his kitchen and again, "Oh No." This continued until he had seen everything new that Santa had brought him with the occasional "Wow" in there. It was so stinkin cute. He was so sweet and innocent. After his initial reactions, the family went on their way, which allowed us to continue to open gifts and enjoy our Christmas morning as a little family of four (Lulu). This was particularly special to us as we have not been in a home of our own the last two Christmases.

After we finished at our house, we went over the river and through the woods to Beebee's house to have Christmas with my family. As always, it was absolute mayhem and fun as ever with four grand kids jumping from present to present, and paper being thrown everywhere, as if they were in a race to see how many things they could play with at a time. Will's favorite gift was his power wheels 4 wheeler. It was hilarious as he and Elena both got one and they both kept running into the wall and all we kept hearing were their wheels spinning repeatedly. And as always the adults were all opening their presents, mostly complaining about them being the wrong size or wrong color, or "why would you get me that?" followed by hilarious laughing (for those of you who know us well, you know how it is... constant smart ellick jokes and not a serious word being spoken.)

Once the mayhem was over at the Hoover's, we headed over to a slightly calmer Christmas at the Pierce's to open gifts. Our morning there started with an "Amazing Race" like scavenger hunt for a present, which was exciting. I was hoping there would be a million dollars at the end, but that didn't happen;) By this point, it was around 11 am and Will had been opening since 7:30 am, but he was still forging through it as if he had just started. Sweet thing continued to open gifts through lunch time, and if he got distracted the least bit, one of us would just have to say, "Will, look another present," and he would drop whatever he had in his hands and immediately run over to open it. He was getting good at this gift opening thing. I'm sure his practice will come in handy in April for his birthday.

After finishing up at Grammy and Grandpa's, we were worn out and headed back to our house to play with some toys and to take a nap. He was so worn out, he slept for nearly 3 hours. Once awake, we hit the road again and headed back to my parent's house for a scrumptious Christmas dinner and some exciting games of indoor LadderBall and Just Dance 2. Let me just say Missy and I rocked the house, but Ben, Corey, and Philip had some sweet moves as well. Will just sat and watched us make idiots of ourselves...

And so, as the night came to a close, Christmas had come and gone so quickly, and as we lay in bed, I thought back on the day and Will's reaction as he first saw what Santa had brought him. Just raw, pure amazement, wonder, and innocence in those big brown eyes of his made my heart melt and I will never forget that very moment for as long as I live.

"Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!"