Cameron and I decided to do our Christmas on Christmas Eve after Hayden went to bed. We knew that he would only last so long opening gifts the next day, so we thought we would enjoy our time together without annoying the baby. We had fun. Cameron received a Dremel tool, a nice sweater, hand and foot warmers for the bike, a book among various other things, all from Santa of course. I got a wonderful new all-weather jacket, a gift certificate to get a facial, and a great new frying pan to name just a few things.

Hayden definitely hit the jackpot. Even though we tried to keep things under control this year, family was more than gernerous to him. He now has trains, trains and more trains, cars, books, playdo, more rubber ducks and even a singing trio of snowmen. The toy box overfloweth.

It was great to watch him open things. He actually got pretty into it. He would tear off the paper (sometimes needing a little help, we didn't want to be there ALL day) and look to see what was inside. With each gift opened, he would say, "Wow!". Over and over again his exuberance made us laugh. He even became overwhelmed with emotion when he saw the empty boxes and scattered bows. Those things are very exciting. He is such a sweet boy.

Unfortunately, the flu bug hit me and I was down and out for several days. Cameron took over right away and turned into Mr. Mom. He and Hayden took numerous trips to Home Depot to purchase supplies for Cameron's insulation and drywall project in the garage. Hayden is of course a big help with this stuff. He walked around the garage learning new words like ladder, saw, bang bang, and wood.

Cameron hasn't been feeling top notch either and now Hayden seems to have caught the bug, so hopefully the rest of 2006 will treat us better than the very beginning. But, all in all, we are well and we have nothing to complain about. Another wonderful year, this one just a little bit more special and each one to come even that much more adventurous than the last! -- mam