Christmas at the O'Neals

And at another household, on another side of Indianapolis...

First things first. Each year, we have a Christmas Eve tradition. Mike and I (and now Isaac) are joined by the annual visitor, Matt (Mike's buddy from college and the best man at our wedding), and Dadaw O'Neal at Skyline Chili for some rotgut grub. This year was Isaac's first bite -- he ate a hot dog:



Back at the casa de O'Neal, Isaac enjoyed many pasttimes while awaiting his present onslaught. He found much entertainment in shelving Mamaw's potatoes:



Or wrasslin' on the floor with Dadaw:



Or watching some bedtime Wiggles with Dadaw (here, a rare moment where Dadaw wasn't being used as a pillow):



We opened presents at the O'Neals on Christmas afternoon, with Aunt Robin, Uncle Joe, and cousins Nate, Emily, and Sarah in attendance. As always, Mamaw provided quite a spread for our constant snacking pleasure, which was enjoyed by all except poor Emily, recovering from a tonsilectomy:



Onto the presents. After a lengthy search, Dadaw finally found the clothing item he most desired for Isaac -- a bomber jacket. Isaac was totally impressed, as you can see from the "Ooooo" being mouthed in the picture:



With so many other presents being handed out at first, Isaac got stuck in a clothes rut and decided to lavish his attention on Sarah's new Furby:



Shortly thereafter came some awesome toys -- a Little People dump truck, an Aquadoodle, a fabulous Melissa and Doug sandwich-making play-food kit, and a lift-the-flap puzzle -- all of which continue to be big hits.


You can see Isaac playing with his dump truck in the background, though you may have to shield your eyes from Sarah's blinding smile as she opened her makeup kit (which also intrigued Isaac after awhile):



After all presents were opened, Isaac was shooed upstairs so his REAL present could be assembled, and the Thomas madness continued. You may have guessed that this one was made a huge impression on our young man:

Matt shot a movie of Isaac on his train which I make available to any who wants it, but it is 32MB and thus only for the very, very Isaac-faithful or potential ride-on Thomas buyers (though it is still extremely cute to see the boy waving and saying "Bye-Bye Mama!" as he rides around and around in a circle).

Dada got more Sears gift card lovin' with which to spoil himself; I got lots of BEAUTIFUL maternity clothes (and some fat cash to blow on myself), and U.B. even got a three-day wardrobe from Aunt Robin and Uncle Joe. Too bad Christmas only comes once a year, eh? And we're not even done yet. It's onto Missouri after this.

editor's note: thanks to Matt for all Christmas pictures and the gigantic movie!