the simple gifts are sufficient

Much like the photo above, the Christmas festivities were a blur this year.

But the thing I'll remember most is how excited Christian was to actually open the presents. 

We spent his first Christmas in the emergency room. He'd woken up that morning with the dreaded wheezing and "belly breathing." At only 10 months old, I was on high alert and it progressively got worse throughout the day before I decided to have him checked out. After a couple breathing treatments and a bronchiolitis diagnosis, we were at least able to come home that evening, but he was feeling so crappy that he hardly paid attention while everyone unwrapped their gifts.

Last year was much better, but he still didn't really understand what was happening, and after halfway opening one present, he was done. All he cared about was playing with the very first toy he opened. Between him and Gabriel, they didn't even unwrap everything. I stashed the leftover gifts in a closet for later use.

This year... these boys were ready. Christian didn't need his brother's help, and he started unwrapping presents before we could even hand them to him. My boy was eager! Making up for lost time, I suppose.

We did everything on Christmas Eve, since Dad is on shift Christmas Day, and I'm grateful they're still at the age where none of these things matter, and the simple gifts are sufficient.