Christmas Eve

It was Bridget's first Christmas Eve at the Piercy gathering in Castle Rock, and something like Jillian's third time. They both got dressed up in their new Christmas dresses, and also in their matching coats. They had good naps, so they were both raring to go with all the cousins.

When they showed up at the Uhlenkott house, Jillian immediately hooked up with Rielee and they took off for the downstairs playroom. Bridget stayed upstairs and hung close to Mommy and Daddy, not having seen a lot of relatives for a while. She eventually warmed up and started wandering around freely.

Santa showed up about 7:30 pm, and we weren't entirely sure how Jillian would react, since she hadn't seen him since last year, and she wasn't so hot on him back then. But, she was excited to see him this time, and when asked to sit on his lap, she jumped at the chance ... she was all smiles and waved excitedly to everyone. When Santa asked what she wanted for Christmas, she responded "a dolphin Pillow Pet". Then, when she opened up her present from Santa, she was jumping up and down when she saw it was a dolphin Pillow Pet. Wow!

Bridget wasn't as keen with Santa, giving him an uncertain stare. When Santa reached out to hold her, she turned away. Oh well. At least she didn't cry.

The girls then opened presents with all of the cousins. Bridget was so happy to get a new baby from Lexi, and she took care of it the rest of the night, carrying it around or putting it to sleep. Jillian got some very cool presents as well, but never put down her dolphin Pillow Pet.

Jillian headed back downstairs to play with all the kids, saying later that the room was a "disaster" and complaining that the boys were throwing balls at her. Bridget stayed upstairs and stayed active, trying to climb everything and yelling loudly for all to hear.