Tess's Tidbits: Presents!!

Hello everyone!  Please forgive us for waiting so long to post again.  It's been very difficult to get to the computer lately.  Mama's girls had half days all this week, so there was a lot of in-house traffic that we couldn't avoid.  Mama and Papa have been busy rearranging the living room, too, so everything has been quite chaotic for some time.  This is the first chance I've had to get on and post!

This will be a short post for today.  I just had to show all of you how beautiful our little tree looks with presents underneath it: 

Hailey and I love the fact that the tree is in our room! :D  Many days, Mama leaves the tree lights on and turns off the other lights.  It's always so pretty to see the tree lights shining in the darkened room.  It's been very difficult to stay away from the presents, though.  We want to peek and try to see who each present belongs to!  ;)

As you can see, Mama and the rest of us went a little crazy this year!!  Our abundance of packages is due in part to the fact that we have several more dolls to buy for this year.  Mama has officially figured out our Christmas plans.  Emma, Hayden, and Charlie will go with Mama and her family to Mimi's house.  They will be celebrating Christmas with Mimi's dolls (Piper, Kailani, and Jo) and two of Grandmama's dolls (Ruthie and Janie).  Meanwhile, Hailey, Maggie, Rachel and I will stay here and have Christmas together. 

I must confess, I was a little disappointed to be left behind again.  But then, Mama told us that Katie and Lucy would be coming and spending Christmas with us! :)  Not only that, but Maggie's sister Kate will get to come for Christmas, too. 

So even though I won't be with Mama for Christmas, I'll get to be with my family and most of my friends.  We'll really miss having Emma, Hayden and Charlie with us, but I suppose it would be difficult for Mama to cart all 7 of us over to Mimi's.  There are already going to be 12 humans and 8 dolls there for Christmas as it is!  We did have a very lovely Christmas last year...and at least this year, Katie will be with us.  If we could somehow get Ella back for a visit, things would be just about perfect! ;)

With Mama's help, I was able to find some wonderful gifts for my sisters and friends.  I absolutely cannot wait to see their faces when they open them!  I think that's another one of my favorite parts of Christmas:  watching someone else open a gift you've given them that you know they will love!  Of course, I enjoy opening my own gifts as much as anyone else, but there's something so special about giving presents away. :)  It makes me happy to find that perfect gift for someone.

Do you have any special gifts for your friends or family this year?  I know that many of our humans are going through some tough times financially right now, so there might not be many gifts under the tree in some of your homes.  I feel incredibly blessed when I see all the things that Mama has provided for us.  She said that most of them were things she picked up throughout the year, otherwise we might not have had as much to exchange with one another.  I'm so thankful for Mama and all she does. :)

Once again, I've rambled on quite longer than I'd planned. :}  I hope you'll forgive me, dear readers.  You can expect more posts soon.  Maggie's sister is coming today, so I expect Maggie will have something to write about the subject. ;)  I hear that Belle has been trying to get caught up on Belle's Bulletins, too, so keep an eye out for new posts on her blog.

For now, though, I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful Christmas season. :)  Until next time!