Santa and his better half

Yesterday we visited the Christmas party at the local senior center, and made this our Santa visit for the year. The Santa at the senior center is worth the price of admission for one significant reason: he brings the missus.

Last year, Mrs. Claus helped my kids with their timidity about the big guy in red. This year, they had no hesitation to climb into his lap and make their requests ("a nurse's costume that's a dress" for Katy, "Lightning McQueen, Mater, and Mack" for David), but she was quite helpful in holding Luke. In fact, I literally had to pry him from her fingers when we were done. And you have to admit, the woman has great taste in glasses and matching lipstick.

The whole event is pretty cute, and we enjoyed it with our friends Stephanie, Brooklyn, and Maddie.

Plus, there's a TRAIN. There's nothing quite like the look on this kid's face while he watching trains and cars.

It's not the same look as when he's showing off his "face" painting.



This last photo might not look like much, but when I sent this as a picture message to Brian, he responded, "Holy crap! It's a Christmas miracle!" Katy has been terrified - absolutely frightened out of her mind of puppets for about the last year. It's made taking her to church a challenge (they do puppets once a month), and we've had breakdowns at school and other places with puppet shows. This time, however, she gradually peeked around the corner, stood at the door, then in the back of the room, until she finally perched at the very edge of the carpet square. A breakthrough!??! Maybe?! We'll see. Anything can happen at Christmas, right?

Updates

**It's cold. Really, really cold. And yet she still will not wear pants. She made that self-portrait on the fridge with paper, scissors, and scotch tape. Although it's slightly creepy looking, I thought it was pretty good.

**We are chugging along with Christmas preparations. I thought I was on the ball because I ordered cards and bought the pretty stamps nice and early. But they've been sitting on the counter for a week with no addresses on them.

**On Monday, Brian and I had a dream date. At least for me. My dad and Sue came and watched the kids for us ALL DAY while Brian and I went Christmas shopping. We got so much done, sat and ate lunch at a leisurely pace, and walked right past Santa without so much as a glance. And I just love Christmas shopping. The hustle and bustle, having money to spend for just this occasion, and trying to find the best deal of the gifts you want to buy. I was away from the kids for eight hours, which is the longest time in over a year.

**Luke started solids! Yes, the plastic monstrosity of a highchair is back in my kitchen after a good scrub down (I even bleached the straps because they were awful). The first night, I made this bowl of cereal for him, and I thought, he won't eat even a third of it. But he gobbled it down, and by the end of it, he was opening his mouth like a baby bird - his first meal! That's what happens when you wait until they are almost 6 months to start - they are more than ready. (Katy we did right at 4 months and I remember everything we put in just ran right back out)

**The difference between a first baby and a third is that third babies have lots of help, need it or not. Before you notify authorities, you wouldn't believe how well he did eating from them.

**Starting solids did not, however, improve nighttime sleep. In fact, that first night he was up four times, and I was panicking that maybe he had an allergy or some kind of reaction to the cereal. But maybe it was just too big of a bowl for his first feeding. By the third night, he's right back where we started - up at 11pm and 3am. *sigh*

**He IS, however, sitting UP! For at least a minute or two before he topples over. Which means I can finally get a decent picture of the child (it's so hard to get a good picture of a baby on their back).

**We went to see Santa and Mrs. Claus this morning, I'll get that picture scanned later this week. But I am anxiously awaiting your Christmas cards - I even bought pretty magnets for the side of my fridge! I'm checking my mailbox with eager anticipation. :)

Flashback from Shutterfly and a gift card

Christmas Evergreen Christmas

Shop Shutterfly.com for elegant Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Yet another good reason to use Shutterfly! Brian and I have literally spent hours on Shutterfly in recent weeks getting things organized to order some prints and some gifts. Now they are offering a $25 gift card to Bloggers who share a card project they've created. This is our Christmas card from TWO years ago - can you believe we took these two babes on a Disney cruise? Let me know if you'd like details on how to get your own gift card.