The Excitement Builds...

I never thought Christmas could be more exciting than when I was a child. I remember not being able to fall asleep on Christmas Eve because of all the anticipation. As a teenager and young adult I still looked forward to Christmas because of all the great traditions my family kept going. Christmas 2004 was special because it was mine and Ed's first Christmas together as a married couple but it was also difficult because it was the first Christmas without my dad and everything was so different that year. At some point I guess as an adult Christmas became another holiday squeezed in a hectic life and work schedule. And then I became a mom...

Christmas in 2006 was our first Christmas as parents. Gabrielle was only 3 months old and looking back at the video we took of Christmas morning makes me laugh. In the video I act almost as if I expect Gabrielle to help rip into her presents. She couldn't even sit up by herself yet!! And then we almost expected some sort of reaction from her once the gifts were open. But it was our first Christmas as parents and was like no other Christmas before that.

The following year was so much fun. Gabrielle was just over a year old and did have the reactions we longed for and was able to rip into the presents. We went so overboard that year with gifts when honestly she would have been just as happy with one or two things wrapped beneath the tree. But Ed and I enjoyed shopping and picking out this and that for her. Once again we felt that anticipation we had as children ourselves.

Last year, while it was difficult because it was the first Christmas without Ed's mom and Ed had an insane work schedule, Gabrielle had more expectations for Christmas. She understood the idea of Santa a little more and the presents and the decorations. I think last year is when we really started making our own traditions and figuring out what we wanted Christmas to be for our family.

I never would have thought Christmas could get any better or that I would more closely feel what I felt as a child but I would be wrong. Now we have two little bundles to shop for - our complete little family! Gabrielle now has a little sister to share the excitement with. She talks to Samantha about Santa and Christmas. This week I took Gabrielle to Build-a-Bear where she picked out and made a bear for her sister's Christmas gift. I was so proud of her. While she of course asked for something for herself while we were there, she did such a great job picking out a gift for her sister and never once threw a tantrum or cried or anything when we left the store with a gift for Samantha and nothing for herself. For a 3-year-old that is a pretty big feat! Gabrielle is just dying to give the bear to Samantha already as well!

We are doing a couple of different countdowns for Christmas and each morning she asks about each of them. The enthusiasm and anticipation is building and building.

This is also the first year Gabrielle has made her own list. In years past she got what we thought she would like and what we wanted her to have. This year she was the boss! She looked through the toy catalogs we got in the mail and picked out her favorites. She "wanted" a lot but there were definitely a couple of items that became favorites. There are two items in particular that if Santa doesn't bring I know she would be absolutely heartbroken. A friend of mine who also has a three year old put it so well when she said "This is such an important year for their relationship with Santa." Of course I want Gabrielle to know the real meaning of Christmas and what is really important but right now for a three year old, whether or not Santa delivers the goods is key! And if that means Santa has to make a last minute, unplanned purchase then so be it.

Tonight as I tucked Gabrielle in bed I told her to get a good night's sleep because we have a big day tomorrow. Her response - "Yeah, it's Christmas!!" She had such a big smile on her face and a light in her eyes. It was seriously one of the cutest things I've ever seen. I had to break the news that tomorrow is not quite Christmas but that it would be here soon. She is about to burst with excitement!! Once again I feel that wonder and awe of Christmas that I had growing up.

I just know I will be up all night Christmas Eve, lying in bed, waiting for Santa and eagerly awaiting that little voice to get me up to see the gifts!!

We Saw Santa

What a cold yucky day! We were supposed to go to the Youngsville Christmas parade this morning but opted out since it was cold and drizzly. However, much to our surprise as we were driving through town today by the signs of all the candy still left on the sides of the road there must have been a decent crowd out for the parade. Unless the people in the parade were tossing candy at empty sidewalks!!

Today was the big trip to see Santa. Last night Gabrielle and I sat down to write her letter to Santa. I don't think she quite understood the concept of the letter though. I decided I would keep the letter as a memento rather than have her take it to Santa today.

Samantha surprised me because I was a little worried that she would cry and scream but I'm not sure she even realized I passed her to a stranger. She is usually pretty good if Gabrielle is with her anyway.

Gabrielle was hilarious. She pulled a Ralphie (from the movie "The Christmas Story"). When she was sitting on Santa's lap she totally froze and wouldn't mutter a word. Then as we were walking away she got upset and started fussing about how she didn't tell Santa that she wanted "3 princesses in a big box and baby Starsong." She was really upset that she didn't tell Santa what she wanted and I honestly think she was worried that he wouldn't know what to bring her. We assured her that he knew and that it was in her letter that she wrote so for her not to worry.

What a Fun Friday

Today turned out to be much better than I had expected. We got off to a late start with shopping - pretty typical for me actually - so we didn't get much Christmas shopping done despite the fact we were in Target for over 2 hours! We spent a lot of time casually browsing at Christmas decorations and the dollar section. I ended up getting some pretty good items from the dollar section. I also found a stocking for Samantha but no stocking holder yet.

Gabrielle now has a tree for her room. We saw this one and it was only $5 so I had to get it. I was a little surprised that she chose purple over pink though. She also wanted ornaments for her tree and fortunately the dollar section had a tube of 16 perfectly sized and colored glittery ornaments we strung together with ribbon for her little tree. She is also requesting a star for the top which I guess we will make out of paper tomorrow. Gabrielle was and still is so excited about her little tree. She carried it around the store for the rest of our shopping trip and even carried it around from room to room once we got home. She can be pretty cute at times!



Gabrielle and I got haircuts after dinner tonight. Isn't Gabrielle's new do so cute? I love it! It is a tad shorter than I had intended but I think she looks so cute with her hair this length. Now I feel like I need to definitely take all new Christmas card photos because she looks so different now!


The other kind of fun and exciting thing today is Samantha had puffs for the first time. For anyone who doesn't know, puffs are little bites of cereal that dissolve in your mouth pretty quickly. They are made by Gerber and are a great first foods for babies, sort of like Cheerios. Anyway, Samantha was not so sure about these little things. She played with it and would knock them off her high chair tray which the dogs were thrilled about. I finally put one in her mouth and she gave me the strangest looks. She got a little better with them but still can't quite get them in her mouth very well. She hasn't learned to pinch them with her fingers yet so the puffs get stuck to her palm most of the time. She also has gagged a couple of times because they get too far back on her tongue. The puffs dissolve really, really quickly so she won't get choked on them. (Gabrielle is enjoying the puffs as well.)


Samantha has been "talking" a lot lately. She has always been a much more vocal baby than Gabrielle was. I guess because the rest of us are so loud and always talking she must figure that is the only way to get any one's attention! Recently though she is making all sorts of new sounds, including the "m" sound a lot. Here is a video of her jabbering away tonight.



I think she is trying to say "mama." At least that is what I like to think and am going to continue to think! :) Gabrielle said "Dada" first which didn't bother me but she said it for months before she ever tried to say "mama." Mama was pretty far down the list of her first words. I didn't think she was ever going to say it. So for Samantha to be making so many "m" sounds makes me kind of happy. Ed said he was fine with that too since Gabrielle did say "Dada" first.

Even though it has been an extremely long day (the fact that I'm up after 1:00 am to get this blog post done isn't helping) it was a pretty fun day and a pretty good start to the weekend!

The Christmas Card Photo

Today's Advent activity was to take our Christmas card photo. I had not thought about how much more challenging taking this photo was going to be with two! I had to plan around naps and feedings so Samantha would be happy for the photo. Then I had to get them dressed. Then I had to pose them and try to get both looking at the camera with a decent looking smile.

Here are the outtakes:


Samantha was fascinated by her shoes and by Gabrielle. In the majority of the photos she was turning to look at Gabrielle which was actually pretty cute. I have a couple of them looking at each other that I'm holding onto as card possibilities. If Samantha wasn't looking at her shoes or Gabrielle then she was trying to escape to get to a toy or Gabrielle was making a silly face or the photo turned out blurry!! We have a couple of different "events" coming up that I may get some good shots to consider for the card so we'll see...

And here is a super close up of Samantha's teeth:



I know the photo would have been much cuter if I had her entire face in the frame but this was the only way I could get a photo where you could really see her teeth. Within a few more days I think the teeth will be much more visible in all of her smiles.

And here is Gabrielle with her ornament from Monday's Advent activity. It still isn't on the tree because I have been slack about attaching the cord to it. Sorry Gabrielle!!


Tonight Ed surprised us all by taking us somewhere "special." Wait for it.....Chuck E. Cheese!!!! Ha ha ha! He called me late this afternoon and asked if I had started dinner. I told him no and he asked if I wanted to go out somewhere. Well of course!! Like I would turn down a night of not having to cook. And then he said he wanted to take Gabrielle somewhere to do something fun. Last night Ed came home from work a little later than usual and with a migraine coming on so he ate dinner and was in bed by 6:30. Gabrielle only got to see him at dinner and asked about him all night and this morning. I think Ed was trying to make it up to her tonight. Gabrielle had seen the commercial for Chuck E. Cheese fairly recent and asked if we could go. She was so excited when Ed got home and told her where we were going. Once we got there she was just so cute. She kept calling it Chuck E. Cheese's house. Samantha was a little freaked out by the singing muppet/robot things. After eating dinner she was so tired because she had only had one nap today. I carried her around and considering how noisy it was in there and how much was going on I think she handled it really well.


The above shot is Gabrielle and Ed riding a giant rocking horse. Gabrielle really loves horses right now so was very excited to see this ride. Ed said when the horse rocked backwards it was actually a little scary.

It was a fun day! Tomorrow is our routine grocery shopping day and I would like to get mine and Gabrielle's hair cut and maybe do a little bit of Christmas shopping so unfortunately tomorrow probably won't be as fun as today. Maybe Saturday will make up for it!