Christmas Dresses

I always remember having Christmas dresses when I was little. Perhaps this is an altered memory; because, I can really only recall a couple of dresses. However, I know that we always "dressed to the nines" for our annual Christmas program at school. Granted, my grandmother made most, if not all, of our dresses for us...even these beauties I have shared before:

I swear my memory wants to say that Nikki's bow was on the back of her dress, above her bum. It came off or something, so my mom put it on her head. Haha. Mom, correct me if my memory fails me. Sorry, Nikki; I just had to show it again. If it makes you feel any better, I will post my 4th grade photo on here sometime....awkward! Or, my freshman year photo.....oh boy...

Anyway, we had special occasion dresses when I was little. At Easter, we even had hats with our dresses. I loved it. So, naturally, since I am making my girls basically relive my childhood in the 21st century (ha!), I had to get Christmas dresses for them. Lucy has had them, so why would I treat Olive any different?

2010

Heath asked about this tradition, and especially about the expense involved. "How many times will they actually wear these?" I understand that. But, they will wear them three times. That's not too bad at their age. They barely wear outfits three times before they grow out of them! They need the dresses to see Santa, for Christmas card photos, and to wear to church on Christmas Eve - totally worth it! Nonetheless, I could tell Heath was a little skeptical....until...

the girls got their photo in the local newspaper.

When we went to see Santa, they weren't very many children dressed up. But, we wanted to have good photos, so the dresses came out. Since they were all dolled up, the newspaper photographer took their photo with Santa Claus. It was a proud moment for these parents; I tell you what...



Heath finally "drank the Christmas dress kool-aid."

It's a great idea. Hopefully my girls will carry on the tradition with their own children. Oh, and yes, if we decide to have a third, and it is a boy, he'll be in the photo too with a little sweater vest, khakis, and loafers.

Merry Christmas to all! And, happy dressing. :)

Too Late?

So, is it too late to talk about Christmas? And, share our photos?

Well, if it is, sorry. I am awful about gathering pictures from our camera. But, I finally got a whole bunch - including Christmas! Here they are...

We started our kick-off to Christmas by going to see...who else, but Santa Claus?

Lucy had her new Christmas dress on.

She did alright. No tears! :) She was more interested in the candy canes than anything else. I just wish 'binkie' hadn't been in the picture. :{

It was a fun family night.

In early December, Lucy got her letter from Santa Claus. She was pretty excited to get mail, but otherwise oblivious about the content. However, when she gets older I think she will enjoy seeing these letters, marking her year's milestones and 'what to work on.'

We filled most of our evenings reading Christmas stories in front of the Christmas tree. Lucy loved reading 'Charlie Brown's Christmas' and 'Twas' the Night Before Christmas.' She even has two Hallmark books that her Mimi and Grandpa recorded for her.

I'll admit, by the end I was begging to read something other than Charlie Brown. I love it; but, boy, does it get old. Thirty nights of reading it is a lot! Good grief! ;)

We, again, spent Christmas Eve as a family. We made sure to take another family photo in front of the Christmas tree.

Once we got home, Lucy loved opening her stocking. She got a lot of goodies and some more, small books!

 

We left the camera out all night and Santa took a picture of the presents he left under the tree! Doesn't this photos just seem warm? :)

The next morning, Lucy was in a sleepy daze. She tried out her new recliner while we opened other gifts.

It was a wonderful holiday season. I am sad that it is again so far away. However, each year with Lucy is so exciting and new! I know we have many great years to come...

Now, onto Valentines! :)

Santa Cookie

In October, Lucy and I stopped by The Cookie Company to get some fresh, right out of the oven cookies. :) I decided to pick one out for her that was frosted like a pumpkin. She loved it. Her reaction to it was priceless and when I tried to take a bite, she told me, "No! Mine."

Normally, I wouldn't approve of such behavior. But, this time, it was cute. :)

I know; I know. The cuteness excuse is the one thing that bad parents hang onto as an exchange for bad behavior. You'll just have to trust me that I won't let it get out of hand. Okay? Trust me. Lucy will not be a selfish, devil child. :)

Anyway, on with my story. There I was, in late November, buying a venti iced chi tea with vanilla at Starbucks (highly recommend the drink by the way; it's delicious). I saw a frosted Santa cookie. Lucy would love it! I knew I was going to buy it. I even debated putting it in her stocking.  Nope. I was too excited. So, on her next mommy-Lucy night, we would bust out the cookie.

Oh the simple joys of a Santa cookie...

Here Comes Santa Claus

This is going to a positive and exciting Christmas-themed rant. So, if you are one of those people who refuse to acknowledge Christmas until after Thanksgiving, you may want to exit your browser.

For those of you who are still here, thank you for sharing in my Christmas madness! :)  Is it just me or is Christmas somewhat intoxicating? It really is. The way I feel at Christmas time easily surpasses any other time of year. Even going to work I am jolly.  Haha.....okay, maybe not AT work; but, you get the point. Everyone becomes a little less selfish. You wish, and hope, and pray a little harder. You believe in miracles a little more. Faith in mankind is at its all time high. Time slows. Reflection of your life no longer involves your house, your income, or your weight. You are just thankful...

Which brings me to another point that we probably shouldn't bypass like that old, high school acquaintance that you pretend not to see - Thanksgiving. Being thankful is a good thing. We try to teach our children about it; so, why not practice what we preach?

I am so thankful for the life I've been given. I am truly blessed. Thank you to all of my friends, family, and four-legged friends and family for taking part in it! :)

Now...what started this Christmas rant? Why, Santa Claus ofcourse! He is coming to our town tonight!  We are taking Lucy. She is going to freak! And when I say "freak," I don't mean the way I would react to an encounter with the gorgeous Matthew Lawrence. I mean the type of "freak" reaction I would have to a real-life Michael Meyers (that's the Halloween killer to those of you who aren't up on your pop-culture - tsk, tsk).

I expect a reaction similar to this:

Yep. That is a little Cori, clutching onto what we can only assume is some type of candy bribe to stand by this creepy stranger. Imagine the confusion in that tiny, blonde, mushroom hair covered head of mine...

"Don't talk to strangers? Unless they have a beard covering their entire face, they wear red, and give you candy? Sit on his lap? Whaaa?"

Just a shout out to my parents - those jeans are awesome. Thank you.

I lied. I think Lucy's "freak out" will be much, much worse than this. I expect the picture to be with her eyes closed, face red, limbs flailing, and doing the stiff leg. What is the stiff leg you ask? Oh, you know - when a child doesn't want to sit down, they stiffen their legs, and are no longer able to bend at the waist. It's very board like...and frustrating as hell.

I won't be upset tonight for a few reasons. 1) I've had time to mentally prepare for said "freak out". I deal better when it isn't in the middle of DSW and she flops on the floor. 2) I totally freaked out too. I don't want to be a hypocrite. 3) The pictures we will take will be hilarious when she is older. 4) If the picture is good enough, it could be Christmas card material. 5) I didn't properly prepare her for Santa.

I told myself that I would show her pictures and tell her how awesome he is. I planned to even give her candy whenever I introduced the picture of Santa - some real positive conditioning. I failed. Santa snuck up on me, to tell you the truth! Before I knew it, he was making his way to town.

So, tonight officially marks the beginning of the "festivities" and I couldn't be more pee-pants excited! Bring on Santa, bring on the fit, bring on the pre-Christmas (otherwise known as Thanksgiving)...haha..., and bring on Christmas!

Happy Thursday everyone! Be thinking about us at around 5:30 pm tonight, when we see Santa! Yippee!