A Visit with Santa

We decided to brave the cold and wind to go have a little visit with Santa.  Amelia had been well prepared for this visit through pictures and video of the famous "Singing Santa" and a few picture books about Santa, reindeer, and presents.  I'm not sure she grasps the concept, but we discussed how Santa will bring her presents on Christmas Eve while she is sleeping.  We were going to visit with Santa so that she would be able to tell him what she would like for him to bring her.  I asked Amelia what she would like Santa to leave under the Christmas tree for her.  She thought for a minute and then said, "Amelia watch".  In other words, Amelia wants a watch.  I asked her if she wanted a watch like Mommy and Daddy.  She got the biggest smile on her face and said "YES!".  I told her she could ask Santa for a watch.  When asked if she wanted anything else, she replied, "baby cars."  This translates into matchbox cars like our sweet little neighbor, Aidan, owns.  As we stood in line waiting our turn, Amelia watched the other children go sit in Santa's lap.  When I told her that she was going to go up and sit in Santa's lap to tell him what she would like for Christmas, she said that she wanted to sit in Mommy's lap.  She continued to watch the other children a little and when it was our turn, she was not too sure.  I thought for sure she was going to say, "No, thank you!" when we go up close to him.  After all, Santa is a man with LOTS of facial hair.  Instead, Amelia walked up and put her hand on his couch.  She looked at him as he spoke to her and then gave him a high five.  I put her on the seat with him, and Amelia just stared at him.  I reminded her that she needed to tell Santa what she would like him to bring her for Christmas.  She gave him her requests, smiled for a picture, gave him a hug, and accepted a candy cane with a "thank you".  David and I were very impressed with how she handled herself and that she actually sat with Santa!

Waiting for Santa

The Visit

The good photo from the Elves.

Daddy's Photos of the Visit while Mommy Took Video

Decorating the Christmas Tree

David went hunting yesterday, so Amelia and I decided to decorate the Christmas tree in the dining room.  I have already decorated the main tree in the foyer, which Amelia refers to as "Mommy's Tree", but I have saved the decorating of the dining room tree for Amelia, which she is calling "Amelia's Tree" even though she has a small tree upstairs in her playroom.

Amelia began decorating the tree like a pro.

Uh Oh!  Our first (and only) broken ornament.

I cleaned up the big pieces and let Amelia swiffer vac the remaining little pieces.

Amelia decided she was tired of decorating (or afraid she would break another ornament) and took up the responsibility of photographing the event.

She even took pictures of a few other things in the house.

Mommy's Tree

The fire in the fireplace

Amelia was pleasantly surprised to find more strings of beads in the ornament box and took a break from picture taking to play with them.

There was another little break to play behind the curtains.

The tree finally was completed!

Amelia's Tree

Mommy's Tree

Stockings are hung

 We still have a few more things to do, but it was a good start on the decorating.