Merry Christmas!



I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We sure did. Here is Nick's picture with Santa, taken at an incredibly late date--Christmas Eve morning at 11 a.m. He wasn't even a little scared, and he shouted, "Santa over there!" as we approached his chair. "I see Santa! Santa!" Nick went right to him, and grinned really big, especially when Santa gave him a candy cane. My boy has grown so much this year. Check out his Santa pic from last year:

See the difference? He's gotten huge! But both times Nick showed no fear of the large, bearded man in red. Last year we had to wait in line for what seemed like forever, and I just couldn't stomach the thought of wasting several hours in line to see Santa.

We meant to go a few weeks ago, but we all had a terrible cold and felt lazy. Then, last weekend I had cookie baking, a cookie exchange, and the great diaper explosion weekend of 2010. I went to the mall with Nick on Wednesday the 23rd, hoping to get in, but the line snaked around Fox Valley Mall in a line rivaling those at Disney World. I gave up, but then felt incredibly guilty at home later. Parental guilt is a horrible thing. I know intellectually that my kid will not suffer if he does not sit on Santa's lap, but I still felt like a lazy mom. Nick knows who Santa is, and points out everything that has Santa on it. Last year he wouldn't have known the difference, but this year, he gets it.

So I convinced Greg to go out on Christmas Eve morning. To the mall. Yup. We're crazy. The wonderful thing, though, is that everyone else must've thought it was too late to see Santa, because there was no one in line--not one person ahead of us. Just Santa sitting there taking it easy, resting up for his big night. Next year we'll try to be earlier, but we really lucked out going at the last minute.

We broke the record for last minute errands on Christmas Eve, I think. There needs to be some kind of award for miraculous shopping adventures. We left our house at 10:30 a.m., and got home around 12:15. Here is what we managed to accomplish during that time. It was a true Christmas miracle:

1. Greg filled his car with gas.

2. Drove to Louis Joliet Mall

3. Santa visit, complete with official picture printing.

4. The festive eating of the hot pretzel.

5. Went to Bath and Body works for last minute gifts.

6. Tried three different stores, finally found sweaters and socks for Nick.

7. I got my eyebrows threaded. (Ouch! But it was very quick.)

8. Nick got to ride the big shaking car that costs umpteen quarters.

9. Drove to Best Buy.

10. Located and purchased $57 of ink cartridges. (For printing custom gift tags. That line was hideous.)

11. Drove to grocery store.

12. Greg bought wine and maple syrup. (Gotta have the basics.)

I was so proud of us at the end of that trip. When we left the house, Greg was telling me there was no way we'd get it all done. I secretly agreed with him, but kept my fingers crossed. I remained calm and told Greg not to worry. Both of us were shaking our heads in astonishment when we pulled in the driveway at quarter after 12.