On to finding Santa. I knew Santa would be visiting the malls, but I wanted Bree to have a special place to meet Santa for the first time. A co-worker of mine recommended the Yankee Candle Factory/Village in MA as a possibility. So Jason and I picked a weekend and dressed Bree up in her Christmas outfit. We followed the signs to meet Santa, until we ran into the one sign and elf that told us it would be an approximate 2 1/2 hour wait to see Santa!! I honestly thought about waiting in the line (you can tell how much I wanted Bree to visit with Santa), but thankfully, Jason's logic stepped in and convinced me that Santa will be visiting other locations across the state that may not require such a long wait time....considering that Bree eats every 3-4 hours and probably wouldn't last in a line for 2 1/2 hours. So instead, we toured the Yankee Candle Village, had a great time, and even got to make our own candles. That night, Jason went online to see if Santa was going to be making any stops in the area. Sure enough, we found out that Santa would be stopping in a little cabin in Wickham Park, one of our favorite parks near our first CT apartment in Manchester. So the next morning, we again dressed Bree up in her Christmas dress and stood in line to see Santa. Thankfully, this line was much shorter and we were able to make it through. At the door an elf asked us if Bree had been naughty or nice this year. I answered with "mostly nice, some naughty moments." The elf laughed and asked what Bree was going to be asking Santa for. Jason and I both replied "to be in her new home before Christmas!" The elf thought this was a wonderful gift to ask Santa. Bree had been doing really well up to this point, of course two children away from meeting Santa, Bree decides that she is tired and becomes extra fussy. A nice father offered to let Bree go first, but we politely declined. When it was Bree's turn, I walked her up to Santa while Jason took photos. Santa gently took Bree in his arms and quietly talked to her. We told Santa of the gifts that Bree wanted for Christmas (to be in her new home and to be able to have a nap). Santa said he would look into it. Ironically, Bree stopped crying the entire time that Santa was holding her. I think she was fascinated by him. We thanked Santa and told him "Merry Christmas!!"
Next step was to get a Christmas Tree. Thankfully, Santa brought Bree a Christmas present early and made it possible for us to move into our new home the weekend before Christmas. On Christmas Eve, we knew that we needed to make a decision on the Christmas tree. Bree was still sick and vomiting, so I was worried about taking her outside in the cold to pick out a tree. But getting a Christmas tree for Christmas was really important to Jason, so I wanted to come up with something. We finally decided that Jason would go and pick out the tree himself (not our first choice, but the best option we had at the time). An hour later, Jason came back home with a Christmas tree in tow. Once Jason and I untied the tree, it turned out to be a nice, full one....with one problem, the top was too tall. No big deal, we figured we'd chop off the top of the tree, no problem. Of course when we did that it left our tree with no top....or place to put our snowman star tree topper. To celebrate the moment, Jason helped Bree put the first Christmas ornament on the tree....a yarn ball (we figured that if she dropped it, it wouldn't break....thinking ahead here!). After that, we gave Bree her final feeding of the night, read her a Christmas story, and put her down for night time. We knew that if Santa was going to come, we needed to get the tree ready. So we unpacked as many Christmas ornaments as we could find (mind you that our house was still covered in boxes by this point) and decorated while listening to Christmas music. We finished decorating around 1am and by 2am Jason and I were in our beds waiting for Santa! I knew Christmases with kids often caused parents to stay up late, but I didn't think it would start this early!
The next morning, we woke Bree up to celebrate Christmas. Unfortunately, Bree decided to give me a Christmas present that I couldn't return (a nice vomit while I was carrying her downstairs). Poor thing was still sick. So Bree and Daddy took a Christmas morning nap together, while I worked on the laundry and watched the Disney Christmas parade on TV. Once Bree woke up and kept down her lunch time feeding, we moved over to the Christmas tree and worked on unwrapping her Christmas presents. We realized that if we started to rip the paper and then placed the paper in Bree's head, that she would grab a hold and continue to hold on to the paper while we pulled the present away.....her own version of unwrapping Christmas presents. It turns out that Santa, mommy and daddy, gigi and pappy, grandmom and grandpop, and other friends and family were very nice to Bree for Christmas. She got a jumperoo, which she looks adorable in, but hasn't quite figured out how to jump in it yet. She also received some clothes, books, stuffed animals, and toys. Minus the vomit, it was a wonderful first Christmas!!
The last and final thing on our to-do-list was to make Christmas cookies, which we did by the masses. Thanks to our new double oven, we cranked out the cookies! I absolutely love the smell of cookies baking in the oven. There's something so warm and comfy about that smell. In addition to these Christmas activities, Jason and I also read Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol to Bree over the course of several weeks (we're planning on making this a tradition). Bree also created her first Christmas ornaments for our family and for her grandparents and Auntie Kirsten.....first hand-print clay ornaments. We helped Bree make and paint the ornaments. Gold for her family members and pink for us. Super cute!! We even got to include her in our Christmas charity. We put several organizations in a bowl and had her pick out the one we would ultimately decide to donate to this year. We can't wait to keep the Christmas memories and traditions coming year after year! I love this time of the year.
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