Amelia's 1st Visit with Santa!!!

It's just not fair... I have to share Amelia's first experience visiting Santa...It is one for the record. As you can see, Amelia was in great anticipation of seeing Santa before Christmas and was so excited overall. When asked what she would do she said that she would sit on Santa's lap and give him a big hug and then ask for Pizza and Candy. It sounded great and she seemed up to the task... so after a good wait in line as the children before us saw Santa, it was Amelia's turn. We went into the visiting area and Amelia was ready for her visit...she promptly walked right up to Santa's open arms and climbed up into his lap. We could over hear her and him talking and they were getting along great. The photographer was taking pictures and they looked like they were going to be perfect photos... Dana and I were so happy how it was all going. Then Amelia received her candy cane from Santa and gave him a big hug and hopped off his lap, came over to us and said that she was ready to go. Great... couldn't have been better!!! Amelia and Dana decided to go out to the car and I waited the few minutes it would take to get the photo card of Amelia and Santa. As I stood there, the lady at the desk said "What is your last name again?" I said, "McNeil." Then she said, "Um, are your children still here??" I replied with "She is leaving but I can get..." So I wave Dana back as he is heading out the door with our little daughter. As they are coming back, the lady says "Something happened and the photos, they are not there... we can get you right in to see Santa, again, you won't have to wait in the line." As Amelia and Dana came back over to me I started to tell Amelia how exciting it is that she gets to see Santa, AGAIN!!!! Well, then it was all over, Amelia had already got to see Santa and she was not interested in seeing him again. She was crying and so upset as we walked back into the area of photos...so after all that good time she had with Santa, she didn't want to see him again. We did manage to get her to sit in his lap again while we tried to get her to smile so we could get a half way decent photo... but it will never be like those moments just 15 minutes before that would have been excellent, as was her experience...The experience was then tainted with tear streaked cheeks and "I don't want to see Santa, again" cries. Poor little Amelia... she was such a trooper to begin with and here we have to talk her into doing the whole thing over again. The photo of Amelia and Dana is when we were waiting in line to see Santa.

Christmas tree adventures

This last weekend we put up our Christmas tree. This is quite an adventure to do with a 2 1/2 year old. Amelia is so enthusiastic about the tree, it's hard not to catch her joy yourself. With nothing but the lights on she exclaimed "OH! LOOK at our BEAUTIFUL TREE!!!!" Then I brought out the box of ornaments and we were off... before I could even turn to get another one, she was there rifling through the box for the next one she wanted to put up. Now each day, we have to turn the lights on and she rearranges the ornaments. This morning was a hoot... You'll see a snowman sitting next to the tree. Well you see, he is electric and lights up, has glass parts to him...Amelia and I talked a lot about "Not touching Snowman, as he is breakable and is just a decoration to LOOK at." Well this morning, I heard her running around and I asked her what she was doing and she said that "Snowman needs to take a rest." She was carrying a blanket and all. Not even thinking it was THE snowman we talked about, as there are many other snowman toys that are around for her enjoyment I said to her "Oh, that is nice of you to get him a blanket." Shortly there after I walk into the living room and there is THE snowman laying on the floor, his fiber optic lights blinking away with his head on a pillow completely snuggled in under the blanket she was after. I had to smile and cover my laughs as he looked so comfortable and well rested, Blink Blink Blink, however, we did have to reiterate the importance of "somethings are meant to be looked at only." I pointed her in the direction of the appropriate snowmen that she could play with :) What a joy she is! She is so creative...

Amelia's 1st REAL hair cut!!!

Here's another big first event to share! I know that most children may have already had their first haircut before Amelia's age, but that's okay! Here she is being a champ as Danna cuts her hair. We didn't take much off but she sure got into the whole thing! Her hair looks great! She was always looking so wild and crazy... we'll see if this helps a bit :) Enjoy!