Santa Claus is Coming to Town

 

We took our first little road trip with Lily last week.  No, we did not go to the zoo.  These ostriches just happened to be where we stopped to stretch and change diapers...well, Lily's diaper.  We are actually both potty trained.

The trip was mostly nice.

I don't think we will be driving out of state anytime soon.

It was a business trip.

We were going to pick up materials for this Weld House Home project.

I don't have the pics of the cedar posts we picked up posted yet but will eventually.

 We've been busy getting ready for Christmas.

 Rustic wooden trees handcrafted from reclaimed barn wood are now available in my shop, Bee Angels.

 This year we put up our Christmas tree from a box.  We usually get a fresh one but decided last year to buy one after Christmas.  Actually we decided, and my mom bought it for us.
We also opened another box, a jumping toy Lily got at our baby shower.
I thought she might like to jump and watch me decorate the tree.

Mr. Welder was sad that he did not get to string the lights on our pre-lit tree.

"Ummm...mom,"

"I can't reach to jump!"

"Look, it's adjustable."  

But it was already on the shortest position, so she just hung out.

Then helped fluff the tree.

When Daddy noticed the predicament, he stepped in with a solution.

All that jumping wore Miss Lily out.

Next, it was time to play with the manger scene Lily got for Christmas last year before she was even born.

Like her daddy, she wanted to check out how the manger was constructed.

The box of light bulbs was a tad too tall, so books were put in place.

And we finally got around to putting ornaments on the tree.

And of course, Lily helped.

 



"Got you!"

"Christmas is fun!"

Lily is not crawling yet but she gets around in her own way.

As usual, Lily preferred a necklace opposed to a headband for our festive outing.

John Robert came along too.

And Aunt Heather pushed.

John Robert visited with Santa first.

He wasn't so sure he liked that idea.

And never changed his mind.

Lily showed off her braveness.

And then discovered how comfy Santa really was and laid her head down.

I was tempted to ask Santa if she could just hang out there for a nap.

But I don't think he would have went for it.

Even though he did want to steal her.

Lily decided to grab onto his beard.

Or get tangled in it.



A quick mother/daughter shot

And one with the elves.

Cousin Peyton told Santa all that he wanted.

Then we made a quick stop by, Stuff.

Bee Angels has a table of goodies.

Click here to learn more about Stuff.http://www.beeangels.blogspot.com/2012/12/bee-stuffed.html

Next on the agenda was an Advent Tea.

Daddy hung out with Lily while Mommy had some gal time minus her favorite gal.

The final event of the day was cousin Easton's Birthday party.

Lily was happy to be outside with her Daddy.

And the kids loved the playground.

It's exciting and also sad to think of how one day Lily will be running and playing with her cousins.

I know she has to grow up so I might as well be excited about it, right?

Lily was worn out after such a busy day.

Usually she fights her naps but this one she just fell asleep on her pillow.

She has always been pretty sweet at night and has been especially sweet these last couple of weeks.  We almost always end our day by hanging out on the couch.  She cuddles by us and usually rubs on our fuzzy blanket until she falls asleep.  Then when we take her to bed, she rolls over on her tummy and puts her booty in the air.

It really is the perfect ending to whatever kind of day we had.

With cold weather forecasted, we have been enjoying outside.  We'll need more than a hat to keep the wind out of Lily's ears if the cold front blows through as expected.

Until then, we'll enjoy rolling through the crunchy leaves, trying to sneak in some deadheading of the mums on the side of the garage (Lily does not like when the stroller stops), looking at our mixed fall and Christmas decor that lives on the front porch, and sucking our thumb on one hand and hanging on with the other.

We'll be back with a look at our Christmas decor and another change (that you may have noticed in the background of some of the pictures) soon.