It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Last week, my mother, grandmother, and I decided to brave the idea of taking the girls to get their picture taken with Santa. Last year, it was not a good experience and, as you may recall, I had to sit in the picture, which was completely unplanned (hence my clashing outfit, no make-up, etc.). I was determined that there was no way I was going to be photographed this year!

I had prepped Katelyn to see Santa days before so that she would hopefully not be scared of him. She was excited to see "Santa's house" and she practiced her smile with Mimi (my mother) all morning long. What I didn't expect was that Ashley would be the one who would be completely freaked out!

As soon as we arrived at the mall, Katelyn was talking about Santa. She was excited to see the big tree and all of the decorations around Santa's chair. She needed no encouragement to come say hi to Santa and to give him a high-five. Ashley also came over fairly willingly to give Santa a high-five. However, it got interesting when I tried to put Ashley on his lap. That is when the wailing began! She was not having it!

And then poor Katelyn got a little freaked out (no tears, though, thank God) and stood back from Santa and said, "All done Santa." Santa then brought out two gift boxes for the girls to sit on instead of his lap. Katelyn sat on the gift box with no hesitation. Ashley, however, refused and tried to run away. I decided to sit on the box and have Ashley stand in front of me. This worked and Ashley stopped crying. I then told Santa (and the photographer) that I was NOT going to be in the picture. Santa disagreed. He told me that there was no way the kids were going to be okay with me leaving.

Recalling last year's photo, I reiterated that I was not going to be in the photo. I told the photographer to let me sneak out before snapping the picture. Somehow, I managed to "sneak" my 8-month-pregnant body out from behind Ashley without her noticing and I quickly ran to hide behind some props. Miraculously, Ashley didn't budge and the photographer was able to snap the photo. I couldn't believe it!

After we were done "torturing" Ashley and I was choosing the photo package, Katelyn stayed with Santa, talking up a storm about her beloved Giraffe. I wish we could have gotten a picture of this moment. It was so sweet seeing her have a conversation with Santa. She has come so far in just one year and we have so much to be grateful for this holiday season.