Christmas 2016

I actually wrote this post in January and found it in my drafts folder.  Just the other day we were in the car and Elizabeth said "I wonder if Mossy will come back this year for Christmas" .  All I could think was thank goodness I remember where I hid him;)


We had a wonderful Christmas in Maplewood this year.  I realized this was the first time since David and I have been together that we haven't been with either of our families for Christmas.  David had time off and we were so excited to finally be in our house for Christmas. 

Since we had a pretty busy December, we visited Santa Claus right after Thanksgiving this year.  This is the fourth year we went to Macys in the city.  It's insanely crowded, but we got there before it opened and waited outside the store for about 20 minutes, rushed upstairs when the doors opened, and only had to wait about 25 minutes.  Elizabeth had prepared herself, she wasn't farm and fuzzy with Santa Claus this year, but she didn't cry either.  Samantha wanted absolutely nothing to do with him, I had to pry her off of me for the picture.  After we braved the Macys crowd, we went to the Christmas market in Bryant Park and then went to see the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Plaza. 

This year we started Elf on the Shelf!  Our Elf came on December 1st and brought us breakfast.  Elizabeth enjoyed it, but Samantha is still too young to really understand the idea.  Each morning, Elizabeth woke up wanting to know where "Mossy" was in the house.  And, I'm proud of the fact that I only forgot to move him one night- luckily David distracted the girls while I ran down and placed him somewhere new;) 

Christmas Eve we attended church where they had a live nativity outside.  Elizabeth wouldn't go any where near the animals, but was very excited to see baby Jesus.  We attended an early service with the Christmas pagent and childrens choir.  After church, we came home to have dinner and put out cookies and milk for Santa and the reindeer.

On Christmas morning both girls woke up at their normal times, 6:30 for Elizabeth and about 7:00 for Samantha.  They opened stockings at the foot of their beds before we headed downstairs.  (I think this will be the last Christmas that David and I will be able to ease into the morning and shower before we come downstairs to see what Santa left!).  Next, we opened stockings at the fireplace, took a break for breakfast, then opened presents under the tree.  Elizabeth was all over Christmas this year.  Samantha would start to open a present, get bored, and walk away;)

After all the presents were open, the girls played with their new toys while David and I relaxed.  David made Christmas dinner (prime rib that he had been drying out in the fridge for days) which was EXCELLENT. 

Next thing we knew, both girls were fast asleep and we were on the couch with drinks and a Hallmark Christmas movie, it was the perfect day! 

Santa Claus

I realized last night that I never blogged about Elizabeth's first visit to Santa Claus...better late than never!  We (well really just me) decided that we should visit the Macy's Santa Claus in NYC.  I knew it could be risky given how insane Macy's there is during the holidays, but I wanted our first trip to be special - it's funny how many things we have done "for Elizabeth" that she could obviously care less about at this point;)  Anyway, we met David after work on the first Friday of December.  Once we made our way up 8 escalators to the very top floor, we were thrilled to hear the line was only 30 minutes!  The elf told me on the weekends it can get up to 4 hours!  Macy's has a really neat setup, as you are in line, you walk through the North Pole and there are plenty of things to for kids to look at and stay occupied.  They also have multiple Santas, so when it's your turn, the elf escorts you to a private room - genius idea, I would hate to think of the line if they only had one Santa Claus! 

Elizabeth was awake for about 5 minutes in line and then she passed out.

 



Right before we walked in to see Santa she woke up - which explains the confused look on her face.  Let me preface these pictures by saying that with the exception of the picture of just Elizabeth and Santa Claus, they are hideous.  I can see these pictures ending up in some awkward Christmas photo display, or on the Ellen show when she makes fun of awkward family photos.  But, at the bargain price of $50 (!!!!!!) for 3 photos, and a memorable event, we had to buy them.

Every time I look at the one of the 3 of us with Santa I crack up, I don't know what's worse - the look on my face, or the way David is sitting!  And, I have to be honest when I say I was a little disappointed that Elizabeth wasn't screaming when she sat on Santa's lap...I LOVE pictures of little kids crying with Santa (yes, I know, so mean but so true).  We had such a nice time, and I can't wait until next year when she is older and understands more.

The whole experience was exhausting as you can tell based on the Path train ride home:)