Santa Baby

With all of the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, we have managed to do as many fun things as we can (even before Christmas break). Since we know this will be our last Christmas as a family of three, we have tried to talk about Sam Nolan and all (or most) of the things that a new baby brings. This means the tree won't be ENTIRELY devoted to Delaney's ornamants...

And the Christmas wrapping won't be ENTIRELY Dora the Explorer/Disney princess/Toy Story. But we will be sharing our newest fun toy ("Elfis") with our baby brother next Christmas. Eric We decided on this name after our long list of rejected nominations from Delaney and I. These included: Boy, Frank, Dora, etc. Eric wanted "Elfis." :) We didn't follow the rules to the Elf on a Shelf trend because I hadn't read the book nor did I really want to.  We decided to use an elf she received last year and have him re-visit our house for the holidays this year.

 The first night, Elfis decided to get into the marshmallows and start a snowball fight. Delaney knew we would have an elf visit us, and was eager to see him in the morning. Well, I thought she would be eager. She was more scared than I had anticipated. Note: She is grabbing my finger and asking me to go in the room to touch him first.

 Eventually, we warmed up to him and he has become a fixture in our house. She is enjoying seeing him do things each night and wants to give him snacks to give him energy.

 Since I had been told by friends that he isn't "suppose to be touched" Eric decided to take it upon himself to hang him in various locations...

 But he did manage to get into the Christmas tree cakes...

 One of our favorite things we have done so far is the North Pole Express train ride. We went with my "WMK" girls that we enjoy so much each summer. Misty, Bradley, Connor, Tonya, Glynn, and Ashlyn met us in Calera to ride the train and see Santa. We were VERY excited all week.

 We wore our pajamas since the event is based on the book/movie "Polar Express." We were given cookies/milk, ornaments, and saw our favorite big man.  The pictures I took were right before we saw him. My camera and video camera decided to go out during the train ride. I will post pictures that Bradley took when I can.

Our attempt at taking a group picture...

 This face says it all. She was amazed at it all. This made the hour drive to get there totally worth it. :)

 She even got to hear one of her favorite singers, Jim Aycock, sing over the speaker system. Apparently he was on our train, but not in the same car. I will make sure to get that train next year.

 This is when she saw Santa for the first time...

 And making sure everyone else saw him, too.

 If that Santa visit wasn't enough, we went to Bass Pro Shops today to see him again.

 This year Delaney was so excited and happy to see Santa. The big ol' smile on her face lasted the rest of the day. When we talk about Santa, she knows exactly what she wants...DORA!

 Next year she might ask for this. :)

Here are some updates I want to remember about Delaney at this age:
- We have the best conversations. She loves to talk about things that we have done and can remember random things that Eric or I have said. She also loves to talk about our family and what they're doing. An example of a conversation this morning:
Me: "What do you want to do today?"
Her: "I want to go the festiball (festival)"
Me: "You mean the parade?" (She went to one yesterday with Nannie and Pop)
Her: "Yeah..I want to see the Santa and the girls and the candy. We got lots of candy."
Me: "Was it cold?"
Her: Shakes head. "Nannie and Pop gave me blanket."

Another one we had the other day made Eric and I laugh.
Us: "Look at the trees!!"
Her: "They so pretty! Nana's trees fall down."
*She had remembered Nana telling her that all the way back in April from the tornados!!

Before every bath, she likes to get naked and say "Shake my booty, shake my booty."

I absolutely LOVE having conversations with her everyday, and each day I am amazed at what she knows and how much she has learned.

She is also reading her books just like a teacher. She smacks her lips after each page and makes sure everyone is listening to her.

She tells everyone when she has pooted or burped (no matter where we are). This might be a future problem, but we are laughing about it right now. :) She also tells us she has "beans in her hiney."

Pregnancy update: I am two days shy of 34 weeks, and I am feeling Sam Nolan ALL the time. He is much more active than Delaney was.  He tends to move right after lunch and at night. At this point, it has become very uncomfortable to do a lot of walking, cleaning, etc. Eric has been such a wonderful husband through this pregnancy and helps with laundry, picking up, and housework. Needless to say, we are all so ready for him to finally be here!! :)