Santa

Santa 2010

I was not going to do it but I did.
Here is the story.
So it was 7pm and Kaitlyn just got in the bath, she was hungry and tired at the time, when a police car drove around and announced that Santa would be on the corner in 10 minuets get your kids and cameras... I thought there was no way I would make it in time so I just finished giving her a bath. As I was drying her off I heard the police car announce that Santa is almost here, that is when I decided that I could probably make it. I grabbed her Christmas outfit and was rushing to put it on, wouldn't you know it the damn thing has a million buttons and they are all in the back. Kaitlyn does not sit up yet so I had to lay her over my knee to button it up, she did not like that one bit. Oh and I would also like to mention the buttons are not in a strait line up the back, they go sideways around her waist and then up the back. Very confusing to put together! After what felt like an eternity I finally got it buttoned up. I grabbed my keys and camera and was about to head out the door when I remembered I needed to brush her hair. OMG could this be anymore stressful? I brushed her hair and ran out the door. I made it! Santa was about to pull up so the police car turned on its lights and siren and announced his arrival scaring the heck out of Kaitlyn. She was screaming so I guess one of the parents felt bad for me and said I should go first. I felt bad about cutting in front of the kids but hey, little baby was crying and needed to eat. So I rush to the front of the line and almost tripped up the steps to get to Santa (I always have a pair of slip on shoes by the front door, but wouldn't you know it, they weren't there this time so I was wearing David's shoes which where way too big for my feet). I hand Kaitlyn over to Santa and have to balance my self on the side of the trailer to take a picture because the platform he is sitting on is way to short to fit them both in the picture. So I work my way back and try to get Kaitlyn's attention. She would not look up at all so I just snapped this one picture. Right after I took it she looked up!  Damn!!!  Santa asked if I got it... I felt bad for cutting in front of all the kids so I did not want to take a long time and just left it at that.


Santa 2011

This year I prepared myself a little better. I called ahead to our city sheriff's office to find out the exact day and time Santa would be visiting our street. Saturday December 17th between 5:30pm and 8:30pm but if it rains he will not show.
Wouldn't you know it, it rained the morning of 12/17. I thought for sure he was going to be a no show but figured I would prepare for his arrival just in case. As 5:30pm was getting closer the rain had stopped but the sky was still cloudy. We ate our dinner as usual at about 5:30pm and after I pulled out the stroller from the car and got it ready with everything we might need for the wait in line. I rigged up the waterproof blanket, packed an extra blanket just in case, tethered a straw cup of water and a snack cup of goldfish to the stroller. I even found Sophie and tethered her to the stroller too so Kaitlyn would have something to occupy the time with.
At about 6:45pm Kaitlyn wanted some yogurt. Right when I sat down and started feeding it to her we got the announcement. Santa will be here in 15 minuets. Plenty of time for her to have a snack, get in the stroller and head out there. We would probably beet him to the Santa's stop sign. Kaitlyn ate pretty quickly, I loaded her in the stroller, locked the house and off we went. To my surprise Santa was already there and the line was only about 2 families deep. I hurried up and pulled Kaitlyn out of the stroller and got in line. Turns out we were latter than I thought. The kids in front of us had already seen Santa and were going for a second visit. While waiting in line it started to sprinkle a little but Kaitlyn did not seem to mind that much.
Our turn came pretty quickly. I walked up the steps and handed Kaitlyn over to Santa, she was doing great till I turned my back to walk down the steps so I could take a picture. That is when the "don't leave me mom" tears started falling. I told Santa it looks like we are going to have one of those pictures this year! I snapped the picture then quickly went to rescue Kaitlyn from Santa. The second she were in my arms the crying stopped.

Santa 2012
 No crying!!! And she was excited he was coming. It helped that I got her excited by being overly excited that Santa was coming. We talked about asking him for a bike for Christmas this year. While waiting for Santa we jumped around saying "Santa is coming!" David was home this time which made it way easier to get the picture. There were a ton of kids waiting in line, we got there early so we were third. Kaitlyn even got a candy cane this year.