A Very Merry Christmas

Naturally, we decided that we would take Rory to go see Santa. She had her picture taken last year with him, so we decided to make a tradition of it and do it this year, too. So we went Christmas Eve morning--I let her stay in her pajamas because she was comfy and we were going to be leaving straight from the mall to go to Elizabeth City.

Here she is while we were waiting in line. She was very interested in everything that was going on around us and in Santa's village.

Here's what she thought of Santa. I'm a horrible mother. I took lots of pictures. Of course, look at Santa's face.... I'd probably have screamed, too.

She calmed down pretty quickly, but still looked absolutely pitiful.

So that was our adventure with Santa Claus. I bought the official picture from the little kiosk (I had to buy something to be allowed to use my own camera--Ba humbug!) with her screaming her little head off. I'm sure she'll thank us for it 20 years down the road when we pull it out and show it off. :)

After that, things were pretty laid back. We had actually already done Christmas with Nathan's family the Monday before Christmas. Rory got spoiled (what? you're surprised?) and had a blast opening presents. I was thrilled to finally score a Kitchen Aid stand mixer. I've made so much stuff since I've gotten it, it's ridiculous. In fact, I've made several recipes that I usually don't just because all of the mixing makes it time consuming. With this bad boy, it's all multi-tasking. Love it!

After the McAnally Christmas, we celebrated with my family on Christmas Day. The summary - Rory got spoiled, again. She got a ton of books and a play kitchen. There are some pictures of that in my picasa album, so you can check those out. Rory had a blast opening presents. I love this one because it shows so much concentration (love the tongue sticking out)and you can see her flinging away the wrapping paper with her left hand.

Both of our Christmases were great. We had a wonderful time with family and hope that you did too. Have a wonderful 2009!