Our first week in Naperville was very relaxing and calm. We slept in, went shopping, and ate way too much. In fact I spent so much time being lazy that I realized two days before Christmas that I still hadn't picked up Brad's present ("oops"). So I went to the mall by myself which turned out to be a big mistake. Traffic was insane and the mall was even more insane. While I was hurling myself from store to store (the specific Bears hat I was trying to find Brad was sold out EVERYWHERE) I noticed the crazy line of parents waiting with their crying children to get a picture taken with Santa. I thought, "oh those poor parents I'm glad I don't have to do that. Oh wait! I'm a parent. I do have to do that!" From there I started getting guilty that I hadn't done more to make this first Christmas special for Finley.
So I went home and declared to Brad (remember this is TWO days before Christmas) that I wanted Finley to get her picture taken with Santa. Brad is a lovely sort of husband and could tell this was one of those occasions to humor me. So we got up Christmas Eve morning and got to the mall when Santa was scheduled to arrive at 10am. It turned out that pictures with Santa would cost at least $25 dollars. Apparently you CAN put a price on memories and that cost is $25... too steep for us. So we went to the center of the mall and took some pictures by the giant indoor tree. I was disappointed but satisfied with our effort.
Fast forward a few hours later. We are back at Brad's parents house and I hear a knock at the front door. And who could it be? SANTA! Or rather Brad's wonderful neighbor dressed as Santa on his way back from another neighbor's house making a Christmas delivery. They knew nothing of our bad luck with Santa earlier in the day but just randomly thought to stop by and say hello. We called it our Christmas miracle because not only did Finley get a picture with Santa but she got about 400, they were free, and she didn't have to sit on some strangers lap that smelled like beef and cheese!
Plus they brought Finley a present! She got to open her very first Christmas present with them... a beautiful ornament. The Simnick's are truly awesome people - their kindness goes on and on.
Other than our Christmas miracle here are a few other pictorial highlights from our first week in Naperville.
Every year Brad's siblings would fight over who got to put the star on the top of the advent tree on December 24th. This year Brad was the only sibling there on the morning of the 24th and he allowed Finley to be the first grandchild to put the star on the tree. The siblings were none too pleased.
Evidence of our sleeping in. Also evidence that Finley was not a good sleeper while were on vacation.
This was me showing Finley snow. I thought it was fun. Finley thought it was cold. Put a hat on that noggin!
So I went home and declared to Brad (remember this is TWO days before Christmas) that I wanted Finley to get her picture taken with Santa. Brad is a lovely sort of husband and could tell this was one of those occasions to humor me. So we got up Christmas Eve morning and got to the mall when Santa was scheduled to arrive at 10am. It turned out that pictures with Santa would cost at least $25 dollars. Apparently you CAN put a price on memories and that cost is $25... too steep for us. So we went to the center of the mall and took some pictures by the giant indoor tree. I was disappointed but satisfied with our effort.
Fast forward a few hours later. We are back at Brad's parents house and I hear a knock at the front door. And who could it be? SANTA! Or rather Brad's wonderful neighbor dressed as Santa on his way back from another neighbor's house making a Christmas delivery. They knew nothing of our bad luck with Santa earlier in the day but just randomly thought to stop by and say hello. We called it our Christmas miracle because not only did Finley get a picture with Santa but she got about 400, they were free, and she didn't have to sit on some strangers lap that smelled like beef and cheese!
Plus they brought Finley a present! She got to open her very first Christmas present with them... a beautiful ornament. The Simnick's are truly awesome people - their kindness goes on and on.
Other than our Christmas miracle here are a few other pictorial highlights from our first week in Naperville.
Every year Brad's siblings would fight over who got to put the star on the top of the advent tree on December 24th. This year Brad was the only sibling there on the morning of the 24th and he allowed Finley to be the first grandchild to put the star on the tree. The siblings were none too pleased.
Evidence of our sleeping in. Also evidence that Finley was not a good sleeper while were on vacation.
This was me showing Finley snow. I thought it was fun. Finley thought it was cold. Put a hat on that noggin!
3 comments:
finley is the cutest baby end of story. her outfit is adorable! and good for you for taking her to see santa (or trying to) i cannot bring myself to do it. it just seems way too creepy that some stanger gets paid to sit and let thousands of kids sit on his lap!
also...how do you get a picture on your header like that? it is so mysterious to me hence our ghetto fab collage at the top!
We have an advent calendar EXACTLY like the one in your pictures. Oh wait - Diane made it for us. How lucky are we? My grandkids fight over who gets to put the star on too!
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