December came before we knew it! We took Harper to see Santa for the first time to get out annual picture with the big guy. I wasn't sure what she would think about it, but like everything else, I should have known she would roll with it.
waiting in line to see Santa
Sure enough, we are standing in line and she catches a glimpse of Santa. Instead of screaming and trying to head for the doors like a lot of the other kids in line, Harper raised her hands in the air and yelled "SANNA!!!!!!" It was hilarious and too cute! I wish I had my camera rolling on that one, but instead, we got this.....
Our time came and the kids walked up to get a picture. Harper had seen Santa give out suckers to the other kids before her, so that's the first thing she asked for.... of course! We ended up having to take about 5 retakes before we got a decent picture. Not because of the 2 year old, but because of the 12 year old!! Brannen was either yawning or had his eyes closed! Good grief. He was not wanting to get his picture taken this year, I had to bribe him since this was Harper's first year, so I guess he was trying to get me back.
All the fuss over Santa was just too much for Harper. She passed out in her carseat just as we strapped her in.... but never fear, she still had a firm grip on that sucker from "Sanna"!
Elmo was even on stage with Harper!
After their brief time on stage, the parents followed the class back to their classroom for cookies and juice boxes. Harper loves to sing (she sings all. the. time!), but as we all know, food really is Harper's first love.
Everyone in the class made gifts for their parents... an ornament with their picture. Harper's first ornament!
I tried to get her to just hold it up so I could take a picture of it, but she ended up shoving it into the camera. Oh well, you get the idea.
With Harper's teachers, Ms. Lisa and Ms. Collin
Griffin is in choir this year at his elementary school, and they had a choir concert around Christmas. Don't dare call it a Christmas concert though. That's not allowed. Or PC.
I digress.
The little cafeteria was packed with parents all with their cameras up and ready to capture every note their little angel sang out. We on the other hand, apparently got their too late and had seats in the obstructive view section. If you squint enough, you can see Grififn in the second row.
But hey! We were there and they all sounded great.
Harper was armed and ready with a camera, like everyone else,
to get a picture of her GeGe
Yes, Harper's lips are blue. That's from the sucker I gave her
to try and keep her quiet during the performance :)
Big Mama and Griffin
My mom and her husband recently moved close to us a couple months ago. Since this was their first Christmas in their new house, they had us over for an early Christmas dinner. We also exchanged a few gifts too!
Harper and Aunt Jill taking a selfie
Harper really hasn't opened a lot of presents up until this point. This is her first official Christmas present she opened. She was slow at first, but once she got the hang of it, she ripped right through them.
She got so good at ripping through her gifts, she made the rounds trying to help everyone else out with theirs!
One of Griffin's gifts was a video game, but it still had the anti-theft protection box around it. Not sure how it made it out the store without it setting off some alarm, but Jim Daddy brought it into the shop and he had that bad boy opened in no time!
We are very blessed to live in the neighborhood we do. Most of our neighbors have kids around the same ages as ours, so this year, we decided to get a lot of them together and go caroling around the neighborhood. It was totally last minute (that's how we roll in the 'hood) but we managed to pull it off. And a bonus.... we didn't sound too bad! Ha!
getting our gear on to carol
we lined up all the kids for a quick pic
the moms
our first house where someone was actually home!
it was dark, so you can't see anyone really, but
had to share with you some of our awesomeness. haha!!
It was stinking cold out! We made sure to bundle all the kids up, but it was still freezing. We all seemed to have a great time in spite of it.
the dudes
the old dudes
Christmas Eve was spent at church as we always do. Christmas Eve service is always my favorite. This year, I could not help but get a little choked up as I looked at Harper during the service. I am completely humbled by all that God has done for us over these past two years of our journey to Harper. Nine months ago she probably never had heard about Jesus, and now, she is sitting with us as we celebrate the birth of our Savior. How great is our God!
After church service, we headed over to our friends house for dinner. We started this tradition a few years ago since our families lives out of town. The Christmas' that no one travels to see family, we spend it with friends eating Chinese food (a tradition my family started when I was younger), play games and just enjoy the night.
"little" kids table
the teenagers
everyone else
After dinner, we came home to open a few presents. We made the kids wait as we got ready. It was pure torture for them!
Soon, we were ready and before we knew it, all the Christmas paper was ripped through, crumpled and covering the floor. This time around in opening gifts, Harper was much more of a pro at it and ripped it gift open with such force!
As usual, she made the rounds helping her brothers out and looking at what they got.
One of Harpers favorite gifts...... and Elmo guitar!
Showing off her 'guitar' face!
Daddy was trying to show off some of his guitar skills, but
Harper was not impressed... and just wanted the
guitar back!
One of the gift from Grandma had a couple suckers tucked inside
of it. She was beyond thrilled!
Christmas Morning was something we were all looking forward to . Since Harper had this whole Santa thing down, we couldn't wait to see her face as she came down the stairs to see what he had left. The boys got up super early of course, but I made them wait for Harper to get up before we started opening anything. Harper is one that could sleep to 9:30 if we let her, so the boys begged to go wake her up. I agreed and caught them over the intercom waking her up. They both just adore her so much. It's super sweet when I can listen to them talk to her when they don't that I am.
All 3 made their way down the stairs, and Harper's first gift was waiting for her....
a kitchen! She wasted no time in turning all the knobs and opening every door.
Santa even brought her an Elmo towel! She wore it for most of the morning :)
Both Brannen and Griffin were thrilled with what Santa left them, they each got Beats!
They were kind enough to let little sister listen a few times.
And so, the 1st Christmas with Harper is in the books. This is for sure one of those Christmas' that I will remember!
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