Christmas Morning

The big day finally arrived and although Anna doesn’t yet understand what Christmas is all about, I think she liked it (duh!). Prior to Christmas morning, we had placed nothing under the Christmas tree because if Anna is good at one thing, it’s opening presents. When Anna came down the stairs, the expression on her face was priceless – I wish the garland wasn’t in the way so we could get the full effect. (You’ll notice the cute Santa PJ bottoms didn’t make it to Christmas morning…Dad had to make a switch after a diaper leak….)

Once she made it down the stairs she was a bit overwhelmed and kept looking at us to figure out if she could actually approach the toys awaiting her. After getting several affirmative responses from us, she made a beeline for the kitchen Santa brought her and spent a good chunk of time “cooking” for us. It took awhile for us to entice her away to check out her other loot (which worked well because Aunt Maddie was sleeping in!).

Anna also received a dollhouse with extra special meaning – my Grandma and Grandpa Turner made it for me when I was little and it was passed down to Anna this year. My mom performed a “renovation” to bring the house up to today’s style (long gone are the green and mustard paint and shag carpet which was en vogue when I was little!). Anna’s house has tile floors, wood laminate, plush carpet and even a new roof! It
has quickly become one of Anna’s favorite toys. Grandma Dodie – do you recognize this house??

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Cookies & Radishes

After donning her Santa jammies, Anna eagerly went about the task of preparing milk and cookies for Santa. And, radishes for Rudolph (hopefully he shares with the other reindeer).

We had decorated the cookies the day before with our pals Lisa and Ryan and it took a lot of willpower for Anna to not eat every single one before Christmas Eve. She was probably thinking, “Why does this Santa fellow get to eat MY cookies??”

If he saw how the cookies fared on the trip from the kitchen to the fireplace, he might think twice about eating them…

Making Mischief

Last week our house was invaded by not one but two elves…Tinta and Elfy Shelfy. Elfy is Hayla’s elf and due to a last minute business trip for me, Hayla (and Misty :) ) spent the night with Anna, much to Anna’s excitement.

In the morning the girls found the elves in the middle of a tough game of Memory – it looks like Elfy had a slight edge with two pairs to Tinta’s one. Bunny apparently was in on the game too, and Santa preceded over the match…it appears to have been a raucous soiree, I’m surprised the girls didn’t wake up in the middle of the night from the noise.

I didn’t get to witness Hayla’s and Anna’s reactions in person, but judging from the photos, the elves achieved their mission of promoting the magic and mystique of Christmas.

Later in the week the girls exchanged Christmas presents and the anticipation was almost as good as the actual gifts. All morning they both asked over and over if it was time for presents yet (I was the reason for the delay…behind in my wrapping, you see…). When the big time finally rolled around, the girls reveled in their loot of fancy shoes, princess press on nails, a stamp kit and Mr. Potato Head.Ahh to be young!

The Most Wonderful Time...

We've been headlong into the Christmas spirit for weeks now at Chateau Bergstrom, I just feel like I can't blog about Christmas until Anna's b-day has passed.  Now that we have birthday #2 under our belts, let's deck the halls!

As you can see, our visit with Santa was interesting this year.  Anna enjoyed talking to and watching the the big guy from afar...but, sitting on his lap, not so much.  It does make for an entertaining picture and definitely captures the stranger anxiety Anna has experienced on and off (mostly on) since being born.

I was afraid the experience scarred her against Santa for good, because for the 1-2 weeks after the photo, if you mentioned Santa she would say , "No Santa!".

But, it seems to have been a momentary fear because now she will tell you that Santa is coming soon!  A new visitor to our house, Tinta the Elf, has helped turn Santa's arrival into an exciting vs. scary event.

Tinta is Anna's Elf on the Shelf - the premise is that Santa sent Tinta to help him know if Anna has been naughty or nice.  Each evening Tinta visits Santa to report on Anna's deeds for the day and each morning he appears in a new spot in the house and Anna eagerly searches for him.  Tinta came with a book and Anna very solemnly follows the one rule Tinta requests in the book - no touching or his magic will go away.  Each time Anna sees Tinta she says, "No touch Tinta!  Fly to Santa."  Yet, you can see that she REALLY wants to touch and pick him up - a huge tempatation for a 2-year-old.  Tinta is smart enough to hide in high places to help remove the temptation.  We have let Anna sneak a quick kiss or two on Tinta's cheek - I mean, that can only help strengthen his magic, right?!

Many of Anna's friends in the neighborhood also have Elves who visit their homes.  I'm not sure if that means East Gate kids are prone to naughtiness so Santa sends more Elves here than normal, or if us moms are just suckers for cute traditions...The elves are a key topic of conversation among the kiddos.  At Anna's birthday party a lengthy conversation took place dissecting the hiding spots of Tinta, Chewy, Elfy Shelfy and Jason (an elf, not Jason B....) - the adults in the room were definitely smiling during the exchange.  I should note that the kids get to name the elves...hence the diversity in the names.

We put up our tree the weekend after Thanksgiving.  As I'm sure you cam imagine, Anna was a tremendous help decorating the tree.  She had endless energy for unwrapping ornaments and carefully placing them on the tree and never did she repeatedly remove any ornaments that I hung on the tree.  Ha. 

She did have fun decorating the tree...for about 10 minutes, then she was WAY over it (and to be honest, who isn't?).  She didn't understand why mom and dad were so focused so we ended up doing the lionshare of decking out the house while she was napping...much more efficient.

One thing Anna really likes this year are the Christmas lights throughout the neighborhood.  We've taken her on a few pre-bedtime drives and her exclamations are so sweet and help you remember the innocence and joy that can be derived from looking at Griswold-esque exterior illumination.  At a recent birthday party, Anna was giddy when we arrived at our friend's house to be greeted by an inflatable Santa and two snowman.  She stood on the lawn despite the cold temperatures and slight drizzle pointing, laughing and talking to the figures.  When I was able to finally drag her away, she said, "Bye bye Santa!  Bye bye snowman!  Bye bye other!".  I cracked up it was so sweet.

Way TWO Fast

I can hardly believe it but Anna turns 2 today.  Where did the time go?

We celebrated with a small party on Saturday and Anna reveled in the crafts, time with friends, cake and presents.  She had so much fun that on Sunday the first thing she said to me upon waking was, "Party again mommy?"  Smart kid.

So, happy birthday to our sweet, sweet girl.  Watching her transform over the last year into a bright, curious, funny little creature has been amazing - I can't wait to see what next year brings.

Waiting patiently for cake

We went with a lollipop cake this year

Helping bake the lollipop cake

Finally - we get to eat the cake!

Chaos ensued!

Cruz wisely kept to himself during the party - no hanging with the gals for him!

Her favorite presents - a tent and bike.  And yes, she did try to put the bike in the tent...