Let the Christmas Festivities Begin!!!

Since Thanksgiving is over, we can now officially start preparing for Christmas and soak in all of that great Christmas spirit!  Craig has been waiting for this for months now.  We actually started playing Christmas music in our house a few weeks ago - which did feel a little premature, but I just couldn't stop myself.

We attended our first Christmas event a couple of Saturdays ago - the Holiday Heritage Parade at the Downtown Mall.  It was fun (just a little bit lame)... but Ella liked it just the same.

Here are Ella and Isaac getting pumped.  Check out the excitement on their faces!  Okay, I guess Ella looks half-way excited... but Isaac doesn't really care at all.  

 I guess he just wanted to be held.

and here is a picture to memorialize my moment of lameness.  We saw these guys walking down the mall in the parade.  They were not doing anything besides looking super preppy, some were looking at their phones, and the guy in the front was holding a sign that said "Virginia Gentlemen."  I was thinking "Are these guys for real?!"  I seriously thought they were just some guys walking in the parade to demonstrate what it looked like to be the ideal Virginian gentleman.  haha!  So I just HAD to have my friend take a picture of me with them (well, in the background).  Just as she took this picture they started singing and actually sounded really really great.  They were an a capella group!!!  Duh!  How could I have thought they were anything else?  So, I just had to post this picture because I thought it was hilarious that I was captured on camera being so lame.

and the highlight of the show... SANTA!  Right before we left for the parade it was Ella's turn to say the prayer.  This is how it went:  "Dear Heavenly Father, we'll see Santa today.  And we will see him... (a few other things).... and see Santa... amen!"  And the amazing thing was that that morning she said she was going to ask Santa for a dog - then at the parade she was handed a beanie baby dog!  That was a pretty exciting moment for her.

Finally, last night we put up our Christmas tree!  We love our tiny/sparse/fake tree... this might be its last year with us (I have been saying that for a few years now).  Both kids love the tree, and so far Isaac hasn't tried to pull it down!

See how how much he loves decorating for Christmas?  This is Issac's face when he does his excited squeal.  He does it all the time!   He is also crawling on his hands and knees now (instead of an army crawl), pulling himself up to a standing position and taking a few steps along furniture, and has climbed a few stairs.  He is eight months old today and  I feel like he is much more active than Ella was at this age...  it makes me a little nervous!    

 

We are so glad that the Christmas season is officially here and look forward to the many Christmas activities we have coming up.  This is definitely my favorite time of the year!