Christmas and All Pictures Related

Leading up to Christmas, the girls got to interact with Santa some. We went to Walmart the Saturday after Thanksgiving and happened to see him. They were offering free pictures with Santa. The girls were thrilled with seeing him, and we were thrilled with the price. Granted, he wasn't the most authentic looking Santa. When driving home, Allie said, "Mom, I don't think he was really Santa. I think he was just a normal person." I asked her why, and she replied, 'He wasn't wearing Santa shoes. He was just wearing normal shoes." You can't get anything past her.

We had the opportunity to Skype with the real* Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus closer to Christmas. The girls were again thrilled. Allie was so excited to tell other people that she got to Skype with Santa.

We had audio problems, so we ended up seeing Santa on the computer while talking to him on the cell phone. Thank goodness, we had his number!

The girls get to open one present on Christmas Eve. And, of course, they happen to open up new Christmas pajamas.

Joyous for her Jammies

We took several pictures of the girls in front of the Christmas tree. We took MANY shots and luckily got a few good ones.

Capturing their Silliness 

A friend who also had three girls first suggested that we get Allie and Rachel life-size baby dolls to care for when our baby comes. She had done that for her first two and found that it worked really well. We decided that it was worth trying and found a great deal on baby dolls at Sam's Club. We wanted to save money by making beds and bedding for their dolls. Once the girls went to bed, Mommy and Daddy got to work.

Jared made the beds by modifying a design we had seen online. We had most of the wood already and were able to get some other wood for fairly cheap at the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store. The total cost was approximately $18 and a lot of lost sleep over the week or two leading up to Christmas. He did such a great job!

Nikki made the bedding. All of the fabric was from scraps that we already had, so we didn't have to pay anything for the materials of the bedding. The binding on the edges of the little quilts wasn't done perfectly, but it was Nikki's first time doing it. The motto while making the bedding was, "It's for a doll."

The beds and bedding turned out pretty cute.

Santa visited and left goodies in our stockings. He even left some goodies for Buddy.

Allie was so excited about Buddy getting something from Santa that it distracted her from looking at what she had in her stocking for a few minutes.

 An orange!

A toothbrush and Candy

Sea Creatures that grow in water and fingernail polish

Allie with all of her stocking goodies. She was especially excited to get Rarity, the My Little Pony, and her little stuffed giraffe.

Daddy with his stocking goodies. 

And Mommy with her goodies.

Allie had left a note for Santa. She was so excited to see that he left a note thanking her for her note and cookies.

After looking at all the goodies in the stocking, Allie and Rachel were really excited to see their beds.

They hadn't opened their babies, yet, so Allie put her giraffe in the bed and Rachel put her Mater car in her bed. Cute and silly girls.

The babies!

Each of the girls picked out two little presents from the Dollar Tree for each other. They each picked bubbles for their sister and then Rachel picked a magna-doodle type toy for Allie. Allie picked a coloring book for Rachel.

Allie with her very well drawn pteranodon.

Daddy and Buddy worn out.

Allie and Rachel opening up a present from Grandma Terri and Grandpa Dick.

So happy about their adorable bags!

Opening their present from Grandma and Grandpa Bobbie.

Legos!

Playing with Legos

One of Buddy's gifts from Santa was a laser pointer. He LOVES it.

The girls love it, too!

It was a wonderful Christmas. It was more humble than the year before, but it was just as special. It was really neat making the beds and bedding and knowing that we had put in so much love and work into those gifts. It is so special seeing the wonder and joy that the girls have.

 * Jared's dad grew out his beard and was Santa at some events this year. We were really happy to get to have the opportunity to Skype with him. It was really magical for the kids.