trying to be merry....

i am trying to get into the holiday spirit but it has really been hard this year for several reasons. the big reason is the baby and i have been sick for the last week and a half. every night i go to bed thinking surely i will feel better by morning, but this cold has been lingering. i feel so bad for little harper because i know how awful he must feel.

i am also having a hard time with all the toy recalls we have had recently. it isn't going to affect our holidays since we are having a mostly handmade christmas, but it is still so frustrating. i am also saddened by the fact that people feel they *need* to spend thousands and thousands of dollars on toys and gadgets in order for their kids to have a merry christmas. i have witnessed this personally with a close friend's family and it just makes me crazy!!

so, with the yucky colds and general scroogeness i am battleing christmas has snuck right up on me! is it really next week??!! i visited a blog this morning that had a ticker with the days, hours, minutes and seconds until christmas... YIKES!! tony took esme' to get a christmas tree monday. we usually have one up much earlier than this. it is a pretty little tree! tony said there were very few to choose from.

this is esme's little tree. i bought it for $1.99 last year at the fabric store. she loves it and decorates and re-decorates it daily. this tree has been up since thanksgiving weekend.
we took a trip to the winter garden aglow saturday night to visit santa and his reindeer. the big kids were with their dad for a family christmas party so they did not get to come along with us. this picture came out a little blurry, but it is still cute! we forgot to ask which reindeer this was but esme' thinks it was dasher, the lead reindeer. can you see harper in his carrier leaning out to peek at the reindeer?a cute pic of esme', harper and i.
esme' insisted we pose for a pic in this little stone gazebo. i am so glad she did!

and here is harper and i with santa. where is esme' you ask... she is off to the left hiding behind a pillar and crying, LOUD! she was fine the whole time we were in line and as soon as it was our turn she freaked out. she is a little embarrassed about it now, so we don't talk about it ;)

and a picture with daddy, right after the santa incident! she was still a little upset.
we had a lot of fun and it did help me come out of my holiday slump. today i bought all the ingredients to do some holiday baking! if i can't be cheered up by sugar and chocolate than i am in big trouble!!