Look what we woke up to this morning!!!!
Andrew was beyond excited. When he woke up I told him I wanted to show him something and I opened our windows and I wish I had a picture of his face. He lit up and said "SNOW! Yeah!" Then he thought for a second and said "Santa made it snow!!!" It was so cute.
He waited patiently while I searched the entire house for his boots and snow pants with no luck. At least we have his hat! Ha! I had no choice but to run to Target and we were in a mad dash before it melted! Ha!
We got the sled down and just enjoyed ourselves so much!
Andrew was just thrilled.
I pulled him in the sled and when I turned he would fall off and just laugh and laugh.
You may be wondering what miss Kerigan was doing this whole time?
She was all bundled up and having fun watching us from the garage!
Last year we traveled three weekends between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I barely got the house decorated, cookies baked and presents wrapped in time! It seemed like just when I got it all done... Christmas was over in the blink of an eye. I think I was literally wrapping gifts at midnight Christmas Eve! I love nothing more than getting things done early, and filling the tree with presents so we can enjoy looking at them for more than a day! Besides, Craig's family Christmas is Thanksgiving weekend this year, so I had to get on the ball! (And all the gifts for that have been purchased and wrapped for weeks now!) I tell you, it's amazing what can get done when you're not working full time!
So... everything's done!
This is blurry but I had to experiment with my shelves this year since last year I didn't have them! I think I like the greenery and lights on top. I don't have them all filled up yet, but I put the Little People nativity set on one shelf. Andrew loves playing with it. The swing really adds to the decor, doesn't it? Ha!
The stockings are all hung by the chimney with care...
Andrew and I had fun decorating together. Last year I put all his special ornaments in a box (because he is accumulating a lot) and I set aside our smaller tree in the family room so he could decorate it himself and enjoy his ornaments. 
It is pretty darn sweet. I love that he appreciates such things... like his mama!
Apparently, the stores don't think it's too early either! Bass Pro Shops had Santa's arrival last weekend, and it was so much fun!
Santa rode in on a boat (you know, because his sleigh is getting ready for Christmas Eve!)
We sang Christmas carols, had hot chocolate and cookies, and Santa lit the Christmas tree!
Then he cut the ribbon to unveil his winter wonderland, and the kids got to sit on his lap and we got a free photo! Now that's what I call a real visit with Santa! It was way better than any mall could be. The scenery was beautiful and they even had reindeer (see behind Kerigan?) The kids were all just mystified.
And better yet? They even let me take as many pictures as I wanted, and let me stand wherever I wanted! This just had me all warm inside. Trust me. Quite the opposite of another Santa visit we encountered a couple years ago!
And I'm saving the best picture for the Christmas card. Because yes, Kerigan actually smiled. And I mean a huge, "I love Santa" smile. It was pretty awesome. I'm also getting my cards ordered this week. Am I on the ball this year or what? Seriously. Going back to work has me all motivated to get things crossed off my list!
They had this awesome train, which we could not get Andrew away from!
This was behind the train- isn't it beautiful? And Andrew's face in the bottom corner watching the train just tops it off, doesn't it? (I didn't plan that one!)
Daddy and Andrew did some shooting...
And Andrew was fascinated with the fish (meanwhile, Craig lifts some other random kid up on the rocks because she was trying to climb up by herself! Ha!) I'm not sure why he thought that was a good idea. Luckily she didn't fall off and her parents didn't seem to mind. Ha!
On the way out, we saw Rudolph!
And of course, I had to do a photo shoot of my sweet little girl all decked out for Christmas! And again, I'm saving the best one for the Christmas card. But seriously? Could she get any cuter?
Just a couple more random pictures I've taken this week that I want to publish... I love this adorable outfit from Lilly. I love dressing her up for church!
One afternoon I ran out to get Andrew on the bus and she was not waiting one more second for her bottle, so I propped it up, thinking surely it would fall and she'd be screaming when I came back inside. But this is what she looked like... sucking for dear life! Ha!
And seriously? How is he almost five and still fits in this thing?
So... the time has come. Back to work. Seriously, this moment seemed like forever back in July when Kerigan was born. It seemed like the day would never come. I can still remember when school started. How happy I was to get to be home while I thought about everyone else going back to school. I have enjoyed every single minute of the last 16 weeks. Sleeping in, snuggling in bed with my kids, late breakfasts, staying in our pj's all day, watching movies, baking treats, shopping trips, decorating the house... I could go on and on. We have a perfect little routine going. And it's about to change. Drastically.
I am not worried about the kids not being taken care of. Because they will be. They will be loved and snuggled and played with all day. Just not by their mommy. And that is what kills me. I want to be the one wiping noses and cleaning up messes. I want to be the one making lunch and feeding my daughter her bottle and going on field trips with Andrew. That's the way it should be. And I don't think there is going to be anything else harder to deal with than tomorrow morning when the alarm rings at 5:30. I can't even remember the last time I got up that early. And now I'll be doing it every day.
Andrew is going to be a zombie after having double preschool (mornings at day care, afternoons at his IEP preschool). He conveniently misses his "rest time" in transit to his other school on the bus. I have a feeling his rest time will take place on the bus the first couple weeks! He's used to sleeping in until 8:00! And Kerigan? I'm just hoping and praying my sweet baby girl doesn't think her mommy deserted her.
I have a feeling this is going to be a rough transition. Can we turn back time, please?
Sigh.
But hey, at least the Christmas decorations are up and we got to play in the first snow of the season!
And just some proof I'm not skipping Thanksgiving. I took this with my phone last night at the store because I thought it was so cute! A little craft we'll be doing soon...
