And the madness begins.

M and I were talking last week. The Friday after Thanksgiving marks our crazy season. We love the Holidays, but BOY are they WORK! It's a non-stop whirlwind the entire month of December. Our calendar is booked solid with some sort of activity or get-together EVERY weekend - and even weeknights are filling up. I should stop complaining, though, because despite the craziness, I do love the Holidays. I love catching up with friends - I love the merriment - I love the happy glint in the kids' eyes every time he sees the Christmas tree.

Of course, as you all know, Santa pictures kick off the Holiday season for us. I like to get them done the week of Thanksgiving, as there are no crowds and the kid is in a much better mood when he hasn't had to wait in line for a half hour. Here are this year's "official" pictures (the ones I bought from the Santa photo people). And yes, it's my mommy obligation to match their clothes. ESPECIALLY for Holidays:

The kid and the babe together:


Just the babe (since this is his first Christmas and all):


And some outtakes taken with our own camera:

Love this one because the kid is telling Santa what he wants for Christmas. Notice the babe's expression is one of complete indifference.


And this just captures the kid's age. If you have a three-year-old, you know what I'm talking about. You ask them to smile and you get all teeth. He looks like he's constipated.



For a retrospective of past Santa pictures, click here.

Here, though, is where early Santa pictures backfired for me. The next morning after visiting Santa, the Kid woke up and RAN into my bedroom. With a hopeful look, he sweetly asked me, "Mommy, is it Christmas morning?!?!" Makes logical sense - he did, after all, see Santa the night before. And I've been reading him "The Night Before Christmas" every year. This is what happens when you pair a dumbass Mommy with a too-smart kid.