Christmas is coming....

Olivia was appalled at how "behind" we were on decorating when we came back from our Thanksgiving trip. With Nicholas sick, me being pregnant and having contractions frequently, I was happy to let Olivia take charge of the decorating! Here is where we ended up!

The fifth stocking is Ringo's old one. Still no name for Baby #3!

 

And some Christmas activities:

Putting together our Gingerbread house (Thursday when I kept the kids home from school because Leo had a cough that sounded like croup and Olivia seemed a bit under the weather, too).

 

Notice Leo behind the curtains. He was much more interested in taking a piece of candy and running away than in decorating!

Dancing around the Christmas tree! Cheese!

Baking gingerbread cookies...and later icing them before bedtime.

The actual decorating of the tree. I was having A LOT of contractions that day, so really Olivia did most of it!

One sick morning reading the Christmas book from Mutti, GG, and Uncle Chuck from last year. Seriously, why won't my kids take naps! They were exhausted!

And just being cute showing off the scarf from Aunt Josie!

Baby's room is ready!

Due to my contractions being 3 minutes apart for several hours last Friday night and me thinking Baby #3 was going to break the "delivered at term" pattern, my bag is now totally packed, Baby's bag is packed, and his room is totally done! Woo hoo! Now we still need a name....

From the door

From the closet

From the rocking chair

From the rocking chair

The Nutcracker!

Olivia and I went to the Nutcracker on Saturday afternoon performed by the NC Ballet. It was beautiful and a wonderful way to start the Christmas season! Olivia sat in rapt attention the entire time--seriously, her behavior was SO good. Even while kids around us fidgeted and talked, Olivia kept her eyes on the dancing. I didn't get a good picture of Olivia during the performance since recording devices were banned, but I got one so you can see how she had to hold her head up over the railing on the balcony where we were. By the end, she told me her neck was tired! Ha! I love that we started this tradition last year and she continues to love it even though she is less interested in performing ballet herself this year!

Pre-ballet, I tried to get her to stand next to me, but she wanted to sit since I was.

At the theatre--Memorial Hall at UNC Chapel Hill since the tickets were cheaper than going to the Durham Performing Arts Center or Raleigh's. Parking was tough, though, so we just barely made it in time!

Olivia's Christmas Play

Olivia's preschool had their non-traditional telling of the Nativity Story on Tuesday. I LOVE that they allowed each child (3-5) to choose his or her own role with no regard to multiple people wanting the same role. Olivia finally got her wish to play Mary. She's been yearning for that role for two years since she started having Christmas plays. She also told me on the way there that she was super excited to go on stage first and to get to remain there even after everyone else was leaving. She thought everyone would still be "snapping pictures of me!" Ha! She cracks me up! Here are the highlights:

Olivia with her swaddled baby!

Olivia and the Mary closest to her are good friends and held hands during much of the performance!

She really had a ball and continues to tell me, "I wish we had a Christmas play every night!"

My favorite fall pictures

The Christmas cards are out, so I can share some of the beautiful pictures we had made back in October! They were done by Wonderland Pictures, who will be doing the Baby's pictures when he arrives!