if you thought the elf suit was put away...

...Think again!
Well at least the hat makes daily appearances around the house.

It snowed!

Watching it snow

I would've taken a picture of the tiny snowman we built but Carter kicked it over before I could. He LOVED playing in the snow!

I didn't think I would miss the snow as much as I do. It was so exciting to have snow for a night. Unfortunately, it was the one night that Brian, Lindsay, and Van came up to visit us. It took them FIVE HOURS to get home that night (it's an hour drive, normally). But it was worth it to come see us, right??

another comparison

He lined up his favorite animals and just sat on the couch next to them for about 5 minutes.

At least I gave my dolls books to look at.

Christmas Eve

This is a good summary of what our Christmas Eve looked like

Carter's first big boy bike ride

When did my baby grow up to be so huge???

This, of course, was the first thing he saw on Christmas morning. It was so fun to watch his cute little excited face!

Carter loves his "new big bike"

Contest Winner

Every year at Dennison's office they have a cubicle-decorating contest at Christmas time. Here's Dennison's cubicle. He tied for first place. It's an "Elf" theme, from the movie Elf.

He lowered his desk, took Carter's tiny chairs in, and put up a low roof so he would look huge in the little house, just like Buddy.

For the judging, he dressed up as Buddy the Elf. Behind him is a jack-in-the-box and and etch-a-sketch. There's also the "arctic puppets" on the wall. I must say, it is pretty incredible

Santa Claus

Carter has had some pretty awesome experiences with Santa this year. First, he got a candy cane from him in the mall. Then he got a letter from Santa letting him know that Carter is on his list and Santa will be visiting our house Christmas Eve! He also sent an autographed picture of himself (seen above), a page to color and some stickers (seen below). He carried that picture around with him all day telling me "Mommy look! Sant-to Cwas!"

(Don't you love the top half of our tree?)

So when we told Carter that we were going to go meet Santa, he was pretty stoked. They both ran to the door. Once inside, the fear set in. What is it about Santa that is so terrifying to every single child under the age of 4? His beard? Too much red? I'll never know.

Jude felt betrayed

Carter still cried even though I held him and just sat next to Santa.
wimp

The Recovery:

The candy cane seemed to fix everything. He still wouldn't get too close, but he sat and watched all the other kids talk to Santa.

Just about an hour ago, our Christmas package from my mom got dropped off on our doorstep with a quick knock on the door. I picked up the package and when I brought it inside Carter said, "San-to Cwas!" It cracked me right up.