Christmas Eve

For the second year in a row we had a very low-key Christmas Eve, just the three of us. After a dinner of baked potatoes and salad (and noodles with red sauce for L), we headed out to drive around the neighborhood looking at Christmas lights. We took some cookies in the car for dessert, L was in her jammies already and we listened to our favorite Christmas music. After just about 10 minutes, Leila started asking if we were going home yet! In fact, the whole afternoon she had been saying she wanted to go to bed so Santa could come. Needless to say, we didn't stay out too long. When a 3-year-old is wanting to go to bed, it is crazy not to oblige!

We got home and Leila wrote a letter to Santa, Rudolph and Mrs. Claus. She helped me get the treats for Santa ready and then Chris and I tucked her in for the night.

If you look closely, you can still see marinara sauce from her dinner on her face. Oops.

Carrots for Rudolph and the other reindeer. L insisted that we cut them up into smaller pieces so each reindeer would have his own bite.

Opening the fireplace doors with Daddy to make an easy entrance for Santa.
Santa came! All Leila wanted from Santa was a Rudolph toy that sings and a soft-bottomed Sleeping Beauty doll. He brought both of those and a kitchen too! Santa set the kitchen up in the other room. I didn't take any pictures of it because we video taped Leila's reaction instead. Sadly, something went wrong with the camera and it didn't record.
I tried to get a picture of our tree where the lights would be more visible, but none of them were amazing. This is the best one. I like that you can see the Christmas orb outside on the porch.
Merry Christmas to all!