i love this time of year

Samantha and I had such a fun day today!!  Thanks to the good ol' time change Samantha thought 6:00 was the perfect time to wake up.  I tried all the tricks to no avail: the pacifier, nursing, ignoring her!!  She wanted none of it...it was time to get up!  So up we got.  I put her in her jumparoo so I could lay down for a few more minutes and then we played together on the floor.  Thankfully by 8:00 or so, she was ready for a nap.  Once she woke up I fed her and we headed out to the mall.

At the mall, we met up with Nicole, Ben, & Luke.  This is the family I nannied for before I had Samantha.  Ben and Luke were so excited to see us, and we were equally excited to see them!!  We went to Build A Bear to make animals for ourselves.  Ben (of course) decided to make a cat, while Luke and Samantha both made bears.  The twins had such a great time stuffing their animals, giving them baths, and running around wrecking havoc in the store!!  It was so much fun.  In the end, Samantha ended up with this adorably dressed pink bear named Lucy.

After Build A Bear we went to Picture People so I could look at their Christmas cards.  I picked out the ones I want so now we have her portraits on the 19th.  I can't wait!!  We have a beautiful dress for her and I had a custom headband made to match.  She is going to be so cute.  While walking through the mall I purchased our very first family of 3 ornament.  This is something I have always wanted to do, so I made sure to take my time picking and making sure I got something I love.  My only regret is that they say "Mom" and "Dad" rather than "Mommy" and "Daddy".  Once Samantha gets bigger she obviously won't want to call us that so I should take advantage of it while I can.  Next year!!

As I left the mall, I noticed that JC Penny was playing their Christmas music and it made me all giddy inside. I normally really LOVE Christmas, it's my favorite holiday, but I can already tell it's going to be a billion times more fun with a baby.  I can't wait to share this with her each and every year!!!