it's officially Christmastime...

...and I couldn't be more excited!!  My black "Friday" kicked off around 8:30 pm on Thursday when my cousin picked me up and we headed to Walmart for some shopping.  I scored the two XBOX 360 games I wanted (barely), a Fisher Price grand piano for Samantha, as well as gifts for two of my sisters-in-law.  Minus a few cuts and scrapes after getting shoved to the ground trying to get my games, I made out well and had a good time.

During actual Black Friday Samantha and I decided to brave the mall.  I ended up walking the whole thing but only buying a pair of pajamas for Samantha.  One tradition I've heard of through the years, although not something we did growing up, is getting a new pair of pjs on Christmas Eve.  I thought this sounded fun and decided it was something I'd like to do with our kids.  So, I set out to find the perfect pair of pajamas for Sam. I wanted to get her a 2 piece set which is hard when your kid is only fitting into 6 month clothes.  I ended up getting her this pair from Gymboree.  They are size 6-12 months so I'm sure they'll be big, but that's okay.  They are adorable and I love them.  I was also planning on taking Samantha to have her picture taken with Santa but he was on his lunch break.  I tried my hardest to keep Samantha awake for the 45 minutes until he returned but we only lasted about 20 minutes before it was becoming apparent she had had enough.  So we left and I'll likely venture back to the mall on Monday to try again.  We then went to Target where I knocked out gifts for a few people in Chris's family, a few for Chris, and a few for Samantha.  Then once we got home, I placed a huge order on Amazon to complete the shopping for my side of the family as well as one more member of Chris' family.  I just have a few things left to buy for Sam, a ton for Chris, and three people for Chris's side of the family.  I'm feeling okay right now!

Today since Chris had the day off we decided to do some things around the house.  Chris blew all the leaves out of the yard and into a huge pile in the driveway.  I then plopped Sam in the heap and needless to say, she wasn't amused!!  Hopefully next year she'll enjoy it more.  Inside I hung a wreath on our front door and together we set up the Christmas tree.  We have one set of lights on so far and will add the rest hopefully tomorrow.  Then we can set out to add all of our ornaments.  I'm super excited.  I tested each strand of lights before I put them on and I added each set without them being plugged in.  Once I finished, Chris got Samantha and they stood by the tree as I plugged it in.  Once it lit up, Samantha just looked up and down in awe and confusion.  It was so cute to watch her little face as she saw her very first ever Christmas tree.  We then sat her down and she stayed there for a while just looking up at the tree and reaching for the branches.

I can't wait to see how Samantha reacts to all of the other new things Christmas has to offer!