Santa Claus is Coming to Town!

Look who's getting a brand new Brio Train set in the morning!!

I am a Brio snob. It's the original. It's Scandinavian. I had Brio growing up. Can't go wrong. Except you can only find them via Amazon and Ebay, because Thomas has taken the train world by storm. I have nothing fundamentally wrong with Thomas. There are just so many more things that are fundamentally right about Brio. :) Think what you will. (Pardon my iPhone photos...it was easier to just e-mail them to my laptop, than to hunt down snappy happy, and then upload, etc.)

Also, I found this great hand-carved, hand-painted wooden nativity set from one of those random children's magazines that are delivered to your door step as soon as you go into labor with your first child. I am really happy with it, except the baby Jesus is blond. I mean, come on. It bothers me enough that I am going to be painting that little head brown. (And the pink angel's wings are a bit over the top...) This isn't a Santa gift. It's been out for a few days. Finn has already had fun deconstructing the totally kid-proof scene, reassembling it around the living room, and applying the characters to various other play scenarios. "Who wants to go on a ride in the flat bed? Baby Jesus?? Come on...it'll be fun."

I've liked playing Santa's Helper for the first time! And to think, only 6 short Christmases ago I was begging Mom and Dad to still have "Santa" presents out when I woke up on Christmas morning. (Our family always set out a few unwrapped gifts from Santa. It kept me up most of the night imagining.) Instead of munching on Santa's cookies this year, I am wolfing down a bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats. 90% iron, and quels the heartburn. Ahhhhhh...a pregnant Santa.

Finn is still continuing to do great. He has started to try to walk on his own. It is the sweetest/saddest thing I've ever seen. Wes calls him Forest Gump (awwww...all out of love!), because he walks like he has leg braces on. He needs a lot of help getting around, and takes a lot of breaks. But he has managed to take over the couch with all of his trucks, and scoots around the living room pretty well. Tomorrow (or really today) will be a big day for him. Family members—with well sanitized hands—are coming for Christmas (and refraining from holding Mr. Finn). He's going to love all of the excitement (albeit an attempt at low key excitement...we'll see if that works out). I am counting this as his first Christmas, since last year he was still a bit young to totally grasp the concept. I think there is going to be a lot of concept, and PRESENT, grasping in the morning!!

Hope everyone has a Happy Christmas!