Santa Claus is coming to town

Charlie and Lily have been very busy preparing for Christmas. There's lots to be done and Charlie and Lily are happy to help! This week we've been focusing on baking. We made three kinds of Christmas cookies - snickerdoodles, mint chocolate delights and our absolute favorites, monster cookies. (Back when I had time for that sort of thing I had a cooking blog - you can find the cookie recipes there if you're interested!) On Wednesday Aunt Jill came over to help. Jill, Charlie, Lily and I all gathered in the kitchen to get mixing and measuring. While we froze most of the dough to bake up fresh cookies right before Christmas, we had to bake a sampling to make sure we had done a good job (we had!). Charlie really loves helping me in the kitchen. He enjoys sitting in his bouncy chair and just watching me do things. Just this morning he helped me make a bundt cake for a party Joe is going to tomorrow.

Lily doesn't find me nearly as interesting as Charlie. She prefers that I hold her and allow her to participate in whatever activity I'm trying to complete. In my pre-baby days I was taught an aerobics class called Body Attack at Gold's Gym. Last night I returned to class to teach a portion for the first time in a year. I had to practice before I went, so earlier that day I put on my music and held Lily while I walked through all the moves. Believe it or not all that bouncing and wiggling put her to sleep! But she was happy to be a part of it all.

Another Christmas activity we've been enjoying comes at story time. Right after Thanksgiving my mom brought over all the Christmas books she had saved from my childhood, along with a bunch of Christmas books that had belonged to my cousin Adam. The babies and I have been having a great time reading a different Christmas story each day. My personal favorites are The Biggest Most Beautiful Christmas Tree and Santa's Surprise Book which I always loved when I was little. On a more modern note, we've enjoyed Bear Stays Up for Christmas, which belonged to Adam. So cute! We're saving The Night Before Christmas for Christmas Eve!

This weekend I'm going to need Charlie and Lily's help with gift wrapping, and on Sunday we plan to take them to a drive through light show. I can't believe Christmas is next week! I hope Charlie and Lily have the best first Christmas possible!

Lily is very excited for Christmas (and the presents)!
My baking elves in the kitchen - Aunt Jill with Lily and Charlie.

Choo Choo Charlie loves helping Mommy! (Thanks for the cool shirt, Grandma Anne!)

All those holiday preparations are exhausting! Charlie and Lily relax with their Wubbanubs after another busy day. (Note to self: clean out pack n' play - apparently there is hardly any room for babies in there...)