Santa Picture 2010

Oh the Santa Picture, the Santa Picture...  Growing up we had a Santa Picture taken every year & there was always a big to do about what we were wearing, how our hair was combed, and when/where the picture was taken.  My sisters and I had a Santa picture taken every year - even after I was grown, married, and pregnant with Lydia!  :)  My parents now proudly display (during the Christmas season) the good, bad, and ugly of all our Santa pictures.  And trust me, there were some "rough" years in there.  :) 

Now, that I am a momma the Santa picture is something I look forward to doing with our kiddos every December. But, because I am my father's daughter, it is also a source of some stress.  What the kiddos will wear, when/where the picture will be taken, and will we have a "crier" are all things that I think and stress about when preparing for, "The Santa Picture."  (Yes, this post is quite shallow when you compare it to my "Presents and Presence" little series I've got going on, but hey, this is who I am & a family tradition, so there you go)!  :)

So this year, I got the outfits all picked out & coordinated (red, black, and gray color scheme!)  And, I even found out when Santa was going to be at one of the PX's here on Ft. Bragg.  John had the day off today so after we picked Lydia up from school we dressed and fluffed the kiddos all up in their Santa picture finery & headed over to the north PX.  Upon arriving we found "Santa" in some beat up old pants, a stained plaid shirt, and an old gray hoodie.  Confused and thinking they had closed for the day we asked if we were late.  Come to find out we weren't late, rather we were a day early.  The people at the PX were mistaken when they told me Santa was going to be there starting today.  He won't be there taking pictures until tomorrow. 

Seriously?!?!  I mean, come on AAFES!!!  Do you NOT know how much work it is to get 3 kiddos dressed to go see Santa?!?!  And do you NOT know it is literally freezing & windy & loading kiddos in & out of the car in this kind of weather is NOT fun?!?!  (My attitude at this point was TOTALLY pointing to the love of Jesus & the "reason for the season..."  righhhhhhhht!  Ooops!)

Panic began to set in.  We had just told Lydia & Micah that we were going to see Santa & there he was, not looking at all jolly, but rather scruffy & dumpy.  So, we made up a little story about how he had been working with the reindeer that day & that's why he couldn't take pictures.  Thankfully our scruffy Santa played along & Lyds looked like she half bought the story.  Micah just looked confused.

Frustrated & irritated John and I decided we'd try the mall Santa.  So once again, we loaded the kiddos into the car & drove to the Cross Creek Mall here in Fayetteville.  We got out, John loaded Noah in the stroller, Lyds stood on the back of the stroller, and by a sheer stroke of luck we found a car cart that Micah was all to thrilled to ride in while we searched the mall for Santa.

We found signs showing us the way to Santa.  We found LOTS of signs.  ALL. OVER. THE. MALL!  And once we were almost to Santa we found a sign the gave us the hours of the Santa pictures.  It said Santa would be at the mall tonight until 9pm & that he would be taking a dinner break from 5pm to 6pm.  Well, it was 5:20pm when I looked at that sign.  AAARGH!

Noah was fussy.  No-nap Micah was on the verge of meltdown.  Lydia was starving.  John and I stopped everything right then & there & decided that we were still going to have the picture taken today, but we were just going to eat dinner first.  So, we walked through the mall (again) to one of our favorite places here in the Fay & had lovely & very fun dinner at Jason's Deli.  And maybe we started a new family tradition?!?!  Dinner & a Santa picture sounds good to me!  In the end, the memories we made amidst all the craziness are great.  AND, the picture was well worth the wait too, don't you think?!?!

This is the original photo, I cropped it (see below) - which do you like better?

This is the version that I cropped.  Notice Noah has no shoes on...  we tried.  :)