December 9

I've been lazy about blogging for the past week, but I'll make up for it today, I promise! Today was my family's annual Christmas tree hunt, so you'd better believe I have a gazillion photos.

Things didn't work out quite as well as we had hoped today; the plan was church, brunch at my parents' house, then kids nap in the car while we drove to the Christmas tree farm. Any guesses which part didn't happen? Yep. Naps. Daisy fell asleep fifteen minutes before we arrived, so the poor girl was pretty touchy the whole time. Caleb was in great spirits, though!

He sat down and had a chat with Santa right away, and asked for the same things he wanted last week: a microphone and a green tractor with a yellow trailer.

Daisy refused to see Santa, and shrieked any time he was in her line of sight.

It looked a lot like this picture, taken at our church last week:

Do you see how clearly the (very talented) photographer captured Daisy's agony? Same thing with Santa.

Caleb was excited to see how much he grew, so Daisy followed suit.

Clearly, her skepticism even applies to cartoon Santas.

The only person who could console Daisy was Ryan, and he seemed to relish his task. It's nice being a baby's favorite person!

Oh, my. Aren't they cute? I definitely bribed Daisy with one or two candy canes during the trip. Anything to stop the fussing.

Sometimes, though, even candy canes don't work. Can you see her fussing and squirming? This is why naptime is sacred in our house.

She smeared that candy cane all over her face until she looked like she was bleeding.

Aren't they cute?

The whole family! I'm so glad the Christmas tree farm finally wised up and gave us a photo opp spot that is outdoors, instead of just indoors. The light is so much better!

(Max missed his nap, too, hence his face buried in Emily's shoulder.)

The tractor ride out to the trees is always a favorite!

Caleb entertained Chris with stories.

Emily and her boys!

Caleb was so sad that he couldn't have a saw, too. I tried to explain to him that the saws were heavy and big, and that he could have one if there were only Caleb-sized saws, but it was no consolation. Then he grabbed a stick, declared it a saw, and the problem was solved. Why didn't I think of that?

Daisy explored,

While the boys cut down our tree.

Max forgot his mittens, so he rocked Daisy's hot pink ones. He's cool like that.

These two insisted I take a picture of the trees they hunted and killed. They are very manly.

After we had all hunted trees, we went back to the barn for hot cocoa.

And maybe a family picture, too. 

And it's possible that I insisted on a bag of kettle corn, even though it is in no way appropriate for our diet.

If you've waded through all of these pictures, then you get to see the best ones of all. Some version of these will likely end up on our Christmas card.

Here's us with our trees:

We purchased an artificial tree a few years ago, and since then it's been our tradition to buy a tree the size of each child for Christmas. So Caleb gets a Caleb-sized tree, Daisy gets a Daisy-sized tree... and then there's that little twig I'm holding...

Confused?

Daisy would like to clarify.

Are you imagining her shouting, "BABY"?

Yep! We bought a tiny tree for Baby #3, who is due in July!

Hooray!