December already?!

I can't believe that it is already December! Where in the world did November go? It was a fantastic and very fast-paced fall, but we are definitely ready for some down time.  There's nothing like a visit from Santa to get December off to a fun start.  We went to the Timmon's house today for an early visit from Santa (aka Corinne's Papa Mac).  

Last year Sophia was a little suspect of Santa, and just wanted to enjoy him from 5-10 feet away.  She had just turned 14 months old when she had her first Santa sighting.  So for the entire month of December she talked nonstop about 'anta, ho, ho, ho!'.  So funny!  Last year we didn't really have to worry about really explaining Santa in too much detail.  We knew that this year would be a different story.  Sophia started asking questions as soon as the holiday decorations came out in the stores and we knew we needed to explain Santa to her.

We didn't want the focus to be taken off of the birth of Jesus Christ, the real reason we celebrate Christmas, but we knew we were going to have to explain Santa at some point.  So, we decided to tell her the story of St Nicholas.  In short, he was a man of faith who lived his life in devotion to Christ, he helped and cared for the needy and loved children.  She totally gets it, and even named one of the Wise men in her Nativity scene playset, St Nicholas.

This year Sophia was obviously a fan of the bearded man, but it may have been the chocolate he was offering her :-)  Either way, she had a great time at Corinne's house playing with all the kiddos and enjoying the yummy snacks. Thank you for having us over and documenting this fun day, Melanie!