Santa visits redeemed! ...or how I failed Diella for 3 years straight!

A couple of posts back, I shared our family's 24 Days of Christmas tradition. When we had Diella, Raf and I knew that we wanted to be a tradition-based family. We wanted to ensure that we were enriching our lives together while creating lasting memories for our children. We created many traditions that we have been very good at carrying out, and some we have done away with because they didn't suit our needs. But some times I dropped the ball on traditions. One such time-honored tradition that I really slacked on was going to visit Santa.

Every year, my friends post funny or adorable pictures of their kids with Santa, and I'd think "I need to get Diella to visit the ole guy." Truthfully, I didn't take Diella to see Santa at the Mall/store/anywhere until she was 3 years old. I don't know what happened! It just seemed that every year, we were busy with other things, and seeing Saint Nick sort of fell by the wayside. But as parental guilt does, it began to weigh on me that I hadn't yet taken Diella to visit Santa.

All was not lost, however, because we sure have made up for the lost time of those past 3 years. She has seen a Santa 5 times this year already- from the Polar Express to Rawhide, she's been following that jolly soul around like crazy. Each time she's seen him, she's asked for a different gift-- I can't decide if she's forgetful or resourceful ;-)

This year is Enzo's first Christmas, so we were all excited to get pictures with Santa. I was curious to see if he would cry when left with Santa like so many babies do. And since we missed out on Diella's baby/Santa experience, I was a little nervous to see how E's visit would go. But he was so excited. There were no tears involved, but he was mean-mugging Santa for a little while. We were finally able to warm him up through cooing at him and playing peek-a-boo. And I think Santa's beard of plenty also helped introduce a little mystery into the situation such that E opened up to him a little more.

I'm so grateful for family traditions, and for having the chance to share sweet moments with my family. I love this wonderful season, and have been taking advantage of this uncharacteristically cold spell (for the desert, anyway) to snuggle my babies a little closer and kiss them a little more tenderly. I hope you're finding small ways to enjoy the season, cuddle your family, and starting or upholding a tradition that you love!