{Who Rang the Doorbell?}

We had a very exciting night last week, last Wednesday as I was finishing up Anna's bath, the doorbell rang!  Low and behold, St. Nick had paid us a visit!  And just like that he was gone with a flash, but not before filling Anna's stocking with some goodies.  It took Anna a little bit to catch on to the fact that he had come and left her some presents, but hasn't stopped talking about him ever since, and the candy was certainly her favorite.

 

In addition to filling her stocking, St. Nick also brought the Elf on the Shelf.  After Anna finished going through her stocking, the three of us snuggled up on the couch and read The Elf on the Shelf so we could learn all about how he works.  Anna has affectionately named him Yo-Yo and each night Yo-Yo flies back to the North Pole to report on how well Anna has behaved that day.  So far we have found Yo-Yo on the mantle, on Anna's toy shelf, and in the Christmas tree, I am sure that Yo-Yo will come up with more creative places to hide, but he is still getting the hang of all of this (and trying to remember to move around each night :)). 

The Seidel family is really starting to get excited and ready for Christmas.  We visited Santa Friday night with our cousins, but unfortunately I wasn't able to get any pictures of Anna on Santa's lap - we love to talk about Santa, but not quite ready to get up close and personal, hopefully next year.  Tonight we baked Christmas cookies as Anna needs to bring some to school for their Christmas program this week,  They still have yet to be frosted, but I assure you, Anna had a blast helping make them and the flour all over the kitchen is enough evidence to prove it :) 

This afternoon, Anna was thrilled to wake up from her nap to a nice layer of snow to play in - I think she likes being pulled in her sled the best!

 

This weekend also marked the 36 week mark of my pregnancy, hard to believe we only have 4 weeks to go before we finally to meet our little one.  It's strange, time cannot go fast and at the same time, slow enough.  We are absolutely so excited to meet her and cannot wait to expand our family and I am certainly starting to get to the point where I am ready to no longer be pregnant anymore, but I find ourselves also savoring our moments with Anna and our time together.  Anna is starting to get ready to be a big sister and loves to point out that the baby is in momma's belly.  We are very excited for her and know she is going to be such a good big sister and big helper.   She has taken such an active interest in playing with her dolls, changing the diapers, and putting them to sleep, I love seeing the little mommy come out in her:)