The Week Before Christmas...

...and all through the house we are battling mud and leaks and a spider or two. Actually, I haven't seen a spider in a couple of days, so maybe they all drowned, ha!

As for the mud, this is what it looked like outside most of the week.



I knew we were coming here in the rainy season, but after Utah and it's lack of rain, constant rain for days has us considering building an ark!

Here is what the front of our house currently looks like.



Very festive, don't you think? Yesterday morning I came downstairs to a dining room floor full of water. It seems that our front window casing has sprung a leak! Since the constant rain makes it impossible to repair at the moment, this is the only solution for now. I'm thinking of it as fancy etched glass, and not as plastic sheeting sandbagged to the front of my house. :)

One the bright side, people here are awesome! A new friend has remedied our lack of a Christmas tree.



Brennan was so happy to be able to decorate a tree.



Poor guy... This really was his happy face. He had a few days of not feeling good. Headaches and fever. No worries though, he's back to his normal self now.

Yesterday, we went to see Santa.



And to make some Christmas crafts.





I think he had fun.

Santa 2010

Of course we had to make a trip to go see Santa.  I wasn't sure how it was going to go this year, but Brennan wasn't scared at all.  He went right up to him, picked some candy canes out of Santa's sack and sat up on his lap.  Afterward, he got some cookies.  Since then he tells us several times a day that he "sat on Santa's lap," and that "Santa brings presents." 

He is so proud of himself.
Our big boy.

Our Visit with Santa

We ventured out in the snow today to go see Santa at the mall.

It went pretty well. No Brennan or Daddy meltdowns at all. Santa was on the lower level, so we had to take the stroller on the escalator. Well, I guess we didn't have to, we could have taken the elevator, but what fun is that?

Thankfully, the line was short when we got to Santaland, and there were only two families in front of us. The first family was in and out in no time flat. The second family was another story. Mom was definitely looking for the perfect poses and expressions from her two little girls and tiny baby boy. There were several runs back and forth from the kids to the photographer, but in the end I think she got what she was after. Brennan was fascinated by all the toys and all the people and kids around, so we didn't have to worry about him (or Daddy) losing their patience.

When it was our turn to see Santa, Brennan was cool with the whole thing. He gave Santa a high five and a low five, and had no problem sitting on his lap. We couldn't get him to smile when it was time, but at least he wasn't crying. Actually, I wish I could have pictures of some of the faces he was making at us. We were all yelling and waving for him to smile, and the photographer was squeaking her fuzzy duck and pointing at her dancing Santa doll. Brennan just looked at us as if to say, "Have you all lost your minds? What is wrong with you people? I'm just trying to chill with Santa."

So here's the picture, and below that one is the one from 2008. It's amazing how much he's grown! *sniff sniff* But I won't comment about how much Santa has grown. Because, you know, it's almost Christmas and I want to stay on the Nice list.


2009


2008