A Real Baby?!: Getting Ready...

....for Christmas!! No, not 2012 (thank goodness!); I'm going back to 2011. It's not too late to post about Christmas since January's not even over yet, right?! We had a busy, busy December getting ready for the big day. We had gingerbread trains to make...

...Christmas trees to chop down (OK, we really didn't chop it down, but instead had the workers with a chainsaw do it for us :) Ben had a ball picking a tree out and running all over the tree farm. We even saw a bunny rabbit streak out in front of us! I had a good laugh because Ben just casually asked to go "get it"...as if that thing wasn't running at lightening speed and would be like looking for a needle in a haystack, ha!

Baby Anna had fun at the tree farm all snuggled up to Mama to keep warm!!

Ben's favorite part: rocking by the fire. He personally tested out each rocking chair a minimum of three times.

And finally, we had Christmas cards to send! The timing of our attempt at this photo - when the older boys were with us, not raining outside, right time of day for good lighting, Anna awake, clothes matching and ironed, soon enough so that the cards could be printed and mailed before 2012, and on and on....just happened to inconviently fall when Ben was tired and possibly hungry. GREAT.

The first few attempts were wildly unsuccessful. Apparently Ben didn't want to play "paparazzi" at that time.

"OK, I'll let you take my picture, but I am NOT sitting where you want me to. Here's my best fake smile!"

"I'm leaving." I love the look on Mason's face...."Darnit! So close!" Of course, Anna's being an angel :)

Wait! Come back, we have Skittles for you, Ben! Well....you see where that got us (see the yellow candy in Ben's teeth below!). Not the look I was going for, though.