here comes santa claus.

on monday night, we took emma to see santa for the very first time! she has seen pictures of him, read about him in books, seen him in movies, and sung about him in christmas songs, but she's never met him. so we decided to brave the lines at the mall 2 days before the jolly man in the red suit has to go back to the north pole and spread christmas cheer to boys and girls all over the world!

we went to willowbend, and stood in line for an hour-and-a-half. jason, as you can imagine, was less than thrilled. i, on the other hand, was enjoying every one of those 90 minutes! : )

willowbend was decorate in a polar express theme, and seeing as emma has a bit of a fascination with trains at the moment, she was really excited.

of course, she was even more excited to see santa.

here are some pictures of our fun, santa-filled evening:

willowbend had such beautiful trees & decorations up!

the conductor in front of the polar express.
it was "really snowing" at this part of the "exhibit." the snow just happened to be flakes of styrofoam that stuck to everything - including hair and christmas dresses - just in time for pictures! : )

the polar express at the "north pole."

waiting for santa with nonna.

"pull lever."
she could make the train "stop" in one area of the exhibit/line.

driving the train.

pretty girl.
can't WAIT to see santa!

"i see him! there's santa!"

when santa asked emma what she wanted him to bring her for christmas, she said, "ummmm... present."
hehe! so cute!

emma was SO excited to meet santa claus, but of course when we got up there, she freaked out and kept on saying "oooohhh! no mommy!" so, i had to sit on his lap with her. santa was a gentleman, though... don't get any crazy ideas! : )

santa complimented emma on her beautiful dress and pretty princess shoes. he also promised to bring her some snow to build a frosty, and an "ariel" (or how emma calls it, "a nemo-friend") doll!

the silly girl was too scared to sit with santa by herself, but she talked up a storm to him, and even gave him a big kiss on the cheek when we left! (she's such a tease!)

we had so much fun with santa! i can't wait unti she's excited to be able to tell santa what she wants and all that...

christmas is SO much fun with kiddos!

merry christmas!