We kicked off the Christmas festivities on December 16th, with Evelyn's school Christmas show. It was, as I said to Jonathan 984 times, adorable. All the classes did a different song/skit and then Santa made an appearance to give out some early Christmas toys to all the kids.
Evelyn's class, Las Mariquitas, sang "Rudolfo el Reno." Her teachers were sure that she would just love it, as they'd been practicing at school for weeks and they said Evelyn was all about the singing and dancing.
When it came to be showtime, though...
We had a sad little reindeer on our hands. She made it through almost the whole song before running over for some comfort from mom.
She (predictably) wanted nothing to do with sitting on Santa's lap, but she let her dad accept a toy from the big man and then all was right with the world because she had her very own set of Hot Wheels!
After the show, we zipped over to the Museum of Life and Science, where we met up with Adrian, Abby, and Linus for our first experience on the Santa Train! It was chilly and rainy, which is perfect for a winter activity.
After warming up with some hot chocolate, we boarded our train and saw Santa. Twice in one day! He tried to get Evelyn to give him a high five, but she mostly just started with some skepticism in her eye. What can I say? She comes by it honestly. My first job ever was as Santa's Elf at the mall in Wichita and I'll be the first to tell you that Santa was one creeeeeeeepy man. But I'm trying to keep the innocence alive for Evelyn. We'll see if she warms up to him next year.
After a few more days of work/school for us (topped off by a three-hour IEP meeting which was interrupted by a fire alarm - not drill, but real alarm with trucks at the school and all while we waited out in the rain), it was finally time for Christmas break!
MeeMaw and Pop Pop arrived, and soon the big day was here.
Evelyn received an abundance of gifts, including the kitchen above and run-bike below. She also loves all her new books!
Speaking of books, Terry and I were the only adult Bartels in attendance who did not receive some sort of Kindle device this year. Even Linus got a little Leap-pad tablet, so it was funny to look around on Christmas day and see everyone plugged in. I'm contemplating asking for a Kindle for my birthday, now that I've seen them in person, but we'll see!
I also have a magnificent photo of Evelyn screaming and crying on Santa's lap, but I need to scan it so just bear with me and I'll try to post it here soon.
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In Baby Dos news, there are some exciting updates. Such as: I don't have pre-eclampsia right now! And, Baby Dos is transverse! And, if lil' Dos is breech/transverse in a couple more weeks, that doesn't mean an automatic c-section because they'll try aversion (turning baby from the outside) first. Hooray! I'm going to the doctor weekly now, but so far they're holding off on having me come in extra for ultrasounds or Non-Stress Tests because even though my blood pressure is creeping up a little bit, it's still not technically hypertension/pre-eclampsia. So no additional monitoring/intervention is necessary at this point. All of this is good good good. Now we just hope things remain the same and little Dos can stay put for at least a few more weeks. I haven't even started painting the nursery and I'm just starting the hunt for a twin bed for Evelyn!
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