Meeting Santa and posing for the Christmas Card picture!

On November 20th, Dallas met Santa for the first time!!

Dallas got dressed up (with help from mama and daddy) in his new Christmas pants, which were part of his full Christmas outfit, purchased by Grandma (thanks!!) and we headed out.

We went to our local mall here in Appleton and thought we would be waiting in line forever once we saw the parking lot since this was the first day Santa was appearing and we got there right as he was getting back from a break
.

Alyssa dropped Michael off at the door to check how long the wait was and much to our surprise, it wasn't long at all and since they only allow 2-3 minutes per person, we figured it would move pretty quick.

So we went in. 

As we were waiting in line, Alyssa started to worry about a couple things (thanks to her OCD!)  She was worried that you would have to decide right there on the spot if you would be purchasing any pictures, she thought Dallas would be scared of Santa, she thought the pictures wouldn't turn out, she worried the Little Man's outfit would clash with Santa's outfit (okay, maybe not the last one, but you get the idea)
She sucked it up and continued to wait to see what Santa and his Elves had in store for us!

We approached Santa and thankfully Dallas wasn't scared at all.  In fact he smiled at the big guy, sat nicely on his lap, and looked right at the camera!  Say Cheese!

We DID in fact have to decide right away if we would buy any pictures because they can't move on to the next family until you complete a purchase or decide to pass...needless to say we didn't buy any, since we were able to take our own and at 20 bucks a pop for a 5x7, we figured we'd skip it!

Here are the couple we got with our own camera:

(I know what you're thinking, Michael looks THRILLED to be doing this..he loves cheesy family activities!)

Then, the next day (November 21st, if you weren't paying attention above) we dressed Dallas up in yet another handsome outfit to take our own pictures for the Christmas card!  Why not use a Santa picture?  Well Alyssa made sure to tell Michael that we needed a "horizontal" picture for the card and then as she took the pictures with Santa and Dallas, forgot (in true Alyssa forgetful fashion) and took them the opposite way!!  Oops, oh well, you all know how I love my photo shoots by now, so what's adding one more to the list?? No biggie!

So, here are some of the pictures we snapped in the comfort of our home, with Dallas sitting next to his very own tree, which we have in his room.  And a couple with the doggies:)

Posing...or falling over, whichever you like better!

"Here, do you want me to sit like this?"

"How about if I put my hand up, like I'm saying "call me"!"

A few with the Santa hat on, also courtesy of Grandma:)

Breath in, now, hold your breath for the camera...baby Yoga!

"What up, Dog(s)?"

This is a pretty good one, everyone is looking, very serious, but looking

"I've got my toes, and some dogs!"

"Hey, what the....who put this tree next to me??"

Silly faces!!

Don't worry, we are keeping the picture we actually used for the card a secret.

You'll see that when you get your card in the mail in a few weeks!!

♫It's the most wonderful time of the year♫