Christmas Eve 2010

This was, without a doubt, our best Christmas season ever. For the weeks leading up to the big day, Andrew and I repeatedly remarked to each other (and to anyone that would listen), how excited we were for Christmas. That this Christmas was the most exciting since we were little kids ourselves. That we were loving every second of the holiday season, enjoying every moment, taking advantage of every possible local Christmas-themed event.

Christmas with a three-year-old is like nothing else. I can only assume it gets better, at least for the next few years, but this year was without a doubt, our best yet. Chase's excitement was tangible. He believed in everything Christmas with such solid resolution, that I almost had to question my own cynicism about all things Santa. Putting out milk and cookies on Christmas Eve, I briefly found myself assuming that Santa and Rudolph would really be the ones eating our offerings, and not Andrew and my parents and I. Everything about the month of December was positively magical, culminating Christmas Eve as the anticipation rose and family arrived, and we were all so happy that I couldn't imagine us living a better holiday than this one.

My parents arrived from Savannah early Christmas Eve morning, and that was the first in a series of events that made it feel like the holiday was really, finally upon us. Chase showed my mom and dad our Christmas tree (which they had of course seen a few weeks prior when they'd come up for my grandfather's funeral, but I suppose Chase figured this was a better context for the tour), told them about Anthony, our Elf on the Shelf, and generally shared his contagious excitement with anyone who came within a twenty-food radius of him.

We attended the children's Christmas Eve service at our church, St. Andrew's, drove around to look at some Christmas lights, and then returned home for the first of several amazing feasts cooked by my dad. We were joined by Andrew's parents, plus Jill and Pete, and we were treated to an amazing meal of filet mignon and fresh Georgia shrimp and grits with a Raspberry Chipotle sauce. It was decadent and wonderful.

Once we convinced Chase that he had to go to bed in order for Santa to come, we got down to the business of creating Christmas morning. Presents were stacked under the tree, stockings were filled, and the aforementioned cookies, carrots and milk were left out for Santa and his reindeer. As exhausting as the day had been, Andrew and I were so excited that we found it hard to sleep that night, and I actually felt a little sad, knowing that this magical, wonderful month was coming to an end. Although we still had the next day to look forward to...

One excited Christmas Eve boy (I should note that Andrew has decided that 2010 marked the last year that Chase would be wearing any "Savannah-style" outfits, citing that he's too old for them now. I don't know if this only applies to when we're up North, or if his decree extends South to Georgia, so stay tuned)