Day 7.

Momma was lazy... er... I mean... Judy was not too crazy last night.... and the girls found her here this morning:

In other news, the miracle of all miracles happened today! ILA SAT WITH SANTA CLAUS! She has always been scared of Santa, while Lorel runs up to him like he's part of the family. Last year, Ila cried and wouldn't go near him while Lorel sat peacefully on his lap. Though Ila is a lot more excited about Santa this year, she insisted that if we went to see him, she would sit on the floor BESIDE him instead of sitting in his lap. I told her that we'd just go check out the whole Santa scene and if she wanted to say "hi," she could. If not, Lorel would go see him and Ila could stay with me. 

I bought the girls matching outfits (by the way, they are BOTH wearing a size XS/4-6 in LITTLE GIRLS - not toddler clothes) and actually tried to fix their hair. Most of the time, my kids look homeless. So anyway... they looked adorable and as there was not a single person in line when we got to the mall. As as Santa saw us, he waved really big at the girls and both the girls got super excited. Not only did Lorel run up to him, but Ila did too!! They sat with him for several minutes, gave him huge hugs, and even smiled AND looked at the camera for pictures! It was a Christmas miracle!!! Look how awesome their pictures turned out! And he was a darn good looking Santa.

After we had a visit with Santa, we headed to Target to do a little shopping. Ila has been asking about getting money and taking her piggy bank to the bank for cash, so today I decided to let her cash in all her change. We took the piggy to a Coinstar machine and Ila talked excitedly about the toys she was going to buy at the store. I tried to tell her that she probably wasn't going to have that much money, but my mouth dropped open as I watched the total go up on the machine. She had $40 in that piggy bank!! Not only did she buy some presents for our family, but she had enough money leftover to get a toy. A big toy. A toy that her Daddy will be sooooo proud of. My daughter bought THIS:

An aircraft carrier. 

I'm not sure if it was a good idea to let her get such a big new toy right before Christmas, but oh well. She was excited to use her own money, pick something out herself, and hand the money to the clerk. 

The girls played with it the rest of the evening. 

We had a really good day today and I'm soooo happy that the girls took such a great picture with Santa. I'm also pumped that MY HUSBAND COMES HOME TOMORROW NIGHT! It's only been a week, but I'm missing him like crazy. *sigh* Love that man.