All the yuletide fun you can cram into one weekend

This past weekend, I think we did every stereotypical Christmassy thing in the book.

Friday, we went to the mall so Kate could sit on Santa's lap while we tried in vain to get her to smile, singing a holiday version of her favorite song, Old MacDonald ("with a ho ho here and a ho ho there"... hmm, maybe that's not such a good idea). We paid way too much for the smallest photo option you could get, then came home and scanned our overpriced 5x7.
Santa was about 17, by the way. And though Kate didn't smile, she didn't cry either. She's so comfortable with new people, she just sat there, looked at us, and occasionally looked up at him. (If you are disappointed that this is not one of those hilariously adorable scared-of-Santa photos, go here. Poor Megan has the funniest Santa photo I think I've ever seen.)
Granna and Opa came with us. Yes, Santa was right in front of Victoria's Secret ("with a ho ho here..." ahem. excuse me. j/k, I love VS.) We faced the other direction to take Granna and Opa's picture with Kate for their Christmas card. A mall security guard came over a moment later to tell us it is against the law to take pictures in a mall. I actually knew that, from an incident with my Passport buddies 6 1/2 years ago, but I forgot.
We then went over to the Christmas tree lot and picked out our tree. The last two years, our eyes have been bigger than our living room, and we've had to cut 6-8 inches off the tree in order for it to fit. So, this year we were more realistic, paid less, and found a great tree that won't wipe sap all over our living room ceiling.

The next morning, we were excited to show Kate the tree, all decorated with lights and beads and ornaments...

(Including her "Baby's First Christmas" ornament from Granna and Opa)

... but she didn't seem to care! We were expecting her to yank at the branches, try to pull off the few kid-safe ornaments we put near the bottom, etc., but she just toddled right past the tree, over to the area where I had been wrapping gifts, and immediately became preoccupied with a red marker. Oh well. That afternoon, I baked cookies! Hopefully, they're tasty, but honestly, I mainly do it for the joy of putting on an apron, turning on one of the XM Christmas stations via our TV, and playing happy--no, merry--housewife!

Sunday night, we rounded out our stereotypically-Christmassy weekend with a Christmas pageant at church, in which Kate played an angel! It was precious. Without even realizing it, we turned into those parents that pay no attention to the play at all because they are too busy photographing and filming their child. Check out the video!