Event Planning Continues

Our event planner has been at it again. Having already planned Halloween, her brothers' birthday parties, and Thanksgiving, she is now coordinating the family's Christmas Eve apparel.  But first, some background...

Two years ago I bought a green velvet dress for Ree on clearance after Christmas.  The dress is gorgeous, and I couldn't wait for her to wear it last year.  She kept saying she wouldn't wear it, but I thought she would come around.  Picture day came and Jeff and I were at the hospital with the boys, so my mom took her to have her to see the photographer.  She wouldn't put on the dress at home, but that was alright since it would've been crushed by her carseat.  Ree wore jeans and a t-shirt, and my mom took the dress with them.  Ree still wouldn't wear it.  My mom ended up having to buy Ree an outfit at the last second, and Ree is wearing a striped Christmas tee from the set and her jeans (she wouldn't put on the matching pants) in last year's Christmas picture.  For the record, she did wear her sparkly dress shoes.

As a result of last year's debacle, I decided to skip the dress drama this year, and I bought the kids matching pajamas to wear for their Christmas picture.  Ree was all excited about her jammies.  Hers are pink and green, "Ree two favorite colors!" 

We've learned to normally never mention outings before breakfast the day of the outing, just in case something happens, but I thankfully mentioned pictures to her this year as she was getting ready for bed the night before we went.  I'm glad I did, because that's when she informed me she was not going to wear her pajamas.  I tried discussing it, and realized that if I wanted a picture in which she was not scowling with tears running down her face, I better not make her wear the pajamas.  She told me she was going to wear her "beautiful Christmas dress."  I went to her closet and started to get out the green velvet dress which still fits, since she is the tiniest person in the world.  No, that wasn't it.  She wanted to wear her CHRISTMAS DRESS, MOMMY.  Then she pointed out the somewhat hokey red and white gingham Christmas dress she had picked out at a rummage sale earlier this fall.  It was only a dollar or two, and I bought it just in case we ended up going to church on Christmas since I didn't have much faith in her giving in and wearing the green dress this year.  I noticed that mercifully the gingham dress was already ironed.  But that brought up the dilemma, what the heck were the boys going to wear?  They would like kinda silly in pajamas with Ree wearing a nice dress.

I got lucky on that front too.  They had both just had a growth spurt, and sitting in their closet in the next size were matching white golf shirts.  Jeff had even done laundry that day, so they even both had clean jeans to wear.  Yes, jeans were the fanciest pants they owned at the time.

So we went for pictures with the kids sporting their last-minute, Ree-designed ensembles, and the pictures turned out wonderfully.  Major kudos to the photographer for managing to get a photo of all three kids looking at the camera and even 2 out of 3 smiling.  That's impressive!

But that left the Christmas pajamas.  I figured the kids might as well go ahead and wear them, and I mentioned to Ree that maybe they could all wear them on Christmas Eve so they would have them on for Christmas morning.  And an idea was born.  She decided that we ALL needed Christmas pajamas.  So I am now the proud owner of Frosty the Snowman pajamas.  She's even convinced Jeff to sleep in pajamas pants with reindeer on them.  The girl is good.

Then I checked the forecast over the weekend.  Thursday's low was supposed to be in the 50s.  The boys have fleece sleeper pajamas.  They would roast in them, especially Leon who would sleep naked if we let him.  I didn't know how to break the news to her.  But now it's supposed to be cool and rainy with a low of 44.  Still pretty warm for fleece pajamas, but it's as good as we're going to get.  So here's hoping for rain!

Of course the other wrench in the plans is that both boys are now running fevers.  Since they are both sick, I am hoping it's just viral and will run its course today.  They need to get well soon so we can have a happy, coordinated Christmas!