A new Christmas Tradition...I hope

This year as I have already mentioned, we had Christmas really early. The next week, David had to leave on a business trip so Ashley asked if I could come hang out with her and Emma! Oh how fun! Of course we started making the plans right then!!! We always have a million things we want to do but we wanted this week to be special!

We decided to take Emma to North Park Mall to see Santa and to spend the day shopping and eating somewhere special! It was such a perfect day. We even dressed up a bit but Emma outdid us when she her put on her Christmas dress! So adorable!
We arrived at North Park at 10, just in time to see Santa and his cute little dog arrive for story time. It was so sweet!! Then we picked up our ticket to see Santa later in the day and did a bit of fun shopping. Fun in the respect that we had both finished our Christmas shopping so this was just fun looking with NO pressure!



Lunch time was very special. When I was in the 6th grade, it was determined that I had curvature of the spine. We began seeing a team of drs at the Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas for the next four years, which required me wearing a back brace, a brace that went from my chin to my pelvic bones. Not fun. I had no idea the sacrifice and tough love my mom had for me till I was a mom myself. She knew how embarrased I was to have to wear that brace 23 hours a day but she also knew if I didn't I would be very crippled later in my life. I realized much later on in life, how hard she worked to make our trips to Dallas fun! She knew how I hated to go to this clinic and it was usually a very long day for us both. But she worked hard to make the rest of the trip amazing. We would stay in a Hotel, which was a huge treat for me! We would ALWAYS go shopping at North Park. Of course it was very hard to find clothes to fit me with this brace, but we would try things on and she would figure out a way to alter them to fit or how to copy them and come home and make me something similar. She was amazing. One thing we always did was eat at the Mermaid Bar in Neiman Marcus. It was the highlight of the trip for me. I had not thought of this place in years. When Ashley and I were making plans, I was on the computer looking for somewhere special for us to eat and that popped up on the screen! My heart soared! I knew it had to be the place I would take my daughter and granddaughter!!!! We had such a special time and we hope to make it a tradition!

North Park is just a fun place to window shop! A lot of the stores, we just walk on by but it then there are some of our favorites...PAPER SOURCE, H&M, PAPYRUS...and some amazing children's stores to ooh and aah over the clothes! They also had so many fun holiday decorations, puppet shows, etc. Here are Ashley and Emma watching a puppet show...Emma is being silly!
Here are my girls with Santa's sleigh and reindeer flying above. I remember these decorations when I was a girl! They are so neat!

Finally, it was time for Emma to have her turn in Santa's lap. It was a very long day but she did amazing. She really got only a short morning nap while we drove to Dallas, so she was way overdue for her afternoon nap. But, she was so sweet and happy. Now, she wasn't too sure about the man with the beard...but we were thrilled because there were no tears! She just sat there taking him in! It was so cute!!

Then we let her get a nap in the car, while we drove around and checked out things in the area...like stopping at SPRINKLES for a few cupcakes to take home for a evening treat! Oh yum. That was my first trip and Ashley sat in the car and let me go in and pick out which ones to take home...WHAT PRESSURE!!! I may need to do that again, Ashley!

It was a perfect day! I loved every second of it!!

The rest of the time together we watched movies, played with Emma, ate good food, Ashley worked on a wreath, etc. As always the time flew and it was time for me to come home! I loved getting to sit in the floor and play with Emma. She is growing and changing so much so I relish these moments so much.

Again, it was a precious time and I really hope it is a new tradition for us girls! I like to think that my mom was smiling down upon us as we sat in the Mermaid Bar and carried on a sweet tradition set into place many years ago!