Christmas Eve Pajamas

As many of you do, we have the tradition of opening pajamas on Christmas Eve. This year I've been shopping around for months (yes, I am one of those pyschos who can't handle not having Christmas shopping done by the first of October--and I've been all done since the first of October EXCEPT Christmas Eve pajamas) without any luck.

I bought some matching Carter's pink santa pajamas for the girls but wasn't real crazy about them. Miriam informed me this year that a nightgown would make her "so happy." Duly noted. She's never had a nightgown before but I can see where it would make her princess heart sing with joy to go to bed in a close approximation of a dress. But nightgowns tend heavily toward Hannah Montana these days--and I'm just not going there.

Then I was more flabbergasted that Cowen had moved into the little boy size in pajamas (no 5T Christmas pajamas to be found) and apparently little boys don't wear Christmasy things--they wear batman and iron man (who is that, anyway??), and cars. Hmm--not my style.

And for Emeline--more of the same old thing.

The only pair of pajamas I WAS excited about was Brigham's. They are red and white striped and look like long johns and they are ADORABLE! At least they will be, when I see them. I found them at Smith's Marketplace in Logan but not in the right size, so my little sister Lindsay had the sale person call every store until they found a 0-3 month size and supposedly they shipped it to Logan where Mom is going to pick them up for me. I haven't heard anything about them yet--but here's hoping all went as planned.

I spent an hour at Kohl's tonight looking through every single pair of pajamas and shaking my head in disgust at how little I liked any of it. (Have I mentioned before how much I loathe shopping and do almost all of it online.) Then I found a ballerina nightgown. Miriam wants to be a ballerina. She's obsessed with the Nutcracker and despite being completely broke--I bought tickets for her and Tim for their annual Christmas date to The Nutcracker today, actually. I even bought tickets for the Sugar Plum Fairy tea party after the performance so Miriam can MEET the Sugar Plum Fairy. As is normally the case--this means that for my anniversary Timothy and I will be sharing a pint of Haagen-daz ice cream and renting a movie, but something in me really loves watching Miriam dressed to the hilt sashaying out the door for her "big" date with Daddy to watch her beloved ballet. Some things are worth the price tag.

That is neither here nor there with pajamas though. The point is that Miriam loves ballet and the ballerina nightgown at Kohl's--though not perfect because I didn't like the silky fabric--was still much better than anything else I'd found. Unfortunately, there were none her size. The only store that had it was Draper, over an hour away and they DO NOT have inter-store shipping. What is that about?

When I got home, I turned on my trusty computer and looked up the nightgown online. There were none her size and apparently, only Kohl's carries it. That I could find, anyway. So then I started random searches for "ballet AND nightgown" (don't go there, by the way), and hastily amended to "ballet AND nightgown AND kids". Ah, much better. I finally stumbled on a website that had a . . . are you ready for this . . . PINK NUTCRACKER NIGHTGOWN. It has lace and ruffles and Clara and everything. Can you believe my good fortune?!!!

It also had a really cute pair of footed pajamas that are blue with snowmen and two sets of ruffly lace that are entirely adorable for Emeline. I can now return the pink santa pajamas and duck pajamas (they weren't bad and supported her crazy duck fetish, but the colors weren't great and they looked like every other pair of Carter's fuzzy pajamas--nothing Christmas Eve special about them) that I previously purchased for her. I can return the two nightgowns I bought for Miriam.

And as soon as they arrive in the mail, I can wrap them and be COMPLETELY DONE WITH CHRISTMAS SHOPPING!!! YEEHAW!!

In case you're wondering, Lindsay Ann found some perfect pajamas for Cowen. They are yellow and navy blue with mock layered sleeves and have a monkey riding a snowboard on the front and says, "I do all my own stunts." Lindsay Ann saw them and laughed because that day Cowen had a cut under one eye from a strange shovel incident, another cut on the side of his other eye from unknown causes, and a huge goose egg on the center of his forehead. He was walking up the stairs, mysteriously tripped, banged his knees and smacked his forehead hard on the cement. The kid really needs to learn how to walk. But the pajamas--very cute and very perfect for Cowen.

That's it. Four pairs of pajamas. Four kids. All ready and accounted for.

PS I ADORE fuzzy Carter's pajamas. Hope I didn't give the wrong impression there. When I am pregnant, nothing sets off my tear ducts faster than a really cute pair of fuzzy Carter's infant pajamas.