Christmas Party and More Sewing

This past Friday, we went to a Christmas party for Chris's job.  As is typical with all things State Department, it was a liberal party and there was not one mention of Jesus in song or otherwise.  For some reason, it's okay for the Embassy to sponsor, host, or attend Islamic religion events (especially around Ramadan), but a Christmas party specifically for Embassy families has to be "politically correct". Bah Humbug!  They put together a group of people to sing "Christmas Carols" at the party, and I was going to participate, but when I saw all the music was holiday jingles and that none of the songs had even a single mention of Jesus, I decided not to participate.  It was originally on the calendar as a "Holiday Party", so I guess I should be happy it was at least called a "Christmas Party" in the end.  Although, what is Christmas without Christ?  On our way there, I told Chris I wish I had a huge nativity necklace to wear to the party.  But I digress. As I stated in a previous post, I decided to make a Christmas dress for Charlotte to wear to the party and promised in that post to take plenty of pictures of her in it.  Well, here are those pictures!

Charlotte with her "ee ee" before we left.  I couldn't get her to smile.  I think she was still tired from her nap since we had to get her up earlier than normal to head to the party.

Charlotte and I before leaving.

Charlotte in a gazebo in the Ambassador's front yard.

Charlotte decorating a Christmas cookie.  I entered a Christmas cookie contest at the party and entered Pumpkin Whoopie Pies.  I got third place....out of five.  :-)  I thought they tasted great, but I guess if not all the judges liked pumpkin....

Charlotte Decorating a Christmas Cookie

Back of Charlotte's Christmas Dress

Big smile!  This was the best smile we got from her all day.  She loves saying "Merry Christmas!" and smiles really big every time she says it.  She was in the middle of saying it when I took this picture.

Charlotte waiting for a Christmas story and for a present from Santa.

The Ambassador reading a Christmas story to the kids.  Chris was asked to read it if the Ambassador couldn't make it to the party (he was called away for something).  The Ambassador showed up literally a minute or two before Chris was going up there to read...bummer!

 Charlotte getting a gift from Mom and Dad via Santa.  She was shy once again.

On top of going to a Christmas party, I finished another outfit for The Boy.  I bought some teddy bear sailor fabric here in Bahrain about a year ago and figured I'd find a use for it someday.  I thought it had an adorable Japanese vibe to it and thought it was cute enough to add to my stash.  I looked through my sewing patterns and found one with an infant boy's sailor romper.  I wasn't sure if it would be super duper cute, but I thought I'd give it a try since I happened to have all the notions the pattern called for, along with coordinating fabric.  Even now that it's done, I'm not sure I love it.   I definitely wouldn't love it for a 2 year old, but for a 3-6 month old?  Maybe.  It's probably a little too cutesie for anything behind a 3-6 month old, but I did get Chris's stamp of approval on it, which is comforting.  Feel free to tell me your thoughts...good and bad.