Christmas Traditions

For Jo's first Christmas, we decided on a present tradition for the kids: 

Something I want

Something I need

Something to wear

and 

Something to read

They also get an ornament on the day we go and get our Christmas tree, as well as pajamas and a Christmas book on Christmas Eve.

For Jo's Christmas it was easy knowing what she may want and we knew what she needed. Her wear and read are things that I always have fun looking for and picking the perfect thing out for her. 

Here's how Jo's presents broke down:

Want:

Jo loves using our Norwex mop and always has to help us sweep, so it was obvious that getting her a Kids Norwex mop would be the perfect thing. And boy, were we right! She loves her new mop!

Need:

Okay...so maybe this need was more for my sake than her's, but we desperately needed a place to store her crayons and art supplies.

Wear:

My girl loves her kitty cats, so I thought a kitty cat dress would be perfect for her.

Read:

If you are ever in the market for a new children's book, I can't recommend this one enough! God Made Light is a wonderful book and I find myself with tears in my eyes every time I read this book to my girl. She seems to enjoy it too. But seriously, I LOVE this book!

James kind of got the short end of the stick for his first Christmas:

Want:

Jo had the Minnie Mouse version of this rattle and loved it, so it was only fitting that we got one for James as well.

Need:

The mat we had for James was on its last leg due to his big sister sitting on the arches, so it was time to invest in a new one. So far he seems to love it, which is more to say than the last mat.

Wear:

We had to get him a pair of Carhartt overalls! And they are just the absolute cutest!

Read:

the Story of Ferdinand just seemed fitting for my little boy's first Christmas. I look forward to reading this to him many times over the next few years.

Do y'all have any present traditions when it comes to your family? 

Our Christmas in Photos

We had a wonderful Christmas. I loved sharing the day with my little girl. It was so much more fun seeing it through her eyes.

Here is a recap through pictures.

We took Bug to visit Santa the day before Christmas Eve. The pictures speak for themselves...

She clearly loved him. Side note: She's wearing my Christmas dress from when I was her age! I love that I got to share that with her!

Christmas Eve is spent with the hubs's family.

The hubs's grandmother with her five great-granddaughters.

Then it was off to home to open up our Christmas pajamas and enjoy our Christmas tree!

Then...before we knew it, Christmas morning was upon us!

Bug's read: Hopalong Jack and the Blue Bunnies

Bug's wear: two new dresses and headbands from Little Hip Squeaks

Bug's need: big girl car seat

Bug's want: her very own playroom (more on the playroom later)!

Then it was off to my parent's house for Christmas with Bibi and Papi!

Bug got me my Mama Bear sweatshirt from Loved by Hannah and Eli and she got her daddy those camo pants he's wearing in the picture.

We had such a wonderful Christmas, now onto the New Year and a certain little girl's first birthday!

Christmas Card

This is my first year doing Christmas cards, but who could resist not doing them with this cutie?! I'm hoping to keep these going. There's something special about receiving a Christmas card in my opinion.

The picture is from my cousin's wedding. There was a little barn with Christmas lights, and I just couldn't help but capture the moment! I won't mention what we went through to get this picture, I'm just happy it turned out.

I knew I wanted to design the card and make it my own. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I ended up ordering them through Costco, and I just love the way they came out! In my opinion, they're perfect.

Linking up with the Christmas Card Carousel! Merry Christmas everyone! May your days be merry and bright!

The Christmas Train

This past weekend, we took Bug up to Blue Ridge to enjoy the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway. Every Christmas they do Christmas train rides complete with the Grinch, Frosty, and an Elf. The best part is that Santa and Mrs. Claus are on the train too!

I was a little apprehensive about how Bug would handle the train and sitting on our laps for the time. She's not much of a sitter, but she loved it! It helped that there was a lot going on and the train was moving.

There were people moving back and forth throughout the train. Lots and lots of children. It was such a fun setting for her!

She seriously loved looking out the windows.

See what I mean?

She kept bouncing up and down and hitting the window, cooing and talking and laughing up a storm!

Despite the look on her face, she was completely in awe of Santa! I expected some screaming due to her behavior earlier that morning, but she was an angel! And that bell in her hands? Her new favorite toy. She likes to stick it in her mouth (don't worry, it's huge and the strings are always outward) and crawl around with it.

See what I mean? In complete awe! She loved it!

The hubs and I have decided that this will definitely be a tradition we do every year! It was so much fun and I loved sharing it with my little girl.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

The Saturday after Thanksgiving is the day that the hubs and I typically go and get our Christmas tree. It had been a hard couple of days for us, so I was looking forward to getting out and taking Bug tree shopping. 

We went to Cagle's Family Farm to pick out our tree. It was amazing! There were so many beautiful trees that we had a hard time choosing one! Mrs. Claus was there to bring smiles and share joy. She made Bug's day by giving her yummy cookies. Bug was sold after that! They also had free hot chocolate, coffee, and marshmallows to roast. It was such a wonderful experience and we will definitely be going back there next year!

Once we were home, it was time to decorate. Bug went straight down for a nap, so that made decorating a little easier. But once she got up, we had a mini photo shoot.

She was completely fascinated by the lights! I loved her reaction to seeing everything for the first time. It's amazing seeing the magic through her eyes. It makes everything new once again!

I am loving sharing this season with her! It's so special!

I love my cozy fireplace and mantle. It's so cheery and bright. I can't help but smile when I see it.

Our beautiful tree that we got from Cagle's Family Farm! It's seriously perfect - I may be biased though. I loved watching Bug's reaction to the tree. And it's a new reaction every morning. She's already found her favorite ornaments and I make sure to keep those at the bottom so she can play with them all she wants.

I think my favorite decor is the strand of lights we added to Bug's room. There's something about sleeping underneath those lights that is simply magical. I hope they bring sweet dreams to her as she sleeps.

Christmas

It's July and I'm already thinking (and planning) for Christmas this year. It's going to be a special year: Bug's first Christmas. To say that I'm excited is an understatement. I already love the season, and now that I get to share it with my daughter, I don't know if I'll be able to contain myself! I know she won't remember this Christmas, but I will and I look forward to telling her all about it in years to come.

With a new baby, the hubs and I are starting new traditions, and continuing old ones. One tradition that we have is shopping for the Christmas tree. We go the Sunday after Thanksgiving, this way, we can enjoy the tree for as long as possible. This year we're adding to this tradition. To help make it more special, we'll be buying an ornament for Bug (we've actually already bought her ornament this year when we were in Disney) and letting her "open" it that same day. This way she has a special new ornament to put on the tree.

Another tradition will be with her presents. I don't feel like Christmas should ever be about presents. It's about the birth of Christ and the time we get to spend with family. In order to hopefully minimize future drama (I know I'm kind of dreaming, but maybe if we start early, it'll smooth things over) but we're going with four gifts: wear, need, want, read. (I believe I read about this somewhere on Pinterest, if you know where, please help me so I can give credit where credit is do!)

Wear: This one is self explanatory. Bug will get a new outfit every Christmas. In my mind, an outfit starts at the head with a bow or headband and ends at the feet with new shoes. We'll see if the hubs agrees with me.

Need: This year this is an easy-ish one. Sooner than later, Bug needs a new car seat. That being said, this will most likely be her "need" present this year, even though we'll get it before Christmas...she won't know the difference though.

Want: One of the two things Bug gets to ask for. This year we get to choose her "want" and at the moment I'm leaning towards getting her a teepee. She'll be 11 months at Christmas though, so I don't know if this will still be a relevant gift at the time. Any recommendations? I personally think it would be fun for her to have and she can grow with it, which is a bonus. I love gifts that can last.

Read: I'm a huge advocate for reading. For this gift, Bug can request a book (when she gets of age to pick out books). This year we get to pick out a book for her. 

I'm hoping to get an early start on shopping so that I'm not bombarded all at once. Plus, I don't think our pocketbooks can handle that much cash flow in one stop. 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Christmastime is my favorite time of the year. I love the holiday cheer, the decorating, and time with family. This holiday season has been different. I'm a day away from being 37 weeks pregnant. Full term. So this holiday season has been a lot more stressful. I haven't been able to do as much as I would have liked, but we've still gotten things up around the house. We went in search of a tree and the hubs {my hero} put in an electrical outlet outside so that we can actually have lights outside this year! 

Here are a few pictures from our decorations around the house. Sorry if you're a follower on instagram, these pictures are repeats. If you're not a follower, come check me out @ awood009.

Our icicle lights outside. We added some more lights around the door. 

We added Baby Girl's stocking just in case she decided to come before Christmas. 

Baby Girl got her daddy a little gift :)