Historically, we have ran from house to house to house without catching a breath and this year we decided it was time to make our own family traditions. And really, we can see family any of the 364 days of the year too, right?
This year we tried to keep things simple, but I soon realized my closet that I collect things throughout the year was quickly filled up! Santa brought Miss H a Hatchimal which took seriously 2 hours to hatch. Funny now looking at all the reviews and how fired up people were!
Miss H got lots of educational toys. Amazon had a Melissa & Doug bundle over the summer, and I jumped on that. Word puzzles, a clock puzzle, magnets and more. She was so excited! We asked that anyone gifting her anything it would be a relational gift of an experience with her or a membership. We were able to get a renewed membership to the Zoo and the Magic House from her grandparents. Two of our favorite places! We have no shortage of toys in our house, so the activities are perfect throughout the year! Truly the gift that keeps on giving! In addition, she was gifted dance lessons and soccer in the spring when it warms up. She needs to be active to burn off all her energy.
Hubs also insisted on a few oldies but goodies and he picked up some Lincoln Logs and Tinker Toys. Such an engineer, but that’s typically what Miss H gravitates towards. He’s enjoyed being home the last few days and building things.
When all was said and done (and the 2 hours of waiting for the egg to hatch) we hosted a VERY low key open house for siblings and grandparents to see everyone. I whipped up a few snacks and asked everyone to bring something and it was just very chill. I very much enjoyed it. We had a 3 hour time slot and were able to have an early evening. Miss H hasn’t been napping so she isn’t the most pleasant at night, so we also wanted to take that into consideration.
Overall, we loved our new Christmas. Exactly what we wanted. When you’re a young family, you want to start making those traditions that stick with you every year, so we’ll definitely build on that going forward. With this being Miss H’s first real year of understanding Santa and Baby Jesus it was a really neat experience to see it through her eyes. She also insisted reindeer needed a “Prot Shake” – because all reindeer need protein shakes, right? She said they needed their muscles to be big and strong for the sleigh. I guess I can’t argue with that!
So same with Christmas, we’re having a low key New Years. We’ll be doing a fun fancy dinner at home and just enjoying the day. I’ve put together some thoughts on this year, goals for next year and the direction this little blog is heading and I’ll share with you soon.
2017 is looking to be a great year for our family and the little blog that could.
How was your Christmas and what traditions do you have?
Jessica Kessler says
Looks like you had a wonderful Christmas! I love the new tradition you started. We don't live near family, so we had people here for the holiday, but it was so nice to enjoy a low-key weekend.
I'm waiting for us to have a kid and we decide to start our own thing and my in-laws explode over that. Glad you had a great time!
I love how you all handled Christmas!! We were exhausted from two days of running and I was telling Jared that when we have kids I don't want to do that anymore. I want to make special traditions just us and them and really savor the holiday.
Awww I love that you had a nice Christmas at home! I think that when we have little ones, we'll do the same 🙂
I love the idea of a 3 hour open house… Brilliant!