Dear Leyton and Finn,
It always feels like Christmas goes so quickly! This was baby Finn’s first Christmas and we are so excited to have you joining in on our new family holiday traditions, baby boy! Your Santa Baby pictures are some of my favorites! They make me smile big with all your rolls.
Leyton, you seemed to kind of get Santa this year due to other kids around you talking about it so much. When we asked you what you wanted from Santa, you always said, “blue candy.” which meant M&M’s. 😉 I was shocked when you plopped right up in Santa’s lap with Baby Finn and neither of you cried.
Some of our favorite family holiday traditions include:
- Chinese food with my family after our Christmas Eve service
- We added in wearing matching Christmas jammies this year for the two brothers!
- We all get in our Christmas jammies and get either coffee/hot chocolate or Chick-Fil-A (this year) to go look at Christmas lights and listen to Christmas music.
- We started doing Star from Afar and an advent calendar with stickers this year which was fun to incorporate!
- We created stockings full of items at the Dollar Tree that Leyton helped me pick out to give to kids in need.
Leyton you still love “the fox” at our neighbors house and go down to “kriss” him or check on him whenever you can. I think at this point you are very confused about what a fox and a reindeer are as sometimes you’ll tell me our ornaments are foxes and sometimes reindeer. We even picked out two ornaments at the mall together this year one of which is a family of foxes that now have our names on them so I won’t forget this memory and then you insisted the green and yellow garbage truck was your favorite so we had to get that one for you!
We absolutely loved watching you run out this year to the tree with so much excitement! We got you 3 gifts + a stocking. Clothes, Shoes, Lego Duplos Cars set & Santa got you Top Wings toys with his favorite being the Flash Wing Rescue set. It’s really funny when people ask you what you got for Christmas because you always reply, “A Christmas tree!” Haha, it’s so cute!
This was our second year in a row to get together with our friends and watch Santa come by on a FIRE TRUCK – one of your favorites! – on Christmas Eve and enjoy apps and drinks together before the Christmas Eve service. You were so cute standing up on your tippie toes and waving at Santa so excitedly!
You helped your Aunt Holly and I pass out gifts for the first time this year and loved that you got to open Baby Finn’s gifts too. You kept trying to open everyone’s gifts for them though. HA!
We are enjoying this young and fun age with you and the fact that Christmas isn’t too complicated yet. We are very grateful for our friends and family members that helped make Christmas so special this year.
MLWL Reader Questions about family holiday traditions:
How do you keep the amount of gifts in check that are from grandparents and other family members?
Luckily from Leyton’s very first Christmas we set the expectation that we did NOT want a ton of toys and if anything these first few years were a chance to keep it minimal since he won’t really remember it. We asked for things like diapers, clothes, socks, and educational toys for Leyton and Finn the first few years. We also asked the grandparents/aunts/uncles to check with us about gifts before buying please so we can make sure it’s not too big and we have somewhere to store it. OF COURSE, they still get too much and they don’t always listen but for the most part everyone is respectful of our wishes.
Do you plan to do Santa, why or why not? Did your parents?
My parents always did Santa with us as did Eric’s parents. My parents basically let me believe until I came to them and asked if he was real. When I asked, they just didn’t lie to me. I assume Eric and I will handle it the same way. We don’t really emphasize Santa in our home but Leyton hears all about him from others of course so we just bring one to two unwrapped gifts from Santa and let that be that for now.
How do you deal with what could be considered “drama” at Christmas?
Fortunately my family doesn’t really have much drama…perhaps because I come from a smaller family. I do my best to stay out of it or be a peacemaker if I can at all be. I of course don’t know your situation but when it does come up Eric and I try to take a step back and have good perspective on the situation as a whole and why each party may feel that way.
Can you explain the baby Jesus cake? I think it’s a southern thing but I’ve never seen it until this year.
My nana always made a coconut cake for Christmas and then a tiny coconut cake that we put a candle on and used to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. It’s a fun way to keep the focus on Christmas’ true meaning, the birth of our Savior!
I’ve been talking to my husband about doing the 3 presents thing for our little girl + a stocking. How is that?
We really like it because it helps us keep things under control and then we can point to how the 3 wisemen each brought a gift to baby Jesus. If Leyton has a gift to open like socks or something that is boring, then I may add in candy or something fun to that package as a bonus happy.
