Having a baby 2 weeks before the 25th will do that to you I guess. Even with the drastic changes to our family, we still tried to keep some semblance of order around the holidays, including continuing our family traditions. The Hubby and I each grew up with unique holiday traditions. We have tried to merge these traditions, as well as embrace new ones. Some of these include watching The Polar Express and drinking hot chocolate, decorating our Christmas tree with ornaments we have collected from travels and experiences, and filling an advent calendar with little gifts and tokens. Each year The Hubby and I alternate who fills the calendar for the other. This was my year.
This was particularly tricky as I knew I would be delivering a baby sometime in the month and therefore had to have my gifts prepared and ready to go. Since Alexia was more aware of Christmas this year, some of the gifts were for her, some for The Hubby and some for Both. Below is what I included each day in the advent calendar! Some might consider this list useful for stocking stuffers too!
(If any item was too big to fit into the tiny advent calendar, I included a clue which led them to the item).
1 - Reese's candy (The Hubby's favorite)
2 - Necklace with Christmas bell
3 - 1.5 hours video game time (The Hubby bought himself an Xbox 360 several weeks before and was anxious for some uninterrupted time to play)
4 - Dinosaurs (from the Dollar Store)
5 - Candy
6 - Starbucks gift card
7 - Johns Hopkins ornament (in honor of The Hubby recently starting grad school!)
8 - Loofah and bath crayon for bath time fun
9 - "When Santa Came to Maryland" Book
10 - Johns Hopkins tshirt (I may have bought one for myself too)
11 - Lottery ticket (We didn't win anything in case you were wondering)
12 - Package of Berger cookies - a Baltimore staple
13 - Christmas show with Mom and Dad - we were actually at the hospital for this one but Alexia got to enjoy The Polar Express with Mom, Dad, and Baby Cece when we returned home from the hospital!
14 - Hot chocolate for breakfast - we were still at the hospital for this too, but enjoyed this special drink a couple days upon our arrival home
15 - Dinosaur
16 - Dinosaur
17 - Wind up penguin toy
18 - Candy
19 - Change to put in piggy bank
20 - Starbucks gift card
21 - "I'm A Big Sister" book
22 - Stamps and stamp pad
23 - Notepad
24 - Candy
Some ideas I had that I didn't use were candy canes and reindeer beer...picture below:
Every other year I try desperately to come up with unique (small) gifts my family will appreciate so I hope this list helps you too! - says the village idiot
you are adorable
ReplyDelete