Christmas is one of our very favorite times of the year! Leading up to the holidays we had so many of you asking about our favorite family Christmas traditions. Christmas is such a special time, we really try to go out of our way to make the most of it. This year William is so aware of Christmas and all of the special traditions that it holds. He is very into Santa Claus, which is so much fun, but we also put a big emphasis on remembering that it’s Jesus’ birthday and that’s why we’re celebrating. Henry is still a little young to understand much, but he loves the lights and the tree- and Santa in theory, but not up close! It is so much fun enjoying Christmas with our little guys! Here are some of our favorite traditions this time of year. We would love to hear from you guys with any special traditions that you enjoy with your families, too!

gingham pajama set // Christmas train pajamas // Christmas stockings // Merry Christmas stocking holder // greenery // Christmas gift wrap and gift tags // fa la la pillow // cookies for santa plate- similar // Christmas tree mugs

Christmas Pajamas

This is one of our favorite traditions that goes back way before William and Henry were born! We girls always pick out matching Christmas pajamas and now we love to pick them for the boys, too. This year we went with J.Crew’s gingham pajama sets and we are loving them in the green gingham with red trim! We love TBBC Night Night’s for the boys. Since they love trains, we had chose this cute print and we love the I Want a Hippopotamus print, too!

Advent Calendar

This is a new tradition that we started with the boys this year. William loves it but Henry is a little too young to understand. I was searching for an advent calendar that we can use from year to year, but haven’t found one that I liked yet. I ended up getting a a one-time use Advent Calendar from Meri Meri. William can’t wait to open the new box each day. He also helps set up the Nativity with the new figure each morning. The Advent Calendar was one of my favorite Christmas traditions growing up and I’m excited to continue it with my boys. We talk about how we are in a season of Advent and that waiting for Christmas is how we are preparing our hearts for Jesus coming again.

Adopt from the Angel Tree

We typically will adopt children from our church’s angel tree, but this year every child was adopted before the second service that Sunday! Instead, we adopted children from the Salvation Army tree this year. We try to choose kids who are around the same ages as the boys and the boys love to help pick out items to give to the other children.

Christmas Decorations

We make getting ready for Christmas a family affair. Christmas music, a fire and the boys help decorate the tree! This year after we finished, the boys had hot chocolate for the first time and it was definitely a hit!

Visiting Santa

This is a tradition we started for William’s first Christmas and we look forward to it every year! We take the boys to visit Santa at the Neiman Marcus Downtown. The store is always decorated beautifully, you usually wait wait less than 15-20 minutes and Santa is so nice! Plus there’s always the opportunity for shopping… We get the whole family together and after Santa pictures we head to brunch – usually at Americano! Did you see this year’s Santa picture?!

Christmas Eve Service

One of our favorite Church services of the year is Christmas Eve service. The children are included in the service and we sing lots of worship songs and Christmas carols. There is always a candlelight song at the end and it really sets the tone for awaiting Jesus. Following Christmas Eve service we all head to my parents’ house for appetizers and dinner, followed by each of us getting to open one gift. Then it’s time for bed and waiting for Santa!

gingham pajama set // Christmas train pajamas // Christmas stockings // Merry Christmas stocking holder // greenery // Christmas gift wrap and gift tags // fa la la pillow // cookies for santa plate- similar // Christmas tree mugs

Cheers,

Stia, Jean and Katherine

Photographs by Audrie Dollins