The photos in this post were gifted to us from Amanda Hacker Photography.
Baby’s first year passes by so quickly–I blinked, and Karoline is already 9 months old (cue tears). I can’t believe we’re getting ready to celebrate her first Christmas! I wanted to share some ways to celebrate baby’s first Christmas, including traditions to start and memories to make.
Since Kane was a baby, we’ve been working on building family traditions around the holidays. We’ve taken traditions from OUR childhoods and introduced new traditions. Now that Karoline is here, we are continuing on with our favorite traditions.
The key to starting (and maintaining) holiday traditions is to keep them manageable! Do not make up so many traditions that you have to stay on a tight schedule the whole month of December. Pick and choose things that make you and your family happy.
Here are some of our favorite Christmas traditions for kids:
- Make an ornament and/or buy an ornament specifically for each child.
- Drive around to see Christmas lights.
- Bake Christmas cookies (yes, the store bought Pillsbury ones are just fine).
- Elf on the Shelf, but keep it simple.
- Christmas movie night. Every Friday night in December, watch a different Christmas movie as a family. Some of our favs are Home Alone, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Frosty the Snowman, The Santa Claus, Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer, the Grinch live action movie, and as of this year, the Christmas Chronicles!
- New pajamas for Christmas Eve.
- Stockings on Christmas morning.
- Pictures with Santa and/or family pictures. We typically go see Santa twice, at Hillenmeyer Christmas Shop and Lexington Green.
One big tradition is that we typically celebrate Christmas in our little home on December 23, and then travel on Christmas Eve. We go out to eat beforehand, then come home and open gifts. This year, we’re switching things up a bit. Don’t be afraid, though, to celebrate Christmas on a different day if it makes sense for your family!
At the end of the day, remember that traditions should be fun. In the past, I’ve gotten so upset when traditions don’t go exactly as they should. SO MUCH MOM GUILT. As a mom, be a little flexible. This year, we’re actually turning some of our Christmas celebration timings upside down and we’re rolling with it.
A special thanks to Amanda Hacker Photography for shooting this session! Amanda is awesome–this was our first in-home session and she made it so easy! If you’re looking for a lifestyle photographer in the central Kentucky area, be sure to reach out to her. I always love that she captures my family in “unposed” shots that look natural. Be sure to follow her on Facebook and Instagram for specials and mini session schedules (she has a special going on right now for baby’s first year)!
