I am linking up with the fabulous AP at
I Love You More Than Carrots. She is awesome. She has the most adorable toddlerbeast who never seems to stop moving and AP has some sass that makes me laugh every.single.day. Her and a few other bloggy gals are doing a week long holiday link up. It has been so fun reading and getting ideas up the wazoo!!!!
I LOVE Christmas. Almost as much as I LOVE a good ol' tradition.
I love traditions soooooooo much I usually get stressed to the max about doing them..... Ha Ha! Sad...but true. You see, I am the oldest, seemingly type A and have the need to do everything and do it right!! BUT, this year, I am determined to complete our usual traditions, along with some new ones, and some to store away some for the future, and not go crazy.
Haha! She was less than thrilled with meeting Santa :)
{If you just want a brief overview skip to the bottom}
Growing up. Lets start here.
The 23rd. My dad's side of the family is a crazy bunch. C-R-A-Z-Y, but I love them :) Anyways, we have a Danish Christmas on the 23rd that is filled with Danish food, singing and dancing around the Christmas tree, and so many other things. Oh what fun it is to be a Dane :)
yes, we even danced around the tree at our wedding! It was so close to Christmas, we couldnt not do it!
The 24th. We always went to Christmas eve service, I usually sang some sort of Christmas tune that I would FREAK out before but would do it every year because it was, well, tradition. We would then head over to the gparents and have a wonderful spread of food, head home and put out our cookies for santa.
Christmas Day. We would wake up in a flurry, wake the siblings, check the stockings before waking mom and dad :) and then the thinking would start. Thinking? Yes. My mother, my wonderful mother. I guess growing up they had a crazy tradition of wrapping presents for each kiddo but NOT putting a tag on them. You had to figure out what wrapping paper represented each child and WHY. So of course she wanted to keep those crazy traditions going. Talk about making a child go crazy on Christmas morning. Sometimes it would take us 30 minutes, and I seriously think one time it took us like 3 hours. Insanity.
this is a picture at my moms Christmas morning last year....auntie nikki looks less than pleased :)
Once we would finally figure it out we would open the presents and then have a delicious brunch and relax the rest of the day.
Married Life. YIKES
Add double. Seriously double. In 2007, the year we got married, I had finals in college all the way until the 19th, got married on the 21st, and then started the Christmas events on the 23rd. Yeah, I was crazy with a capital C. Just ask the new hubby wondering why he married a crazy at the time. Well the husband's family is Swedish, so naturally they celebrate their being Swedish on the 23rd too! Why not? Then on the 24th they have a Korean Meal (he has cousins that were born there). Delish. So so good. And then on Christmas morning his immediate family would get together, then have huge caramel rolls at his aunt's with the rest of their family, and then head to his parents for yet, another big meal, and of course to watch the Lakers later on :)
So what do 2, 3, and 4 day
naive newlyweds do? All of it of course!
naive people. We just had no clue. Fun of course, but so, so exhausting.......
Married with a kid. Double Yikes.
Well this is going to be our 2nd year, and since I am determined not to get over stressed, I am hoping our plans work out wonderfully and we just get to enjoy the reason for the season and the extra time with the family. Last year Kal was a mere 2.5 weeks old, and naturally everyone wanted to see the new babe. Duh, she is the darn cutest little thing :) So it was a little difficult but we managed. We celebrate with my Dad and stepmom this weekend with our immediate family. Then we are sticking with the every other rule. My fam for the 23rd, husbands for the 24th, OUR family in the am on Christmas Day, then my momma's and then back to the husbands for lakers game Christmas day meal. I know things will get tweaked here and there.......but I just dont want to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of shuffling around and I want to enjoy celebrating Jesus' birthday!
Some of our other fun traditions {and ones I will start hopefully next year with Kal!}
2. Cookie day #2 on Sunday! This is with our family friends, and it is all girls. We make it all, not just cookies...especially this year thanks to
pinterest!
3.
Christmas Card - last year I combined with Kal's
birth announcement
4. I am planning on starting
Advent Christmas books next year with Kal! I have already scored a few great deals on Christmas books and plan to get more after Christmas when they are on major sale! Their are other ideas floating out there that I would love to incorporate too!!
5. Matching jammies! Well not
matching, but coordinating :) I was late to the party on this one, and everything I have found just isnt working (sizing, out of stock, etc)....Kal has new jammies already washed and wrapped for Christmas eve, but momma and dada will have to settle for 'fairly' new ones....but watch out for next year, I will be on the hunt!
6. Elf on the Shelf. I have to admit, I think the elf that comes in the box with the book is a bit on the creepy side, so I am on the lookout for a less creepy one :) Kal is much too young to understand, but maybe next year? I have seen so many great ideas!
7. Ever since we lost miss
Emma we have brought a basket of toys/necessities to the NICU at the hospital I delivered her at. They were so wonderful to us, I love bringing it every year, in hopes to help or lift up a family that is going through so much. Giving is such a huge part of my heart and I want my kids to know the great joy that comes from that!
8. Most importantly, I want to make sure our children know that Christmas is about JESUS.
I think that covered
most of our traditions...I love them and cant wait to read and get some more!!!
Yeah, everyone has a 'danish' shot 
Dancing around the Christmas tree
Yes, the girl was.not.happy! Ha! Maybe next year?
