“The days are long, but the year is short.”
Have any of you other moms been told this before? I have heard it a bunch since become a parent. It’s often something parents of older children seem to like to tell us. I didn’t quite understand it before Petit Macaron was born, but now I definitely get it. The days seem to just drag sometimes trying to figure out ways to keep the baby entertained, battle with naps and feeding, and just making it through before crashing in the evening. It often feel very repetitive to me. And yet, I just blinked and the holidays are upon us. I look back and it seems the year has just flown by. Now we’re approaching Petit Macaron’s first Christmas and even more crazy, his first birthday.
I have been looking forward to having a kid during the holidays for the longest time. I love to see the sparkle in little ones’ eyes with the joy the holidays brings. I still feel like a kid myself with the holidays. I love the music, movies, decorations, baking, cooking, giving, and just the glow that seems to fill your spirit at this time of year. I get really giddy about it. It’s so hard but I make myself wait until Thanksgiving is over before I dive head first into my holiday mode. But Friday after Thanksgiving it’s on. I did cheat a wink, though, because I started to look for things for Petit Macaron’s first Christmas. Here are a few things I’d like to get him:
1. Baby’s First Christmas Ornament
I love finding the perfect Christmas tree and then hanging all the ornaments. Growing up, the whole family would go to the tree shops after dinner and hunt for the best tree. We often had to go to multiple tree stores before deciding. We joked that we were like Clark Griswold in Christmas Vacation. Then we’d come home, put all the ornaments on the table, and hang them. I enjoyed how each ornament would bring a different memory. I want this same experience for my new family, so I got us a Baby’s First Christmas ornament. My criteria was one that said Baby’s First Christmas as well as personalized with Petit Macaron’s (real) name and the year. We bought this one, and had it customized so his name and year was along the bottom instead. It turned out great. I also thought these four were super cute as well: one, two, three, and four.
A t-shirt or onesie that says something like, “My First Christmas” is also on my list. Let’s be honest, it’s mostly for photo purposes, but it’s so fun and I want to shout it out to the world that this is my little guy’s first Christmas – so special! I’m leaning towards getting this shirt and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the shop owner is from Tacoma – where we live!
Runner up is this onesie, which can be personalized with the baby’s name. I also liked this simple, red onesie. And this Mud Pie outfit is adorable, although a bit pricey perhaps.
3. Advent Calendar
While I like the advent calendars that are paper and have chocolates for each day, I would really like a calendar that we can use year over year that can be beautiful decoration for the home as well. I thought this would make a fun tradition. Pottery Barn Kids and Land of Nod have some beautiful options like this Christmas tree calendar or this one with little gifts. Too cute!
4. Christmas PJs
As a kid, I was so excited Christmas morning that I didn’t have time or patience to change out of my PJs. I kept this tradition into young adulthood, too. Christmas morning unwrapping gifts in your PJs is the best. I really want to get Petit Macaron a cute PJ set so he can start this same Christmas PJ tradition. We have a fleece onesie from Costco similar to this one, but I have my eye on these Hanna Anderson PJs with gnomes or these with stripes. Oh, and I could never get Mr. Macaron to agree to it, but I love these family matching PJs!
5. Stocking
My sister and I both have special stockings that my grandma sewed for us. They are just so beautiful and I really cherish it. My mom got Petit Macaron a stocking last Christmas and even gave him presents even though he was still in my belly. The stocking tradition is big in my family and is almost more fun than the normal gifts. We sit in a circle and open them one by one, person by person. Even the dog gets a stocking in our family! Again Pottery Barn and Land of Nod nailed with some cute ones!
. . . . .
I’m so excited for this wonderful season and sharing it with our son. Now, it’s time to get in the kitchen and start some cookie baking while blasting Christmas music. Yay!
blogger / apricot / 439 posts
Yes to all of these, we just loaded up on all of the same things for our girls’ first Christmas! I just got our Pottery Barn stockings in the mail last night and they are so GORGEOUS, even prettier than in the pictures.