Running from the Law: Celebrating Baby's First Christmas

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Friday, December 7, 2012

Celebrating Baby's First Christmas


Celebrating Baby's First Christmas - ideas, traditions and favorite items

Well, if you're anything like me, you're SUPER excited about creating Christmas traditions with your little ones.  I am so excited to be able to share some of my favorite parts of the holiday season with Mac as he gets older.  I can't wait to see his face light up when he sees his presents from Santa under the tree on Christmas morning.  I can't wait to hear him sing Christmas carols to me while we drive through the neighborhood looking at lights.  I can't wait to bake gingerbread cookies with him, decorate the tree with him and watch It's a Wonderful Life together.  

But all of those things come later.  This year he's a baby.  A baby that can't sing, can't bake and would rather play with a paper bag than any toys he gets from Santa.  What am I supposed to do with a baby that can't do anything?  Actually Parent's Magazine a great list of 17 ways to make baby's first Christmas special that I thought was really good.  I especially liked the idea of hosting a "baby party" (since so many of my friends have little ones this year), putting some decorations in the baby's room and having a "Baby Day" with your little one.

In addition, there are a couple other things I want to do with Mac and a couple things I want to get/do/make to get our Christmas traditions started.  Here's our list...

Stocking
Every kid needs a stocking, of course.  Where else is Santa going to put all that tooth-rotting candy and those little crappy Target dollar-bin gifts that will fall apart immediately and end up in the trash by New Year?  As a kid I used to LOVE hanging up my stocking every year on my own hook.  My stocking had a giant Santa Claus face on it with a few sequins and my name.  It meant the world to me.  

I want Mac to feel that way about his stocking.  Which makes me think...how am I ever going to pick out a stocking for him?  Should I get a "pretty" stocking that I like or a gawdy and colorful one that a kid would love?  How do you ever choose?  Do I get something now that matches my Christmas decor that I like?  Something classy with his name embroidered on it?  Do I just wait and let him pick out his own stocking a few years from now? In that case, am I going to be ok with a Dora/Barney/Elmo/Thomas/SpongeBob (or whatever the cartoon du jour is at that time) stocking?  I don't know...maybe we'll do two different stockings - a "decorative" one that I pick out and then a "kid" one that he picks out.  Do I get matching stockings for the whole family?  In that case, what do I do with the ones we already have?  And what if we have another kid in a few years and I can't find another stocking?  Does that mean I should make my own (like I really have time for that).  FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS, I tell ya. 

What are your thoughts on this?  How did you choose your stockings?  Here are couple of my favorites.

Ornament
Baby's first ornament is definitely an important purchase for me this year.  He may not be getting many gifts, but he'll damn well have a dozen ornaments to celebrate his being alive.  I went back and forth on what kind of ornament I wanted to get.  I wanted something "classic" that wouldn't be dated thirty years from now, when he has his own kids and wants his first ornament for his tree.  Something that wouldn't be super delicate that he might break when he's four and trying to put it on the tree (or that wouldn't shatter if the cat climbed the tree and knocked it over...again).  Something personalized with his name and the year.  However, I must say that I was a little underwhelmed by the "Baby's First Ornament" selection out there.  So many of them are cheesy or tacky.  Maybe I'm being too picky?  I didn't go to many stores (I'm an online shopping kind of girl), maybe I'm missing out.  However, here are a few of my favorites that I found:
This one says "Grandbaby"
Maybe a cute gift for the grandparents to add to their tree?

Where did you get your baby's first Christmas ornament?


Pajamas
I love the idea of gifting a set of Christmas pajamas every year and having the kid(s) wear matching pj's to open gifts on Christmas morning.  I mean, is there anything cuter than babies in pajamas?!  My kid still wears pajamas all day long every single day.  My husband asked me a few days ago when we were going to start dressing him in real clothes...I have no answer to that.  Never? Here are a few of my favorite Christmas jammies.








Christmas Photo 
You know me, I'm a photo junkie so this one is MAJORLY important.  I chose to have Mac's holiday photos done by a professional who was offering Christmas mini sessions, which was the perfect opportunity to get a couple cute shots for a Christmas card.  But there are SO many adorable set-ups that you could very easily do yourself (I did some too!).  Grab your camera, some twinkle lights, a baby and you've got yourself a photo shoot!  Here are some of my very favorites from the web.

Holiday Card 
The perfect place to use that adorable holiday photo you just took!  Or if your baby's brand new and your haven't had a chance to send out a birth announcement, use your Christmas card to do both! There are some seriously gorgeous holiday cards out there these days.  Here are a few of my favorites.

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Photo with Santa
Every kid needs a picture with the local mall Santa Claus.  Older kids love meeting Santa and getting the chance to tell him what they want for Christmas.  But babies?  Yeah, they can't talk...and they don't want anything.  So, a photo of baby on Santa's lap is really for the parents.  And maybe this makes me a bad mama, but I absolutely LOVE it when kids have a meltdown on Santa's lap.  The bigger the tears, the better!  And rightfully so - I can only imagine that meeting Santa is a freaking scary experience to a baby.  Standing in line forever, hearing other babies scream and cry, all that white hair and beard, the bright clothes, the incessant jingle bells, the loud HO HO HOing.  It'd scare the shit out of me.  Secretly I think we all want that funny photo of the kid screaming so we can frame it and torture our children with the story year after year.  Right?

Craft/Project
Ok, so this one is a bit of a stretch.  Babies can't really "craft."  They can't hold scissors or use glue or basically do anything.  However, they can create some masterpieces with just their tiny little hands, feet, fingers, toes and maybe a little bit of finger paint.  These also make great gifts for the grandparents!  Here are some projects that Mac will be attempting this year.



So that's my "Baby's First Christmas" roundup.  
Did I forget anything?
Will you be doing any of these things with your little one this year?


***Just for full disclosure (because I don't want you to think I'm that asshole mom that has it all figured out), I have yet to do any of these things, other than get Mac's pictures taken.  No stockings hung, no ornaments made or purchased, no crafts done, no holiday cards shipped, no Santa visit scheduled.  I am NOT on top of things at ALL.  What have I done?  Made a Pinterest board while pounding spiked eggnog and eating Christmas cookies. Cheers!

19 comments:

  1. I think you have totally read my mind....I am SO EXCITED that this is Cameron's 1st Christmas!!! We have the Hanna Andersson pajamas - they are adorable!!!! We did NOT get professional pictures taken and I am SO MAD at myself...we were trying to save money, but now we have no pictures. :( SO SAD.

    I think we are going to do handprint ornaments this weekend at home and keep that at his 1st Christmas ornament...My mom declared that she would be the one to buy him his first ornament, though. ;)

    I can't wait to see all of your pictures from Christmas adventures!! What an exciting time of year for us! :)

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  2. So cute! I agree I wish Landon was older so we can start the fun traditions but for now its just him as a baby which I know I will miss so Im trying to cherish it:)
    Love all the PJs super cute

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  3. We had knit stockings, that looked more like long socks. The girls' matched (red with green Christmas Trees) and the boys matched...and they were filled with crap. By crap I mean Apples,oranges and unshelled nuts, a few candy canes, and rationed candy. WTH was Santa thinking!

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  4. thanks for all the great ideas! i'm going to keep this in mind for next year. that onesie felt ornament is beyond cute.

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  5. You are so on top of things. I did jack for Julia's first two Christmases, and now I'm like, "Uhh... gonna buy some extra ornaments and write '2010' and '2011' on them, I guess."

    The Christmas PJ's are a must! So cute. The girls have a few pairs and I always make them match now when I can, and no one ever sees it except me but I still go, "Squeee!" when I see them together.

    And I'm dying to see your Christmas card!

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  6. Gah! So much to do! I love all these ideas and I can't choose just one. Your next post should be a list of baby gift to buy for babies you can't do anything yet. What DO I put in my newborn's stocking!? That's what I'd like to know. :)

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  7. Thank you for putting the disclaimer on the end because I was about to say, "Holy shit I need to get on this!" We have a stocking and I attempted to take a few pictures but it was a major fail. Thanks for the list :)

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  8. Oh, wow, I am so ready to be done with finals so I can think about fun stuff like this! The only thing we've done was the cute Christmas cards, which probably won't be mailed until after finals. Boo. At least I got the pics taken and got the cards ordered nice and early, right? Haha. And at least we put up a Christmas tree this year. :) I'm so impressed with how organized you are, as always.

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  9. Man I need to get on it! Thanks for doing all my homework on the ornaments and crafts :)

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    1. thank God for Amazon, just ordered a handprint ornament making kit. Might just get one made before Christmas :)

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  10. Wow, so many inspirations, so little time!

    So as far as stockings, I say get one that semi-matches your decor now or one that you like the feeling of. I had multiple stockings growing up, some that are matchy matchy and some more folksy that we just enjoyed. I say go with whatever feels right this year and if it doesn't work next year, change it!

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  11. I love you, you're the best. And I cannot wait to get my Christmas Mac card, because, obviously, i am getting one. I am nothing if not Demanding Aunt Ally.

    You are going to have a wonderful Christmas with your wee one. I am so happy for you. I can remember Christmases before when we just said "eff it". I love you guys more than words! xoxox

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  12. I love your full disclosure! You are such a cool mom ;)

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  13. I did a few things. First, we had so much fun doing some photo sessions with Jack and our Christmas cards came out pretty stinking cute. I'm so in love with them. I also got together with some friends and made baby hand print and foot print ornaments. They turned out really adorable. I used Crayola air dry clay and large round cookies cutters, a straw, and silver spray paint. Oh, and a rolling pin and wee little baby hands and feet. I have to say, it took some patience to get good ones, and a lot of pushing his little hand and foot pretty hard into the clay, but he didn't seem to mind. I also used little stamp letters to add his name to the ornament. Finally, my husband and I picked out two pair of Christmas footie pajamas. One for Christmas Eve and one pair for Christmas. I love the holidays, but its so much more fun with a baby. I can't even imagine how overboard we'll go in the coming years when he starts to get interested in it all.

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  14. Here's how the ornament turned out:
    http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l12/Christin980205/photo68.jpg

    and the card:

    http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l12/Christin980205/BujnakChristmascard1.jpg

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  15. Love all of this...especially the pjs! I have been searching HIGH and LOW for Christmas pjs and they are harder to come by than you would think! OH and Christmas is 15 days away and we JUST realized that we haven't taken E to see Santa. There was this awesome festival a couple weeks ago where apparently ALL the moms took their kids to see Santa and I somehow missed the memo. So we took E to a neighborhood event tonight were there was a super creepy Santa and even though it was freezing out, you better ba-lieve we got a damn picture! haha!

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  16. Newly following, enjoying reading. This is a great list, I still have to get a stocking for my little one!

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  17. I agree with you on the baby's first Christmas ornaments. Not that I was out looking for them, but since a few friends recently had babies, I noticed some, and thought the majority of them were rather tacky and cheap looking. I hope you found a good one!

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  18. All of those items are adorable! We just shared our Baby Christmas Wishlist and may need to add some of your ideas to his list :)

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