It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like...

Christmas!!!!

Everywhere we go it is shouting Christmas! And while it doesn't seem like it can be time to get out all the beautiful decorations (which is what I should be doing instead of typing this), I can't help but notice all the signs of Christmas around us!

Now that Ryan and I have a child, we have decided to do Christmas slightly differently this year. Growing up we both have some really vivid memories of what Christmas meant at our houses, and as we were talking about those memories, we both realized most of them had nothing to do with the gifts we received and had much more do to with the people we spent Christmas with and the family traditions we shared. So, we have decided to adjust our focus this Christmas and start a family tradition of our own (which I heard about at a Mom's Morning Out a few months ago, thanks Erica!).

From this point forward, everyone in our immediate family will receive three gifts at Christmas time to signify the three gifts that the wise men brought baby Jesus (this part I had heard of before). This is the new part... the first gift represents the gold which is the "big" gift (whatever the person really wants, within reason of course). The second gift represents the frankencense (no idea how to spell that one... but it is supposed to be something for the body, like clothing or perfume, etc). The final gift represents myrhh (not sure how to spell that either, but this gift is something for the mind such as a game, book, etc.). Ryan and I really want the focus to be about the real reason for the season for our family. We get so caught up in shopping for the perfect giftsssssssssssss and forget why we even celebrate. We are also going to try to start some other family traditions of our own as some of our fondest memories revolve around being close to home and close to family at holiday time!

Merry Christmas!