Christmas Traditions

My absolute favorite time of the day, around the holidays, is when it is dark outside. That's the time when our home comes alive. I keep main lights off and just thrive off the energy of the christmas lights and decorations. They're absolutely gorgeous in my eyes. I much rather be working with the holiday cheer than anything else, right now. 

Having a small apartment, it works out excellent. Lights are just everywhere and they actually fill up the home quite nicely. 

Our Christmas tree skirt this year is one my mom had made for my dad and her back when they were dating 20 plus years ago, it has their names on it, so I flipped it upside down, but I definitely think adding a tree skirt to the tree added a really nice touch. Before that, it just seemed naked. Being on a budget, it was really nice for her to give it to us because sometimes tree skirts can cost a lot of money, even for ones that are just made out of felt. We, also, weren't going to do stockings this year, but my mom was going through her Christmas stuff and she had these extra ones from when we were kids, I absolutely love them. Cody's is scooby-do and mine is bugs-bunny, we also have a tweety-bird one for alexander next year. I love the nostalgia of keeping Christmas decorations alive from previous generations. It makes the holidays way more enjoyable. Especially when you gather around as a family and talk about memories, which are extremely important. Cody and I are really wanting to create a lot of memories as a couple and a family with Alexander on the way. 

It's been rather warm this December, which has not been enjoyable at all. I'd love for it to cool down at least 10 degrees for the Christmas, but I doubt it is going to! One day we will have our white Christmas. 

A tradition that Cody and I have started is opening one gift a day until Christmas. This only started because we both have a very hard time not telling each other what we got for each other. We just both love Christmas time and giving what we got to each other. And we try very hard not to go crazy with big items, since we do get more items than not. We aim to keep the gifts at rather low costs, whether they be DIY or just that one item that we haven't been able to get from the store yet. It really works out for the both of us and we love it a ton. So, we are going to do the same thing when Alexander is born, just to keep our own little tradition alive. For me, it's really enjoyable. It's like our own 12 days of Christmas, but sometimes it's a little longer than that. 

I hope to keep this tradition up and maybe start a few more, like decorating the Christmas tree and house together. Things that we can do as a family and keep it family oriented. I love Christmas time. If I could, I would leave the tree up and never take it down.

What are your favorite traditions that you and your family do?