Can you believe there are only 16 days until Christmas? December is flying by. Normally this time of year, I’m busy running around and trying to find last minute gifts and I’m guilty of not being present in the moment. It’s easy to get so distracted by everything else and forget what the season is all about. That’s why Family Christmas Traditions are so important – they keep us focused on what’s important.

This year is different than years past – I was done with my Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving. (that never happens!) I’m not sure how it happened, but I started thinking about what I wanted to give everyone back in October so that helped. It’s given me so much more time to pay attention to how fast Isla Rose is growing and just how magical Christmas can be through the eyes of a child. She loves to say, “OH WOW!” when we turn our Christmas lights on. We took her to see Santa this year and even though she didn’t cry, she certainly didn’t smile either, but I’ll take what I can get.

I’ve probably been driving Evan crazy with all my talk of family traditions lately (feeling a little like Clark Griswold over here trying to get him in a Christmas-y mood) and even though we already have a few that we have done for years, it’s Important to start some now that we have our own little family.

So below I have a list of Christmas traditions we already have and some that we are starting this year!