Is it just me or has the holiday season slash December creeped up so quickly?! I’m (obviously) not upset about it because it is the very best time of the year BUT if this month came so quickly…can we all just talk about how January will be here AKA baby month?! Cue freakout of excitement and nervousness and and and omgggggg a baby girl!
ANYWAY.
I loved last year’s advent calendar so much but had to scale back a bit on some projects + DIY this year as I literally feel like I’m being pulled in so many directions #32weekspregnant.
This holiday season we are fully-booked with incredibly fun festive plans and I am so flippin’ excited. And exhausted. But, SANTA’s coming and there is a very excited toddler who is obsessed with the man in red.
Our Holiday Bucket List includes a few of our traditions (and we keep adding to it!) + loads of F U N:
-Cut down our Christmas tree + decorate it (I can’t wait to watch George’s eyes light up with the amazingness of this tradition!)
-Bake cookies to give to our friends + family, our super kind mailman (he’s just so nice!), our toddler program coordinator, our little friends at playgroup, and our neighbours. We better get started on baking, ha.
-Get a picture of GBB sitting on Santa’s lap
-Host a small friendsmas potluck dinner
-Watch alllllll the Christmas movies–if GBB will let me. He’s on such a Paw Patrol kick that it is legit the only thing he will watch…which holiday movie is your favourite?! I can’t choose just one…
-Eat all sorts of Christmas goodies + so many clementines…it’s kinda my personal fav lately…
-Host a holiday Lip + Sip with a few of my girlfriends
-Bake tourtiere pie on Christmas Eve and watch National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (after GBB goes to bed). Oh, and cuddle with my hubs on the couch ;)
-Make salt dough ornaments + send a few to the grandparents
-Build a snowman or two
-Go to the Christmas Antique Market + the Christmas Market in the Distillery. And eat donuts, mmm
-Decorate a gingerbread house with my boys
-Create a really fun but simple advent calendar for George (see below!)
-Make snow angels in the backyard
-Build a snowman
-Write a letter to Santa
-Go for an after dinner Christmas light drive
-Read Christmas books! GBB is getting this one in his Christmas Eve Box!
-Donate gently used toys (this is something that I will be having George help me with each year; it feels good to give!)
-Finish our Christmas puzzle (it’s been ongoing for the last two years…we are nowhere near close to finishing it, ha)
-Pull George in the sled/have Hubs do that #toopregnant
-Eat holiday pancakes (this goes without saying…#breakfastatthebowmans)
-Dance parties to Christmas music (anyone else revisiting the Christina Aguilera Christmas album?! No? Just me…)
-Stay in Christmas jammies all day…
-Make an advent calendar (ISH)
-Go to brunch and the Nutcracker Ballet with Auntie Neen.
-Watch the Godfather movies and eat spaghetti dinner on boxing day (I love this tradition soooo much!). Nothing better than vegging out and eating pastaaaa
-Make a homemade ornament for our Bowman Family Christmas–this is easily one of my favourite holiday traditions + I look forward to it every year!
I’m sure there are more but this is a pretty insane list for someone who is literally starting to look as jolly as Santa!
SO.
The advent calendar. I found this adorable Paw Patrol advent calendar (PS IT’S ON SALE RIGHT NOW!) and as much as I am not really into having little character figurines all over my home, I just knew this would blow George’s mind. He is super into little toys and especially into Paw Patrol lately, so I couldn’t pass it up. Every day leading up to Christmas, he gets a new little Paw Patrol figurine. I, of course, refused to keep it in it’s original boring cardboard box + stumbled upon these little houses at Ikea and thought I would DIY it just a teensy bit this year. Yep, I’m learning to let some things go…this is hard, but I’m working on it, ha.
My plan was to hang the houses from a really cute branch + be all Pinterest-y but I also know that once George sees all the houses at the same time, he’s going to want to open them. Because, duh. And then I decided that Ralphie our Elf on the Shelf isn’t going to get into too much mischief this year BUT he’s going to hide in a different place each morning + he is going to bring George a new little house/gift! I know! Brilliant.
This morning, he was super excited about finding Ralphie + wanted to touch him. But nah, we don’t want our elf to lose his magic! I’m looking forward to hiding him tonight with another little box filled with a pup and GBB has already told me that he plans on using his “fashwight” (flashlight) to find him. He’s the best.
This is the BEST time of year + I am so excited for SO MANY THINGS, I could just scream with excitement.
Happy December lovely friends!
