Gifts were fun to buy for Tory and Aden this year. I didn't go crazy because I knew they'd be getting so many presents from family. Because we celebrated Christmas Eve/Day in Nebraska this year, I opted not to give them Santa presents. Tory didn't seem to grasp the concept of "Santa Claus" this year ... and Aden surely didn't at 5 weeks old. Plus, it seemed silly to buy presents, ship them to Nebraska, only to haul them all back home again on the airplane. I don't think Tory even realized Santa "missed" Nana and Papa's house until one of my girlfriends asked her if Santa came and Tory responded "not yet!"
I did want to give Tory and Aden a few gifts from Andi and I, so I went with the "want, need, wear, read" theme to keep my buying in check. This year, our kids received:
Tory (Age 2)
Aden (5 weeks old)
I got pretty creative with Andi's gifts. He is SO HARD to buy for and I really struggle coming up with gifts I know he'll enjoy. For Christmas, I had a hard-cover book made of every blog post I've written about the lake cabin. There turned out to be 80 or so entries detailing our summer lake adventures, time with friends, snowmobiling, and Tory's entire experiences there. It's pretty neat. I also gifted him one of those push pin travel maps to display on the wall at the cabin. We've got some big travel plans in sight, so it'll be fun to fill that bad boy up with places we've been, vacations planned and dream destinations.
For all the little boys in our lives, I made superhero capes. There are lots of little boys on Andi's side of the family and I have a few girlfriends with little boys, too. It was fun to give them each a little something without breaking the bank to buy gifts for each one. I also made a pink superhero cape for my cousin's little girl, Lauren, and for Tory as well. Tory runs around the house shouting "Super Tory!" so I hope the little kids enjoy their present as much as she does.
I also made hair clip holders for the littlest girl cousins and friends' girls. For these, I bought a pack of wooden letters, "D" shaped metal rings and a roll of ribbon from the craft store. I painted the first letter of each girl's name white and hot-glued it to the bottom of the ribbon. I glued the metal ring to the top and voila! I would've never had time to make all these presents had I not started so many months ago.
We still have one more Christmas celebration with Andi's family in early January. Thus far, our family has received some great gifts from our Christmas in Nebraska. My parents gave Tory a secret garden playhouse that we'll put together once the weather warms up this spring. She was also given tons of Minnie Mouse toys, clothes and a few other things. Aden scored boat-loads of clothes. To think I was worried about having enough things for him to wear a few weeks ago! Re-organizing his dresser drawers and closet shelves is in order this week after receiving so many adorable outfits. Feeling very blessed this year for all that we have and for those with whom we've celebrated the holidays.
For all the little boys in our lives, I made superhero capes. There are lots of little boys on Andi's side of the family and I have a few girlfriends with little boys, too. It was fun to give them each a little something without breaking the bank to buy gifts for each one. I also made a pink superhero cape for my cousin's little girl, Lauren, and for Tory as well. Tory runs around the house shouting "Super Tory!" so I hope the little kids enjoy their present as much as she does.
I also made hair clip holders for the littlest girl cousins and friends' girls. For these, I bought a pack of wooden letters, "D" shaped metal rings and a roll of ribbon from the craft store. I painted the first letter of each girl's name white and hot-glued it to the bottom of the ribbon. I glued the metal ring to the top and voila! I would've never had time to make all these presents had I not started so many months ago.
We still have one more Christmas celebration with Andi's family in early January. Thus far, our family has received some great gifts from our Christmas in Nebraska. My parents gave Tory a secret garden playhouse that we'll put together once the weather warms up this spring. She was also given tons of Minnie Mouse toys, clothes and a few other things. Aden scored boat-loads of clothes. To think I was worried about having enough things for him to wear a few weeks ago! Re-organizing his dresser drawers and closet shelves is in order this week after receiving so many adorable outfits. Feeling very blessed this year for all that we have and for those with whom we've celebrated the holidays.
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