Once again…here it is Friday already! WHERE does the time go?!! For my Flashback Friday pictures this week I decided to incorporate a family tradition as well…Christmas jammies!!
Since Huntler’s VERY first Christmas we have been buying him a special pair of jammies to wear on Christmas morning!! Since moving out here to Arizona, we have now incorporated those jammies into our trip to the Polar Express (another tradition that is AMAZING and deserves an entire post!!) as well!!
In the past these have not exactly been the cheapest of jammies I must admit! I am extremely picky about what my kids wear…I won’t deny that…but when it comes to jammies, Carter’s are the best!! However, Carter’s just doesn’t quite have what I am after when it comes to Christmas, so we have ended up getting the beloved PJ’s at Baby Gap or Gymboree. But, it is once a year and a tradition…and look at how CUTE they are!!
These are Baby Gap…LOVE THEM!! I have saved every pair so far. I am packing them up in totes so that one day we can look back on them. A friend once suggested taking bits and pieces from my favorite outfits of the kids and making a quilt or something. I am quite certain I couldn’t take scissors and hack into expensively cute Gymbo or Baby Gap everyday clothes, but I do love the idea for the Christmas jammies! What a neat Christmas quilt full of memories!!
Anyway…December 2004…Huntler sporting his fleece Baby Gap’s! (By the way…I have a bazillion things to do today and I did NOT do any editing to any of these…that is why they don’t look all that great!!)
Here he is in December 0f 2005…Baby Gap again. He got a new wagon for Christmas from Grandma and Papa!!
And then comes December of 2006 and we add sassy little Gentry girl to the mix! How fun!! We bought these at Baby Gap as well…I hunt high and low for the perfect PJ’s and we had to drive a LONG LONG ways to find these and then they didn’t even have them in stock and we ended up ordering online!! AHHH!!!!
Here is Huntler getting his bell from Santa on the Polar Express. I LOVE this shot! To most it wouldn’t mean anything, but to us it means everything. There is so much magic at Christmas and with Santa…
And chubby little Gentry sitting on Papa’s lap in her pink version of the same print!
And here is the most recent pair…these are from Gymbo. I honestly could NOT figure out if they were for boys or girls, so I bought each one the same pair and jazzed Gentry’s up with a headband!! That was during the time where she would NOT leave headbands in, but I tried!
This is the fireplace at the Grand Canyon Railway. We have pictures on it from the year before too! I know I have said a million times that I can’t wait to get home to Kansas, but WOW I am going to miss the Polar Express! We have only been twice but we have had THE BEST and most memorable times each trip! We are all booked for this year and can’t wait to create more memories!
And while I am on the subject of family traditions…I’ll throw another one of ours out at ya! I do not like junk. We do not keep random little odds and ends. There are no knick knacks sitting about on our tables. We just don’t do it!! I can’t stand all that little stuff looking junky and taking up space!! Never have, never will!! Nor am I a huge fan of t-shirts. Sure, I wear them to bed, but it is a RARE occasion when I am seen sporting a regular ole’ tee out and about.
Where I am going with this is…random knick knacks (thimbles, shot glasses, spoons) and t-shirts seem to be the most popular thing to buy when you are on a trip…a memento that says, “Hey, I’ve been to Washington D.C.” So, starting on our honeymoon, we have been collecting Christmas ornaments. We get one each and every place we visit…not necessarily each “place,” but each trip. As we have added the kids to our lives, we have also started picking up an ornament for each of them and tucking it away in a little tote in their closet. I write the month and year on each one and then one day when they are all grown up and have their first Christmas trees, they will have ornaments to put on it. Just thought I would share! It is a fun little piece of who we are and where we’ve been!!
And on that happy little note, I am off! I have soaps to make, lollipops to get started on and a whole LOTTA stuff to accomplish today!
Happy Friday!
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by Bethany
I love all the little traditions. I think they help kids have special memories of their childhoods. In my kid’s “Memory totes” I plan to attach a tag that tells what an item is, why it is special, and any stories to go along with it. Everything is here and there right now. We are working on storage in our basement. We love Christmas Jammies!
I think “Flashback Friday” is a genius idea! How fun! I love the Christmas pjs tradition- we do that in my family too!
oh and that covered wagon… so adorable!!!
Your header is super cute too, did you make it yourself? I want to learn how to do that!
omg, I love the one of the 2 of them in from of the fire place–LOL, Gentry looks like she’d rather be out sassin it up! Just like my lil!
hope it all turns out with your lollies!!
You are such a SUPER MOM! I am sitting here BAWLING because of all the wonderful, special things you do for your kids. Makes me miss my mom so much. I have lots of great childhood memories of special clothes she made for me and super times we had together as a family. Huntler and Gentry will no doubt have beautiful lifetime memories of their own because of the importance you and Chris put on family. Love, Debbie
I love your traditions. (And the PJ’s you’ve gotten your kiddos over the years are so cute!) My Mom/Dad always got us a new pair of PJ’s for xmas too. It was always the one and only gift we were able to open on Christmas eve and of course my Mom had to take photos just like you’ve done. I also like your ornament souvenir idea.