Preparing for the holidays is in full swing at our house! As I am writing this blog I’m laying next to a warm fire at my mother in law’s house. The crackles, smell and warmth is enough to put me to sleep! A real fire always makes me feel like we are in the holiday season! With thanksgiving next week and Christmas in 40 days I thought I would write about how our family prepares and enjoys the holidays to the fullest. Even though we only have 1 kiddo and all of our family except Josh’s mom & stepdad lives far away we still make the holidays as special as we can for Avery. We want her looking back and having the best childhood memories from this time of year. 
Starting with thanksgiving we prep way in advance! (Lots of Pinterest searching!) Josh’s mom and I split up the menu to figure out who is making what. Tomorrow we are going shopping for all our supplies and Avery and I will be making the decor and napkin rings this weekend. On thanksgiving day I’ll be spending the morning prepping food, we will give Avery her new marble run to keep her busy while we cook, and start the thanksgiving festivities! We always play board games, have appetizers and play thanksgiving games (such as corn pitching, thanksgiving fact or fiction and thanksgiving charades). Then we have an early dinner and after dinner we go on a walk around the neighborhood before dessert. While we eat dessert we like to watch Charlie Brown thanksgiving and Christmas movies. And the day after thanksgiving is full of leftovers and decorating for Christmas!
Christmas time is so magical! We love decorating and making the house feel so warm and welcoming. Normally we get Avery’s presents early and have them wrapped and ready in the closet. And we get Avery’s advent tree gifts and stocking stuffers early or whenever we see something that we think she would like. Before Christmas time Josh and I sit down and budget how much money we want to spend on each other’s stocking, Avery’s stocking, Avery’s advent tree gifts, Avery’s gifts, Christmas activities and holiday recipes we want to make. Well recipes for me to make haha. Then we write down all that we want to do with Avery during the holidays like special dates for us to take Avery on, walking through the park that is lit up for Christmas, Christmas baking, and lots of crafts! (I will write a blog with our winter bucket list just like I did for fall once it gets closer to December) We absolutely love this time of year and try to always make it special for our family. I look forward most to seeing Avery get so excited Christmas morning and get excited with everything we do leading up to it. This time of year can be stressful with everything going on but when we focus on the reason for the season, Christ, truly take in every moment and preparing as much as possible; it’s the best time of year!!