Today post will tell you everything that Brady and I bought for our kids this Christmas. It won’t include what others got them. Just within our little family of seven. I’m mostly posting this to share gift ideas with others for Christmases to come 🙂 I’m also writing it in advance, so the tenses are a bit off, but the whole purpose of pre-writing it was to not have to work on the blog on Christmas. So I’m leaving it that way, haha!
As I so often say, to each their own, always! Whether you think we got everyone too much or too little, we all do it our own way. Please leave judgement at the door. Or on your side of the screen. Please and thank you!
To remind everyone quickly, we give our kids gifts in four categories: something they want, something they need, something to wear, and something to read. We did a couple of extras on top of that this year, as well as the kids picked names between themselves.
We’ll start at the top with Dekker! He’s seven. Dekker’s “want” is a wallet. He’s been pretending he has one for a while now, making cards and bills for it, so now he has one! More to play with than to actually use. His need is in a similar ballpark. He got a piggy bank. It seems redundant, but again, the wallet will be more for playing and the piggy bank will service its actual purpose. His item to wear is a bright orange Gap hoodie. His hoodies are getting a bit small and I know that, if he had his say, he’d get a brightly colored one over the neutral ones I tend to pick out. His book to read is called “Iggy Peck Architect” and was strongly recommended to us. It sounds right up his alley! On top of these things, he got a new pair of jammies, a bath bomb, and a toque crocheted by yours truly. Waverly picked Dekker’s name this Christmas, and she bought him a big ole stuffed banana. Seems ridiculous, I know, but he LOVES it. Wavy’s on top of it. She knows him well.
Laela is up next! She’s five. She is getting stencils for her want this year. I feel like I have to put it on the record that I had this idea back in summer even though she’s now been using the exact same stencils at school and is LOVING them! So hopefully she’s thrilled to have her own set at home! Her need is a piggy bank like Dekker’s, but a different color. To wear, she’s getting stick-on earrings, which I’m confident she will love, and to read, I got her a Robert Munsch book about makeup. She also got jammies, a bath bomb, and a toque. Dekker bought for Laela this year, and he requested a Barbie for her. However, she had just received a Barbie, so we found a super cute dolly instead.
Rowan’s almost four years old. His want this year was from Ikea. We got him a flashlight that you have to turn a crank in order to make it shine. Rowan LOVES flashlights, and has gotten them as gifts more than once, but they always burn out SO FAST. This will be so good for him. His need is also a piggy bank. The last one, I promise! I might throw a couple bucks in each kids piggy bank. We’ll see. To wear, he got a t-shirt that says “All BOY” on it, for everyone wondering, lol! And his book to read is an I Spy book! We recently learned that he’s great at those, so now he’ll have his very own. Like everyone else, he got jammies, a bath bomb, and a toque. Solly bought for Rowan this year, and he got him a fanny pack. I know, I know, it sounds dumb, but it’s actually awesome. All Rowan ever wants to do is carry around a couple of his favourite toys. And now he can. In his fanny pack.
Solomon is next. He’s two and a half. For his want, we got him a hammer. He loves to hammer on everything, so we went against our better judgement and got him a hammer that talks. Sigh. I already know I’m going to hate that thing. But when you hammer it, it counts. So there’s that. His need is real bedding! He’s been using a smallish babyish blanket for a while, and while he never sleeps under it anyway, we figured it was time for a new, big blanket. So we got him a twin quilt and a cute duvet cover and pillowcase from Ikea. Its blue and has monkeys on it. To wear, he got a shirt that has a picture of a burger doing the dab on it. Another sigh. But another “he’ll love it” moment. And Dekker will LOVE it. Does anyone else’s kid still do the dab, or just mine? Solly’s book to read is called “Thats Not my Monkey” which I’ll admit was not my first choice, but it turned out that the book I purchased for him we actually already own. Go Hailey go. So I panicked and picked this one up. He, too, got jammies, a bath bomb, and a toque. I should say, though, I was trying to get the kids jammies to have matching themes. I chose breakfast. Dekker’s have a fried egg spaceship on them. Laelas are pink with fried eggs on them with heart eyes. Rowan’s have bacon on them. Wavy’s are also pink with bacon and eggs. And for some unknown reason, that was all that existed. No more breakfast jammies anywhere. So Sollys have fries and burgers on them. *shrug* I can only do so much! Laela bought Solly a stuffed blue troll.
Last but not least, Waverly! Its her first Christmas with our family! She’s just shy of six months old. She’s getting a nice little haul as well. Her want is a new blanket. She has beautiful receiving blankets, but she doesn’t have a bit of a heavier blanket. But now she will! Her need is a high chair, as the one she’d likely move into is SO gross, and the cover doesn’t come off. It was such a cute high chair but that sucker is nasty, and we got it for SO cheap so long ago that I feel ok about letting it go. Her item to wear is a thick Gap sweatsuit-esque onesie thing. She has one now and its AMAZING, so we got her the next size up. Her book to read is called “Tooth” by Leslie Patricelli. We have SO many of her books, and they’re super cute. She got her breakfast jammies, a toque, and a baby-friendly bath bomb. Rowan pulled her name, and insisted on getting her a toy in the shape of a Christmas tree. And somehow, I found one! A chewy silicone thing in the shape of a tree! And I could even get it in lavender, so you know I did.
Boom! Gifts!
I should add in here what I got Brady! I don’t think I’ve mentioned it yet, but he’s actually had his present since the first of the month! I bought Brady a beer “advent calendar” this year! I’ll still get him some little stuff for Christmas day so he doesn’t feel left out but the biggest chunk of his gift is his beer. Every day, he gets a new beer that he’s never tasted before, just for fun! Don’t worry, we’re making notes along the way, and we’ll post a bit of a review at the end of the season. It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea (or bottle of beer) but it’ll give you an idea of what to expect and see if it would maybe be a gift you’d like to give or receive next year. I think I’ll post that one tomorrow.
Thats it, folks! It feels enormous to write out what we got each kid. If you look at it objectively, we were pretty careful and intentional about what we got everyone, not to go over the top or break the bank, but its still a TON of gifts! Yikes!