Conagra Brands sponsored this post, but the opinions are my own.

Christmas is on a whole other level once you have your own child. The level of joy you receive while watching your little ones experience the magic of Christmas for the first time brings so much happiness to the family. Now I understand why parents go all out! Growing up Christmas was always such a huge holiday. My parents spared no expense when it came to my sister and I. Doug and I got to talking about traditions the other day and realized our holiday upbringings were so different from one another – we then talked about what we wanted to instill in Annabelle and what traditions meant for our new family.

A few of our agreed upon traditions include…

• Getting a real Christmas tree and decorating as a family – We didn’t do this one this year since we live in an apartment, but we are definitely doing it next year!
• Having breakfast and opening presents on Christmas morning one by one, then going to my parents house!
• Enjoying festive meals – This year we picked up a quick bite for dinner and dessert on our trip to Walmart. When Annabelle was first born, we stocked our refrigerator full of quick and convenient frozen meals because you don’t always have time to prepare a full blown dinner every night while tending to a newborn. We still have a few ready to go in our freezer for days when we don’t have the time to cook and one of our favorite brands is Marie Callender’s because they are so good! We got the Marie Callender’s Delights Balsamic Glazed Chicken with Harvest Vegetables and their Loaf Cake Pound Cake as dessert. We topped the pound cake with fresh strawberries and cream on the side and both meals were super yummy! I love that you just pop the cake in the oven and it’s all warm and moist when it comes out. There’s also an offer for $.50 off when you purchase either product!
• Packing a gift basket to a family in need – I never did this growing up, but I think it’s so important to show the act of giving to your children. Giving beyond just being kind to one another, but actually giving physical tangible things and showing how much it can make a difference.
• Putting out cookies and milk for Santa the night before
• Opening Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve – We jumped the gun on this one and already have matching PJs! I didn’t want to save them for Christmas because I wanted us to feel festive all month long! *Annabelle’s outfit & our PJ pants c/o
• There’s only one main gift from Santa wrapped differently and the rest from Mom & Dad *Personalized bag here
• I also loved the idea of tracking “Santa’s footprints” near the chimney with powdered sugar! 

If you can’t tell, we are beyond excited for Annabelle’s second Christmas (she was born on Dec. 23rd;) and will definitely be vlogging everything