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Reverse Advent Calendars just might be my new favorite holiday tradition this year!

I love traditional advent calendars – my family has a felt Christmas tree with little plush ornaments for each day that we’ve had hanging on the wall every year for as long as I can remember, and my husband’s family does a new daily treat calendar each year.

Those are all good and fun, but this year, as my son is getting older and more aware of the world around him, I wanted to start teaching him and his sister what’s really important at the holidays – and I don’t mean the overload of gifts.

Read More about How to Make a Reverse Advent Calendar

The holiday season is officially upon us, and we all know what that means for moms everywhere: over-commitments, high expectations, endless to-do lists, and breakdowns all around.

It seems like, with all the parties and events and gifts and crafts and travel that go along with the holidays these days, some of the basics get lost in the shuffle. The holidays are such a prime time to build lasting memories and traditions with our kids, and yet, it all feels so daunting.

But Christmas traditions for toddlers don’t have to be stressful. They don’t have to be time-intensive, or overwhelming, or any of those words that cause your blood pressure to creep all the way up to your ears.

Read More about Easy Christmas Traditions for Toddlers

Getting gifts for babies has always been a challenge for me. They don’t really have interests yet, like older kids, and it’s hard to know what toys are developmentally right for what age, unless you’re living and breathing it.

That’s why I created my Gift Guide for Babies last year, and I got such a great response to it, that I thought I’d create more of them as my son continues to grow into new toys. Some of the toys on that list are still big favorites in our house, so make sure to visit that list too, if you haven’t already.

So with that, here are his current favorites:

Read More about 12-18 Month Old Gift Guide

Let’s be real, everyone knows it doesn’t matter what you get your baby – no matter what it is, he’s just going to want to play with the box it came in. Or a spatula. Or the TV remote. Or the dang Christmas tree that now has multiple layers of security surrounding it to protect it from his sticky, grabby, destructive paws.

But, we all still have this irrational desire to get our child the “perfect” gift, one that will surely bring him endless joy, that he’ll remember forever and ever and definitely not forget all about the instant he spots the pile of wrapping paper trash from across the room. So, now that I’ve gotten a year of overzealous toy-buying under my belt, it’s easy to look back and remember the ones that actually did stick around for more than 5 minutes. Here are some of the favorites at our house from each stage:

Read More about 0-12 Month Old Baby Gift Guide