Christmas Tradition

After my first daughter was born, my mom started a new Christmas tradition for her.

That's my Jordyn at about 6 weeks old on her first Christmas in 1995.

My mom came up with the brilliant idea of starting an ornament collection for her as well as my 2 subsequent children, so that when they are all grown up and have their very own Christmas tree, it will be filled with ornaments that have been given to them throughout their lives.

That's my mom with all 3 of my kiddos in 2001, which was Stone's first Christmas.

Over the years we have amassed a rather large collection of ornaments for each of the kids and now it's pretty much impossible to put all of them on our tree.

We usually just pick a few and mix them in with mine.

Part of what makes this tradition so special is that each child has their own 'theme' for their ornaments.

For Jordyn, it's Angels:

I just noticed this angel has a sneaky smirky smile - makes you wonder what she's up to.

Also makes you wonder if the person who painted her had a bit much eggnog.

For Bailey, it's Bears:

 This guy is one of my favorites even though he has a bit of a crack in his head 

(don't we all?)

And for Stone, it's Snowmen:

 It's hard to tell from this photo but this large glass ornament is bigger than a softball!

Most of their ornaments were given as gifts (ornaments make great stocking stuffers) or purchased very inexpensively at post-Christmas sales.

It's always fun to try to find ornaments that fit their theme, though it's not always easy.

I would love to hear from others who have ornament collections.

Do you collect for yourself and for your kids?

Is there a specific theme?  

Or maybe a specific color?  

How cool would it be to have an entire collection of all white ornaments so that your tree looked snow-filled?

À la vie et à l'amour

-Cortney