The Inglehart Family: Flash back to Christmas 2011 because I can

We had such an awesome Christmas this year. Hudson was finally old enough to open presents almost all by himself and he was so excited about Santa this year. Well, he thought he was excited right up until he got to go see the BIG guy (as shown here)

We started a new family tradition this year...Elf of the Shelf. It's super popular right now and I totally fell into the hype and I am so glad we did. We got our elf and named him "Elmer". Elmer is a cute little guy who comes to our home each morning during the holiday season to keep an eye on Hudson and to let Santa know if Hudson should be on the naughty or nice list. It was a great way to remind Hudson to be a good boy. And, he was, for the most part, but hey, the kid is 2 years old. I got to expect a little naughtiness sometimes. Anyway, Elmer was an onry little thing and did all sorts of practical jokes and found funny places to hide each morning. Hudson would wake up and the first thing he would do would be to look for his pal, Elmer. John and I had a blast coming up with all of this stuff for Elmer to do. However, John was extremely creative!

He even made a custom Buzz Lightyear costume for Elmer. This was Hudson's most favorite of all. I don't blame him. It was pretty awesome.

We tried not to buy into the whole retail type of Christmas and got Hudson only a few things to make him smile on Christmas morning. I heard a saying this year that I really want to use for the future: Buy your kids something they want, something they need, something to wear, and something to read. I think this is brilliant and so we tried to follow that mind set this year. We also really love doing the angel tree gifts for children who are less fortunate. I think this will only get better as Hudson gets older so that he can participate in this more. I hope that he will know that Christmas is about giving, but not necessarily presents to each other, but giving joy to those around you, giving back to the community and spending family time together. I look forward to the Christmas's to come with our growing little family.