December 27, 2013, my husband and I got a life changing phone call that we were new parents to a little girl.
She had brown hair, brown eyes, and a Christmas birthday.
Who would expect that last detail would be such a topic of thought and conversation? I find Christmas to be such a special time of year, and I really love adding our daughter’s birthday to the magic of the season. There’s something about hearing the story of the birth of a baby in a manger that makes me especially sentimental the night before we celebrate the birth of our little girl.
Christmas Day, and the holidays in general, are such a blur — it’s more of challenge than I thought to make a birthday stand out!
I came across the idea of a Birthday Tree when I was brainstorming ideas before her first birthday. The night before the birthday (Christmas Eve in our case, but I’ve seen the tree used for any December birthday), you secretly decorate the tree with balloons and birthday decorations. It becomes the Birthday Tree for one day! I really love the idea of our daughter walking out on Christmas morning and seeing the living room transformed by Santa and some extra magic from her parents for her birthday.
Logistically, the tree is super easy. While my husband assembles the Christmas toy of the year, I blow up the balloons and put them on the tree with clothespins. I’m a stickler for full, helium balloons, so I order a small tank from Amazon each year and hide it in the gift closet!
Over the years, I’m going to add pictures of us in front of the tree or at her birthday party to the Birthday Tree, so by the time she is older, we can spend the morning enjoying pictures and seeing how much she’s grown.
After we enjoy the tree, we have donuts for breakfast and sing “Happy Birthday!” Then, it’s over to my grandmother’s house for Christmas festivities.
I’m excited to see our traditions grow as we celebrate our special girl during the most wonderful time of the year. Does anyone else have some Christmas birthday traditions to add to our list?
Love this idea!!!