Holiday Traditions with Hanna Andersson

It's no secret that we love LOVE the holidays. To us, the holiday season begins the first of October. When there is a nip in the air and the leaves begin to turn to rust, mustard and maroon. When we begin to snuggle under blankets with hot beverages. When everything is covered in plaid. When we pull out our scarves and boots and sweaters. And the holiday season lasts straight through Fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas! Basically, we are in the best three months of the year! Hooray!

I love the holidays because I get to decorate my house, my children, and do all things festive! Every fall we start our holiday bucket list. And this year, we wore our Hanna Andersson Bear Hugs sweater collection for our family traditions! First and foremost each year is a family leaf fight! This is Edith's first fall and she wasn't too sure about all the crunchy leaves. She did enjoy shoving fist fulls of them in her mouth but thought her big sisters were crazy for throwing them. Vivienne and Lucielle couldn't have loved it more! Whether they were simply tossing them up or trying to get Papa, they were delighted!

I mean seriously! How cute is Edith in this Sweater Jumper?! I die!

Even though the sweaters are made of unbelievably soft cotton and warm Merino wool yarns, we went home to make S'mores and warm up by the bonfire. The smell of burning leaves and roasting marshmallows will always trigger happy autumn memories!

How cute is the back of this bear sweater! It cracks me up and the girls like to poke the bears butt when being silly, which of course causes a giggle-fest!

And of course we can't forget all the holiday baking! I have always pictured my little girls patiently waiting at the table sweetly ready to mix, pour, and spread whatever delicious treat we were baking. In reality, baking with kids is a whole lot messier that I anticipated. We made some Cranberry White Chocolate scones because it's my favorite kid friendly (aka, they can't mess it up with less than accurate measurement haha) recipe. Plus, a warm scone and hot tea just screams the holidays to me!

An obvious fall Family Tradition for so many is Pumpkin Carving! The girls loved watching Papa carve and help plan what they wanted our girl pumpkin, named Jill, to look like! They were NOT a fan of trying to get the seeds and "slime" out from the inside haha. They would erupt in giggles every time they touched it.

 "It's so slimy and ticklish!"

 Plaid is always a staple for the Holidays. I love it. Like LOVE it!!!! So Vivi's Buffalo Check Flannel dress will be on repeat all season!

It's no surprise that I get the most excited about Christmas. While I have been trying to curb my unbridled enthusiasm until after Thanksgiving, there are some things I sneak in. Our first Christmas cocoa is a big deal! The second it's cool enough, I pull out our special Christmas mugs, some peppermint sticks and marshmallows to make the best cocoa ever! Every once in a while, when it's really cold out, we also listen to Christmas music. Shhhh don't tell! And of course it never hurts to pull out a strand of twinkle lights.  Since it gets dark so early now, they make our home so cozy and festive!

'Tis the season for family traditions! What is on your family bucket list this season? 

*This post is sponsored by Hanna Andersson, but good gracious we love the Bear Hug Sweater collection so all thoughts and opinions are our own*

Teething

Can we all agree that teething is rough? I have heard Edith cry more this week than her entire life. Which isn't really all that much haha. But it still totally sucks to see her in pain. She is getting her top teeth and they are taking their sweet time. We got these Kleynimals just in time! Edith is obsessed. I don't know if it's the coolness of the metal, the fun clink they make, or the fact that they seem just like my real keys, but she is hooked! She frantically reaches for them as soon as she sees them and loves to chew on them constantly. I love that they are cute and clean! "They are non-toxic stainless steel toy keys that will satisfy your child’s desire to play with metal keys without the hazards of lead contamination, sharp edges, or the daily grime that come with the keys in the bottom of your diaper bag." I'm also happy to find an alternative to handing Edith my nasty car seats when she wants them. She is getting so grabby lately, I feel so much better about giving her something safe and fun for her to play with while she is satisfying the "keys urge" haha.

Jonas Paul Eyewear

Viv failed her vision test at her 4 year check-up. So we were referred to a pediatric optometrist. We went in to the appointment thinking there must have been a mistake. Surely she was just mixing up her shapes or saying she couldn't see them just because they were small not because she couldn't see them. But apparently, my baby needed glasses!

It's a strange thing to think that your kiddo was going through life thinking what she saw was normal! I felt guilty that I didn't notice that she has poor vision. I felt like I should have known. Like there should have been obvious signs. Her poor little brain was working overtime to compensate. One eye is weaker than the other but both need corrective lenses. At the optometrist, Viv picked out a pair of "Elsa blue" glasses with a pin neck strap. They are cute. Dorky cute haha. But I knew that if my sweet girl was going to need to wear glasses 24/7 it was going to be her "new face" and dorky cute blue glasses weren't going to cut it. So I did some research. Cute, trendy, and affordable kids glasses aren't easy to come by! Then a friend recommended Jonas Paul Eyewear. Jackpot!

We ordered the free home try on kit. When it came it was like Christmas! Viv has always loved sunglasses and fake glasses so it was fun to try on all 6 pairs. We landed on the Paige. They are SO CUTE! When they arrived, Viv was so proud to show them off to all her friends.

Having glasses wasn't the easiest of transitions for Vivi at first. Every time we asked if it was more clear to look through the glasses or without them, she said through them. And yet she would get frustrated while watching TV that she couldn't see or she would try to look over them when she was reading. I spend the first few days constantly evaluating her every move to see if she really needed glasses, if it was the right prescription, if it was helping. When she had a meltdown that she was "the only kid in the world who needed glasses", I totally psyched myself out about the whole process. As it turns out, she needed more than 2 days to adjust haha. Who knew?!

Now, she LOVES her glasses. She knows to put them on right away in the morning, she is suddenly really into coloring and reading books, she is careful and cautious and completely adorable! We are so thankful we found Jonas Paul Eyewear. Not only do they make fashion forward kiddos glasses, but they also help kids in need! "For every pair of Jonas Paul Eyewear kids glasses purchased, we make donations to our partners to provide corrective children's eyeglasses, mectizan treatments to prevent river blindness, and Vitamin A supplements to children and families in need!" Their mission is "To help children feel beautiful and confident in their glasses. To provide blindness prevention and sight to children in need. Eliminate children being bullied by providing fashionable glasses that children want to wear."