Almost 4 years ago now as my husband and I began to realize that, “I think I might be pregnant” we calculated our baby would be entering the world right around Christmas time. Birthdays are a big deal for my family so right away I wanted to start figuring out how we would simultaneously celebrate her birthday and Jesus birthday in a way that didn’t take away from either.

We started talking about Christmas presents and birthday parties and teaching our child about what Christmas means and why we celebrate.

We quickly settled on the idea of giving three gifts, echoing the three gifts Jesus received from the wise men to hopefully emphasize that the focus of the holiday is not how many presents you get.

After a little processing we settled on categories: Something you want, something you need, something to read.

We love that it’s well rounded, we don’t have to worry as much about how much we’re spending on each child and can focus more on getting gifts just for them in each “category.”

Last year we went with a farm theme because my husband grew up on a dairy farm and our daughter, Aisley, was quite infatuated with all things cows and horses. We got her a wooden barn from Melissa and Doug (have you ever priced a wooden barn?! $$$), a few new “Aisley cups,” and two books about farm animals because we just couldn’t decide between the two.

This year, per her very excited request, we’ve settled on trains for our almost three year olds “something she wants” and after some research it seems that the wooden train set offered by Ikea is the best bang for our buck. Plus, I’m a sucker for wooden toys.

Our son, Barrett, is 8 months old and just now getting excited about food so his something he wants is really more something I want, but I think that’s okay. Have you heard of Snap Bibs? I’ve had my eye on them for a long, long time and my daughter has always hated bibs. She’s also a surprisingly clean eater, but Barrett is another story. He’s been a messy eater since the day he was born and these wipeable, durable, snapable bibs are the perfect compliment to the mushy food mealtime messes.

Aisley seems to have shot up in the last few weeks and we recently realized that all of her cute little girl panties are getting smaller and smaller. I knew we wanted to get organic underwear and after searching the internets I came across the cutest little Etsy shop called Little Tush that makes the most adorable toddler underwear. After conversing back and forth  with the sweet little shop owner I created a custom order that suits my spunky little sweet pea perfectly.

To go along with Barrett’s something he wants, are Re-Play plates for his “something he needs.” We have several other Re-Play brand serving ware products and really love the quality.

I’ve been reading to Aisley since before she was born and by proxy, I’ve also been reading to Barrett since before he was born. Other than chewing on them Barrett hasn’t taken up much interest with books yet, but Aisley continues to be mesmerized by them. She’s always plopped down in my nap and settled in for whole books, studying each illustration, inquiring about every word, and even making connections between similarities in real life and story books.

I’m so excited about the books we’re getting them this year! I love rhyming books and I found some gems. The Goodnight Train by June Sobel, and Iggy Peck Architect by Andrea Beaty. I can hardly wait to sit down and open them up with my kiddos on Christmas morning.

Bio: Courtney is a stay at home mother of two, lover of the one true God and the wife of the most amazing husband. She enjoys reading blogs, eating whole foods (and junk foods), and cuddling on the couch with her sleeping babies. She’s a certified scuba diver, a neat freak wanna be, and a kitchen dance party enthusiast. You can check out her blog here.