Decorating for Christmas 2025

 Last weekend we decided it was time to break out the Christmas decorations. We used to be strict “wait until after Thanksgiving” people, but in recent years we’ve loved having the holiday magic around a little longer, especially with how late Thanksgiving falls this year. It felt right to lean in early.

With a toddler in the house, we weren’t quite sure what level of tree protection we’d need this season. Alison had a plan, of course. She’d been saving diaper boxes and was ready to fill them with sandbags, wrap them in cute paper, and build an aesthetically pleasing barrier around the tree. Fortunately, it turns out we don’t need it—at least for now. Madeline has her own tree in the loft and has been far more interested in that one. And thank goodness, because Alison’s main tree is gorgeous.

We started decorating in earnest on Saturday. I dragged out our giant nutcracker, wreath, and Christmas doormat, and then helped Alison haul out our main tree. Alison started decorating while Madeline took her nap, which meant Mads woke up to the beginnings of a winter wonderland. She was obsessed. She kept pivoting between the nutcrackers and the twinkling lights, and she was so excited to “help” Mom decorate.

We wrapped up the downstairs on Saturday before heading upstairs to set up the loft tree and the train set. Madeline is in love with the train. When we turn it on, she bops her head to the rhythm of the clacking wheels and claps with excitement. It’s ridiculously cute. We held off on actually decorating the loft tree until Sunday.

On Sunday, Kristin and her girls came over to help. That evening Kristin was taking Skylee to see the musical Suffs (side note: Alison and I went midweek because I won lucky seat, again! It was incredible, probably our favorite musical we have seen at the Eccles). Since we were watching Anna while they were at the show, they came over for dinner and to help decorate the loft Christmas tree.

Decorating that tree is always a highlight because it’s full of meaningful ornaments—ones we’ve collected from all over the world on our many adventures, and sweet keepsakes like Madeline’s handprint and footprint from last year or the tiny hat she wore in the hospital. We love sharing these memories with the girls and can’t wait for the day when Mads is old enough to hear all the stories behind them. We also got out our Rudolph stuffy, which was another huge hit.

Once the tree was fully decorated, we warmed up a few Levain cookies to share before Kristin and Skylee headed out to Suffs. Then we settled in for the evening with Anna. She helped us put Madeline to bed—reading her bedtime stories in the cutest little voice—and afterward we watched a movie and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving until Kristin came back.

It was such a cozy, joy-filled kickoff to the holiday season, and we’re so excited for all the memories still ahead.