Vanessa Lachey shares her favorite family Christmas traditions

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 By Brittany Loggins

Vanessa Lachey shared photos of her home's Christmas decorations, as well as her family's favorite ways to spend the holidays.

Vanessa Lachey is celebrating her favorite time of year with gorgeous home decor — and sharing the results!

Lachey has found sentimental ways to make the holidays special for her entire family with treasured traditions. She shared with TODAY Home how she keeps up with husband Nick Lachey when he's on the road with 98 Degrees, what her kids' favorite holiday activities are and even some of her family's annual Christmas traditions. Lachey spoke with TODAY Home as part of her partnership with HomeGoods, who provided all of the decorations for her home.

 

"I love the holiday season — the day after Thanksgiving we start decorating," Vanessa Lachey told TODAY Home. "I found this really cool buffalo check pillow, and then just found all these other great little pieces to complement it."

Lachey says that her decorations have expanded throughout the house over the years, but that's not the only change. Lachey points out that it's totally obvious from the moment someone walks in the door that they have children: Camden, 6, Brooklyn, 3, and Phoenix, 1.

"You know it’s Christmas when you come in my house, but you know it’s Christmas in a house with kids because we have a whole little kids' station with this little Advent calendar, as well as a little Santa mailbox," said Lachey. "Camden checks it daily to see if the letters are taken out, so I try daily to remember to take them out."

 

But the items in the Lachey's house act as are more than just decor, they're becoming tradition. Lachey says her kids love a little wooden Advent calendar as well as the large Santa in the entryway that holds a chalk board sign. Lachey says that every day she changes the messages on Santa's sign, as well as the treats inside the Advent calendar.

"We have an Advent calendar cause it really helps the kids understand the countdown," said Lachey. "It’s a cool concept and tradition that we’ve had that I also think kind of teaches them patience."

 

 During the past two years, Santa hasn't been the only one in the Lachey household receiving letters — the kids write to Nick while he's out on tour as well.

 "We Skype with him, but we also write him letters and cards," said Lachey. "Camden’s now 6, so he’s really big into phonetics and sounding words out and making pop-up cards, believe it or not."

And while the letters are comforting, Lachey says that Nick's favorite thing is getting to come home to his family and a home that's perfectly ready for Christmas.

"For us, not to sound cheesy and cliché, but decorating really just embodies the whole spirit of the season," said Lachey. "Nick's like, 'I love coming home, but I especially love coming home during the holidays.'"