Bettina Forbes is the co-founder and president of the thriving Best for Babes (www.bestforbabes.com), a celebrity-endorsed nonprofit foundation dedicated to giving breast-feeding a makeover. Here’s what this New Jersey mother of two has to say:

“In the beginning of December, I start off with the best intentions and a frighteningly long list of things I want to do to create a magical holiday season for my family. Then the days fly by and I am faced with the reality that I just can’t stay on top of that darn list, and the supplies for homemade wrapping paper will get stuffed in the closet for another year. The holidays are hectic and pressured, and it is easy to have unrealistic expectations. Inevitably I don’t meet my own expectations or worry that I have disappointed my family and friends. But instead of kicking myself around the block for what I didn’t accomplish, or because my cards are late (again), I am going to set an example for my kids of focusing on the positive. Who cares if no lights are up around the house? It’s warm inside, and chances are, we will be baking lots of our favorite cookies. I may not host that ultimate holiday party this year, but I will certainly be on the floor helping my kids (Raymond is 8 and Ava is 6) put Legos together or draw with new markers. Children are great teachers, and mine help me put things into the proper perspective. No matter what holiday snafus hit the fan or what dropped through the cracks, if we can look back and laugh at it and count our blessings, it will be a wonderful holiday season indeed!”

“This holiday season, I would like my family to remember the traditions we share and, most importantly, the true meaning of Christmas. With the hustle and bustle of all the frenetic shopping sprees that begin the day after Thanksgiving, sometimes the reason for the season gets lost in the shuffle. With a little preparedness, I’d like to be able to take the time to make a gingerbread house with my kids. Maybe make some of our gifts instead of just buying them at the mall. I’d like us to go to church each week and celebrate Advent as a spiritual season rather than a constant whirl of activity—parties, shopping, endless commitments. I want to minimize the holiday angst that many of us—especially moms—feel by practicing triage to separate what I have control over from what I don’t. My two beautiful children, Jay and Olivia, will only be young once, and I’d like nothing better than to experience the magic of Christmas through their eyes. That’s what I’d like to remember.”

Audrey Zuber is the owner of the best-in-cloth-diapers depot Punkin-Butt (www.punkinbutt.com), an online Motherhood 3.0 one-stop shop that also sells the latest and greatest in baby wearing, baby gear, clothes, furniture and more. Here’s what this mother of one with two (yes, twins!) on the way has to say:

“This holiday season, I’ve realized that the holidays won’t be about food, trees or gifts. My husband and I are expecting twins right in the middle of the usual holiday chaos, and our focus has turned to the miracle of birth and the tremendous blessings we are about to receive.

My 3-year-old daughter is anxious to meet her brother and sister. She asks every day if they are coming out yet and I must disappoint her and say, “Not yet!” I love how she hugs them and gives them kisses. She talks about helping to feed and bathe them and get them dressed.

When asked how we are planning to deal with Thanksgiving and Christmas, I just let everyone know it will be simple and more focused on our blessings and family and less about the business of the holidays that is so easy to get caught up in. In a way, giving birth this time of year makes everything extra special, as it helps pull the focus back on the essential elements of our family values—appreciating and enjoying our friends and family, focusing on the blessings in our lives, and realizing the holidays are about much more meaningful things than buying presents and decorating our homes.

Most important, I am happy to give my daughter the gift of siblings and family. As an only child raised by a single mother, I feel like I missed out on those close family bonds, and as I get older, I realize how amazing and wonderful a large family can be.”