The year my daughter was born, the ladies in our family decided that our children already had too much stuff and don't need more clutter or things, that there were too many kids to buy everyone a gift at Christmas, and we'd rather they share a special day together. So the first year, we all got together before Christmas and made salt dough ornaments, and last year we made mugs for our parents with reindeer made of the kids' fingerprints. This year, I found these cute gingerbread men ornaments they could make, and we just pasted the kids' faces on them. I loved how they turned out! I also set out Santa and elf hats for them to wear. :) We then sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and ate birthday cake. And anytime the kids come over, they always want to bust out the costume box, which consists of Halloween costumes I bought post-Halloween last year for my daughter's Christmas gift and for the cousins to have something to do when they came over. It's so funny to see what they come up with!

I purchased the pattern and materials, and my sister made this AWESOME hat for my daughter....that she won't let me put on her head! So we had Little Molly try it on for size. She just stood there motionless with her hands in the air at first. Lol!

Everyone wants photos of their kids in front of the Christmas tree, and we did the obligatory Mall Santa photos already. Though I generally only do documentary photos of my little one, once a year I actually set up a little "scene" at Christmastime, because what kid won't sit still for milk and cookies? Crazy 8 sells these awesome Santa and Elf jammies, so they fit the scene just right. My daughter had no trouble diving into the scene, and as you'll see, some people really do cry over spilled milk, but she recovered quickly when she realized she still had several gingerbread survivors.

I just love putting these photos up at Christmastime around our house...but next year may be tricky with 2 little ones! I hope you are having a very Merry Christmas with your friends and family!

And here are some from last year. I used a flash then but wanted something more natural this year. Either way, I think my little cookie baby is adorable. ♥

This month has been magical. If we had snow, it would be the perfect Christmas.