* Little House in the Country: Enjoying December

So Christmas is in less than a week, and for the first time ever, I'm actually bummed that it's almost here. I have so enjoyed this month and all the fun things we've done.

Other than seeing Santa at the mall, we haven't done too many Christmas-y things outside of our home since Ila is still so small. But we've done plenty of Christmas-y stuff here at home!

We blare Christmas music from the time we wake up until the time that Dustin comes home from work and asks, "WHY IS THE MUSIC SO LOUD?" Each morning begins with Eden searching for her elf and ends with a game of Christmas Bingo and a reading of the nativity story. And in between that we dance to Christmas music, do Christmas crafts, read Christmas books, and there have been many viewings of Rudolph, Frosty, The Grinch and Charlie Brown Christmas! And the one time this month that it got really cold, I was quick to make hot chocolate for us to drink while we watched a movie!

Eden... this age... oh man! Watching this holiday so far through her eyes is such a gift.

I debated for a really long time on whether or not we were going to do the whole Santa thing. I've been thinking about it ever since Eden was born, going back and forth, back and forth, but I didn't have to make a decision until this year since the past two Christmases, while wonderful and cute, were pretty much over Eden's head.

In the end, I decided to go with Santa. I wanted her to have that magic. I remember my excitement when I was a kid... going to bed on Christmas Eve, so giddy... waking up on Christmas morning and seeing evidence that HE CAME! SANTA WAS HERE IN MY HOUSE! RUDOLPH WAS ON MY ROOF! I want my kids to experience that!

I'm putting a different spin on some things, doing it my way though. For example, we're not doing the whole naughty/nice thing since, in my opinion, it goes against the whole Jesus forgives thing.

And I'm going to do my best to always make sure that Santa is the smallest part of our Christmas celebrations. This is her knowledge of Christmas so far:

"Eden, whose birthday are we celebrating right now?"
"Jesus!"
"Who gets presents when it's Jesus's birthday?"
"Everybody!"
"Who is Jesus's mama?"
"Mary!"
"Who is Jesus's daddy?"
"God!"
"Who is going to bring you a present for Jesus's birthday?"
"Santa!"

So, as I mentioned, we're doing the Elf on a Shelf. My mom got her for us, but since we're not doing the naughty/nice thing, I just told Eden that Santa sent an elf to play with her, and he'll pick her up when he drops off her present on Christmas Eve. She was waiting for Eden on December 1st. I hide her every night, and Eden looks for her first thing every morning.

Her little binoculars that Dustin got her are apparently necessary to find Mary.

I love having a 2 year old to share my insane enthusiasm with! She is just amazed by our tree.

Her room is decorated too.

Dustin picked that Minnie Mouse out for her and got it all set up, and Eden literally gasped when she saw it.

We made some decorations for Eden's little area.

Give the girl a glue stick, and she is HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!

The glitter trees were a big hit. She told me a thousand times, "I LOVE GLITTER! I LOVE SPARKLY!" And she colored in the top star on the chalkboard. I was impressed.

She made ornaments for all the grandparents, and she did a GREAT job! I showed her the picture of what they were supposed to look like, and she did it!

She loves to bake cookies.

I measure out all the ingredients, and she dumps everything into the stand mixer. Once we have our dough, I roll it out, she cuts out the cookies, I bake and glaze the cookies, and she puts the sprinkles on. We're a good team.

We've also colored lots of pictures of the Baby Jesus, made A TON of candy canes out of pipe cleaners and beads (she loved that!) and decorated a bunch more construction paper Christmas trees.

And Ila just watches us do all this stuff. She's still just laying around looking cute - now while wearing Christmas outfits. :)

Eden was so cute when we went to see Santa at the mall. She could not WAIT to go see him and was so excited on the drive there! She lit up when she saw him and started waving to him. But the second she was actually on his lap, she was completely overcome with shyness. She was very careful to never look directly at him and forgot all about her plans of telling him she wanted a trampoline. But after Ila took her turn with Santa, Eden mustered up enough courage to run back, stand in front of him, say, "I want a trampoline, please" and rush back to me.

I arranged Ila ever so carefully on Santa, and then Santa moved her and messed up her shirt! Way to go, Santa! Ila wants to know what the heck is going on! Also, while taking her picture, the photographer asked me if it was her first Christmas! I waited until we left before I laughed.

When Ila was born, Susie's sister told me that she wanted to make her something, and asked if there was anything in particular that I wanted. I saw these reindeer hats on etsy and asked if she could make both Eden and Ila one. When she came to visit Susie earlier this week, Sharon made one and Susie made one. They're so dang cute!