Ellie's 2nd Christmas

Wow, it has been so much harder to keep up on my  blog than I thought it would be!  The holidays have come and gone and Ellie had a blast.  She was spoiled by all of her grandparents, aunts, and uncles (and probably her parents too).  I did a lot of thinking over this Christmas about how I want Ellie to always remember the real reason for Christmas and not just think it is a time to get a lot of presents.  I've read a few articles, blogs, etc. on this subject and found the following ideas which I want to incorporate in to our family traditions:

1. Only give your child 3 presents for Christmas to symbolize the 3 gifts given to Jesus by the wise men.  I absolutely love this idea!  First of all, my house is becoming overwhelmed with toys and I have barely any room for any more!  Second, this will help out our Christmas budget tremendously.  But most of all, this gives you an easy opportunity to talk about Jesus and the day of his birth with your little one.  I struggle with finding ways to tell bible stories to my child.  Some of them I don't know and need a refresher on myself, but others I'm just not sure how to tell in a way that is interesting to my little toddler.  But I think this is a perfect way to talk about one of the most important bible stories of all.
2. Have a birthday party for Jesus on Christmas day - one of my friends does this in her house and her kids love it.  They have cupcakes with candles on them and sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus on Christmas day.  Such a simple but powerful message to send to your kids about the true meaning of Christmas.  And they get treats!
3. Read tons of books about Jesus' birth - we somewhat started this tradition this year but mainly with 1 book.  I found a book called "One Night in Bethlehem" that we read over and over again during the Christmas holiday.  It was a "touch and feel" book, which was perfect for Ellie at this age.  She loved listening to this story and touching each page.  She especially loved pointing out the baby Jesus on each page and shouting "Baby! Baby!"
4. Play with nativity toys!  Ellie absolutely loved nativity scenes over the holidays mainly because of the baby Jesus (she has an obsession with babies right now).  We had nativities all over the house and she even received a Melissa and Doug nativity set for Christmas.  She loved this toy and it was a great way to teach her all of the different people (Mary, Joseph, Jesus, etc.).  We would play with the pieces and I'd ask her to find Mary and let her look at all the people and pick her out.  Often she would call Mary "Mommy" and Joseph "Daddy" but that was close enough!

I'm sure there are some other great ideas out there, but these were just a few that I liked and will definitely start doing more of next year.  Christmas with Ellie this year was truly special and I can't believe it came and went so fast.  My little girl is growing up right before my eyes and I'm not ready for that yet!  Here are some photos of the little princess we took over the holidays...