421 Days/37w5d

I've been thinking a lot about Christmas this year and what we're going to get Arianna. Last year was very simple. She got a scooter (her Santa gift), an Ariel doll from us, and a few small things in her stocking plus presents from each set of grandparents. It was more than enough for her and we try not to overdo it on Christmas since her birthday is less than two months later.

This year, the only thing she has asked for is a Dora the Explorer doll in a blue dress and she plans to talk to Santa about this. I asked her tonight what else she's going to ask him for and she put her hands on her hips and said, "Nothing! I'm just going to ask him for a doll! You can only ask Santa for ONE special toy or he won't have enough for everybody!" I am not sure who told her this or where she came up with the idea, but I admit that it makes me terribly proud. She truly believes that if she asks him for anything other than one doll, someone else might go without a gift and she is certainly NOT ok with another child missing out so that she can have another gift.

So this is what I have so far (well, what I'm considering, I don't actually have any of it yet):

Dora the Explorer doll (this will be her Santa gift).

A kitchen (this will be her "big" gift). I'm going to keep an eye out on Black Friday and Cyber Monday and if the price on this one goes way down, I'll probably get it instead, but if not it will be that first one.

Pots and Pans set for the kitchen

Food set for the kitchen

Candy Land or Hi Ho Cherry-O. I already knew that I wanted to get her Candy Land and after talking to other parents with kids around her age, Hi Ho Cherry-O seemed to be the second most popular. I'm going to get one of them for Christmas and the other one for her birthday.

Fisher-Price iXL Learning System. I actually just came across this today and it's another one that I'm going to keep an eye on during the holiday sales. If the price comes way down, I'll snag one, but if not I'm thinking that this will be her "big" birthday gift. Actually, even if I end up buying it during the sales, we still might save it for her birthday since she's already getting the kitchen.

That's about it and I'd say that will make for a pretty good Christmas in the eyes of a three year old! To some, it may seem like hardly anything at all, but to me it almost seems overboard. I've just always been very conservative at Christmas time because really, our kids already have everything that they need. Lucy probably won't be getting anything. I know, poor Lucy, gypped on her first Christmas. She won't be able to open gifts nor will she have any idea what's going on so I would rather just spend the money on Arianna this year. We'll probably get a small toy to put in Lucy's stocking just so Arianna doesn't get upset with Santa for "forgetting" about her sister. ;)