What We are Actually Buying our Kids for Christmas This Year!

It's that time of year when we are finalizing all our presents for everyone (I like to have it done earlier, but it just wasn't going to happen this year, on top of the fact that my family wasn't as on board with deciding what they want for Christmas super early). I love the process of deciding on what we're getting everyone and buying/wrapping it all almost as much as I love Christmas morning.

Our tradition is to get our kids one big thing (we have a $50 budget for it) from Mom and Dad and then we get them stocking stuffers from Santa (we budget about $100 per stocking). My two older kids know about Santa and my two younger kids don't. We are doing less for the baby's stocking this year.

Our oldest girls are 11, 9, and 7. We also have a 4 year old boy and an 8 month old baby.

Here is what we are buying our kids for Christmas!

Ashtyn

Makeup

Ashtyn's biggest Christmas wish this year is makeup (she just turned eleven), so I got some mascara, eye shadow, lip gloss, and lip stick for her. I also have some face powder that I never use that she wants, so I'm going to give her mine.

Makeup bag

I also thought it would be good for her to have a bag to keep her makeup in and found this cute one on Amazon.

Scissors and Faux Leather

Ashtyn got supplies for making bows for her birthday recently from an aunt and loves it. For her stocking, I picked out some cute new faux leather I think she'll like and the same aunt had some extra scissors that are nicer that she gave us.

Rubics Cube

The one other thing she is asking for is a rubics cube, and especially a 2X2 rubics cube. I found this combo for not too expensive on Amazon.

Bluetooth headphones

Both Ashtyn and Parker have Kindles and love using bluetooth headphones to listen to audiobooks on their Kindles. Ashtyn's headphones are starting to break (only one headphone currently works), so I'm getting her a new pair.

Joycons

My grandparents send $25 every year to pick out a gift from them and this year, we're getting Ashtyn joycons for her Switch that she already has (she currently uses a controller because her joycons broke).

Parker

Switch

For her big gift, Parker wanted us to get her a Switch. We put $50 dollars toward it and she paid the remainder. We found one for $130 on eBay, that came with a charger and joycons.

Nintendo Store Gift Cards

In her stocking, we're giving her a $20 gift card for the Nintendo eStore so that she can get some games on her Switch (we only own a few physical copies of games). We've also picked out a $25 giftcard for her from my grandparents, so she should have enough to get quite a few games that she wants.

Headphones

Something Parker (and Rylee) really want for Christmas this year are headphones they can plug into their school computers (they often use them to listen to music as well). We found these on Amazon for not too much.

Bluetooth headphones Just like Ashtyn, Parker could use a new pair of bluetooth headphones (you can't plug headhpones into a Kindle), so she's going to get some as well in her stocking.

Colored pencils

I bought myself some new colored pencils this year when I did my bullet journal and then we gave them to Ashtyn for her birthday. Both sisters were very jealous, so I think they'll be very excited to find these in their stockings.

Rylee

Telescope

Rylee has been asking for a telescope for a long time, but we didn't think we'd be able to get one for her (nicer ones are so expensive and we didn't want to get one that didn't work very well). When we were helping clean out Ben's grandmother's house recently (she passed away earlier this year), there was a very nice telescope there and her children gave it to us for Rylee's Christmas. We had already told her it wasn't something we could do, so she's going to be beyond excited when she opens it!

Animal Crossing for 2DS

All the girls have a 2DS and both Ashtyn and Parker have Animal Crossing for theirs. They are synced up and will play together, and Rylee wishes she could play with them too. I got the DS Animal Crossing game for her stocking so that she will be able to!

Colored pencils

Just like Parker, I got these colored pencils for Rylee. I know they'll both be excited to find them in their stockings.

Headphones

Like Parker, Rylee really wants headphones for Christmas, so we're getting her the same ones, just in a different color.

Oliver

Remote Control Car

Oliver's big gift this year is a remote control car. I'm really excited for this gift, because I have wanted to give him something like this for a long time, but we were trying to wait for him to be old enough to really enjoy it. This is the year! We found one on Amazon that seems to have a good battery life, has two batteries (so one can be charging while they are still using the car with the other), and doesn't have frustrating controls.

Spiderman DVDs

Oliver loves superheroes right now and often wants to get superhero DVD's from the library, but most of them are Marvel movies we don't want him watching yet. My husband has always loved The Spectacular Spiderman series, so we got the DVD's for Oliver for his stocking.

Animals

We have just a couple animal figurines that Oliver really loves playing with, so I'm getting him more for his stocking.

Bath Toys

I'm also getting Oliver some new little bath toys, including little boats that I think he'll really like.

Magnet Blocks

From his grandparents, we're getting him some new magnet blocks. Magnet blocks get played with all the time at our house, especially by Oliver, but some of them have started breaking. These cost a little more than what my grandparents budget, but his main gift from us cost a little less than what we budget, so it works out in the end.

Leah

Teething Toys

Leah is just reaching the age where she loves to put things in her mouth to play, so her main gift is going to be teething toys. We're not doing a lot for her, because she won't know the difference, but we are getting her some things that I've been wanting to get her and her siblings would be disappointed if she didn't get anything.

Snuggly

I am also getting her a little snuggly toy for her crib (she's almost old enough that I'll feel comfortable leaving it in there with her).

Wooden toy

From her grandparents, I'm giving her a little wooden activity toy that I think she'll like. I also think the other kids will play with it some, which is always a win.

Baby treats

In her stocking, I'm planning on putting some baby crackers and yogurt drops. She'll love it, because she loves food right now!

Combined Gift

Karoake Machine

In addition to one big gift for each child, we also get them one combined gfit (for all the kids to share). In the past, we've done things like a Get Out Pass, a guitar, a nugget couch. This year, we decided to get them a karoake machine. I think it's going to be huge hit because all our kids love singing and we love to do karoake using YouTube as a family as well.

Blankets

We always get out Christmas pajamas early on in the season so the kids can wear them all month long (and we also reuse/pass down our Christmas pajamas). Our traditional Christmas Eve gift is to give each child a new blanket. We always get the Queen sized ones and the kids usually use them in the living room in the mornings or while watching shows.

Stockings

There are also a few things we are getting for each stocking in addition to the individual gifts they are getting.

Outfit

I love getting everyone a new outfit to wear on Christmas Day and for the rest of the winter. This year, I went for comfy and cute. I also got Oliver and Leah a similar outfit.

Coloring Book

Each child is getting a coloring book this year because they all love coloring and these coloring books were too cute to pass up! I got Oliver this ABC one instead because he's very into letters right now.

Pencil bag

To go along with their colored pencils and coloring books, I got them these cute pencil bags. I got a different color for each girl (I didn't get Oliver one).

Murdle book

I also got each girl a puzzle book--these are really cool mystery puzzle books that I think the kids are really going to like. I got Murdle ones and a Cluedle.

Thrifted Book

At a recent trip to the thrift store, I also found a book for each child that I think they are goign to like. For $2 or less, I got them each the book for their stocking!

Jerky

We love to put a beef jerky packet into our kids' stockings. It's a great way to do a snack that isn't candy and our kids love these, but usually don't all get one because of how expensive that would be.

Candy

This year for candy, I let the kids tell me a couple of nicer things that they like rather than getting a lot of smaller candy from the Christmas aisle. I also got some Neco wafers from the dollar store, because their great-grandma who passed away earlier this year always gave them Neco wafers. I think that is going to be a special addition to our Christmas.

Cheetohs

We love the Simply Cheetos and it's another snack my kids love that isn't candy!

That's what we're getting our kids for Christmas this year! What are you most excited to gift your children this year? Do you love the preparation for Christmas or just endure it? Let me know in the comments section below!