This year, I went as far as new PJs for us all (DH, DD and I) - had been going up from just DD through DD and I, but found a really soft cuddly set for DH when I was considering only DD - so got a set for me too after all. DH loves them (although he flipped at the price when he asked 10 days later - but they are really cuddly and he has barely had them off to wash since!). Will do that again! And I had stuck in a Christmassy bath bomb too for DD, which she loved and ran to have her bath once she'd lit the candle.
Remember to make at least one batch of cookie dough and freeze it in advance. Usually, in case I can't make fresh on Christmas Eve, I have a log in the freezer to slice through (big chopper works fine) and bake for Santa - he got a biccie from the shop this year.
Remember where the savoury homemade goodies are stashed -so that I can give them as gifts! I had homemade choccies alright as they were freshly made, but chutney, dried herbs and lots of jams were only found on 2nd Jan!
We had a Christmas Eve "dinner" of a tray of meats (parma ham, cooked ham, braseola, salami etc), cheeseboard, olives, cherry tomatoes, sundried tomatoes and a squid/prawns in sweet chili sauce thing, with lovely fresh bread and flavoured olive oil for dipping - which was lovely. Not too heavy, easy to put together, and even DD had plenty to choose. Will DEFINITELY do that again.
Small turkey was good, but dry. DH thinks a crown would be fine (not so sure), but we weren't swimming in leftovers for a week. We had also agreed not to go mad on the meal - we actually forgot to make the melon/parma ham starter, and just had turkey, roasties, brussels (freshly harvested from garden), carrots, DH's special pork meat stuffing, and gravy. Which was lovely and not stressy. With shop-bought pudding later - that WAS a mistake as it was rank - either plead with Mum to make me one again this year or make one myself (after 12 years of marriage, I ought to do it at some stage). We had no cake this year either (MIL usually does that), but it wasn't missed.
Planning pre-Christmas activities for DD was a good idea - I had a list of things for most days, and a backup list of things for when she was "bored" or over-excited, to keep her occupied. Lots will be done again next year, while I still have plenty of new things on the list to get to.
Must remember to get plenty of small choccies though in advance for teh advent calendar, and hide them better. DD found the stash of choc santas (net from Aldi) and snaffled a few extra - so we didn't have enough to get to Christmas Eve and I had to find tremenduously expensive Nutcracker chocs at the last minute for the last few days instead.
While I did ok on buying presents (annual spreadsheet has been rolled over again with new page for 2012 set up and a few ideas), I hadn't left enough time for crafting ideas. So need to start on those sooner. And get clearer ideas for a few tricky ones earlier.
I have accepted that DH is not one to do Christmas before December in general, but he did think about Santa with me at the start of November, and he did that buying and hiding a couple of weeks later.
Also, while purchasing went well, wrapping was a bit of a scramble. I had to finish wrapping for things to be sent off with DH as he unexpectedly went to his parents overnight the week before (just after he was home from overseas), and I did have one to do on Christmas morning. But it was organised chaos rather than mad scramble. Just get organised earlier.
Which would mean less stress on me - I did have one small freak out. But I know I need to build in some quiet time for me that I had forgotten to do this year. And make sure I buy a bath bomb or 2 for myself!
Write my debriefing notes into my noteboook too, to remember everything before Christmas and not as things go wrong on Christmas Eve!