Ashley Tisdale Is 'Giving Into the Chaos' as She Celebrates Her First Christmas Since Welcoming Baby No. 2 (Exclusive)

The actress shares daughters Emerson, 8 weeks, and Jupiter, 3, with husband Christopher French

Ashley Tisdale is going with the flow as she celebrates her first holiday season as a family of four.

The High School Musical alum, 39, chatted with PEOPLE as she prepared for her first Christmas with husband Christopher French and their two daughters, Jupiter, 3, and Emerson, 8 weeks. While partnering with Shutterfly to create her dream holiday card and the perfect personalized gifts, Tisdale tells PEOPLE the only way to get through the holidays with her little ones is to give into the chaos of being a new mom of two.

"It is pretty wild, but it's so much fun," she says of her new family of four. "It's been pretty amazing. It's so cool to see. It feels like the baby's been here the entire time, so it just feels so great."

Tisdale and her crew visited their home in Malibu to celebrate the holiday season and participate in a cute holiday card photo shoot, which the actress says was "so much fun."

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Related: Ashley Tisdale Shares Cute Photos from Baby Daughter Emerson's 'First Beach Day' Alongside Big Sister Jupiter

"I think it really captured where we are in life, which is just pure chaos," she admits. "So it was a little chaotic, but I was just really excited. It's funny, I didn't think I would be that mom that would put the girls in matching clothes, and I was 100% excited to buy these two outfits that matched."

The proud mom adds, "It was really adorable, and Juju thought it was so awesome as well."

Having the shoot in Malibu was the "biggest thing" for Tisdale. "It's such special place to us," she explains. "It's just so calming, and especially in these moments where we're just trying to balance it all, it's always so nice to just kind of go out there." She recalls, "I was like, 'It has to be here."

While the ocean backdrop was picture perfect, the actress candidly shares that getting her "threenager" to cooperate was a challenge.

"Jupiter is at that age where she is like, we call it a 'threenager.' She is a full teenager and she's 3, and she's just sassy," she tells PEOPLE. "She's a really good kid, but she obviously has her moments. There's times where Jupiter is just like, 'No pictures. Don't take any pictures of me.' So I'm like, 'Oh God, I hope we don't get that side of Juju today.'"

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"She did really, really good," the proud mom shares, but "at one point she was just starting to be like, I don't really want to do this anymore." Surprisingly, it was then that the family captured their winning photo.

"So Chris put her on his shoulders, and I think this picture really captures where we are," she explains. "Where it's just kind of going with the flow and giving into the chaos."

Tisdale says baby Emerson is "literally a copy of Juju." When it came time for Jupiter to meet her new sister, the proud mom says, "I think she was more ready than we imagined — I was nervous."

"She really is such a good big sister. She just sits there and wants to hold her baby sister and wants to do tummy time with her, and she's just so loving," the mom of two raves. "It was almost like she knew she was meant to be a big sister. It was so cute."

Not only is Tisdale "so excited for my holiday card to come out," but there's one family tradition she can't wait to continue through Shutterfly.

"My sister actually every year has made a Shutterfly photo book for my parents of my niece, and so they have all of these books and they have about, I guess now she's 14, so 14 of them." she says. "It's just so great to have, and I know my mom and dad always get excited to get the book each year, so I'm excited to make them for the girls."