Today's Parent Celebrity Mom of the Year 2014: Kristen Bell

It's become an annual tradition: Each year we put out a call on Facebook and Twitter asking readers to tell us (just for fun!) who the Today's Parent Celebrity Mom of the Year should be. Last year, it was Kate Middleton, of course, and the year before, it was all about Jennifer Garner. This year, our Celebrity Mom of the Year is—drumroll, please—Kristen Bell. Kristen and her famous hubby, Dax Shepard, are parents to one-and-a-half-year-old daughter Lincoln, and they just welcomed a baby girl, Delta Bell! Here's why we've loved Kristen this year.

Her #NoKidsPolicy war on magazines and the paparazzi

Earlier this year, Kristen, 34, with the help of hubby Dax Shepard, 39, used Twitter to stop media outlets from publishing paparazzi photos of celebrity kids without permission from their parents—and to stop consumers from purchasing magazines featuring unauthorized celebrity-kid photos.

"I feel a lot safer because I'm not followed at all now," Kristen has said. "It makes me feel like we all rallied and did something —the good people that were on the side of responsible parenting and passionate about child welfare spoke up and made a difference, and that is a really invigorating feeling."

Kristen initiated the #NoKidsPolicy hashtag and tweeted media outlets directly to adopt the policy. The hashtag took off on social media, as other celebrities and non-celebrities embraced it and made a difference. Indeed, Kristen is the reason we stopped posting photos of celebrity kids—other than those shared by their parents—here at Today's Parent. Go, Kristen!

"Home for the Holidays" Samsung video

This hysterical Samsung video, posted last month, of pregnant Kristen—"Honey, I can't even tie my shoes at this point"—and Dax prepping their home for Christmas made us love them even more (as if that was possible). Why is Kristen's stocking so big? "I'm stocking for two." Love!

That Frozen movie...

Who better than Kristen to play the voice of the beloved Frozen character Anna.

Veronica Mars comeback

Kristen started playing the role of Veronica Mars at age 24, and the concept made a comeback earlier this year, in March, as a Kickstarter project to raise funds for a Veronica Mars movie, and raised $5,702,153—breaking the record as the fastest Kickstarter project to hit the $1 million mark, and then $2 million. The people love Kristen Bell!

Her passionate, active stance on gay marriage

Kristen and Dax were engaged in 2010 but held off marriage until everyone could get married in California. On the very day of the demise of the Defence of Marriage Act (DOMA), Kristen quickly took to Twitter: “You’re damn right DOMA is unconstitutional!! #equalitymatters,” she tweeted. And then, “@daxshepard1 will you marry me? Xo #marriageequality #loveislove.” That's right! She proposed to Dax on Twitter! Another instance in which social media is not just talk, but major action, for Kristen.

That Sloth meltdown video

This video was posted a few years ago, but the sloth legend lives on. I mean, check out Kristen's Twitter profile pic:

Kristen Bell as Mary Poppins on Funny or Die (Click on the image to view the video)

"I still don't get these birds for free!" Can you stand it? Hilarious. For all those reasons and more, we heart Kristen Bell!

And hey, by the way? You're pretty darn awesome yourself. Happy Holidays!

Love!
xo Haley-O
Celebrity Candy: Follow along as Haley Overland delivers the latest scoop on celebrity families — plus sweet celeb interviews! You can’t have too much of this candy, so check back often.