I have always loved Christmas. The lights, the sounds, the events… everything. But, now with three little kiddos soaking up all the possibilities of the season, the holidays are positively magical. 
Of course there are the big events that everyone loves, like the pictures with Santa and taking a spin on the holiday carousel, but I think I love the small moments even more. Nothing can top our dance parties as we trim the tree and decorate, matching Gymmies by the fire, or sitting under the tree telling holiday stories. 
As much as I know the kids love the big stuff, it’s going to be all those little things that they remember most as our family traditions. Gymboree knows that life is full of happy moments, and they launched the One Big Happy campaign that encourages every family to celebrate the special moments, no matter the size.
Kids Products
Talk to a doctor online 24 hours a day with Amwell {plus coupon code!}
Finally, you have doctors on your schedule with Amwell. You will never again have to Google symptoms and mom-diagnose or sit in an ER all night. No need to rearrange your schedule to make the only appointment available or waiting weeks without getting seen. And, no piling kids into the car and sitting in traffic, no masks to cover coughs or hand sanitizer to keep healthy kids healthy, and no keeping kids entertained while in the waiting room or in the office before the doctor has time to see you.
Keep an eye on what matters most with the Samsung SmartCam HD
Do you ever wish you could see inside your home when you’re not in it? Or maybe you wish you could see upstairs in your house while hanging out downstairs? If so, you should definitely check out Samsung’s newest smart home solution, the SmartCam HD Pro.
Designed for the security conscious as well as those who need to check on kids, pets, businesses, or deliveries from afar, the Samsung SmartCam HD Pro is as versatile as they get. A 1080p Full HD camera that can be linked to your smartphone wirelessly through the Samsung app, the SmartCam allows you to see everything in striking clarity, remotely. 
Dress up with official NFL kid’s costume sets from Franklin Sports
Are you sick of the Halloween costumes made to last one night before they get abandoned? In my house, we won't even consider a costume unless we are sure the kids will use it for dress up even well after the pumpkins have been tossed. This means no cheapie costumes that will rip and fall apart after one use, we need stuff that is kid tough and made to be played in. 
So, this year we're going with something we know the kids will wear every Friday and Sunday during football season as we cheer on the Seahawks, the Franklin Sports official NFL deluxe helmet with uniform. Definitely not a one night use item, these make for a fun-filled Halloween and a festive football season.
Designed for game day as well as costume parties, we've already gotten good use out of our set and we've only had it a few days. Clearly, this is one costume that is definitely not going to be buried in the dress up bin or tossed after one night. 
The set comes with a play helmet that looks just like the real thing, a team jersey, pants and iron-on number kit so you can customize with your favorite player's number. And, whether the kids wear it all together as it was intended or they mix and match so they can wear the jersey to school for Blue Friday, or the helmet with whatever Seahawks clothing they have in their closets, you can bet it's going to be a hit.
Let girls build with Roominate Studio DIY designing kits
Have you taken a stroll down the pink side of the toys stores lately? Slowly but surely, the days when all girls have to play with is dolls and princesses are coming to an end. Recently, there has been a huge shift in girls’ toys, and the result is really awesome.
As the revolution takes place in toy stores everywhere, we are now seeing products specifically marketed towards girls offer so much more substance than ever before. Thanks in part to companies like Roominate, girls are now hearing a message that they should have been hearing all along: girls can build and design, too. 
The story behind Roominate begins with two women, Alice Brooks and Bettina Chen, who met and became friends in the master’s engineering program at Stanford. When they got to talking about why they had pursued engineering, they both said they were inspired by the toys they played with during childhood. While looking at current toy offerings for girls and boys, they saw huge gaps in toys marketed towards the different genders.
Together they set about to change it by creating a product that was not just pink and pretty, but also had a basis in STEM subjects {Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math}. And, with that, the idea behind Roominate was born. 
Disney’s Cinderella is available on Digital HD, Blu-ray & Disney Movies Anywhere
Ever since we saw the Seattle screening of the new live-action Cinderella movie, my kids have been begging me to watch it again. We even thought we were going to watch the new Cinderella one night at an outdoor movie event with our neighbors and were so excited. It was more than a little disappointing when it ended up being the older animated version that we already own, but I’m happy the kids handled it as well as they did and enjoyed the older movie together.
Knowing that they were crazy excited to watch the film again, I had the release date off 9/18/2015 set in my calendar so I could make sure I picked it up as soon as it came out. We were thrilled when we finally got a chance to have a Cinderella viewing party with our neighbors who were also owed a re-do on the Cinderella movie night.
Explore the ’50s with Maryellen, the new BeForever doll from American Girl
Have you ever felt like you were born in the wrong decade? For me, my heart has always belonged to the ‘50s. My parents were born in the 1950s so I grew up hearing stories of the way things used to be and I always felt a connection to the decade that shaped their generation. I spent countless hours listening to their 45s, exploring their childhood closets for clothing gems left behind when everyone moved away from home, and pining for a decade I never personally experienced. 
My love of the ‘50s has only been renewed with the arrival of the newest American Girl’s BeForever™ character, Maryellen Larkin. Only now it’s better because I get to share that love with my children. 
I don’t think it’s possible to be more in love with Maryellen. With her gorgeous strawberry blond hair, her brown eyes, and her authentic 1950s outfit featuring a striped dress, a lacy-knit shrug with a monogrammed "M", black shoes, and a ribbon bow for her hair, she’s exactly what I think of when I picture my mom and my aunts during the ‘50s. Classic and all-American, Maryellen is even more beautiful in person than she is online and in catalogue. 
Back to School ROCKS with AT&T – LG Tone wireless stereo headset
It’s back to school time, and you’re probably busy checking off lists consisting of pencils, glue sticks, backpacks and rulers. All of which are necessary for back to school, but I think we can all agree they really aren’t fun, are they?
So, what if you want to get them something they will be excited about for back to school? For all that fun stuff, look no further than AT&T. 
By now you know that the AT&T store carries everything you need to make the most of your mobile devices, and back to school time means everyone is going to be a whole lot more mobile with school schedules, sports, and extracurricular activities. Whether you are looking for a new smartphone so you can keep in touch, speakers for a dorm room, a tablet so they can do homework when they can’t be at a computer, or an activity tracker to keep up with all those extra steps they will be racking up on campus, AT&T has you covered.
3-in-1 PortaPlay convertible activity center from Oribel
With my older two kids I had every baby gadget, gizmo, or new fad that came on the market. And then I gave most of it away to family and friends thinking we were done with the baby stage. So, when we found out we were expecting baby #3 last year, I had many people ask if we wanted our stuff back, but I knew they were still using it so I said I would let them know when we were ready for it.
As it turns out, I haven’t asked for any of it back. And, for the most part, I haven’t missed all the baby stuff. I call my new parenting style “minimal”, and it’s actually been quite awesome not having to find places to store all the extra stuff before, during, and after we need it.
For that reason, Oribel is my favorite new baby gear company, hands down. Instead of buying a baby item that lasts a matter of weeks, their baby gear is designed to grow with baby through multiple stages helping you truly go minimal.
Back to school with Gymboree – Let’s Color Together
You know how all kids go through various stages and it’s easier to connect with them at certain times? About two years ago my sweet girl was going through a stage that left me frazzled by the end of the day. What I realized was that we needed something for just the two of us, and it was going to be even more crucial as she started school full-time. 
There were three main criteria I needed to address: 1) The activity had to have no rules that I needed to enforce since I was the enforcer the rest of the day. 2) It had to be something that wasn’t extra work for me so I didn’t have to plan, execute, and then deal with clean up. And 3) It had to be something we both enjoyed that allowed us to reconnect so that we could weather this stage we were both going through.
One day it hit me that the answer to reconnecting with my daughter was through art. We both love just about every type of art and we both find it relaxing, so it was the perfect solution for getting us both to enjoy each other’s company and rediscover how much fun we have together. Since that day we’ve worked side by side to draw, paint with water colors, sew, and even build together on our doll house we’re renovating… and it has been amazing for all of us. 