Update those winter wardrobes with Carter’s Babies and Kids #SpringIntoCarters

I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for Carter’s. I received a complimentary gift card to facilitate my review and thank me for my participation #SpringIntoCarters

Spring is finally here in the Pacific Northwest and that means we're purging our bulky sweaters and looking for bright colors and warmer weather wear. But, while I can wear most of my clothes from last spring {hooray for not being pregnant anymore!}, the kids have grown so much that shopping is a necessity, which I'm not going to complain about now that I've got a new little one to shop for as well. Carter's spring outfitsNaturally, I turned to the company that I've relied on to outfit my kids since they were born: Carter's Babies and Kids. I absolutely love shopping at my local Carter's store because every season it is restocked with an awesome mix of adorable, cute, hip, practical, and truly fun pieces for newborn on up to kids size 12.

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Start a love of biking early with the smarTrike 4-in-1 trike

Sponsored postOur family is huge into biking and the kids spend all spring, summer, and fall pedaling all over the neighborhood and beyond. But, with a new reviewer that is going to be too young to join in all the biking fun, I wasn't sure what her and I were going to do while the big kids played. Sure, I could push her in the stroller alongside them, but that's a pretty sad consolation to biking with the big kids.

Introducing the smarTrike® Boutique Touch Steering® 4-in-1 trike that can get her out biking even before she can reach the pedals. Besides starting a love of biking earlier than ever, it also has all sorts of little details that make toddlers and parents happy. It might be so cool that even the big kids love it. SmarTrike in stroller modeBeing 4-in-1 allows us to start baby girl on the smarTrike at 10 months and then as she grows we can configure it to fit our needs. Just check out all the ways you can use the smarTrike to grow with your child, or make it useful for families with multiple young kids.  Smartrike 4-in-1

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Children’s beds made fun and functional with Cuckooland

Sponsored postFor the past few years, I’ve been researching bed solutions for my growing family and have come to one conclusion: people put a whole lot more thought into the crib that they will buy their little one to sleep in for a matter of months than they do the bed they will grow up in.

It’s true. There are numerous companies devoted to helping you design a baby nursery and pick your baby’s bed, but there is very little help once you are ready to graduate your child to a big kid bed. I guess you’re just supposed to go to a traditional furniture store and pick one of the 5 boring beds they stock and call it good. Well, there’s one company that thinks that kids beds should be cooler than that. Way cooler.

Cuckooland-logo-gifts

Meet the British commerce site Cuckooland.com, the coolest way to make your child’s room the stuff dreams are made of. Delivering all the wow factor I have been searching for in kids furniture, their line of children's bedroom furniture will have grownups as well as the kids wanting to daydream in a treehouse bunk bed or make believe the day away with a playhouse bed for sleeping and playing in. Cuckooland_Lifetime_Childrens Tree House Cabin  Bed_Lifestyle_LRPart bed, part art, and part play space, these extraordinary children's beds make it possible to create a gorgeous place for sleep and for play that is only limited by your imagination.

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Expand your play with The Queen’s Treasures accessories and furniture for your 18″ dolls

Sponsored postAround here we take our doll play very seriously. My kids learn with their dolls, we host special doll play dates, and we look for any opportunity to include them in our mother/daughter bonding time. This also means I’m picky about what doll treasures end up in our collection and would gladly pay more for high-quality, detailed accessories and miniatures that will really expand our doll play. Doll playAll of this and more is why I adore The Queen's Treasures. Sick of all the pink plastic junk I was finding in retail stores, I ended up doing an exhaustive search online to see if I could find 18" doll items that would last through all the kids and make playtime even more fun. I found The Queen’s Treasures in one of those searches and ever since we received our first piece of their doll furniture, I’ve been a huge fan. Dolls in the kitchenIf you haven’t already fell in love with The Queen's Treasurers, I would highly recommend taking some time to check out their site to see their amazing collection of furniture, clothing, gear, and accessories all miniaturized for 18in dolls. While I love their doll clothing and miniature accessories, it’s their high quality doll furniture that I first fell for. With tiny cupboards, table and chair sets, kitchen, tea sets, bedroom furniture and a huge selection of 18in doll storage trunks, wardrobes and armoires and more that can take doll play to the next level.

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Grace Thomas: 2015 Girl of the Year from American Girl inspires kids to bake a difference

Sponsored postEvery year we look forward to January 1st for one reason. It’s like the Super Bowl for doll fans as American Girl debuts their Girl of the Year in store as well as on their website for purchase. And, this year was no exception as they introduced a beautiful new doll that every young girl is excited about.

Readers, meet Grace Thomas, the new Girl of the Year for 2015. American Girl Grace dollWith dark brown hair with light brown highlights, bright blue eyes, and freckled cheeks, Grace has a certain spark about her. Grace and Bonbon dog Amercian Girl

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Plan ahead for play time with Rayovac

Sponsored postRemember a few weeks ago when I was reminding you to run out and purchase batteries for all the new treasures your children were going to find under the tree this holiday season? Well friends, I'm here to tell you I failed. Yes, I stocked up on batteries. I even got more batteries than I knew I needed.

But, you know what I forgot? The fact that other people would also be buying for my kids and they were going to come home from Christmas with friends and family with new toys that took batteries in sizes we almost never carry. Can you say "planning fail"?

Luckily these gatherings were a few days before Christmas and we had time to run to stores to pick up the odd sized battery pack or two, but I still felt really bad telling the kids that they couldn't play with their new toys. If this had been Christmas morning or even the days following when we had gathering after gathering, it could have ended much, much worse! 6a0105362badb1970b01a73df8d1ea970d-800wi

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Happy Holidays from the Lundby family

Sponsored postLundby Christmas SantaThis year, as we decorated the house for the holidays we noticed that there was a bit more magic than normal. At first we thought it was the Magic Elf duo that has been having all sorts of Elf Capades in our home and with our holiday decorations. But then things started to go missing. It started with a spool of Christmas ribbon, and then a pack of stocking-shaped buttons, and I lost count of how many times I went to go get some tools or arts and crafts items from the junk drawer and couldn't find them.

It was clear we had a Christmas crafting thief.

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Relax, Hammacher Schlemmer has you covered this holiday season

Sponsored postRelaxing holidays Every year I look forward to the Hammacher Schlemmer holiday gift guide. For those of you who aren’t familiar, Hammacher Schlemmer is America's longest running catalog, and their aim is to offer the Best, the Only, and the Unexpected since 1848. Each year their gift guide is filled with all sorts of new items that range from ultra-practical (The Only Automatic Cordless Tire Inflator) to novelty (The Talking and Dancing Disco Robot) and everything in between.  

Are you looking for unique gifts that your recipient won’t ever forget? How about the Personalized Bobblehead, or maybe the 3D Writing Pen? You can shop by recipient or just browse their full guide for unique gifts for everyone on your list. Whether your recipient is incredibly hard to shop for or someone who gives you a specific wish list, you are sure to find the perfect present to wrap up for the holidays. Hammacher Schlemmer

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Build & Imagine with Malia’s Beach House

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My daughter loves to build. Whether we’re talking bricks, blocks, or random items she’s squirreled away just for her building purposes, she’s all about it. And, while she’s really good at following directions and building pre-designed buildings and objects, I’ve noticed that she really prefers building toys where she can be the designer. That’s where Build & Imagine sets come in. Build_and_imagine_logo_500x150

Build & Imagine is a brand new line of magnetic construction sets that inspire kids to build whatever they would like. Their unique magnetic dual-sided building panels make it easy for even kids as young as 4 to create structures that they can play with using their included accessories and magnetic dolls.Build and Imagine doll houseBy putting your child in the role of designer and architect, you are giving them the keys to all sorts of imaginative play. They can decide what panels to utilize in their design, which rooms they want to create, and they can even decorate and play when they are done building.

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Create your own locket with PicturesOnGold.com

Sponsored postRemember last year when I was raving about PicturesOnGold.com? Well, it's been almost a year since we received our daughter's personalized locket and with every month it's become more and more special to her. She still shows it to everyone and wants to talk about how it was made special just for her, and it's the first thing she looks to when she needs something sentimental to get her through a day without us or a tough day at school. PIctures on GoldSo, when Pictures on Gold asked us if we wanted to create another special piece for the holiday, we couldn't say yes fast enough. We all decided that the new baby needed a special necklace just for her that would match her sister and we got to work making a locket for her.

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