With the holidays approaching, I wanted to do a few gift guides! Some of my favorite things to look for are ideas to get my husband, stocking stuffers and now that we have a toddler, I am constantly looking for ideas for her as well. With that being said, I always have a hard time finding things for toddlers around a year old. I see many toddler gift guides but some of the toys are just a bit more advanced or are leaned toward 2-3 year olds. This year, Everlee will be 17 months old on Christmas so I wanted to put together a nice gift guide for toddlers around this age.



Play Kitchen | Elephant Chair (lots of different animal options) | Advent Calendar | Christmas Books | Mega Blocks | Radio Flyer Trike | Learning Flash Cards | Bath Crayons | Vacuum | Xylophone Bench | Color Puzzle | Table & Chairs | Munchkin Sippy Cups | Hanging Book Shelf

You cannot go wrong with a play kitchen! I feel like this is something Everlee will definitely be getting for Christmas. This is something kids can grow into and progress with as the years come. Since we are having another girl, I am super excited to get the girls a decked out PINK kitchen. ;)

One of Everlee's favorite gifts she has ever gotten was her own soft chair. We keep it in the living room and she sits in it all the time and has a snack and watches cartoons or movies. She loves to tote it around the house too. It's super cute!

I am obsessed with this Melissa & Doug Advent Calendar. This is something you can keep forever and do every Christmas. Granted it won't be an actual gift they open on Christmas, but I love the idea behind it.

Christmas Books! Or books in general! My daughter LOVES books. She goes through her bookshelf every day pulling out different books and "reading" them. Books are a staple for most kids. For this age, I recommend the hard block books so they don't rip apart the pages.

Mega Blocks are something they will love for a long time. As they get older, they will get better and creating things! And let's be real, us adults probably wouldn't mind getting down and playing with some big legos. ;)

A trike would be a good "big gift." Radio Flyer actually has different ones. Since Everlee already has a bike she got from her grandpa, we were thinking of getting her (and our baby girl in the belly) a Radio Flyer wagon!

Learning Flash cards are something you definitely can't go wrong with. In fact, educational toys at this age are a must. Since they probably won't remember these Christmas's it's best to get the less cool toys out of the way these years  because as they get older, their Christmas List will be HUGE.

Bath Tub Crayons are something that will keep them busy in the tub. I won't lie, I'm a little nervous about the mess!?

A vacuum to tote around the house and clean with mom or dad is such a perfect gift. Everlee loves to push the button to turn on the vacuum and by Christmas time, I'm sure she would love to be helping me out with vacuuming!

Any musical toy is going to be a hit. Honestly, anything that makes noise that they create? Hello! Perfect!

Learning puzzles are a perfect gift as well. I love this one because it will teach her colors that she can match up.

A table and chairs is awesome, especially for those of you who have multiples. I think we will be getting this table and chairs for the girls to color on, eat on, and play on!

Munchkin 360 Cups are a must have item for most toddlers. These babies are awesome and it teaches them out to drink from a cup!

Book shelves are mostly for us parents but it goes in their room, so it counts... right?!

I also spotted some really cute cold weather attire. So here are some of my top picks for that!
Toddler Girls Coat & Toddler Boys Coat | Girls Beanie & Mittens Set & Boys Beanie & Mittens Set | Toddler Girl Booties & Toddler Boy Booties | Toddler Girls Robe & Toddler Boys Robe | Toddler Girls Slippers & Toddler Boys Slippers | Toddler Girls Blanket Sleeper & Toddler Boys Blanket Sleeper



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Well, I haven't posted since Everlee's birth story which seems like a lifetime ago. Everlee Diamond is now 16 months old and is the sweetest little firecracker in our lives. She truly is my best friend and the greatest thing to ever happen to me and Shae. We are so in love with our sweet girl!



With that being said, about a week before Miss Everlee's first birthday, we found out we were pregnant! Oh my goodness, I remember the weeks leading up to taking the test and just "knowing." I had the exact symptoms I had when I was very early with Everlee so I had a pretty good feeling about it. We were definitely trying for baby #2 but Shae was somehow so surprised. We kept it our little secret until Everlee's 1st birthday party and we had her unwrap one of our gifts last. It had a Big Sister book and shirt. Everyone was crying!



In October we had our 20 week anatomy scan and a few days later we threw a Halloween Party for our gender reveal alongside my 26th birthday party. I had dreams of this baby being a boy, this pregnancy has been FAR worse and I was much more sick this time around, so I just felt like it had to be a boy. BOY, was I wrong! We are having another baby girl and we are beyond excited. I never imagined being an all girl mom but I am already embracing it. I see lots of pink, bows, glitter, tea parties and driving dad crazy in our near future. ;) We are due March 10, 2019 and I swear this pregnancy is flying right on by.




With all that being a huge update, we also have some other exciting news. As you may know, my husband, Shae, is in the Army. We are currently stationed at JBLM, Washington and have been very lucky to live less than 2 hours away from most of our family for the last year and a half. But, Shae got orders to JBER, Alaska (Anchorage). We will be moving toward the end of May 2019 and he will report in June. So if this is all a lot to take in, let me catch you up to speed. This means we are having a baby in March, the Army will be packing our things a month to a month and a half later, and then a few weeks after that we will be moving to Alaska with a 2 month old, 22 month old and 2 dogs. We have yet to decide the game plan as to how we will be getting there. The military will transport one of our vehicles but we still have one other vehicle to get there. Some of our options are all of us hopping on the ferry and taking a 3-5 day trip there, OR driving (this screams NO in my mind), OR Shae can drive one vehicle up while me and the girls fly. If anyone has any tips/suggestions or recommendations please send them my way. We are stumped on what to do! Beyond that, we really are wanting to buy a house in Alaska. So that will be something to watch out as far as blog posts go!




This really concludes our life update. There has been so much going on and so much yet still to come. I was telling Shae I really want to look back and have these memories and I miss having a creative outlet. We are so excited for the future and what is in store. So I am back and I plan to stay and I hope you all do too! :)