Jellybean’s 2nd birthday is fast approaching, not to mention the holidays, and the brainstorming of gift ideas has officially begun.  When it comes to buying presents I often feel like I don’t have enough options OR I’m totally at a loss as to what to buy.  Trying to decide on the perfect second birthday gift has actually made me think a lot about the things Jellybean has really loved over the past year.  Some of them we bought for her, others were gifts and a few we just enjoyed using at a friend’s house.

So if you, like me, sometimes draw a blank here are some of my favorite gift for a toddle who’s 1 to 2 years old …

Christmas, Hanukkah and birthday gift ideas for a toddler.  Perfect for 1-2 year olds  |  Life's Tidbits

  1. Corn Popper // I will admit this toy can be a tad bit annoying.  The constant popping noise might be annoying to us ‘adults’, however the kiddos love it!
  2. Magnetic Drawing Board // Perfect for a toddler who loves to color or one who’s just starting to build those motor skills.  Jellybean found this gift particularly entertaining when we were on vacation and on those morning’s when I’m running late and she has to sit in the bathroom while I shower.
  3. Radio Flyer Scoot-About Bike // I wish we had known about this bike earlier.  It’s great for scooting around the apartment and outside the little toddler bike posse is pretty darn adorable.
  4. Little People // Perfect for learning to play pretend or you know just chuck the different farm animals around.  Haha.  Oh the life of a toddler!
  5. Take-Along Shape Sorter // Great learning toy for colors, shapes and fine motor skills.  Also the perfect size to fit in the diaper or carry-on bag when traveling.
  6. My First Chair // This is probably in the top 5 favorite things Jellybean loves, and I’m a huge fan as well.  She loves to sit in her chair for snacks, tv, playing with a toy and often sets up all her ‘babies’ for tea or story time.
  7. MegaBlocks // Great for building, stacking, counting and identifying colors.
  8. Laugh & Learn Tea Set // Love the songs on the tea pot and it’s pretty adorable when Jellybean asks if I would like some “mor’ tea”.
  9. Chat & Count Cell Phone // This toy is great when you are on the go.  It fits in a purse or pocket.  It’s my go to toy for trips to the store, doctors and trips, especially, on the airplane!
  10. Jumbo Triangular Crayons // My daughter is not gentle with her toys and these crayons have held up really well over the months.  While Jellybean didn’t love coloring at 12 months, by the time she was 18 months it was one of her favorite post-nap activities.

So there you have it, our favorite gift ideas for a 1-2 year old.  And, seriously with all the toy choices out there toddlerhood is pretty darn fun on a birthday or holiday!

What are you favorite gifts for toddlers?

Signiture_Nicole

Run Jump Scrap!

Share

Miss Blair Alexandra!  {aka Jellybean}

IntroducingBlair

Our beautiful baby girl {FINALLY} made her debut on December 31st at 4:03am.

I must admit, I have been more of an absentee blogger than I had planned on – for the past 3 weeks that is.  Being a new mom coupled with recovering from a c-section (which was completely unplanned and unexpected) it has taken me longer than expected to get back in front of the computer.  While I am not quite ready to tell Blair’s birth story, I am hoping to share my labor and c-section experience soon.

A few new mom tidbits:

  • I’ve officially been “christened” as a mom … I’ve been peed, pooped and spit-up on!
  • I feel like a walking zombie during night feeding though I’m slowly adjusting to getting up ~3 times a night to feed the little one … brings new meaning to the word exhausted.
  • I put a sweatshirt on the other day, realized it had spit-up on it and decided it was “clean enough” to wear given all the other sweatshirts were in the wash.
  • Getting to shower during the day is considered a significant win (seriously it’s the small things in life!).
  • The dog has decided the baby doesn’t exist and completely ignores her.  Sophi sits on my legs while I feed Blair and has smelled her a couple times, but that’s the closest the dog will get to the baby.  On the up side Sophi doesn’t bark when Blair cries (thank goodness!!).

Okay one more picture, because sharing only one just isn’t enough.  Oh yes, she is sucking her thumb on her birthday =)

Blair_thumb

Needless to say the husband and I are completely in love with the newest member of our little family!!!  More new mommy tidbits to come in the next few weeks.  Hopefully I am able to squeeze in some blogging between naps, diaper changes, feedings and just staring at my baby!

If you enjoyed this post, please add your tidbit by commenting below.  Don’t forget you can follow us on PinterestInstagramFacebook and Twitter.

Share

As 2014 kicks into high gear I thought it would be interesting to see what posts were most popular in 2013.  I was a bit surprised by the top 5, however maybe I shouldn’t be.  No two post were from the same category. which I was pretty happy about.  I think it helps “prove” sharing different types of tidbits is working out well for the blog!

mostpopularposts2013

Without further ado, here are the 5 most popular posts of 2013 …

Number 1 – {Recipe} Cracked Sugar Cookies

These cookies really are A-MAZING!

sugarcookie_baked

Number 2 – DIY Wedding Envelopes with Calligraphy

This post is read consistently each week.  It was a pretty easy DIY wedding project and saved us a good chunk of money as well!

envelopes_readytosend

Number 3 – French Dresser – Inspiration / Mood Board

The first purchase we made for the nursery was the dresser (and nightstand).  Everything else we selected was based on the shabby chic / french inspired dresser.

NurseryDresser_inspiration

Number 4 – One Year in a Flash – Birthday Party

The party was decked out with all sorts of details and DIY projects.  As co-owner of Baker’s Bliss Kia made all her own cupcakes for the party!

dessertable_caleb

Number 5 – {Pregnancy Tidbits} The 5th Month

I really enjoyed blogging about my pregnancy.  It’s fun to go back and read how each month went!  Some tidbit I remember so clearly and others I had kind of forgotten about.  I’m glad to have the pregnancy log to help me reminisce.

22WeeksPregnant

I’m looking forward to seeing what 2014 has in store for Life’s Tidbits.  I hope you will continue to follow along and share your tidbits!!

What was your favorite blog post in 2013?

Happy New Year!!

If you enjoyed this post, please add your tidbit by commenting below.  Don’t forget you can follow us on PinterestInstagramFacebook and Twitter.

Share

The husband was kind enough to send me roses for my birthday and boy were they pretty!!  I decided to break out the camera and get a couple of shots of them.  Roses may die, but a photo will capture their beauty forever.  After taking the picture I was playing around in PhotoShop and with a few tweaks I ended up with, what to me, looks kind of like an antique rose.

I might make this picture into cards or maybe it will find itself in the hallway gallery.  Either way it was a fun afternoon of tweaking the picture in PhotoShop.

Happy Friday!! Have a great weekend!

If you like this post, please add your tidbit by commenting below!  For more photos, please follow us on Instagram!

Share

My friend Kia threw her son a first birthday party a few weeks back.  The party was decked out with all sorts of details and DIY projects.  As co-owner of Baker’s Bliss she also made all her own cupcakes for the party!  Party details as told by Kia…

For my son’s 1st Birthday I wanted to do something different and something fun.  Hopefully, along the lines of cost effective as well.  I looked through a variety of themes of things to do and most of them felt too kiddy.  As every parent knows the first birthday party is more for the adults than the kids and so I wanted a fun theme that all ages could enjoy.   I searched the internet high and low and ultimately fell in love with the posts I had seen from different moms who had decided on the “one year in a flash” theme.

I didn’t have a lot of time to put the party together being a full time mom of 2 plus my full time job left me with not that much time to put the grandiose party on that I wanted too.  However, my bestie and business partner Rebecca was in town to save the day.   And so began the party planning….

First, I made a list of what I wanted to do.  It was hard to come up with this list because I really wanted to do all the ideas I had seen on the internet.  They ranged from photo booths and custom chalkboards to custom banners and cupcake stands.  All of which I thought was ridiculously creative and cute, but I had to be realistic.  I really had about 3 days and unlike most of the other party planners I had intended on making my own cupcakes because that’s just what I do!  So these are the things I decided I was going to do for the party.

Decorations:

  • Custom Banner (What better way to say you are 1 then a year of pictures to remind you)
  • Custom Cupcake Toppers
  • High Chair Banner
  • Balloon Display
  • Photo Booth
  • Custom Thank you Cards
  • Custom Water Bottles

Food:

  • Dessert Table complete with custom chocolate covered Oreos in the theme colors and “camera” sugar cookies.
  • Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Buttercream
  • Vanilla Bean cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Buttercream
  • Pigs in a blanket for the kids
  • Veggie Tray
  • Fried Chicken
  • Queso Dip
  • Chips

This all seemed pretty overwhelming so I ended up ditching the Photo Booth.  I simply just didn’t have the time or the energy given the list of other things that had to get accomplished.

For the Banner, Thank You Cards and Cake Toppers I needed photos!  It was already Wednesday and the party was Saturday so I had to come up with the photo digging through all my digital memorabilia over the last year and get them printed and ready really by Thursday.  CVS photo online to the rescue!  I uploaded the pictures and picked them up at the CVS down the street from me the next morning and it was only .19 cents a picture!   This really came out very cost effective since in addition to the 12 pictures I needed 24 cupcake toppers and 20 thank you cards.

Here’s how the banner came out:


Here are the Thank You Cards:

And the Cupcake Toppers:

Here’s how the dessert table turned out:

You can see my nice balloon display courtesy of Party City.

Admittedly, most of the food items I purchased them from the local super market.  The Fried Chicken was purchased the hubby and then he made the veggie tray and queso dip.  I made the pigs in a blanket and here is what the food table looked like.  The table display was done by my friend Monique!

The chocolate covered Oreos were a big hit and proudly displayed on the right and the custom water bottles on the left.  After all the work it all turned out great.  We all had an amazing time.  I hope you enjoy the pictures and the ideas.  It was a great party!

Check out the Baker’s Bliss website or like them on Facebook.  Thank you Kia for stopping by and sharing your party tidbits with us!!

Happy Party Planning!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Share