Trey's Favorite Toys 18-24 months

You can check out what we were loving at 13 months here. 

This post is a *smidge* late seeing as how Trey turned 2 in August but I thought this might be helpful for those of you looking to pick up Christmas gifts for boys of this age.

(Mamas - if you have favorites please leave them in the comments for others to read!)

Source: target.com via Beach on Pinterest

I picked up these bristle blocks on a whim one day while I was at Target and was so glad I did - they are so much fun! Trey loves them and J.D. and I have a blast sitting down and playing with them too! These have instantly became a favorite gift to give as well.

Source: amazon.com via Beach on Pinterest

We love all sorts of wooden toys and when Trey fell in love with these Uncle Goose blocks at a friends house I knew I had to order them stat. They are a great classic toy, made in the USA and slightly bigger than other wooden blocks which was great for stacking when he was younger!

Source: amazon.com via Beach on Pinterest

I wish I hadn't purchased so many mega blocks when Trey was around a year old becuase duplos have quickly taken over our home and the mega blocks have taken their place. He has really been enjoying these lately!

Source: target.com via Beach on Pinterest

This b. toys easel was a gift from a friend and she hit the nail on the head with it! Trey plays with this almost everyday - I usually just keep it open on his little table in the kitchen. The markers that it comes with are awesome and you can also use any other washable marker on the white board. Trey's bestie always instantly goes straight to it when she comes over our house!

Source: target.com via Beach on Pinterest

Trey must have inherited his love of music from his Daddy! This b. toys (can you tell we LOVE ALL b. toys?) keyboard and dog guitar are constantly in rotation in our home - they are really fun and play some fun songs on them!

He's also a big fan of play phones (leap frog and a cheapy one from the Disney store), his leap frog laptop, balls, STICKERS of any variety and is still really loving his Alex 3-in-1 trike!

What were your favorite toys at this age? Any suggestions for Christmas gifts for a 2 1/2 year old boy that I may not have already thought of yet?

Thanksgiving Weekend Recap

I can't believe the weekend is already over! Isnt' that how it always is though? The long weekends fly right by?



While Trey is napping I thought I'd try to sit down and share a quick recap of our weekend. I'm going to make it a goal to try and sit down and blog more over the holidays - there are always lots of fun moments that I want to capture and share!

We had a not-so-stressful Thanksgiving morning (for once!) and sat around and played and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade - the Mickey & Julius balloons were a huge hit in our home. I've hosted Thanksgiving here every year since I was 26. The first year we had 23 people attend. I had barely made dinner at that point in our marriage and was so nervous and scared. Each year it has gotten so much easier, I've learned tips and tricks along the way.

Did you know you can cook a Turkey upside down? Well, I did it by accident one year and it turned out AWESOME! Years later I read in a magazine that it's a great tip - that way the breast meat stays juicy. 

(Great I'm sure I'm going to get all sorts of spam comments for that one! HA!) 

This year we didn't have nearly as many people due to travel and other family plans but it was wonderful. Trey has so much fun playing with everyone and just eats up the attention.


I just adore this picture of him and my Mom together.



Before we knew it we were packing up sides to send home and putting Trey to bed.

I'm not a huge black Friday shopper - I like to order things online or I'll go out to the mall later in the day once everything has died down some. After Trey's nap we headed to the mall and picked him up some new shoes and a few small things.

We came home for Thanksgiving round two (leftovers!) with some good friends and let the kids stay up late watching Christmas movies. It was a fabulous night!

On Saturday morning my sweet MIL had an awesome day planned for us - horseback riding on the beach!! It was SO FUN!!! My horse's name was Cupid and was so sweet! It was a cold day but the way we were riding most of the time wasn't  bad at all. One of the horses got a little crazy and tried to run off but for the most part it was just peaceful! We have already planned our next horseback riding trip at a nearby park.

Saturday evening I headed out to take Christmas pictures for the SIL and her fiance. I am by no means a professional (nor am I trying to be) but they just wanted some shots for their Christmas cards so I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. Here are a few! They were so easy because for real... they are SO in love and mushy!!

Speaking of, on Sunday I helped with a proposal! My maid of honor got engaged to her boyfriend (now fiance!) and it was wonderful! Sadly I don't have any pictures to share, but it was perfect and all captured by a professional photographer - complete with a mini engagement party thrown by one of my besties and myself!

Sunday evening ended with a nice quiet trip to our favorite Mexican restaurant, just J.D., Trey and myself and then snuggling by a fire downstairs while watching Revenge!!

Who else is obsessed? I just CANNOT get enough of that show!

I hope everyone else had a great Thanksgiving weekend too!!!

What a *Treat* - a FREE card!

I've been a long time Shutterfly & Tiny Prints fan - I've ordered cards, books and pictures from there for years. But more recently I've fallen in love with one of their sister companies. 

Enter: Treat.com

About Treat: 

Treat is Shutterfly’s exciting new greeting card brand that makes it easy for people to create and send one-of-a-kind greeting cards. Treat cards are perfect for holidays, birthdays, congrats, thank yous and every occasion in between. It’s crazy fun. It’s super easy. And it’s totally personal.

Your holiday checklist just got shorter. Create and send a totally personalized greeting card from Treat for FREE. Whether saying thanks for Thanksgiving, wishing a best friend a holiday birthday, or simply sharing the holiday cheer with a just because card, Treat lets you create a one-of-a-kind card that is sure to impress.

How cool is that? Who doesn't love a personalized card on their birthday, father's day, anniversary, etc? 

Here are some that I am loving: 

So head on over to Treat.com and order your free personalized card!

Code: TREATBLOGR

(Code is only valid on 11/19 & 11/20)

DIY Lace Boot Socks

A while ago I started noticing lots of cute boot socks with lace at the top (like these) on Pinterest and instantly fell in love with them.

Source: 2.bp.blogspot.com via Chelanne on Pinterest

After searching for some and coming up empty handed I decided to make some myself!

And y'all... I do not sew. At all. Like never.

My husband has three dress shirts in a bag that the dry cleaner broke buttons on and I have yet to a. fix them myself or b. take them to the dry cleaner and tell them to fix them

I apparently hate confrontation as much as I hate to sew...

I promise this is a super easy DIY!

Supplies:
Plain boot socks - these are from Target
Sewing kit
Fabric shears
Lace of your choice - I found these at AC Moore for around $3 a roll

Just start the lace on what would be the inside of your calf and sew the lace into the sock.

You can cut your lace first if you would like - make sure you measure around the thickest part of your calf that it's going to have to slide over and give some extra at the end for good measure.

The hardest part of the whole project is making sure that you are stretching the sock as you sew the lace onto it, after fussing with it for a few I started raiding my pantry for a cylinder shape to help me along, these tomatoes worked great! I still stretched the sock some but this kept it steady for me. 

 
Your sewing doesn't have to be perfect - no one will be able to tell on the outside!

Ta-da!! 

What do you think? Are you loving this trend too?

Make sure you head over and check out all the other blogs that are linking up with AP for Hey That's Pintastic! today too!!!