Tag

Presents

Browsing

2016 Gift Guide for the Little Ones

The second gift guide is for ‘little ones’ (there will be a separate list for baby’s first Christmas!), and I could have included fifty items in this roundup because there are so many cute gift options for toddlers and young kids.

If you’re looking for something educational, this magnetic alphabet book is perfect for kids 2 and older. I’ve ordered it for Isla for Christmas, because she currently loves going over her letters and spelling words aloud (repeating after us, of course). If you’ve got a musical kid in mind, this guitar and this xylophone (or Isla-phone, as my little one calls it) are perfect – reasonably priced and really good quality too.

Valentine’s Day Gift Guide For Her

Valentine’s Day is just a few weeks away, and I’ve already started seeing splatterings of pink and red all over retail stores (and in our very festive neighbor’s yard). I even ordered Isla these adorable heart leggings and this crowd pleaser onesie from Les Petits Darlings. I cannot wait to get it in the mail!

My birthday is only four days after Valentine’s Day, so for my entire adult life, the two celebrations have been bundled together. I cannot complain, as this normally means one bigger lovefest versus two smaller ones. Last year, Sasha treated me to a romantic dinner at Haven (where we went after he proposed – sadly, it closed in the fall). We normally don’t exchange big Valentine’s Day gifts, but try to do something meaningful and sweet. I got him a number of small items last year, including personalized M&Ms, which were adorable but ugh, $70 for a bag of candy is excessive (lesson learned). 

Gift Guide for Baby’s First Christmas

If you’ve been following Snapshots & My Thoughts for awhile, you’ll know I’m very excited about celebrating Isla’s first Christmas. I outlined many of our family traditions as part of the weeklong ‘Isla’s First Christmas with Carter’s’ series. All baby ‘firsts’ are so special, and there are a lot of sweet gifts you can give to your little one to mark the occasion!

Isla Loves: BABYBJÖRN Carrier We (Giveaway)

Living in Durango for the past month has definitely been a change of lifestyle for our family. Instead of being confined to the indoor air-conditioning of Houston, we are constantly out and about, whether it be walking to the grocery store or our favorite restaurants, or going on a hike, we are always on the go. In Houston, I had relied heavily on our City Mini stroller when I was running errands, but we wanted to be more agile once we arrived in Colorado. My mom’s friend lent us a ton of baby items, which saved us from hauling them across the country. One of the items was the BABYBJÖRN Baby Carrier Original. We quickly learned that this was Isla’s favorite item in the world. She could be crying inconsolably, and we would plop her in the carrier and silence (they aren’t kidding, it’s golden). She loved it, which obviously meant that Sasha and I adored it even more. Bye, bye stroller.

BABYBJÖRN recently released their newest baby carrier – the Baby Carrier We – and they were kind enough to send me one to try. It’s amazing. Seriously. One of the biggest benefits we have seen over the original carrier is the added support for our backs. When you are walking around for awhile, this is important! The Carrier We comes with a pressure-relieving waist belt and padded shoulder straps, which evenly distribute Isla’s weight. In addition, the carrier is designed perfectly to provide ample support for her head, back and hips. Also, it is easy for me to put Isla in the carrier without assistance from anyone else. And she loves it too. She finds it so soothing, and so we take her absolutely everywhere in it (see hiking photos below!). The best part? The Baby Carrier We is ergonomically designed for children up to three years old, so Isla will have many years ahead in this carrier!


I’m excited to be teaming up with BABYBJÖRN to give away a brand new Baby Carrier We to one lucky individual! In order to enter the giveaway, you must do the following:

  1. Reply to this post, including your name and who you’d be carrying around in your Baby Carrier We (or perhaps who you’d like to win the carrier for!)
  2. You will get an extra entry by being or becoming a follower of Snapshots and My Thoughts (see ‘Follow’ button at the bottom righthand corner on desktop version of the blog)
  3. You will get an extra entry by posting the giveaway’s URL to your Twitter or Facebook account (please tag @ailee_petrovic on Twitter or mention Ailee Semple Petrovic on Facebook)

One winner will be drawn at random. The more entries you have, the higher the chance you’ll win! The giveaway ends at midnight on Wednesday, August 27. I will announce the winner by Friday. I look forward to reading your responses. Good luck!


Follow BABYBJÖRN on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube.

babybjorn3

DSC_0121

babybjorn1

DSC_0186

babybjorn2


The carrier passed the 6 mi. hike test! We absolutely love it. Sasha kindly carrier her up, and I took the trek down.

DSC_0536

bjorn_4

I was given the BABYBJÖRN Carrier We by BabySwede for my review. I was allowed to keep the product, but the opinion I am sharing remains my own.

6952318C-AF9E-4188-8E0C-44209AE539BE[57]

New Series: Isla Loves

I am excited to introduce a new series to Snapshots and My Thoughts called ‘Isla Loves.’ One of Sasha’s best friends asked if we were going to name her Isla Lucy, which made me chuckle (get it?).

For this series, I’m partnering up with some of my favorite brands to share my thoughts on their products. I’ll even be sneaking in a few items I love (obviously, as Isla doesn’t have that much say yet!), including two items from Wink Shapewear. Not only will there be product reviews, but we’ll also have giveaways and discounts – I can’t wait to get started!

The first post will be next week, after we get settled in Colorado (our mini-sabbatical). Stay tuned for these reviews. I’ll be excited to hear what others think about these products too and to get recommendations on new items to try. Isla_Products

Sleeping in her Fisher-Price Rock & Play in her J. Crew Onesie | With her Cloud B Sleep Sheep, Carter’s Onesie (Similar) and Trumpette Socks

Isla_Products2

Another day, more Trumpette Socks with a Gap onesie (similar) | Slowing moving into 0-3 month clothes in a Tigger-esque Gap footed onesie