Another One of Mom’s Favorite Crazy Toys

We keep getting unique and slightly strange gifts from the Manhattan Toy Company but every single one is a hit in this family. One of these is a “flying saucer” toy, which although I am really not sure the purpose of, still keeps entertaining our toddler. It is either the color, texture, or shape, but this is a great toy to pull out of your purse or diaper bag when you just need to “borrow” a bit more time (and possibly quiet) from your child. Anything that stands the test of time, rough handling, and grubby hands, is a winner & favorite in this family!

Favorite Children’s Books

What are some of “mom’s favorite” children books?

What counts as some of “mom’s favorite” children’s books? Of course anything that passes the baby, toddler, and child test; but I am always looking for books that are educational, reasonable, and durable! Some of our family’s favorites are classics, some are fresh and new, and others are really unique. Although we love to go into bookstores, we usually only scout out what we want there and then go home and order them through Amazon. Why? Because within two days we receive the same book for almost half the price, it teaches the whole family to have a little patience, it saves gas money, and it gives us something to look forward to.

So here are some of our favorites:

Unique Books

Our favorite book of all time, is a personalized one that we received for our son’s birthday. It is called “My Very Own Name” from www.iseeme.com. Go to www.iseeme.com to find more wonderful personalized children’s books which actually incorporate the child’s particular name into the story of the book. We have ordered several of their items for our friends, and they adore them!

Fresh & New

Yes some books should only be pulled out on special occasions and some are simply classics, but recently we have found quite a few books that have added a bit of variety to our collection of children’s books. Many of these “books” aren’t quite books, but instead take a different and fresh approach to books – putting books in the form of puzzles, stacking boxes, or pairing books with music. Here are some of the fresh & new books our family loves:

Classic Books

Here are some of the classic books we love for our baby & toddler. All of these books pass the baby, toddler, child, and mommy test!

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Unique Baby Gifts

It is hard to keep finding great gifts for all of mom’s friends and family (especially when mom’s friends keep having babies!). This mom has several favorite gift items for a new baby (and a new mamma), but I also have a set of “mom’s favorite” places to buy and find unique baby gifts (does mom really need any more generic picture frames?):

One gift that many of my girlfriends have received from me, is a hand-made quilt from Quilt-Baby. Honestly, this company has some of the cutest things, and they have shipped things for us all the way to Austrailia!

Trendy Tots at http://www.trendytots.typepad.com also has handmade, and original, kids clothes and baby gear.

On E-Bay check out http://stores.ebay.com/Maternally-Posh”>Maternally Posh  for some very “cool” baby things.

Also look into Etsy who has tons of creative baby, infant, and children’s items.

Fisher Price Favorites

Are you looking for safe and healthy toys for your kids, and your friends’ kids?

With so many toys recalled, it is hard to find safe ones! But here are three that “passed the muster.”

Gift Guide

Do you need an idea for a nice gift?

Who has time to think through gifts, whether they are for your husband, wife, kids, or a friend’s new baby!

Nowadays, many people take the work out of buying gifts by registering for themselves. That is nice, but I always find it hard to give a gift that someone knows they are receiving.

So what is mom’s favorite solution to finding gifts?

Finding unique, and many times personalized, gifts for people.

From where?

Believe it or not a lot of museums have great web-sites that have online gift stores. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has some wonderful items to purchase at http://www.metmuseum.org/ This site and others have a large array of interesting, and unique gifts for the whole family.

We have also found that a lot of catalogs, have some unique gifts. Go to Acorn Online for some great general gifts.

PBS also has tons of unique gifts at ShopPBS.org!

Kids Gifts

Some of mom’s favorite gifts for babies and children are also unique and come from a variety of online sources including:

“I See Me!” at www.iseeme.com has of the most unique kids’ and babies’ gifts we have ever seen. We have ordered several of their items for our friends, and they adore them! These are wonderful personalized children’s books which actually incorporate the child’s particular name into the story of the book.

For more and beautiful and safe children’s products, a couple more of mom’s favorites include:
Bella Organics – this was a store created by a mom for children – and all her products are 100% organic!

One of mom’s favorites is also handcrafted gifts which are now readily available on e-bay.

Another one of our favorites is site Etsy: “Your place to buy and sell all things homemade” at http://www.etsy.com/. They have so many cute and unique items! Similarly, check out Quilt Baby, at http://www.quilt-baby.com/ for lovely and reliable gifts for babies.

Gifts for Family and Friends

When you are really stuck, mom’s favorite tip is to think about a “gift that keeps on giving,” such as subscriptions to magazines or some sort of monthy delivery service.

Mom’s favorite tip about giving these sort of gifts is think about what the person would love to receive once a month – is it flowers, chocolates, wine, a subscription to Netflix, Blockbuster, or The NY Times? If this seems too much, think about a one time delivery, including dinner delivery – which is a very nice touch!

Another idea is to give a magazine subscription for the full year. We have given and received magazines, in and this is a fun gift that reminds you of the gift giver every month.

We also love giving gift certificates to our friends and family – especially for stores that sell a wide variety of items, such as Amazon.com

For those who prefer to give rather than receive, there are so many wonderful charities that allow donations to be given as gifts. Look at Heifer International at http://www.heifer.org/ to donate a very much needed animal for someone in need, in someone’s name.