Merry Christmas! And the winner is......

Wishing you a Merry Christmas!

May the New Year bring joy, laughter and good health to you and your family!

 

And the winner of the black 2016 Passion Planner (size: compact) is.........

STEPHANIE B.

 

Congratulations, Stephanie!  I will be contacting you shortly to arrange for delivery of the prize package.

 

 

Thank you to everyone who entered the drawing, shared the post and liked my page.  I am so happy that all of you participated.  Thank you for your support.  Look for updates  and additional prize drawings in the coming year.

 

 

Sincerely,

This is me.....Then

Faunya Estrada



Christmas Gifts for an 18-Month Old Girl

 

Welcome to This is me…..Then!  If you like what you see, subscribe here for free updates, or you can “like” my Facebook page here and receive new posts in your news stream.  Once you like my page, you can choose to see posts in your newsfeed first or receive a notification for each post made.  Thanks for visiting!  This post may contain affiliate links.

 

Meet Selah.  She is 18 months old and one of the most loving, beautiful, dramatic, silly and intelligent little girls that I have ever met.  She is also my daughter (No, I am not biased). 

Christmas is coming up and I am so excited about how she will react when she opens her gifts.  We brought her gifts for Christmas last year, but she was too young to really understand what was going on.  This year is the first year that she will 'really' be able to understand that she is getting something new and this year she has a better idea of what she does/does not like.

Firstly, I would like to point out that we have two family traditions that my husband and I have been doing ever since we've been married (5 years). 

Tradition #1: We always buy each other pajamas, wrap them and put them under the tree or wherever we are storing our gifts for that particular year.  On Christmas Eve we gather around the 'tree,' open the gift and put it on before bed.

Tradition #2: We also buy each other a book that we think the other person would enjoy or benefit from, wrap them and put them under the 'tree.'  This gift is also opened on Christmas Eve.

* Tradition # 2 is new and this is something that we just instituted last year.  We each buy each other a gift and then we buy Selah's gifts together.


If you have read any of my previous blogs on preparing for the holiday, then you know that we have a holiday spending budget.  The dollar amount saved for Selah's gifts is $100. 

GIFT #1

Elmo Play All Day
BUY HERE

Thus far, we have spent $40 on the Elmo Play All Day.  This toy is regularly priced at $59.99, but is currently $45.99 on Amazon.com.  We purchased her toy from ShopRite on Black Friday.  Elmo Play All Day is a plush cuddly toy, featuring 8 games/activities and 150+ responses.  Selah is obsessed with Elmo, as is most toddlers her age, so I know that she will LOOOVE this toy.

GIFT #2


Melissa & Doug Jumbo Triangular Crayons
BUY HERE

Melissa & Doug Jumbo Coloring Pad
BUY HERE

Selah absolutely loves to write.  She writes in coloring books.  She writes in regular books.  She writes on cardboard and she writes on the floor.  She writes on skin and she writes on walls.  It's only natural that we would choose to get her a) Melissa & Doug Jumbo Triangular Crayons and b) Melissa & Doug Jumbo Coloring Book.  Both products cost a little under $5 each on Amazon.

GIFT #3
Pajamas: We haven't picked out the exact pajamas we will get her yet, so I don't have much detail available.  However, I was in Gymboree earlier today and they had really cute pajama sets on sale. (Click on Gymboree link to receive 25% off your first order.)

GIFT #4
Gift #4 is up in the air.  Assuming the pajamas cost between $10-$20, we have approximately $30-$40 left to spend on Selah's Christmas gifts. 

Since her ears are not pierced, I am considering a bracelet.  However, when I mentioned it to her dad, he didn't seem that enthused.

We are also considering a learning tablet.  Since she loves the iPad and our cellphone, I would love to get her a tablet specifically designed to increase her intellectual ability.  However, we don't know if we'd be able to find a quality tablet for the price range mentioned above.

Clothing, toys or extra books are always an option, if we can't figure out anything else.  I also like the idea of spending money on 'an experience' rather than material things.  Only time will tell.....and suggestions are more than welcome!

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If interested in learning more about the products listed in this blog, please click on the affiliate links below:
- Elmo Play All Day
- Melissa & Doug Jumbo Triangular Crayons
- Melissa & Doug Jumbo Coloring Pad
- Gymboree (Click on link to receive 25% off your first order.)

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Popular articles/blog posts on Christmas gifts for toddlers are listed below:

1. 100 Frugal or Free Christmas Gifts for Toddlers
2. Gifts Toddlers Actually Want for Christmas
3. All I Want for Christmas Are These Gifts For My Toddler

7 Weeks to the Holidays: What are you going to do?

Welcome to This is me…..Then!  If you like what you see, subscribe here for free updates, or you can “like” my Facebook page here and receive new posts in your news stream.  Once you like my page, you can choose to see posts in your newsfeed first or receive a notification for each post made.  Thanks for visiting!

 

In mid-October, I committed to spending the next 10 Weeks Organizing my Holiday Celebrations with Organize365.com..  Please join me as I go through this challenge and feel free to follow the steps, as well.

I will start each week’s challenge on a Sunday (oops…..I’m a little late again) and the challenge will end on Saturday, December 26^th.

Last week we decided if we would send out cards.  The plan is to send out cards.  I sent my husband a link to Minted last week, so that we can agree on a design.  I used Minted for my daughter's birth announcement cards, last year, and they were absolutely stunning.  The cards are not as cheap as Shutterfly*, but the quality is totally worth it.  Either we will use some of the pictures we took this past Spring with our favorite family photographer (Photography by Jen Davis), we will use one of Selah's school pictures (that she's actually taking today) or we will be getting pictures taken specifically for the purpose of the Christmas/ Holiday cards.

Beginning today (well.....Sunday actually), there are 7 Weeks to Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations and the task for the week is to decide what we want to do.

 

 

The things we will be discussing are:

1) Where will we be spending Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the weekend after Christmas?

2) What foods do we want to make and which dishes will we request that others provide?

3) What about Christmas activities?  Tree lighting ceremony?  Sesame Place?

4) What about decorations?  Do we want a Christmas tree?  Real or fake?  Do we want a wreath for the door?  Any new ornaments?

 

So how about you? Are you into Holiday Planning?  Have you thought about what you will eat, where you will go and how you will decorate?

 

See the rest of the 10 Weeks to Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations:
10 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Commit
9 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Make A Plan 

8 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Will You Send Cards?

7 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: What Do You Want To Do? {You’re here!}
6 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: What Will You Eat?
5 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Gift Wrap Organization
4 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Decorating The House
3 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Stock Up On Basics
2 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Create Bags For Each Event
1 Week To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: DeClutter and Donate Old Toys

* Shutterfly is offering 50% off on all cards and 20% off on all photo cards purchased through the links on this page by December 31st, 2015.

9 Weeks to Christmas 2015: Make a Plan

Last week, I committed to spending the next 10 Weeks Organizing my Holiday Celebrations with Organize365.com.

 

I will start each week’s challenge on a Sunday and the challenge will end on Saturday, December 26^th.

Beginning today, there are 9 Weeks to Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations and the task for the week is to make a plan.

So, this week, we will decide our holiday gifts budget and make a list of who we plan to buy gifts for.  We already discussed our budget ($500…..including Selah) and have a pretty good idea of who we will be purchasing gifts for (mostly children).  However, I want to put everything in writing and I want to include the maximum amount we are willing to spend on each person (We kind of already discussed that, as well).

Minor Details:

-       Last week, while doing our bi-monthly budget, I started a Christmas Gifts savings account on SmartyPig.com.  I initiated a transfer of $100 from our joint to start the account.  We just got our NY state tax refund (much less than I expected :-( ), which will be used to fund the remainder of our account.

  *   Plan of action is to redeem our savings in discounted gift cards from SmartyPig.

     *   Plan of action is to either give gift cards as gifts or use gift cards to purchase gifts through the eBates website/app…..or load gift cards on Gyft app and use them in the stores.

-       We are hoping to send out cards this year and the cards will be coming out of our budget.

-       Our gifts for each other does not come out of this budget.  We must use our own personal spending/savings for the gifts we’re buying each other.

*   Side note detail includes the fact that part of our Christmas tradition includes always including pajamas and a book in our gift for the other person (this includes Selah), which is opened the night before Christmas.  Every other present is opened on Christmas morning/day.

See the rest of the 10 Weeks to Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations:
10 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Commit
9 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Make A Plan {You’re here!}
8 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Will You Send Cards?
7 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: What Do You Want To Do?
6 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: What Will You Eat?
5 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Gift Wrap Organization
4 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Decorating The House
3 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Stock Up On Basics
2 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Create Bags For Each Event
1 Week To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: DeClutter and Donate Old Toys

10 Weeks to Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations

There is one thing that we've wanted to do ever since we got married......and even more so since we've had a baby.  We are officially a total family now, so I think it's time to start sending out holiday cards, decorating the house and giving to others during the holidays.

I came across a blog that provides a 10 week challenge that helps you plan and organize your end of year holiday season, which I decided to participate in.  Please join me as I go through this challenge and feel free to follow the steps, as well.

 

*For more information, visit Organize 365 at http://organize365.com/organizing-your-holiday-celebrations/

 

 

If this post begins week 10 and I start all following weeks on Sunday, we can actually complete the final week from December 20th -26th.  Perfect!

 

Hopefully, we'll actually be able to decorate the house and send out Christmas cards this year!

 

See the rest of the 10 Weeks to Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations:
10 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations {You’re here!}
9 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Make A Plan
8 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Will You Send Cards?
7 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: What Do You Want To Do?
6 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: What Will You Eat?
5 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Gift Wrap Organization
4 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Decorating The House
3 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Stock Up On Basics
2 Weeks To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: Create Bags For Each Event
1 Week To Organizing Your Holiday Celebrations: DeClutter and Donate Old Toys