Sorry I missed the party last weekend.  We had a little Christmas party at our house last Friday and I was so busy cleaning and decorating that I completely spaced it until like midnight on Saturday.  And Little Monkey came down with croup during the party (awesome, right?).  And I was finishing up some Etsy orders so they would ship in time for Christmas… so, I didn’t bother with the linky.  I had other things on my mind.  The good news is that we now, FINALLY, have some pictures on our walls and the row of boxes that were sitting in our dining room for the past six (eek, did I just admit that?!) months, are now… well, they are just in the garage.  But at least they aren’t sitting in the dining room anymore.  Right?!  Baby steps, baby steps.

And, speaking of baby steps, Little Gator took his first steps last week too!  Beat his brother by five days.  The day before he turned 10 months, he took a little stroll stumble to mommy.  It was one of those moments when the graham cracker mush in my hair and the toys all over the floor are totally, 100%, completely worth it.  Pure joy and elation.  I love being a mom.

Anyway, what have you been up to?  Let’s get this party started, shall we?!  Really quick…  some features!

What’s new?  Show me whatcha got!  Annnnd… GO!

This post was written by Krista and originally appeared on While He Was Napping.
If you’d like to get more While He Was Napping, you can find me here:

I have a 12 year-old sister.  She’s a different kind of tween girl though.  She has been a tomboy most of her life, wants skateboards instead of make-up and her favorite color has always been orange.  The one year I gave her some clothes for Christmas, you’d have thought I gave her rocks… no, wait, she probably would have like those.  Gah!  She is so hard to gift for.  Can I get some pity…?  Ha, okay, pity party over.

So, at the age where they stop wanting the inexpensive toys and games and start begging for cell phones, iPads and laptops, what do you get these picky kids?  Well, here are a few of my ideas… and you don’t need a money tree in the backyard!

1.  Nail Care Basket.  At the age when make-up is the hot new thing, make your young giftee feel all grown up.  I’ll admit to gifting this particular gift idea more than once in the past year.  Gifting to a young man?  Instead of polish and nail stickers, give body sprays, hair gel, deodorant and the like.

2.  Cash and candy.  You simply CAN NOT go wrong with this gift.  Seriously.  Who wouldn’t want cash and candy?!  Last year, my teen niece wanted cash and Coke.  She got it and was thrilled.  Like, all-her-dreams-came-true kind of thrilled.  But, take it a step further and check out the cute packaging over at Simply J Studio.

3.  Books.  Okay, maybe your teen won’t be jumping for joy, but books are always a good gift.  Play to their personality.  Get suggestions from Mom and Dad if you want some guidance.  Not sure if the book will ever get opened?  Try an audio book.

    

7.  Clothes.  Or a gift card for clothes.  Each kid is different on terms of style and things they will wear.  Between peer pressure and constantly changing fads and trends, it may be easier to let your teen choose their own threads.  Or go with something simple and easily returnable.

8.  Jewelry.  Something pretty, but inexpensive is best.  An item that easily coordinates with many outfits and won’t be a huge loss if it does, in fact, get lost.  Also, consider the materials an item of jewelry is made from.  No one wants to give an allergic reaction in a box, right?  Acrylic or wooden beads and natural cording is always a good idea.

9.  For the ladies, a flat iron case.  Heat-resistant and everything.  The best part… it’ll cost you a buck and maybe two hours, max.  This little gem is great for traveling and those pre-prom hair parties.  Or try the curling iron case instead (or do both!).

10.  Last, but absolutely not least, music.  As a teen, I LIVED for music.  At least it seemed that way.  It was always on.  In my room and the car and any other place I could manage it.  However, like clothes, every kid likes different music.  If unsure about taste, give the gift of choice with a gift card.

  

This post was written by Krista and originally appeared on While He Was Napping.
If you’d like to get more While He Was Napping, you can find me here:

Welcome to the party, my friends!  I hope you’ve had an awesome week full of all kinds of Holiday cheer and fun!  We finally have the tree up (it only took us a week to get it up and decorated…)!  It was slow going when I could only do about an hour at a time to keep my kiddos from making a bigger mess than I already was.  Little Monkey also watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the original cartoon from 1966) and someone has a new favorite Christmas movie!

Real quick, here’s a few features from last week!

This post was written by Krista and originally appeared on While He Was Napping.
If you’d like to get more While He Was Napping, you can find me here: