A lot can change in a few years and since my last blog post, I’ve added another mate to our crew. Meet Liam. Our little bundle of love. He’s 10 months old now, crawling and cruising nonstop. Kinsley is starting Transitional Kindergarten next week and OMG time please SLOW DOWN!!
While 2020 was nuts and 2021 has had its moments, I’m so thankful for old and new friends. Kinsley and her class were able to continue gymnastics with masks and she meet a new friend Lyla! Her mom Nicole is an amazing photographer, skilled at getting the wiggliest of worms to cooperate and hold still for photos. After a crazy last 16 months or so, take the time to get some lovely family photos sans masks. We all miss your beautiful faces!
Ahh it feels good to be back. After a hiatus from Beach Town Blonde, I’m back. Kinsley’s almost 3 1/2 and is talking all the time (and cracking me up at the same time). Work’s good. Family’s good. House is a mess. The usual. Kinsley’s room on the other hand – it’s actually clean. It helps when your kid still sleeps in your bed but I must say I do like having at least one room in the house neat and tidy.
Parents, you know it is so hard to keep the house clean with a toddler around. You clean one room and BAM. Your toddler walked in and within seconds that neat and tidy room is in shambles. It always reminds me of the meme that goes something like this: I hate it when I get done with all the laundry and then I see my family going around wearing clothes. You can just never catch up. There’s always more laundry, more dishes, and more clothes to put away.
That’s why I’m grateful for storage. Storage bins. Storage containers. Storage cubbies. Storage is everything because as much as we all wish we could keep up what our homes looked like after the great Marie Kondo of 2019, we can’t. We came, we saw, and we bought and our houses still have a ton of stuff. When it comes to storage for Kinsley’s overflow of stuffed animals, though, there is one place I turn: Little Colorado Furniture. Okay, two because I also hit up the Goodwill donation truck, too, when that pile of stuffed animals becomes overwhelming (and irritating). No one needs that many stuffed animals, right?
Little Colorado has recently started selling the Whale, Elephant, and Train toy boxes from Bannor toys to complement their collection of wooden toy boxes available on their website. We were lucky enough to get the whale one which goes perfectly with Kinsley’s ocean-themed room. I love that Little Colorado’s toy boxes come fully assembled which is so nice when you didn’t intend on spending your afternoon IKEA-ing. It’s ready to enjoy right out of the box. It’s also really sturdy – high-quality woodwork that you know can handle toddlers crawling in and out playing make-believe.
What I really like about Little Colorado is that their products are not made overseas. Little Colorado products are made in Denver, Colorado. Shop local. Shop small. Shop USA. You know the drill -> Get your own whale toy box or check out all of their other storage solutions and furniture here.
With the holidays around the corner and the influx of toys coming your way, which toy box would you choose?
Our little munchkin is getting bigger and bigger! At 5 months she was talking up a storm, though we still can’t make sense of the words. She loves her animals, Barni and Benji, and even took a swim class. Read more →
Thank you Childs & Co. for sponsoring this post. Check out top-quality, handcrafted butcher blocks by Childs & Co. on Etsy. Made in California.
As you can probably imagine, date night is few and far between when you have a new baby. Even when you have someone offer to watch the baby, the last thing I’ve wanted to do is go out to dinner. What I WANT is pizza delivered and to clean up our living room/bedroom, etc. I want to get caught up on the laundry. I want to vacuum and pick up toys. I want to make our living space less chaotic so that when we have the baby back, we aren’t tripping over things or riffling through the clothing pile to find something clean. I know my husband and I are long overdue for a night on the town, but we’re pretty happy right here at home for now.
Over the holiday weekend we had some time to ourselves so we decided to clean off the coffee table — wow, it’s so pretty under all the stuff piled on it — and kick back and relax with some wine and snacks, followed by a movie on the big screen. I recently managed to convince my husband that getting a dolby atmos soundbar would be a great investment and I’m yet to be proven wrong. Every time we watch anything, it’s truly like a cinematic experience because of the surround sound system, I absolutely love it. Although the last time we tried connecting the laptop to the TV, the sound lagged behind the visual display and so this time we had found a HDMI cable that was up to the task!
Let me just say, Trader Joe’s has the best cheeses and crackers. We brought popped a bottle of our Jacuzzi Prosecco leftover from our wedding and drank out of our beautiful Tiffany’s champagne glasses that were a wedding gift from a coworker. Aren’t they just beautiful? At the actual wedding, we had some engraved toasting flutes because I wanted to have some really special glasses on the day. Now that means we have two sets of fabulous glasses! Sometimes it’s hard to choose which set to use but it’s lovely to have the choice. We also received this gorgeous handmade butcher block from our friends at Childs & Co. that I used as the platter. Made from walnut, maple and cherry woods, this butcher block was the perfect centerpiece for our at-home date night.
Bri and Connor Childs, the husband/wife duo behind Child’s & Co., started handcrafting cutting boards and butcher blocks as gifts before realizing they should open an Etsy shop and sell them. I love supporting small businesses, especially small businesses in California. The story of this business is so familiar for many small business owners. They start giving out these handmade gifts to friends and family, and then they realize that they could be making money by selling these products. Whilst Child’s & Co. set up their online store on Etsy, that’s not the only e-commerce platform for small businesses. Another e-commerce platform that could be used is Magneto. That is similar to Etsy, but some people find Magneto easier to use. If you’re selling handmade products, you might want to make use of Magneto’s online stores. When business owners set up on Magneto, they’re also able to find companies like Victorious (learn more about them here) that can implement some search engine optimization strategies onto their online store, encouraging more people to visit the store and purchase products! Hopefully, that will help more small businesses like Child’s & Co. to become successful.
The family-owned and operated Child’s & Co. wooden blocks make the perfect gift for weddings, holidays, housewarmings, or for foodies. Don’t forget to order one for yourself here! Follow them on Instagram and see their newest projects @childs.co.
Another thanks to Childs & Co. for sponsoring this post. All opinions expressed are absolutely my own.
This little girl has me wrapped around her fingers and has also engrossed my iPhone photo stream. Kinsley turned four months on December 30 and here are the ‘4 month’ photos that didn’t make the cut. Coming soon: 5 month photos!
