My oldest son will be 3 in October and his current obsession is Cars 2. He knows what country the racers are from, what their numbers are, where the 3 races in the World Grand Prix take place, etc etc. So, we play with cars every. single. day.  Keeping that in mind I’ve been trying to come up something for his birthday.  I’ve got 3 different things in mind that are potential winners.

1. Park & Play Service Garage (CP Toys)- works with die-cast cars, has multiple ramps for driving or crashing vehicles (omg), has a working elevator (omg omg), and a car wash (omg omg omg)!!
2. Disney Pixar Cars 2 Charge Ups Track Set (Target)- you charge up cars and then they race around the track on their own
3. Quercetti Super Marble Run Vortis (Amazon)- or a marble run of some sort. The kiddo got to play with one of these in real life and dude was busy for a WHILE.

So tell me other moms of car obsessed children, what do I need?

My son loves this thing his Granny purchased for him. He bats at it, tries to make out with it (or that’s what it looks like) and generally loves to rough it up. It’s quite funny to watch.

SO, when his Grandpa brought over THIS GUY, he was a super major hit. Who knew babies could love punching bags so much!

Little did I know how popular this foam mat would be when I purchased it for a cushy place for AJ to play. Who knew that not only would it be a place to sit, stand, roll and flop…it doubles as the #1 pick for something to teeth on and triples as an all around favorite toy to rip apart and have mommy put back to together.  $24 well spent. I can’t recommend it enough.

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Little did I know how popular this foam mat would be when I purchased it for a cushy place for AJ to play. Who knew that not only would it be a place to sit, stand, roll and flop…it doubles as the #1 pick for something to teeth on and triples as an all around favorite toy to rip apart and have mommy put back to together.  $24 well spent. I can’t recommend it enough.

Little did I know how popular this foam mat would be when I purchased it for a cushy place for AJ to play. Who knew that not only would it be a place to sit, stand, roll and flop…it doubles as the #1 pick for something to teeth on and triples as an all around favorite toy to rip apart and have mommy put back to together.  $24 well spent. I can’t recommend it enough.

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Alex Toys has some of the most fun looking toys I’ve ever seen. I mean, if I were a baby or a kiddo I would be ALL OVER THEM. Like white on rice, I kid you not. I think we need to add one of each of these to our rapidly growing toy chest.

1. Stretchy Sandwich
2. Hug a Puzzle Doggie
3. I Can Cook
4. Patty Cake
5. Cuddle Kids- Lexi…she bares a slight resemblance to Court, dontcha think? (all small and crazy haired)
6. Prickly Play Porcupine

My son is a huge Sesame Street fan and when I saw these puppets from Banjo Puppets they immediately made me think of Sesame Street.  I think my son would flip over these!

Gumball Monsters, Banjo Puppets

Here some of the latest Etsy finds I have favorite’d this week.

1. Turquoise Leather Cuff, Trillby Made Etsy Shop-Yall know my love for turquoise by now so it should be no surprise that I was drawn to this cuff.  I’m loving that it’s reversible!
2. Lemon drop Blooming Headband, Emily Sparks Handmade Etsy Shop-Der got me on an Etsy crochet hunt after her post last week. I did recently take a crochet class and I am currently wondering if I could possibly even make this headband, what?!
3. BAM POW Vinyl Decals, Off the Wall Expression Etsy Shop-I think these would be TURBO CUTE in a playroom or little boy’s room.  I love superhero themed stuff.
4. Doorstump, Cozy Blue Etsy Shop-First off, the name of this thing just KILLS ME.  I love that it has so many uses: doorstop, bookend, toy, and the list goes on…
5. A-Z Bean Bags, Frayed Etsy Shop-I think this is a great idea with teaching the alphabet.  I want a number one too!!

I just ran across this playmat while browsing Etsy the other day and I can’t get over what an awesome idea this is. The mat lays flat on the floor for play with cars and what not and when you are ready to head out somewhere you just do a series of folding and rolling and it turns into a carrying case with the cars INSIDE. It’s genius! I may or may not need one of these STAT!

Travel Playmat Roll, Adeline My Valentine Etsy Shop

I saw this idea a while back on ohdeedoh.com and thought it was FABULOUS! Basically, you take all your die-cast cars and organize them on a magnetic knife rack which you can buy at ikea (they range from $2.49 to $14.99)!  Currently our cars go in a big basket, but it might be cool to setup these magnetic knife racks in my son’s room either on the wall in a cool design, or in a closet, or on a closet door…wow my mind is just spinning with the possibilities!

What do you think? How do you keep up with all those cars?

image via style files

When I originally registered for baby Knight, I thought the Bright Start Around We Go activity center would be perfect for when our little one starts getting busy and needing entertainment.  However, I recently started second guessing myself because several of my closest pals are swearing by the jumpers! 

So friends, should I take my activity center back and get a bouncer? What will the baby like/use more do you think?

We had a great Christmas! My husband and I think this year has been the best so far in terms of celebrating with our son.  He got excited to hand out gifts and open gifts and play with everything.  It was super fun.  Here are a few things I got for Christmas this year:

1. Jewelry Cleaner, Brookstone-If you’ve ever thought about getting one of these things, do it! Do it now! All you do is add water and it uses sound waves to clean everything.  I immediately did my wedding ring and watch and embarrassed at the amount of gunk that came off both of them.  And I THOUGHT I kept them clean.  This also does eyeglasses, which I haven’t done yet but am psyched to do.
2. Jackie cardigan, J.Crew-I love these cardigans and buy them at the outlet store or ask for them as gifts.  I’m a cardigan addict.  I received navy and cerise for Christmas.
3. iPhone Case, Kate Spade-I was in need of a new case and received one like this and it’s right up my alley what with all the colors!!
4. Apple gift card, Apple-In combination with my husband we received enough apple gift cards to purchase an iPad.  However after a twitter questionnaire we’ve decided to wait on the next version to come out before we buy it.  I think that’s in April.  I think.
5. iSi Flexible Mixing Bowls, Amazon-A month or so ago, in an effort to do something in the kitchen, I gave my son a couple of mixing bowls and a wooden spoon to occupy him.  That turned into me needing new bowls.  I don’t think these will break.

The best gift of all might be what Santa brought my son.  He loves it more than anything and it gives his parents a chance to sit and chill for a few minutes. Little Star Bouncer, Walmart