In my opinion, Christmas traditions are what make the holiday so special. There is something in the ritual and the things we can always count on that make us look forward to these events. We have lots of traditions in my family. We decorate the tree as a family. We read Twas’ the Night Before Christmas and go look at Christmas lights every Christmas eve with my sister. We bake and decorate Christmas cookies ever year with my in-laws. The list goes on and on. These things are always so special and so much fun. They are the things I look most forward to every holiday season.

Another special tradition we do as a family is send out Christmas cards to our family and friends to let them know we are thinking about them during this special time of year. It always makes my day to receive Christmas cards in the mail, so my hope is that our cards will brighten someone else’s day as well. It is so nice to know that you are thought of.

This year, we had family pictures taken at a Christmas tree farm which was a first for us. I couldn’t have been more happy with the way they turned out. I knew immediately after seeing them that I needed to pick out a beautiful card to place our photo on this year. It was a no-brainer for me because I had just been perusing Minted’s holiday cards and fell in love with so many of them. There are so many choices and they are all beautiful. The one we chose definitely suited us and our photo, I think, but I also loved this one and this one. They were close second and third options. Now through December 14th, Minted’s holiday cards are 15% off $150+ and 10% off $100+!

I received our cards in the mail earlier this week and was so excited and pleased with the quality of the cards and the envelops. Envelop thickness is a big deal to me. Who wants a beautiful card with a flimsy envelop? Not me. I definitely notice those little details and I was very proud to send these cards out to our friends and family! They also arrived very quickly, so if you are late ordering your holiday cards this year, definitely check out Minted!

Have you ordered your Christmas cards yet?

This post is sponsored by Gerber® BabyNes® but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.


There are endless challenges to parenthood. What I’m learning is that as children grow, the challenges change but do not go away.

Time is and has always been the biggest challenge I face as a mother. I am constantly trying to figure out new ways to manage my family’s work life, social life, nutrition, fitness, family time, alone time with my husband, grocery shopping, paying the bills, etc. It can be too overwhelming if I really let myself think about it too long. With an ever growing to-do list and a jam-packed planner, I am always up for new time-saving strategies.

I recently heard of the BabyNes machine and while I have not tried it myself, I have read from other bloggers that it is wonderful. This is basically a Keurig for baby formula! How awesome is that? Gerber makes the machine and formula and so I feel confident about the nutrition and quality as it is a brand that I know and trust. I would love to try one! Can you imagine? Just pushing a button and the bottle being ready for you? Now that is a time-saving strategy I can get behind!

The BabyNes machine is powered by WiFi, so you can have alerts sent straight to your iphone, tablet or computer on info about your baby’s growth, nutrition and you can even get nutritional advice from experts! I love that! I think every mother could use a little extra time and this seems like a great option for making that extra time available. This would be a great gift for any new or expecting mother!

What do you think about BabyNes? Would you give it a try?