Fall Blogger Exchange

It's hard to believe that August is coming to a close, and that Fall is just around the corner. The weather here in Minnesota makes it a little more believable - it's been unseasonably chilly the last few days.

I'm torn - Fall is my favorite season. Bonfires. Sweatshirts. Crunchy Fall leaves. But Fall also means my return to work. I feel like I didn't fully enjoy the Summer. It went so fast preparing for Britta, and then recovering after having Britta and finding our groove as a family of four. And just like that, it's Fall.

Anyways...I digress.

This Spring I did something I had never done before - a blogger exchange. Read about the experience here. I was a little hesitant to participate at first because I don't really feel like a "real" blogger. I follow some awesome, creative bloggers who post regularly, take and share awesome pictures, and host giveaways and sponsored posts. I wasn't sure I could do an exchange justice. But after some convincing, I decided I'd give it a try. I'm so glad I did! It was a lot of fun to get to know some other mama bloggers, and to give and receive fun care packages.

So when Jess approached me to take part in a Fall Blogger Exchange, I knew I wanted to participate. I may have been a little crazy to jump in so soon after Britta was born, but I knew I could make it work. Granted, I was a bit late in responding to e-mails, and sending out the package, but I think I managed okay given a brand new baby.

The way the exchange works is that each blogger is matched with another blogger. Everyone then puts together a care package to send to their "buddy."

This time around I was paired with Leslie and her sweetie pie little girl Mila. I wasn't following Leslie's blog prior to the exchange, so it was fun to "meet" someone new. To get to know one another a bit, we sent a few e-mails back and forth, and checked out one another's blogs. Leslie and her family seem so sweet, and I was happy to be paired with them!

Armed with a bit of information about Leslie and Mila, my family set off to do some shopping! Although I thought Jeromy might drag his feet a bit (he has a tendency to get impatient with extended shopping, and me being indecisive), it was actually great. He had some good ideas, and got into it almost as much as I did! All three of us had fun thinking of fun things that Mila would enjoy.

Here's a peek at what we chose (complete with a Linnea drawing). Hop on over to Leslie's blog to get the full report...

We received our package right before Linnea's birthday (which I think made it extra fun and exciting for Linnea). It's really cool because especially since this is our second exchange, I think Linnea really "get it." She knew that when we were shopping for Mila, the gifts weren't for her (even though she would have liked to have the things we chose). Then when our package came, she understood that these gifts were from the "little girl" we sent gifts to. So fun!

Leslie was awesome and wrapped and labeled all the gifts - most for Linnea, but some for me and Britta too! Linnea was THRILLED that some of the gifts were wrapped in birthday wrapping paper. She didn't waste any time to dig right in!

Leslie and Mila seriously knocked it out of the park! Linnea loved everything they sent. I did my best to capture her reactions. They were PRICELESS.

First up was a Frozen notepad. For a girl who loves Frozen, and is always wanting to color or do stickers, this was well received.

Next came a Minions art pack - coloring book, crayons, and stickers. My camera wasn't fast enough to get her initial reaction. She LOVES Minions, so she had a huge smile and a little cackle laugh too. She thinks they are so funny! (Sidenote: when she dug into this one, she literally paged through the whole coloring book and admired each picture. Each page made her throw her head back and belly laugh. She then showed me every page with a comment like, "Mama! Look at them. So funny."

Also, mamas - have you discovered these little packs? They are the best. Perfect for purses/diaper bags. They are a great size and have everything you need to keep your little occupied.

MINIONS!

This next one is probably the pick of the box - for me and Linnea. It's a magnetic "paper doll" Elsa. Basically a little wooden Elsa (like a paper doll) with different magnetic outfits to dress her in. Funny thing - we bought Linnea a larger set like this as a "big sister gift" from Britta. Linnea loves it, but it's too big to travel with. This one is awesome because it is easy to throw in my purse to take with us. (Do you sense a theme? Ha ha ha. Now with Britta I am always in need of having things with me to keep Linnea occupied as needed.) This doll came in handy right away when we needed to go out of town that weekend for Jeromy's cousin's funeral. Elsa did a great job keeping Linnea quiet and busy during the service. WIN!

Finally, Linnea got a fun mermaid canvas to color. She was so excited to dig in to this one! Girlfriend loves art.

Not pictured, but equally well received were an adorable outfit for Britta, and a super cute notepad set for me.

We had a lot of fun with this exchange! Thanks, Leslie and Mila for being great "buddies." It's such a cool experience to get to know people in this unique way.

Just in case you were curious, here's a full list of mamas who participated in the exchange:
Amy at Keeping Up with the Smiths
Jess at The Newly
Ashley at Words about Waverly
Sara at Running from the Law
Alisha at Simple Luxury
Bekah at I Prefer My Puns Intended
Jess at Secrets of a Stay at Home Mom
Leslie at This is for Keeps
Becky (me) at B Happy in Today

Spring Blogger Exchange

 

I readily admit that I'm not really what I consider a "real" blogger. I have never had a sponsored post (I don't even know how one would go about doing that). I've never done a "link up" (nor do I really understand what that is). No one designed my blog (it's the best I could manage with my limited computer skills). Despite my best efforts, my plans to blog regularly with interesting and insightful posts have failed miserably.

But never the less, I try. I was initially motivated to try by some friends whose blogs I enjoyed reading. I wanted to blog to keep a record of my life. I like taking pictures, and I like remembering the big and little milestones. In my mind, it would be a bonus if I made some new friends or connections.

Although I haven't managed to be a "real" blogger with regular posts, I have managed to make some new friends and establish new connections. Woo hoo! WIN!

Two new connections I've made through blogging are Amy and Jess, whose blogs I started following thanks to the suggestion of other blogging friends. It's been especially fun to connect with people like them -  young mamas who are in a very similar stage as me.

So when I got an e-mail from Amy saying that she and Jess were organizing a Spring Blogger Exchange, I was instantly intrigued. But then the doubt creeped in... compared to these awesome bloggers, my blog seemed totally amateur. I have actually worried about writing this post because I wanted it to be "just right."

But after a couple e-mails back and forth with Amy I was convinced that I should put those feelings behind me, and go for it! I'm so glad I did.

Amy and Jess had invited a few other young mama bloggers to participate. The basic gist is that each blogger would be matched with someone, and exchange a fun little Spring care package for their kids. Once Amy gathered the names, we were all paired up - and set out to create our care packages!

I was assigned to send a package to Sara, and her kiddos Mac and Mim. As much as I love buying gifts for people I know, it's almost more fun to buy gifts for people I don't know. I suppose to me it's less pressure... I'm less hindered by what I know about them, and just excited about finding things I think they might like. It's like a little puzzle.

Sara's blog wasn't one that I followed at the start of the exchange, so I did a little bit of reading to get a feel of things they might like. Sara's cutie pie Mac is a little younger than my Linnea, and Mim is an adorable little 7 month old.

Armed with a little insight I got from her blog, I set off to Target to put my care package together. It was super fun! I had no problem finding lots of things to include - if anything it was hard to narrow it down!

I brought home the gifts, and talked with Linnea about the exchange. Though she was a bit bummed that she didn't get to keep the things I bought, she was excited that she was going to get gifts in the mail!

We wrapped up the gifts, and tucked them carefully in a box to be mailed. I added a little note to each one to help Sara know what I was thinking with each gift. It looked like this...

Linnea LOVES coloring (all the rainbows, all the time) lately, so I enlisted her to make a couple colorful notes to include in our package.

Once it was all wrapped up and set to go, off to the post office we went to mail it off. I was down right giddy (is that weird?) thinking about them receiving it...hoping they liked what we chose...hoping that they got as much joy in getting it as we did giving it. Linnea seemed pretty excited too.

A few days later, we received our package in the mail from our partner Amy. Her and her son Cash put our package together, and we were both super excited to see what they sent.

Yup. Linnea was just a bit excited... :-)

Opening the package, it was hard to believe that we've never met Amy or Cash - they made such good and fun choices for us!

We ooed and ahhed over all of things inside. Full disclosure: one of my downfalls as a blogger is that I don't have a fantastic camera, and I often forget to take pictures in the moment, so we don't have pictures of opening the package. You'll have to take my word for it - lots of excitement!

Here's a shot of what we got... a cute little book (a feel and read - with soft down for the chick), a fun spring-y note pad, chocolate, an adorable onesie for baby sister, a pair of sunglasses for Linnea, spring window cling/gels, a coloring book, some cute paper straws, and a nice note from Amy (I'm hoping I'm not forgetting anything - the package got opened and scattered by my dear Linnea).

We got the package in the still-gloomy days of March, so even the brightness and sunshiny-ness of the presents made it feel like spring!

I love this shot with a little handsy Linnea...you can tell what one of her favorite items is! :-)

Like I said, Linnea was probably most excited for the coloring book. Girlfriend is SO into coloring right now (heard at least once a day in our house: "Mama, I'm going to color this RAINBOW colors!"
She didn't hesistate a bit to dig in!

So excited for her new bunny coloring book!

Another Linnea favorite was the sunglasses (or sunnies as we call them in our house). She loves sunnies, and we always have to have a pair nearby in case she needs 'em.

3 going on 13 much? She was giving me a little attitude with this one...

Ready for some spring-time SUN!!

Linnea also liked the book...she is SUCH a bookworm. This one earned the trifecta ultimate compliment from Linnea... A) she wanted to read it right away, B) she wanted to read it at bed time and C) she wanted to take it to bed with her (while other kids fill their beds with stuffed animals, Linnea fills hers with books - she is allowed to take 3 books to sleep with her, and it's the ultimate compliment for a book when it's chosen as one of the three!).

I think this will also be a great book to have when baby sister comes. I couldn't help by smile imagining Linnea reading it to her come July!

One of my favorite items was the onesie. Amy, how did you know that I LOVE owls?! It's still such a shock to see teeny baby clothes again. I can't imagine Linnea was once small enough to fit into clothes that small, but I know she was...and our new Little Miss will look SO cute in this little owl onesie.

(Funny side story, as I was taking the picture below Linnea said, "Uhhhh, mama? I don't think this will fit me!" I had to remind her that it's for baby sister, which made it very excited.) :-)

A mutual favorite item of ours was the chocolate. Again, Amy, how did you know that me and Linnea's ultimate love language is "chocolate?" :-) Needless to say, we didn't hesitate to tackle this bar together.

Amy, thank you so much for inviting us to take part, and for encouraging me to give it a go. And a HUGE thank you for putting together such an awesome spring package for us.

In case you are curious, here's a full list of the mamas who participated in this exchange:

Jamie from Cocktails and Carseats
Jessica from The Newly
Sara from Running from the Law
Alisha from Simple Luxury
Jessica from Kessler Kraziness
Amy from Keepin' Up with the Smiths
Becky (me) from B Happy in Today

 

 

Thanks, Amy and Jess, for organizing such a fun exchange!!