We Love BookRoo!

If you’ve been around here long, you’ll know that I’m a total book nerd. I’ve always loved to read, even as a child. I remember going to the library all the time with my mother and grandmother, reading at night on the porch outside, and staying up late to finish my latest novel. Reading has always been an escape for me and I can’t stand the days between books! I love to read on my lunch breaks at work and any free time at home. It's important to me to develop my children's love of reading and set the example for them. We read to the kids every night as part of our evening routine and they always receive a book or two for holidays and special events. Reading helps with their communication, brain development, speech, promotes academic excellence, and the list goes on and on. Plus, it's fun! Let me tell you why we love our BookRoo subscriptions,

Bookroo Subscription Review!

Today I’m really excited to be sharing a fun and unique subscription box for your littles- Bookroo! Starting at $16.99,  you can choose three board books (ages 0-3) or two picture books (ages 3 and up), individually wrapped for your child! I thought that was such a cool detail, I know children love opening gifts and the excitement that comes from unwrapping a surprise to see what it is! Each one is wrapped in different paper too and we had a little note written on the inside of our box as well, which I thought was sweet. I love when companies put so much detail and thought into their products, it really warms my heart.




Growing up, I was an avid reader and still love to read today. It’s something I want my children to enjoy and we often visit the library together, read several books every night as a family, and we love to add new books to our library. We add books to our library every birthday and holiday, it's such a great way to teach kids lessons and prepare them for life changes (i.e. sibling books when a new baby is coming soon, potty books when potty training). I went back and forth about which box to order, but decided to go with the board books so we could get Emma’s library growing and I knew that Ellie would still enjoy them. Emma didn’t have much of an attention span when we opened ours, but Ellie dove right in! She was so thrilled with opening each book and kept showing Emma what book they received.



In our first box, we received Sassy's Zoom! Things That Go, a simple book with a single picture, what it is and the sound it makes. It's really cute, more of a "boy" book, but Ellie loves trucks and planes so we enjoyed it all the same. It's a great starter book for things and sounds. The second book was Sam Williams' Art Barn, the pictures were really cute, but we didn't care for the story. The third book was my favorite! I Love You Night and Day by Smriti Prasadam-Halls. The pictures were beautiful and I loved the rhyming story. Ellie and Emma enjoyed it too and I know we'll be reading it for a long time!



I really love this idea and being able to add to the girls' library every month. I think it's a genius idea and the books are reviewed by several families before being chosen for a box. The subscription is meant to find special books for your littles rather than classics. Bookroo also offers the ability to switch between board books and picture books so you can get a nice mix. Thank you Bookroo for our first box, we loved it! If you're interested in trying a box for your family use KRILAW at checkout for $10 off!

Guest Post: Babbling with the Bogles

Hello Love, Lipstick and Pearls readers! I am a long time follower of Kristen’s blog myself. I just enjoy keeping up to date with her and her adorable family’s life together! Plus, I have gotten some amazing recommendations on beauty and baby products from reading along. I have a blog myself- one that I have admittedly neglected from time to time, BUT if you’d like to know a bit more about me and my family, head over to Babbling withthe Bogle(s). 

 This is us... Troy, Emma and I!

Let me start off by saying that I am an early childhood educator turned stay at home mom. This might help you understand what I want to share with you all today. Like Kristen, I am expecting my 2^nd babe. Sometime between December 25^th and December 30^th we will welcome another sweet member to our family. This go ‘round we didn’t get a due date, we got a due range. I have no idea why, either.

As soon as I found out, I moved into planning mode. One of the first things I considered obsessed over was the best way to get Emma ready for the new kid on the block. Emma was only about 15 months old when we found out we were having another, so really, how would she understand what is going on? I don’t even think she will understand when she is 2 and we have a new baby in the house. To be 100% transparent, I don’t think my husband and I fully understand either.

I immediately started looking for books that could help us introduce the concept of a new sibling. Emma loves books- reading them, handling them, sticking her foot in them and smooshing her toes between the pages. I did quite a bit of research, looking for durable books with simple, engaging messages. I wanted to share some of my finds with you today. I figure it might be a nice resource or starting point for mama’s and families as they are expanding.

I have broken down what I have found into 2 categories: books to prepare for baby and books for after baby is born. Most of the books I have purchased are through Amazon, because I am obsessed with Prime. Again, these are mostly board books, geared for toddlers. There are so many additional resources for older children out there!

Books to prepare for baby:

Hello In There! A Big Sister’s Book of Waiting

This is such an amazing book. The only downside is that there isn’t a version for a big brother. It is a lift the flap book and the pages are nice and durable for a rough and tumble toddler. The mommy’s tummy grows throughout the book, as does the baby. Emma loves lifting the flaps and saying “Hello, baby!”

Waiting for Baby
This book is short, sweet and to the point. Even better, it is under $3! It is a board book so it is perfect for little hands. It is not super rich in content, but it is intriguing and you can certainly interact with it to expand the content. The little child in the book is ambiguous, so it is a perfect little book for a boy or girl!

Global Babies
This book isn’t specifically focused on preparing for a new baby, but it has been a long time favorite in our house. Since starting to read our preparing for babies books, Emma interest in babies has really peaked and she has been wanting to read this book a lot more. I love this book for its simple message and the pictures of diverse babies. If you love this book as much as we do, you can expand your collection to include the Global Baby Girls and Global Baby Boys books! I highly recommend books from The Global Fund for Children!

Families (Babies Everywhere)

This is another book that we already had in our library, but have been pulling out to read more often. This book states common things families do together, like go swimming or share snacks, and then provides a picture of a human family and an animal family doing such things. It is simple and engaging and Emma loves to practice ‘reading’ this one to us!

Books for after baby is born:

I have chosen to save these books to share with Emma, after our new baby is here. I figured she might make more connections with the content as she is experiencing it herself.

My New Baby

This is by the same author as Waitingfor Baby. The formatting is very similar- short, sweet and to the point. There are other books in this series, however these are the only 2 I have purchased thus far

I Am a Big Sister

I love this author! She writes simple books with engaging pictures and lyrical text. This book is no exception! I haven’t been able to find a big brother version of this book, however, I haven’t really scoured too hard.

I’m a Big Sister

This is a book from the perspective of a new big sister. It doesn’t just focus on all the positive aspects of having a new sibling, which is what I like most about it. However the central message is sweet and true- mommies and daddies have a lot of love to give to their families. There is a boy version of this book, as well, although I have not checked that out.

I’m a Big Brother  
We aren’t going to find out if we are having a boy or girl. We held out on our first pregnancy and it was really the best experience and surprise! Since we won’t know the sex, I have been limited in buying some books for after the baby is born. Here are some other books that I am considering purchasing once we have the new baby:

Brothers

Sisters

You’re Getting a Baby Brother

You’re Getting a Baby Sister

And FINALLY, if you have stuck around this long, hooray! I have saved the resource I am MOST excited about for last! If you haven’t checked out Twigtale, please, please do! It is a website in which you can personalize pre-written stories (written by child development experts) with your own pictures!!

I ordered the book Becoming a Big Sister for Emma and WE LOVE IT!! One thing I should mention, is that these books are not board books. My Emma is quite rough with her books and I believe in letting her explore and handle the books. The first book didn’t last long before a couple of pages fell out. I contacted Twigtale and they had a new book printed and in the mail for me the very next day. They followed up with an email and I told them about how much I LOVE the content of the book but worried about how long it would last us and they sent us another free book! Needless to say, their customer service is AMAZING.

So now I have 2 copies of the book. I put one aside for Emma to read and look at when she is older. In the other book I used my top secret book reinforcement process. It is really fancy people, I put plain ole’ clear packing tape in the spine of each page. This copy is the one I let Emma interact with. She loves looking at the pictures of herself. I plan on personalizing the I Have A New Sibling book once our new baby is here!

Those are the books that we have or plan to get for Emma once the baby is here. Seriously, this is just a small fraction of what is available out there! If you have any sibling book recommendations please share them with us!

Thank you so much Amanda for your guest post! I love all these suggestions and have bought I’m a Big Sister,  My New Baby, and Big Sisters are the Best! and we really enjoy reading them. Ellie loves to have them read to her repeatedly each night and point out things for the baby in the books. I think it's really helped her grasp the concept of big sister and baby a bit more. We'll have to snag a few more of these books for after the baby is here! Good luck with your little ones!

Our Favorite Toys

With Christmas just around the corner and Black Friday just a few days away, I thought today would be the perfect time to post Ellie's favorite toys over these past (almost) 18 months. I've included toys that had the most use and would make great gifts for any littles you're buying for. Some ages are harder to buy for than others and I thought I'd give my take on what has been played with the most. Some of these gifts were bought for us and I'm so happy we were gifted them because they have been so much fun!

Learning Sit to Stand Walker  // Glow Worm Lullaby Doll //  Mega Bloks Building Bag //Block Sorter

Books // My Pal Violet // Ring Stacker (the old school plastic one is great too!)    

Soft Blocks // Play Tent 

What toys does your family/littles enjoy the most? Please share!

Our Favorite Halloween Books

Since I was a child, I've always been an avid reader and still enjoy reading now (my library card is well worn) and it's something that I want to pass down to my children. I've always looked forward to the day of reading to my babies and children and enjoying the same books I grew up with and seeing them through their eyes for the first time (Where the Red Fern Grows, Little Women, The Princess Bride, and Harry Potter are ones I'm really looking forward to!). For every holiday I've tried to pick up a few books to celebrate and read with Ellie. Some are just for fun and others help explain the meaning of why we celebrate (like Easter and Christmas books we have) and we have a few Halloween ones I wanted to share that we've enjoyed reading. They're just silly books, but it's a nice change for a month or so from our usual books.

Hoot: A Hide-and-Seek Book of Counting // Doc McStuffins Boo to You! //  Halloween Jack
 Goodnight Goon // Room on the Broom

Hoot- Ok, so this one isn't technically a Halloween book, but I included it because of the owls and owls are kind of Halloweenish. Sue me. This book is so cute! The pages are brightly colored, it's cutely rhymed, and I love the hide-and-seek theme of the book. 

Doc McStuffins- Ellie is all about Doc McStuffins right now and although I don't care too much for the story itself (I don't think it really follows the style of the show), the pictures are enjoyable and Ellie enjoys all touch and feel books. 

Halloween Jack- We bought this book last year and it's still a favorite. Each page has a fun picture of different Halloween characters- a vampire, witch, robot, etc. with a cute rhyme for each one. It's a simple book that we've enjoyed reading a million times. I was really excited about bringing this one back out to read. 

Goodnight Goon- If Goodnight Moon is popular in your house, this one will be too! It follows the same rhythm as the original and tells a very cute story of Halloween. I'm hoping to find other holiday themed books for this classic (there's even a parody version called Goodnight Ipad! LOL). 

Room on the Broom- This book is adorable and I wanted to get it last year, but couldn't find the board book version and I'm so happy to have snagged it this year. I love the story of making new friends and having room for everyone on the broom. Ellie likes to point out each character on the pages and it's become a fun game for us before bed time. 

Here are some other books I want to add to our collection in the coming years; 

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat! (Who doesn't love this song? We have the Christmas one and I'd love to own all the holiday versions), I'm a Little Vampire (it follow the rhyme of "I'm a Little Teapot"), The Night Before Halloween (same as the Christmas version, and there's more holidays!). Ok, so I'm obviously a fan of books with a twist on the classics. I just love the original books and I'm so happy there's new versions for different themes to share with Ellie.

What are some of your holiday favorites?