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David still loves to read. I wish I had spent more time reading with Luke over the past year but he doesn’t really sit still and needs a lot of activity so I never really did it. I hope to be more diligent about it as he gets older and will hold interest in a book! I can see him liking books with flaps and things to pull on to keepย his attention.

Nicole told me about Jones Design Company and I have an enormous obsession with Emily now. She has a paper subscription service that I’m definitely planning on signing up for!

I’m lovingย the blue shade of this dress. Plus it’s 40% off right now!

We signed up David up for swimming lessons and the first class is this weekend! He loves the water and I’m anxious to get him more and more comfortable in it so he can become a good, strong swimmer. The pool in our backyard is both a trigger for deep, keep-me-awake-at-night fear and hope for many fun summers. When my kids can swim, I’ll like the pool much more.

This looks delicious!

My friend gave me a free week trial of Hello Fresh and my first week of meals comes next week! I’m really excited about it, and I hope it will ย help me branch out from the same old same old.

Such a pretty floor mirror.

I ordered the Productivity Planner and can’t wait to get it. I don’t think it ships until the end of the month but it looks interesting!

These look tempting.

Have a great weekend!

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Lori says · 01.16.16

I love looking at all the products you recommend. My top 2 faves: Zelda live in leggings. I now have like 6 pair and Madewell jeans…ahhmazing!! Thanks! I want to see the planner you are recommending but the link is taking me to some random site. Can you please let me know name? Thanks!

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Lori says · 01.16.16

Zella! Not zelda! ๐Ÿ™‚

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Sherri Yoder says · 01.16.16

Have you heard of the Usborne Book Company? They have great kids books with flaps & touchy-feely components. The books are really sturdy & made for the possibility of being pulled at or thrown on the floor ๐Ÿ˜‰ They also have a wonderful policy when it comes to the flaps being torn off. My children got some for Christmas & they love those books!

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Nikki says · 01.18.16

I was gonna recommend Usborne Books too! I learned about them last fall and quickly fell in love. My girls have several of the lift the flap books and they love them. Their regular books are wonderful too, and the board books are really great quality. My 17 month old loves the “That’s Not My…” series!

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Jennifer says · 01.16.16

Its funny to see your favorite bloggers finally find each other. I love Jones Design Company. I felt the same way about you and Emily as I did when Glennon Doyle Melton (of monastery.com) and Elizabeth Gilbert (of Eat, Pray, Love elizabethgilbert.com) finally met each other. It was like I knew they should know each other, they just didn’t know it yet. They’re pretty much soul mates now.

So in the spirit of other sharing links and loves, are you familiar with Humans of New York (HONY http://www.humansofnewyork.com) or handletterer/creative blogger/artist Dawn Nicole (https://www.facebook.com/bydawnnicole/?pnref=lhc) or the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org)??

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Jennifer says · 01.16.16

I forgot to add Ive been getting Hello Fresh for about 6 weeks now. I really like it (we are just two, husband and me…and both work full time). Lately the recipes have been a bit similar but I think that is because of the time of year…lots of root vegetables. But we use a lot of ingredients we normally would not have thought of and everything is very fresh. I love it.

One more link/love to share. Have you heard of Marie Kondo (http://konmari.com/en/)? I lived in Japan for two years and I have a familiar understanding of her concept of needing things tidy (all spaces in Japanese living spaces are very small). Some of her ideas don’t exactly translate to the big American houses we are used to but I love the concept and she is so quirky!

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Jennifer says · 01.16.16

I just realized it was Emily that introduced me to Hello Fresh!! What a bizarre and wonderful world we live in!

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Andrina says · 01.16.16

Is borne books are terrific!

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Andrina says · 01.16.16

Ugh, autocorrect. ..USBORNE.

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Janna says · 01.16.16

Kate, I have a very busy toddler, but someone told me read to her anyway. Just because they don’t sit down in your lap or beside you to listen to a book or look at pictures doesn’t mean you can’t read to them. They do listen and catch what your reading. Hearing language is so important for development.

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Erin @ Her Heartland Soul says · 01.16.16

I love that blue dress!

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Julie says · 01.16.16

My daughter is 11 months and she loves the lift the flap books by Karen Katz. Peek a Baby is her favorite. There are also cute ones for every season and holiday. Pretty cheap in Amazon!

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Ali vizzo says · 01.16.16

We did a week of hello fresh back in November. We really liked it. The recipes were a bit more involved than we like to get on a week night, but the food was delicious. My mother in law got us 3 more weeks for Christmas so I’m excited to try again.

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Caroline says · 01.16.16

Yes! We also enjoyed the recipes but it was quite involved. Also it’s stupid expensive! I loved getting the $ off on the first order, but they do nothing to keep you as a customer and continue to give the good promos to new customers. So ehhh. Blue apron is another and I liked them equally (recipe wise).

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Evelina says · 01.16.16

I hope the swimming lesson goes well! Good luck!

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Mary Kate says · 01.16.16

That dress is gorgeous! Perfect for everyday wear!

Mary Kate
http://www.mynewchicagolife.com

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Lauren Jewett says · 01.16.16

Those Anastasia Glow Palettes look amazing! I haven’t branched into the contouring techniques quite yet. But looking to do so soon with your awesome tutorials.

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Chelsea Smith says · 01.16.16

Kate, please let us know what you think of Hello Fresh. I’m in my mid-20’s and live alone and don’t really cook because cooking for just myself isn’t appealing but, from what it sounds like, Hello Fresh might motivate me to cook healthy, good food for myself. I would love to know if it is worth the try. Thank you! ๐Ÿ™‚

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Aileen says · 01.16.16

Love, love, love Jones Design Company. Each time I used to google something about home or fashion, I would end up finding her. Now, I just go directly to her site. We are in the process of switching our upper kitchen cabinets to open shelves because her shelves were such an inspiration. I just bought the year of downloads from nap time diaries but I’m going to get the JDC subscription as well. Love the concept that mundane things such as grocery lists can be beautiful. She has lots of adorable freebie downloads as well.

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Aileen says · 01.16.16

I always love your links & loves post! So many good things. I’ve been looking for classes for my daughter and me to attend. It’s nice to have activities and get out of the house. I might have to look into swimming classes. It sounds fun!

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Mindy says · 01.16.16

My husband and I have done the Hello Fresh meals twice now, we love it!! ๐Ÿ™‚

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kami says · 01.16.16

Hi Kate-
I’m a mom of older kids now including young men that are starting to care about their hair. And of course, they don’t want their mother helping them. Is there a way you can give hair or styling tips for young men. Like what products to use and how to use them to get those “tousled” hair with the “swoosh” over to the side?

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Jackie says · 01.16.16

I used to be a lifeguard and watched many infant swim lessons (from Infant Swimming Resource). ISR teaches infants and young toddlers how to be safe if they were to fall into water accidentally. It teaches them how to flip over and float on their back, even if they’re wearing a full set of clothes. I would highly recommend it since you have a pool in your backyard!

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Kate says · 01.17.16

looking into that for sure!

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Christa says · 01.16.16

A backyard pool is something that will provide countless hours of fun and memories but can also be very stressful with small kids! I’m sure you are aware of this but will mention it anyway. A removable mesh fence. We bought one for our pool and it was an answer to our prayers! It was custom fit to our pool. It can be taken down and put up at your leisure. When all of my babies were decent swimmers, we were able to take it down and store it in our garage. When we sold our home, we used the pool fence as a selling point. Good luck! Love your blog!

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Kate says · 01.17.16

We installed a permanent fence around the pool!

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Dana says · 01.16.16

I started reading to my boy when he was about 6-months old. Fast forward 11 1/2 years and he STILL loves it and reads himself to sleep at night! You’re instilling a lifelong love of reading in your boys and it will serve them SO well. ๐Ÿ™‚

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Mel says · 01.16.16

I desperately need the productivity planner! I’m always trying to improvement my organization and planning skills.

~Mel
http://www.thegossipdarling.com

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Stacey says · 01.17.16

HI there! So exciting for your kids to learn to swim. Having out two children through this, and having a pool in our backyard also; I highly recommend Infant Swim Resource Self Resuce lessons. It’s an investment, but I’ve seen it work first hand. Just google it ๐Ÿ™‚

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Meredith says · 01.17.16

Hello Fresh is awesome. We tried several other services before settling on this one. It has totally helped us break out of our dinner rut. Pay attention to what ‘level’ you select. Levels indicate the cooking difficulty. If you like it, download their app. Makes ordering and pausing deliveries super easy.

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susan says · 01.17.16

Oh, what a cutie pie!

I still read Calvin & Hobbes to my 12 year old. Makes us both laugh!

http://a-woman-of-a-certain-age.com/

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Erin @ thh says · 01.18.16

Re: reading: You know, I was just thinking about this the other day, because I was SUPER diligent about reading to my oldest, then slightly less diligent about reading to my second, and pretty much just dropped the ball on reading to my third during their first year. But my third (now 22 months) is every bit as avid a reader as the other two. He follows me around with books and begs to be read to.? I felt really bad about not reading to Anselm when he was under a year, but it doesn’t seem to have made too much of a difference. ๐Ÿ˜‰

Have you heard of the Read Aloud Revival? Great group/podcast to check out if you’re passionate about reading to your littles.

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Crystal says · 01.24.16

I hope Davis loves his swim lessons! My daughter, who is just a couple months older, started last spring and she LOVES it. Initially it was with a parent in the water with her. Last month she graduated to swimming on her own and is still loving it. Hoping for the same for your sweet David.

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Crystal says · 01.24.16

David, not Davis. Not sure why my phone that was the appropriate autocorrect

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Kira black says · 02.02.16

Your son has boobs

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