Great Book for Moms of Girls

One of my gifts that I asked for and received this year is the book Five Conversations You Must Have With Your Daughter by Vicki Courtney. I was so excited to read this, I actually read it all in one night! I highly recommend this book for anyone who has a daughter, no matter what her age. The book covers these topics of conversation:

1. You are more than the sum of your parts.
2. Don't be in such a hurry to grow up.
3. Sex is great and worth the wait.
4. It's OK to dream about marriage and motherhood.
5. Girls gone wild are a dime a dozen-dare to be virtuous.

These are all important lessons that I want my daughter to remember and even though we have had some of these conversations already, it's nice to have different ideas for ways to approach difficult subjects. My daughter feels comfortable talking to me about everything right now and it's very important for me to keep that going as she enters the teen years. A great feature of the book is that it is linked to online bonus features that have tips for moms of daughters at every stage. If you want to find out more about this book as well as Vicki Courtney's other books, you can visit her website.

Christmas Pettiskirts

Aren't these adorable? These Christmas pettiskirts would make stunning holiday portraits. I know I've said it before, but I am a pettiskirt lover, they are just so feminine and happy, and it's so cute how little girls love to twirl in them. If you want to get one of these, they are $69.99 and are from Pink Taffy Design children's boutique. They are selling fast, though, so grab one while you can. (I want that zebra chair, too, it would look awesome in my daughter's room.)

Hottest Holiday Toys

According to the National Retail Federation 2008 Top Toy survey, Barbie and video games top the list for the hottest toys this holiday season. The survey polled 8,758 consumers this month to gauge this year's shopping trends among consumers. Here is the list of what they found to be the Hot Toys of 2008:

Top toys for girls

1. Barbie
2. Disney Hannah Montana
3. Dolls (generic)
4. Bratz (dolls)
5. Nintendo Wii
6. Video games
7. Elmo
8. Disney High School Musical
9. Disney princess (dolls and themed items)
10. American Girl (dolls and themed items)

Top toys for boys

1. Video games
2. Nintendo Wii
3. Lego
4. Cars (generic)
5. Transformers
6. Elmo
7. Star Wars
8. Hot Wheels
9. Remote-controlled vehicles
10. Xbox 360

What are your kids asking for this year? Are you planning on buying any of the toys that made the list?

Everybody Has A Twin

There is an age-old belief that every one of us has a twin somewhere in the world-someone not related to us who looks just like us. If you have a little girl who loves dolls, you don't have to search the world for her doppelganger, you can BUY her one. MyTwinn makes dolls that are customized to match a picture of your daughter so she can have her very own twin. If you have ever seen their catalog or been to their website you know how amazing these dolls look, down to their matching freckles or birthmarks. You may even mistake the doll for your daughter! (ok, maybe that wouldn't happen :), but they are remarkably close).

If you've started your holiday shopping, these would make a wonderful gift for any little girl. They are expensive but just like American Girl dolls, they can become an heirloom for her to pass on to her own little girl. They have some specials right now that you can get this week. You can get 50% off girl and doll matching outfits as well as holiday outfits.

My Twinn: Up to 50% Off Select Girl & Doll Matching Outfits. (ends 11/17)

My Twinn: Up to 50% Off Select Holiday Outfits! (ends 11/17)

So, have you found twin in life? Or have you been told that you have a celebrity double (think Sarah Palin and Tina Fey)?

*Edited to add cool site you must try*

I totally forgot about this but I wanted to add it here because it goes perfect with this post. MyHeritage is a genealogy site and they have the coolest Celebrity Face Recognition program-it is so much fun! You upload a photo and then it scans it and tells you what celebrities you look like. The results come in a little montage that you can even post on your blog for fun! Go try it and tell me who you look like!

Parent Reviewers

Farewell Samantha

If you haven't heard the news (I'm a little teary eyed just thinking about it), American Girl is going to retire the Samantha collection. Samantha will always hold a spot in my heart because she is the first AG doll that my daughter received when she was 4 years old. I had the Samantha books in my classroom when I was a teacher and the kids loved them-even the boys. I read those same books to my daughter and she grew to love Samantha and just like her mommy, she loves anything that has to do with the Victorian period. If you want to complete your Samantha collection, you should do it now before she's gone. If you don't have Samantha yet, she would make a great gift for your daughter. The doll is gorgeous and hopefully when my daughter is done playing with dolls (she is walking that line now and I know I'm in denial) we will pack up Samantha into her trunk and hopefully someday I will pull her out for my granddaughter to play with. If you are a Samantha fan like me you can go to their website and leave your favorite memories or stories about her. Goodbye Samantha, thanks for the memories! (I was going to upload a slide show with pictures of Samantha through the years but I thought that would be a bit much). :)

One Posh Kid Pettiskirt

I love boutique clothing for kids, especially for little girls. I am a girlie girl at heart and I love outfits like this one from One Posh Kid with a LuckyGabi pettiskirt. It is so gorgeous that if it came in adult sizes I could be talked into buying one. I would be happy twirling around in it all day long.