Everybody does it! Christmas shopping post

I mean, would it even be the end of November if I didn't post a gift guide and make you all panic about buying Christmas gifts really far in advance?

I have a lot of people to buy presents for who do read this blog so these are mostly things for the girls and myself that I have been eyeing, or things I've collected from around the internet for your various perusal opportunities. And things we've loved over the years with two small kiddos, because I love seeing recommendations from people that have actually used things.

A lot of these are referral links to Amazon, as in I get a small kickback if you click through and purchase anything. But I am of course a big advocate of shopping small and local when you can, and price-comparing til you drop. ;) 

Things We Have and Love

1. Shark Professional Navigator Liftaway Vacuum
Guys, I freaking LOVE my vacuum. I can't recommend it to enough people. We have a golden retriever and she sheds a lot, plus the normal activity and mess of two toddlers, so I end up vacuuming the entire house about once every 3 days (more if it's messy outside). The old vacuum we had was a cheap $90 Hoover from Target and this thing has increased my joy vacuuming a thousand fold, honestly. It's usually really cheap for Black Friday on Amazon, so keep an eye on it! It does a super good job of getting pet hair, and works well on wood floors too.

The one I linked to is actually the updated version of what we have, and it's an extra $20 off with a coupon on Amazon right now so...you might not get any lower than that!

2. Vizio Sound Bar
We added one of these fancy-schmancy sound bars to our TV setup when we built the fireplace upstairs. I think it's one of the best $80 we've ever spent -- bought it last year on Black Friday, if I'm remembering right. TVs are just not built for good sound quality anymore, because they all assume you'll have a very expensive sound system to hook into. If you don't wanna drop $300+ on all that jazz, this thing is excellent. It makes it so much easier to hear what's going on, you don't have to have the volume all the way up to hear what people are saying, and it's also bluetooth so you can play music through it from your phone.

You can see it hanging out under the TV on the right side of this photo.

I will of course, until my last breath, advocate for turning on captions on anything you watch on TV, because it will improve your watching experience more than you can ever know, but this is a good alternative if you don't wanna embrace your inner grandma yet (no shame in my grandma game over here).

3. Melissa and Doug Wooden Cars
You know, with two little girls, no one would guess that the #1 played-with toy in our house is this Melissa and Doug set of wooden cars. Seriously. Hours and hours of play, independent play no less! Cars are fantastic and these are really well-made, don't make any noise (BAN ELECTRONIC TOYS FOR LIFE), and they're cute. Melissa and Doug usually have a lightning deal or two over the shopping season, so add them to your cart and watch the price. ;) (Oh, and if you don't have Honey installed on your browser yet, do it! I've gotten some really great fluke deals that way.)

4. Sorel Winter Boots
I have recommended my Sorels a few times in recent weeks to people in real life, so I felt like I should include them here. If you live anywhere it snows more than once a year, do your feet a favor and buy some Sorels. They are a little pricier than your average snow boot, but I've had my same pair for going on 5 years now and they are still basically brand new. I wore them to the Husker football game this weekend where it snowed the entire game and was 15° wind chill and my feet were honestly warm the entire 10 hours we were outside. Most importantly, they don't weigh 82 pounds -- which means you can wear them to do things like run errands without feeling like an eejit.

here they are in action!

The ones I linked to are not my exact pair -- I think they don't make my exact ones anymore. But there are tons of cute options.

Things I'm Eyeing
Target has some deals available already to RedCard members, aka if you pay with your RedCard online you can already get the Black Friday pricing on certain things. About time! haha. Other things are Amazon, again.

1. Nest Video Doorbell
We've had a weird rash of package-stealing-off-porches in our neighborhood in the last year or so, so David and I are going to grab something like this on Black Friday to give us a little peace of mind. I'm leaning toward this Nest one because it would link into the Nest Thermostat we also wanna grab, and it's got great reviews. Also our doorbell is broken because we took it out from the weird casing it was enclosed in inside our cabinets when we did the kitchen renovation...haha. Probably should fix that, huh?

2. Lillebaby Carrier
Being pregnant means 90% of my internet searches are baby carriers. I'm obsessed with them. We have an original Ergo but I'm thinking I want to upgrade...we'll see. I will probably just end up getting more Wildbirds but this is a super good deal if you have a RedCard -- 50% off!

3. Balance bike and regular bike
The girls have officially outgrown most of the wheeled toys we have for outdoors, so we're getting Kitty a real bike (plus training wheels) and Cora a balance bike as their big gift for Christmas. I'm eyeing these two to be super hipster and coordinating, although I'm sure K wants a bright pink sparkling version, sooooo we'll see.

We also do the Want, Need, Wear, Read system for their Christmas presents so otherwise they're getting a bunch of used books from Thriftbooks, underwear, some mama-knitted headbands, and that's about it for Christmas. Oh, and a set of MagnaTile knockoffs as their joint Santa present. Maybe a Disney movie or two if I can find some cheap.

David and I are buying each other a second TV for the basement as our joint Christmas present, so we're not doing anything really besides that for each other. Although I'm sure I'll find a book or two at Half Price Books for him, like I always do. I've got a good rash of other presents already purchased but they're for readers of the blog so I'm not gonna spill anymore than that.

What good sales have you found? I'm not done shopping yet but my hope is to be at least 90% done before Advent starts! I was successful last year and it made the last few weeks before Christmas so much more peaceful.
HG