Holiday Shopping made Easy With Sears! #SearsBabysRoom

'Tis the month of Christmas! Are you done all your holiday shopping yet? I'm not! How do you do most of your shopping for Christmas? In stores? Online? A combination of both? I do a little bit in the stores, but with two little ones and freezing cold Alberta temperatures...I do the majority of my shopping online! I'm pretty sure the lady at the post office thinks I have a shopping addiction, as every time I go there it seems I have a few packages. But it's not all me, I swear!

I have been shopping at Sears online for years. Everything from furnishing our new home to baby items for when Braden was a baby, to his first "Santa"present (shhh!), and now it's Ethan's turn. I was given a gift card from Sears to do a little bit of online shopping for the holidays! Since I'm done my shopping for Braden, I thought I would turn to my new little guy and see what Sears has to offer him. I often get caught in thinking my new little babe doesn't need anything because he has tons of hand-me-downs from his big brother...but that's not fair! So this is what I chose for Ethan:

The snowflake sleeper in blue! Its cute, cozy, and most important - has a zipper! Braden was in 6 month clothing in the summer, so I guess Ethan won't be using all his hand-me-downs! It's really easy to online shop with Sears. The only issue and recommendation I have for shopping for clothes, is that there isn't a sizing guide on the product page for their baby clothes. I found it here as Sears doesn't use the "typical" sizing numbers on their baby clothes. They size in pounds vs. months. Regardless, I have always loved their baby clothes! It's super easy to order online:

Then you have the option for it to be shipped to you or to pick up at a Sears store, I chose pick up.

So...back to toys! Sears has an amazing feature on their website called the Toy Finder. You just pick the child's gender, age, and your budget if you wish, et voila! A plethora of toys to choose from. Sears recommended these toys for Braden this year. Another great way to find toys for your kids is to have them help. Did you know that this year is the 60th year for the Sears Wish Book? I love the wish book! Do you remember flipping through the Wish Book as a kid and dog earring the pages? I do! Now they have an app for it too. I had fun letting Braden browse through the wish book app with me and you can even make your purchases directly from the app. If yours is a little techno geek like my almost 3 year old Braden, you can download the Sears Toy Chest App. It has 3 great games that Braden really loves.

This month, Sears Canada is offering another exciting giveaway for my readers! I was given three toys to choose from and the decision to keep or to give! The toys are:

• Hasbro Game of Life zAPPed
• KRE-O Alien Strike Building Set
• Play-Doh 'Candy Cyclone' Play Set

I decided to keep the Game of Life zAPPed toy because we already have the Game of Life app on our iPad and when Braden (and Ethan) get a little bit older I want to incorporate game night into our family, and in the meantime we love playing games, especially at Christmas, with our families. So, here's how it works!

Buy! When you shop online at Sears receive $10 off a purchase $100 or more on regular priced toys with coupon code 941 612 203 valid until December 24, 2012. Also receive FREE shipping with of purchase of $75 or more before taxes until December 20, 2012! Make sure you put your orders in before December 20th (to get the good savings!) but also to receive them by December 25th.

Win! Two of my lucky readers will win either the KRE-O Alien Strike Building Set or the Play-Doh 'Candy Cyclone' Play Set.

How to Enter This is a Rafflecopter giveaway. To enter you must first leave a comment on this blog post telling me which prize you would prefer to win and who you would gift it to. Once you complete this task you will unlock the rest of the options on the widget to complete more entries. I will choose 1 winner for each toy, winners will be gifted their prize based on their comment (you can say you prefer either toy to win too!). If you do not see the Rafflecopter widget click the "Read More" link below. This giveaway is open to Canadians only and you must be 18 or older to enter and win. You will be given only 24 hours to email me back to claim your prize.

Getting Ready for the Holidays With Sears! #SearsBabysRoom

Did your parents take you to Sears Portrait Studio every year for Christmas pictures? Yup! Me too! Actually, my mom informs me we went for every 6 months for the first many years of our lives! And my husband had the same ritual too!

This month Sears sent us to their Portrait Studio for holiday photos. This is awesome because on maternity leave I didn't have holiday photos in our budget so I'm extremely grateful to be able to have a family photo of the four of us! But before I share my first experience with my family & Sears...allow me to share with you these gems, or blasts from the past, if you will and tell you about our shopping experience.

Me and my brother Benjamin

Is it bad I'm hoping they still do this "sibling thought bubble"? :)

We were given some spending money to buy the boys these adorable outfits for our photos! My mom always coordinated me and my brother's holiday outfits and you bet I'll be doing the same for my kids! I am so excited for Christmas this year...you have no idea!

We chose the grey shirt with the black vest & pant set for Braden and if Ethan was a little bigger, we could have gotten him a vest set too, but we decided on a cute red reindeer holiday sleeper!

Speaking of dressing for the holidays, here's a few things I always adhere to when choosing my family's Christmas attire (note, I am a boy mom and know not of frilly dresses!):

• Matchy match match! I love to coordinate all our clothing! I don't plan on ever matching my boys' outfits exactly, but rather just coordinating them. I do like to stick to traditional Christmas colors - red, green, black, & white.
• Vests on little boys! I know this might be a personal preference, but I am a sucker for a little boy in a vest, especially a sweater vest.
• Mix up your patterns! It's okay to use a checkered shirt and have an argyle sweater vest, in my opinion.
• Corduoroy! I've always had Braden in cords for the holidays, I just love the look of them.

I love the layout of the Sears Baby's and Kids Rooms! Everything is very well organized according to gender and size and they have tons of clothes to choose from. As you can see they have lots of color available and the same outfits in different sizes if you want to dress your children the same. If you would like more ideas and options for your children's holiday wear, please take a look at these adorable outfits available at Sears online!

Girls | Boys | Baby Girls | Baby Boys

Hurry up and head to Sears or shop online because ALL kids dress wear (newborn to teen) is 25% off until November 8th!

So, back to the Portrait Studio! It was a very impromptu session for us and Sears was very accommodating and I really appreciate their amazing customer service to my family of four which included a 2 week old newborn! I never thought I'd like doing the whole Portrait Studio thing, as I have usually had a professional photographer come to our house or I just do it myself...but I have to admit, it was a really nice experience and WAY less stressful than I could have imagined! The staff was great, absolutely wonderful with our children and we got lots of great shots and we didn't feel rushed at all.

We just had a plain, white background, as I wanted the picture to really be focused on our family. We didn't use any props, but they have a lot to choose from if you do want to include them in your portrait session. Our photos will be ready in two weeks and I can't wait to share them with you!

Sears has many other options for your photos. I also have to say that booking with Sears Portrait Studio was very easy, which I am all about these days! All I had to do was call and book our appointment, but you can also visit their website, enter your postal code, and book online.

Win! Now it's your turn for pictures! Sears is offering one of my lucky readers a coupon for a free photo session at their Portrait Studio + 10 free holiday cards. And the best part is, they are sending you an extra coupon for you to gift to one of your family or friends!

How to Enter This is a Rafflecopter giveaway, the first entry is mandatory - simply leave me a comment on the blog letting me know who you would gift your extra coupon to - and then the rest of the entries will be unlocked. If you do not see the widget, please click the "Read More" link to get to it! This giveaway is for Canadian residents only.

Everything Baby Month at Sears! #SearsBabysRoom

Oh baby, oh baby, oh baby! Am I ever excited to be an ambassador for The Baby's Room at Sears, and to show you all the wonderful things about this brand new department! With the early arrival of our new baby boy, the timing could not have been more perfect for Sears to be introducing their new department The Baby's Room.

I actually went into the city with my husband on Monday and took a tour of the new department. The store and new department looked phenomenal and has absolutely everything a mom could want shopping for her baby in one place. I am so happy that Sears has this department now!

My favorite part was how open and airy the department is. It's designed very well and sectioned off into travel, nursery, feeding, etc. which makes it very easy to find items. Speaking of items, there were plenty to choose from and it was nice to have the variety and not just one or two brands.

What surprised me the most was the huge selection of children's clothing! Everything was so cute and the products are very well made. I will definitely be going back to buy Ethan some new clothes. Everything was really well labelled and organized according to size which was an awesome feature.

I loved the nursery displays with the room decor. There were framed "plaques" on the wall of the nursery clearly labeling the prices of all the furniture and the sale prices which was awesome, it's nice to see mini displays of how the nursery furniture would fit together at home.

It also happens to be the "Everything Baby" sales event happening right now from October 12 - October 25th! This means literally everything baby in the department is on sale! So go to your local Sears and check it out.

Can you tell I had baby girl on the brain when we went? :)

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Disclosure: I am part of the Sears – The Baby’s Room Ambassador program with Mom Central Canada and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own