(There is a giveaway at the end of this post, written in partnership with Carter’s. Also, last sponsored post for awhile, I promise, but this one is all about giving back)
Here is a trick for photographing your three year old: To get Scarlette to sit nicely in this rocking chair with a book, I took a marshmallow, broke it into a bunch of tiny pieces, and then stuck said tiny pieces randomly inside the book and told her to find them.
That’s right. I bribed her with a marshmallow.
No, she’s not sweetly touching her mouth in as she contemplates the story. She’s licking marshmallow goo off of her fingers.
I mean, my kid is really cute and sweet and all but she is three. I don’t live in a pinterest board and in the rare moments when she does decide to sit nicely in such a picturesque fashion, I am not taking pictures, I’m frantically trying to get a shower and clean peanut butter off the walls before she’s off again. Yesterday she grabbed her foam baseball bat, walked over to the Christmas Tree and swung at it because “dat where all da balls are!”
She thinks the Christmas Tree is a T-Ball stand.
One of our Christmas traditions is to open up new pajamas on Christmas Eve. Jeff and I have been exchanging Christmas Eve pajamas since our first Christmas together, just a few days before he proposed to me. And now we give Scarlette a new (to her) pair of pajamas on Christmas Eve as well because, well, what is more festive than cuddling up with your little one in sweet pjs in front of the Christmas tree?
Carter’s reached out to me to see if I would partner with them on a post about Christmas pajamas because this year as part of their Carter’s Cares initiative, Carter’s has partnered with Pajama Program, which is an organization that provides new PJs and books to children in need. I have a soft spot for kids who need pjs, y’all. (Plus, they offered to give a $50 gift card to one of y’all, which I hope blesses one of you because I feel like my kid is always growing out of pajamas!)
Carter’s clothing in general is really good quality and I know this because I buy the majority of ours at the big consignment sale I volunteer at twice a year. I always seek out the Carter’s brand pjs when I’m shopping the sale because of all the used pajama choices, they always seem to be in the best shape, especially for footie pjs where the soles can wear out pretty quickly. (And they are warm! I always over worry that she will be too cold because she refuses to sleep with socks on, hence the footie pjs.) The monkey pajamas above are some that I snagged at the sale this year and wrapped up for Christmas Eve. Shhh, don’t tell her!
Scarlette was just a little bit excited about these new snowman pajamas because she is a little bit obsessed with the old-school version of Frosty The Snowman right now. Do you know how I convinced her to eat her carrots the other night? I told her they were Frosty’s nose. Then she giggled like crazy as she crunched into them. Which, upon further thought, is actually slightly disturbing given the fact that she loves Frosty so much.
I was happy to partner with Carters because we purchase their pajamas for Scarlette and because when you donate to their pajama program online they will match it up to 100,000 pairs! The children’s network Sprout is also partnering with Carter’s in support of Pajama Program. All pajama and monetary donations will be registered as kind acts in support of Sprout’s Kindness Counts initiative, which supports preschoolers demonstrating small acts of kindness in their everyday lives. I kind of love Sprout.
The holidays seems to be a time when people focus on the joy of giving back and a pair of pjs is an easy way to do that (and honestly not something I had ever thought of.) Our family is in the middle of putting together gift baskets for all of the families in our local NICU to deliver on Christmas. Our annual gift at Christmas is one of the highlights of the year, because I know how much it meant to us to be on the receiving end – I’m looking forward to sharing them with y’all!
If you would like to be entered to win a $50 gift card to Carter’s, just browse through the PJ shop and leave a comment letting me know: Which Carter’s PJs would you dress your little ones in this holiday?
UPDATE: Random.org chose comment #7! Congrats!
If you want to shop in store, you can visit here to find one near you or you can browse all of the kids pajamas online. Also, today is the last day to visit Carter’s on Facebook to enter their 12 Days of Christmas Gift Card sweepstakes! Enter on their page to win over $4,000 in gift cards to Carter’s and OshKosh B’gosh!
(And if you’re going a little stir-crazy in the cold weather, Carter’s has tons of free printables available on their site like coloring pages, gift tags and craft ideas for the holiday season. These downloadable activities are a great way to spend time together and create cute memories!)
Disclosure: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. The Carter’s 12 Days of Holiday Wishes Sweepstakes ends 12/16/13. 18+, 50 US/DC/PR only. Go to www.facebook.com/carters for Official Rules/details and alternative method of entry instructions.
Carter’s partnered with bloggers such as me to help promote Pajama Program. As part of the program, I received product or gift cards. Carter’s believes that consumers and bloggers are free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words, and therefore did not tell me what to purchase or what to say about the products I used. Carter’s policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC guidelines and social media engagement recommendations. The winner of any giveaway in this program will be randomly chosen and gift card fulfillment will be handled by a third party.
