Amazon Cart Full. Christmas is TWO Months Away. For Reals

I'm always so curious what people store in their Amazon cart. If you're like me, you keep a healthy supply of things saved there to watch the prices fluctuate and until you feel totally ready to press that final submit button. Oftentimes, the things get removed as I change my mind and move on.

I've made a list of things I'm considering purchasing for the kids for Christmas and their birthdays (that happen 1-2 months post Christmas) and now I ponder, reconsider, wait for prices to drop and for deals to be had.

This year the kids are getting all share gifts. I don't see a reason for gender-specific toys and really, they share everything anyway, whether it has one name on it or the other. Aside from stocking stuffers that aren't so much share-friendly (socks, toothbrushes, undies), gifts will be unwrapped together and played with together. I also wanted to center around gifts that can be played with by them both at the same time. They are each others' best friend, so I want to continue to foster this special relationship.

The Biggie: This HAPE Wooden Doll House + Furniture

I teetered between the Melissa & Doug Hi Rise one and this, but the elevator on the M&D one made me nervous that they'd break it, plus this one just seems a tad cuter to me. Though, I do like that garage on the M&D one. And confirmed, my local friend has that one with the elevator and she's confirmed it's no longer functional.

There are some accompanying things I might get for birthdays to follow like the baby nursery set and the bunkbed kid furniture set, but we'll see. They are just so stinking cute being so little. Melissa and Doug also has this cute wooden car with people that would work pretty well paired with this dollhouse stuff.

The kids love those little choking hazards called marbles, so thinking a Marble Genius Marble Runner to build would be fun. Benjamin plays with one at his preschool and they have some wooden ones we play with at the Discovery Museum.

Benjamin totally fixated on a Playdough creation set at Target the other day. And since then, his Gawbee went ahead and treated him to it. I might get one he hasn't seen before since it looks like it would be less painful to watch the color-mixing. The wheels are stamps on this Cinderella carriage and it can also probably be used in conjunction with the dollhouse for crossover play. Or maybe that one can just be eliminated from the list, because #playdough. Every parent knows how SUPER FUN it is to clean.

And finally, I was thinking about LEGO. The kids have Duplo we still play with quite a bit and I have a big bag of LEGO Friends pieces to introduce that I scored for a ridiculously amazing price of $3 at a thrift store. (I miss you, Salvation Army on 75th and Lemont in Darien, IL.) The big bag I scored also has LEGO people that can also be used in the dollhouse. See where I'm going with the imaginative play? Finally, we can have small pieces because Claire is almost three and they aren't babies anymore. (Plus, she's never been much of an oral kid.) I want to buy this LEGO Advent calendar for them to share. They would trade off days and then help one another construct. Perhaps it's too advanced, but the creations are really simple and festive. This one might turn into an annual tradition. Update: It's on the way in the mail. I'm so excited to stick it in our hanging Advent Calendar to construct each winter day. I don't know which one we're getting, because I won it in a giveaway! But I think any of the three will be a blast, though I'm partial to the original because I like all of the creations better than the other two.

I'm really curious what the rest of you are buying for Christmas for your kids! Have you even thought about it, or are you totally just buried to your elbows in figuring out Halloween? I've sort of skipped right over the stress of that and moved onto the easy stuff-- things I can put in my Amazon cart that magically appear on my doorstep thanks to my new Prime account my parents gifted me with for my birthday earlier this month.

And honestly, while all the stuff above is nice, my kids have so many toys and so many I weed through regularly that are either junky, not played with, or below their level. Christmas isn't all about the stuff. We're just so, so lucky as Americans to have all that we do that we can casually think about Christmas in terms of a full Amazon cart. It's so easy to become jaded. Hashtag #firstworldchristmas.