Intentionally Ordinary Gift Guides 2023
Find our gift guides for anyone, her, him, and kids!
We’re back again with some intentional gift guides! We’re all about shopping purposefully and buying high quality gifts that last a long time and can be used for any occasion! Though we make these gift guides around the Christmas season, feel free to reference back to these anytime (birthdays, Valentine’s Day, etc).
Everything will be linked below for easy shopping & many of the links will be affiliate links. This just means we get a small percentage back when you shop through our link — and we so appreciate it when you do! We hope you find some inspiration in these guides.
Yoto player (screen-free audio book player)ages 2+//Lovevery Montessori playkits age birth to 4 years//Tubby Todd bath bubbles & lotion//Lego set age 4+//Magnatiles age 2+//PaperPie books all ages//Sarah’s silks pretend play (check out all of the items, we love lots of different products from here!)//Montessori toy for babies//scooter (linked for 2-5 year olds, but this brand has all ages)
AirTag (for keys, wallet, luggage, etc)//ooni pizza oven//Apple headphones//cocktail set//travel bag//meat thermometer with app//merch for car guys
The Best Parenting Books I’ve Read (So Far)
We’re rounding up our favorite parenting books today!
I’m an avid reader and love to soak up nonfiction books in addition to my frequent fiction reads. Since becoming a mom almost five years ago, I’ve picked up a fair share of parenting books that have helped shape my parenting philosophy. As a Christian mom, many of the titles I’ve picked up have been encouraging in raising children with a foundation of faith, but I’ve found many non-Christian resources extremely helpful as well!
Also, just a reminder that the links below are affiliate links — we get a small commission when you purchase after clicking on the link. A little goes a long way, and we’d appreciate your support!
Here’s a list of my favorites:
Habits of the Household by Justin Whitmel Earley - this book centers on creating habits for yourself and your home. It offers easy-to-implement practices that you can start right away. It’s an easy read with simple applications after each chapter. We’ve already implemented many of the suggested practices - most recently, saying a prayer of blessing over our kids before bed. I’d highly recommend the read as a Christian parent.
Raising Passionate Jesus Followers by Phil and Diane Comer - I’ve gone to conferences that Phil and Diane have led and listened to numerous podcasts through their ministry, Intentional Parents. They have incredible wisdom from what they learned as young parents and are encouraging to listen to and learn from. This book is divided into stages (birth through early adulthood) and offers practical advice tailored to each stage. They’ve encouraged me to embrace more fun in parenting, as I tend more towards expecting rules to be followed above having fun. There’s totally a place for both, but this book has helped me lean into fun more than I naturally would have. This book is another fantastic resource for Christian parents!
Hunt, Gather, Parent, by Michaeleen Doucleff - this book changed how I view parenting! Michaeleen travels around the world to learn more about how different cultures parent, challenging the modern/Western parenting norms. And I was intrigued and inspired by the principles these non-Western families held. I’m probably due for another read-through!
The Montessori Toddler by Simone Davies - I went to a Montessori school, trained as a Montessori teacher, and worked for many years at a Montessori preschool, so I’m a huge fan of all things Montessori! This book helps break down many of Maria Montessori’s philosophies that can be used directly with toddlers. The author also has a book for babies and school-aged children! As a random bonus, the book's formatting is beautiful, too.
Satisfied by Alyssa Joy Bethke - this one may not be directly for parenting, but I found many of the stories to be so encouraging along the journey of motherhood. The chapters are short and easy to read. I read this with some mom friends and found it encouraging to discuss each chapter topic together.
Risen Motherhood by Emily Jensen and Laura Wifler - this book helps view motherhood through the lens of the gospel. It tackles topics like community, income-producing work, schooling choices, and more. I read this book with my community and found it more insightful when we read and discussed it together.
The Six Needs of Every Child— this book examines children's innate needs and how parents can meet them where they are developmentally. Each chapter has space for reflecting on current wins and struggles in each area (delight, support, boundaries, protection, comfort, and equipping) and how to grow and improve. It's a great scientific-based Christian perspective!
Take Back Your Family - this book reframes our current culture of family and individualism and analyzes what it would look like to treat family as a team. This book offers a fun, different perspective of support and camaraderie within families instead of typical sibling “me-against-you” mentalities.
Tech-Wise Family—this book is an incredible guide for properly utilizing technology with children and the importance of prioritizing high-quality, non-screen, hands-on activities instead. I highly recommend this read!
The Anxious Generation— while this isn’t specifically a parenting book, it is packed with helpful ideas on how and when to introduce smartphones and social media to kids. Most of the book covers how Gen X has become one of the most anxious generations of modern times, but the practical tips are parenting GOLD!
I’ll be adding to this list as I read more! I have so many on my list, and I can’t wait to share them with you!
(updated 8/24!)
The Best Christmas Books for Young Kids
We’re rounding up our favorite Christmas reads to share with our young bookworms this season!
We love bringing books into our home based on seasonal topics - oceans and sea creatures in the summer, love and friendships for Valentine’s day, pumpkins and bats and spiders for fall, and Christmas books for the last month of the year.
We’ve rounded up our favorite Christmas books for our the most wonderful time of the year. Some we’ve had since I (Alisa) was little and some we’ve added to our collection in recent years.
Keep reading for links to buy each book and a little description of each and why we love them for our young kids.
Here are some of our favorites from PaperPie Books:
‘Twas the Night Before Christmas Pop-Up - this is the classic tale we all know and love, with beautifully illustrated pop-up pictures! We love being able to pass down timeless Christmas stories, and this book from PaperPie brings this classic to life for young kids with fun pop-ups on every page.
The Twinkly, Twinkly Christmas Tree and Twinkly, Twinkly Nativity - both of these books light up story time with bright LED lights! The first is a story about searching for Christmas lights and the second is about the beautiful stars in the sky at the time of Jesus’ birth. These make bedtime reading so magical!
The Nutcracker Sound Book - I grew up listening to the musical score from the Nutcracker every year during Christmas and attended the ballet as well! So this book is so special for me to share with my kids — they get to experience the sounds of the Nutcracker right along with the story.
Peek Inside the Nativity - the story of Jesus’ birth becomes a delight to read with beautifully cut out holes to see through each page. Peek at animals hiding in the stable or spy innkeepers watching over their inn. So much joy and mystery to experience in this story about the true meaning of Christmas.
Some more favorites from other publishers:
Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree - I (Alisa) LOVED this book as a child. I don’t necessarily know what drew me in with this story, but I was so delighted to read about this grand Christmas tree that Mr. Willowby bought. His tree is too tall for this house, so he chops off the top. Someone finds it, but it’s too tall for their space as well. And on it goes down through bears and foxes and rabbits and mice. This one Christmas tree winds up blessing so many little families - what a Christmas joy!
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - it wouldn’t be Christmas without this classic to read and sing about! We have this edition from A Little Golden Book with the cutest vintage illustrations. Any edition would be lovely to add to your Christmas shelf!
Together—I absolutely fell in love with this book, which highlights the beauty of spending time together above receiving gifts during the Christmas season. That’s truly what it’s about, right? Family time, laughter shared, cookies baked, and memories made. I love the simple reminder of presence and family in this book.
Where’s Santa Claus? - this lift-the-flap board book is perfect for babies and toddlers. It has soft, felted flaps and fun illustrations. It would make the perfect stocking stuffer!
*note- I’ve linked all of these to Amazon, but we highly recommend shopping secondhand for books or supporting your local bookstore!
If your Christmas books aren’t already out, we hope you find a fun book to bring home and read with your kids this season! Snuggle up by the fire, grab some hot cocoa, and soak in the memories of reading with your little ones.