I know. Can you even with these two? HDawg and LLJ in the house (er, on the dining room table!), ladies and gentlemen. Spruced up in their finest red and pink, I'd say these two and their kissy faces are ready to go for Valentine's Day this year. This year, I thought I'd skip the matchy matchy and instead let the kids wear some fun not-so-Valentiney red and pink outfits.  Normally I wouldn't pair red pants with a blue + pink shirt but with a holiday, I think anything goes. And I sort of love the mismatchy red and pink- I think they look great! These cute toddler outfits show that you don't have to go too themey but can still have fun as you dress up your kids for the holidays. Happy Valentine's Day to my two love bugs!

chino pants

button up shirt

flare dress

*thanks to Children's Place for partnering up with me on this post!

Hello, hello! It's been awhile, but I wanted to drop by, say hi and wish all of my sweet online friends a happy Valentine's Day week. As I've mentioned before, David and I aren't much for V-day celebrations but with kids... well, every holiday is an excuse to celebrate!

But if you're like me and you've got a kiddo with food allergies [our 2.5 year old son has a severe dairy allergy- even simple contact with someone who has touched dairy can (and has) send him into anaphylactic shock much like a peanut allergy), holidays aren't always the most fun time. In fact, they can be kind of stressful. Birthday parties, family gatherings and holiday times cause the most anxiety for me in terms of HDawg's dairy allergy just because he's around different food and more people who don't understand the severity of his allergy. Side note: we purchased H this kids allergy bracelet and he loves it. We let him wear it when we're in new places like birthday parties- he thinks it's cool and I feel just a tad bit better knowing he's got some sort of notice about his allergy on him at all times.

I get lots of emails from readers asking for more posts on how we handle H's food allergy. We cook completely dairy free and mostly gluten and soy free on a pretty solid "whole foods" diet. Would you guys be interested to hear more about that here on the blog? Let me know!

Today, I want to help alleviate some of y'alls fears about Valentine's Day and share some allergy free (mostly non-food but at least free of the main food allergies) V-Day ideas for the little ones. Just like last year, I am using my "main squeeze" printable to send fruit pouches for the toddlers and infants in both kids classrooms. You can download your free printable HERE.

Here's a few more allergy-free ideas I love!

"you light up my life" glow stick Valentine from eighteen25

"I wheelie like you!" Valentine from C.R.A.F.T.

army Valentine from Armelle

dinosaur Valentine from Sweet C's Designs

"you're so sharp!" Valentine from Or So She Says

"blow me a kiss!" Valentine card from At Second Street

And of course you can always search Pinterest for more amazing allergy friendly holiday ideas.

I'm always pinning dairy-free, gluten-free and other allergy friendly foods over on Pinterest, so come follow me! And feel free to share any great allergy friendly ideas you've got.

 There's something about a holiday that is way more fun with kids, right? I've shared before here on the old blog, but typically David and I are the ultimate Scrooges when it comes to Valentine's Day. We don't exchange gifts (although last year he surprised me with a Kindle, which kind of rocked!), we don't go out to a nice dinner, he doesn't buy me flowers... we actually just don't celebrate at all! Boo, I know. It's just not a holiday that's important to us. Me and my man celebrate our love every day of the year, if ya know what I mean. Wink wink.

But with kiddos? Way more fun. Makes me want to break out the the red + pink construction paper and start crafting up some paper hearts! I was still on maternity leave last year at this time, so this is HDawg's first year in a classroom on Valentine's Day. I'm pretty sure that 16 month old toddlers don't exchange Valentine's Day cards... but it's me and even though I'm not a big VDay fan, I want him to share a little something with his classmates!

I tried to think of something toddler friendly... ie. no candy, no inhalable small toys, no junk. So what does every young kid love these days? Squeezable fruit packs. Yum. It's one of HDawg's favs, that's for sure. And healthy, every mom's delight. Add a little play on words and boom... you have the perfect toddler Valentine's Day treat!

And I think I'm even more hilarious for buying the Buddy Fruits squeezables. Get it? Happy Valentine's Day, buddy!?! Har, har, har.

I created the little custom tag and simply tied around the fruit pack with some red and white bakers twine. Just print, cut, punch a hole at the top and add your little one's name after the "main squeeze" salutation and you've got a custom Valentine's Day card for your tot!

And of course I want to share my little creation with all of you. Click here to download the printable!

Please note: I've shared this free printable for personal use only. Please do not distribute for commercial use. If you share on your website or elsewhere, please link to this blog post and not simply to the PDF itself. As always, feel free to email me with any questions. Thanks for understanding!

 
Are you creating anything crafty and fun for Valentine's Day this year?!