Why we love American Girl Luciana Vega Girl of the Year 2018

American Girl 2018 Girl of the Year

American Girl's 2018 Girl of the Year is here and we LOVE her! I'm sure this comes as no surprise to anyone that has been following our channel for a while, since both of my girls enjoy doing science - and especially Isabella loves space and technology... this collection was going to be RIGHT up our alley! Luciana Vega is a girl that is into science and technology, and she loves SPACE!

Luciana Vega loves Space

As a bonus, Luciana's story has her going to SPACE CAMP in Huntsville, Alabama!! As you'll also probably remember, we moved to Huntsville, Alabama just this past summer! We became members of the U.S. Space and Rocket Center (on the same property as Space Camp) shortly after arriving, and I'm also a prior Space Camp alum!

We are just in the beginning of reading Luciana's book, but her collection has us hooked! Our family had been hoping for a STEM based American Girl doll for years, and we are happy to finally have one! We purchased about half of the collection on release day, and I think with birthday money, money they earn throughout the year, and AG Rewards certificates - we will likely end up with most, if not all, of the collection by year's end!

Luciana is a cute doll, and as Isabella pointed out - looks a lot like her! She has dark hair, dark eyes, and a medium complexion. Her purple hair streak is sewn in, so that means it isn't removable. The girls like the hair streak and it actually isn't that noticeable with her hair down.

One of Isabella's favorite parts of the collection were the iridescent pieces - the girl and doll sized iridescent backpack - and Luciana's iridescent meet boots! I don't think Isabella had ever seen anything iridescent prior to this collection coming out, so now we know she's a fan! 

Favorite part of the Luciana Vega collection

My favorite part of Luciana's collection has to be the blue jumpsuit though. It's so perfect for any Space Camp alumni or aspiring Space Camp attendee - it is just quintessential to the experience. I actually still have my blue jumpsuit from when I attended over 20 years ago! 

This collection was a complete home run for our family and I truly hope that American Girl has a lot of excitement from customers over the year for this collection, because I hope to see more STEM or STEAM oriented doll items in the future!

** This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.

Wellie Wishers: Garden Fun App + Giveaway!

Thank you to Mattel for sending us this app to test out and share with our viewers!

Wellie Wishers: Garden Fun

Our family is excited to share our thoughts on an all new kid's app from American Girl developed by XCube, "Wellie Wishers: Garden Fun"! It releases on October 4, 2017 and is available through the app store for iOS and Android. This new interactive game lets you go into the world of the Wellie Wishers and play games in the garden!

The app was designed with ages 6 through 8 in mind, and my girls had a great time testing it out! Natalie is 5 years old (soon to be 6 in November!) and Isabella is 7 years old, and the Wellie Wishers have been a big hit in our household since they were first introduced! We own all five dolls - Willa, Ashlyn, Camille, Kendall, and Emerson, and the girls enjoy changing their outfits, putting on plays on the stage, and having tea parties with their dolls. 

Now, in the new Wellie Wisher: Garden Fun app, the fun can be on the go with us! And they can change the outfits on the Wellie Wishers, take care of Carrot the pet rabbit, have a tea party, and complete hidden treasure games that are interwoven with fun storylines within the app. 

Isabella's favorite part of the app was the "Find Hidden Treasures" search and find games, and collecting the acorns to unlock new areas and animals. Natalie loved the personalization and playing dress-up in the app, she especially enjoyed putting different costumes on the characters. 

The app is free to download with in-app purchases available. There were occasional ads that popped up during game play for other American Girl apps, and these could be clicked down by hitting an "X" button in the corner. The full play pack to unlock all of the games and features is $9.99, and you can also purchase just portions of the dress-up packs or search and find games for prices as low as $2.99.

This app will be great for our upcoming travels and the girls really loved how interactive it was, especially since we have read all of the Wellie Wisher books and many elements from the storylines in the books were seen in the app as well.

Check out our video review of Wellie Wishers: Garden Fun!

Look in the app store on your mobile phone or iPad, and the Wellie Wishers: Garden Fun app is available for download now!

Enter to win a Wellie Wisher

To celebrate this new app being released, I've partnered with Mattel to bring you a fun GIVEAWAY! Enter below to win a Wellie Wisher doll chosen at random. One winner will receive a Wellie Wisher doll! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you've been loving the Wellie Wishers as much as we do, this app is sure to be a hit in your household as well!

** This post was done in collaboration with Mattel/American Girl, some items were received complimentary for purposes of testing. All opinions are my own.

American Girl Wellie Wisher Haul!

We were very excited to hear about the all new line from American Girl, specifically designed for girls in the "inbetween" age range - that may be outgrowing wanting to play with baby dolls... but aren't quite ready for the full 18" world quite yet. American Girl recently released the new Wellie Wisher in June 2016 and we wanted to share what we thought about our first order!

Check out our HAUL here!

My girls are ages 4 and 6, and the younger one, Natalie, especially LOVES dolls - all dolls. I knew they would be a hit with her, but with my older daughter, Bella, I was interested to see how she took to the Wellie Wishers line because she's not typically my "doll girl". My girls had been introduced to the 18" dolls and world within the past year, because Bella had never really had an interest in playing with "baby type" dolls, however the 18" dolls and accessories did grab her interest. She liked playing with dolls that she could relate to and were in a stage "more like her".

The girls picked out Willa and Ashlyn for their first two Wellie Wisher dolls, we also ordered two accessory sets, the Nature Explorer set and Berry Sweet Snack Set - along with the Garden Party table and Play stage. As a parent, I was most nervous about ordering the stage because I wasn't sure how much use it would get, but I DID like that it was very different from anything else we had for our dolls.

The stage turned out to be a great accessory for us, and is getting a lot of use. My older daughter loves to sing and perform, so I've seen a lot of creativity with her doll putting on shows on the stage!

My younger daughter who loves all things dolls, of course loved everything instantly - but especially took to the table and berry sweet snack set. Those were good options for her and general play!

We also ordered the wellie boots and socks (that were on backorder at the time of receiving our order), the girls are looking forward to being able to interchange the socks. Also, I would highly recommend sizing up on the boots especially if you're on a size line - my younger daughter wears a size 9 and we ordered her the 10/11 boot that has a good fit and my older daughter wears a size 13 typically, we ordered her a size 1/2 which also fits well.

Also, it should be noted that the girls were quite familiar with the 18" American Girl dolls prior to seeing this line and enjoy playing with those as well - although admittedly the size scale sometimes seems a bit harder for them to maneuver with the 18" dolls. However, they haven't forgone playing with their 18" dolls and accessories since we got the Wellie Wishers. Lea and her accessories are still getting a lot of play time at our house even after receiving the Wellie Wishers, along with their two Truly Me dolls and modern accessories.

Want to see what the girls thought about Lea's accessories? Check out this video on their channel!

All in all, American Girl items get a LOT of play time at our house and have been great for the girls to use their imaginations! I think the Wellie Wisher line is great for their age group and I look forward to adding more Wellie Wisher items and dolls into our collection soon. We still will continue to use our 18" doll items, but I think we will slow down a bit on adding the bigger sized items for a while and I'm happy that we have another option for size appropriate play!

Our Generation Accessory Set - GIVEAWAY!

I'm excited to be kicking off the #10MCelebration Giveaways with this great set from Our Generation - all new for Spring 2016!! This Garden Party playset has all of the essentials for a great afternoon party with your dolls - including lemonade, a fabric banner, butterfly shaped sandwiches, and even... macarons!!

Check out my review of the set here:

Giveaway opening announcement:

ENTER TO WIN HERE!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you for watching & entering!!

***Giveaway ends February 3rd, 2016 at 11:59 PM EST. Open to Residents of the US only.  Entrants must be over the age of 18. Winner will be selected by Random.org and be notified by email. Winner have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is selected. All items in this giveaway were provided by BeingMommywithStyle. All opinions are my own and were not influenced by any form of compensation.  Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are in no way associated with this giveaway.  By providing your information in this form, you are providing your information to me and me alone.  I do not share or sell information and will use any information only for the purpose of contacting the winner.

All opinions are my own. This is not a sponsored post. ♥