6 Mo Old and a Xmas Tree

For Christmas trees I would recommend you try Garden Ridge. They have a variety of sizes, ranging from 4 ft to 12 ft and they are the least expensive I've found. They also have really pretty plastic globe ornaments that look just like the traditional glass ones and they won't shatter into a million pieces if someone accidently knocks one off the tree. We bought a 4 ft tree and placed it on a table in the corner so my one year old wouldn't pull all the ornaments off!
As far as an appropriate gift for a 6 month old, someone bought our son a Discovery Ball when he was that age. It doesn't look like much(a large ball attatched to a base that spins and sings the alphabet) but my son absolutely loved it and it helped him with strengthening those stomach muscles. You can find them at Walmart.
By the way, I am also a stay at home mommy with a young child. I'd love to chat sometime!

My 10 month old son was given a Little Touch LeapPad by Leapfrog. My friend was looking for one like it and we found that Toys R Us only has the pink ones - Circuit City has the blue ones. They are $34.99 and come with one story book and cartridge. There are other cartridges available for them that other family members can get you. This LeapPad has no stylus, the baby just touches the book in different places to hear the story or hear animal sounds or nature sounds. There are three different settings for music, learning and just sound effects. My son loves to touch the pictures and see if they will make noises. He's just NOW beginning to really be interested in books and knows to turn the pages. Great grow-with-me toy!!

I wouldn't recommend a Little Touch LeapPad by Leapfrog for your baby yet. Too young.

I have a friend who has an 8 month old and here's the list I put together for her:

Amazing Animal totes on amazon...

http://www.amazon.com/Amazing-Animals-Polar-Friends-Tote/...

http://www.amazon.com/Amazing-Animals-Monkey-Friends-Tote...

Those two things were actually sold together at Kohl's

http://www.kohls.com/products/product_page_vanilla0.jsp?P...

Nesting blocks of ANY kind are also good...

http://www.kohls.com/products/product_page_vanilla0.jsp?P...

Here's the Leap Frog Farm book my son has...

http://www.kohls.com/products/product_page_vanilla0.jsp?P...

Here is the VTech version...

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=237340...

This is the other Leap Frog toy that sang cool songs...

http://www.kohls.com/products/product_page_vanilla0.jsp?P...

http://www.kohls.com/products/product_page_vanilla0.jsp?P...

I saw this and thought "Man, my son never had something like this!"

http://www.kohls.com/products/product_page_vanilla0.jsp?P...

Playskool soft cars are really good.

http://www.kohls.com/products/product_page_vanilla0.jsp?P...

Your son will be walking before you know it, so what about a walker toy? Or an outdoor ride/push toy for the spring.

Once my son out-grew Baby Einstein, he loved a video of kids singing. Cedarmont Kids is the title, and we got it as a gift. Now he loves Barney and Elmo.

Mainly, I always like to get toys and often we get so many that I put them in the closet for a while until my son gets bored with what he has. It is easy to do that now, while they are still so young and don't realize you are stashing their goods!

I would suggest you get an artificial tree. I say this because you don't really know his little allergies yet and it's more practical than getting a live tree that you have to water (another responsibility) that you have to vacuum up needles (another responsibility) and that you have to dispose of in a month (too big of a responsibility)...

Most places have sales on them right now.

As for bargains (both trees and baby gifts)... www.smartbargains.com... if you join the site for $9.00 no matter what you buy the shipping is $2.95. Also, check out overstock.com.

Have the best of holidays!!!!

Jodi