Scrappy Sunday (over a week later...)

Just a few past projects we have done on recent Sundays....

card and matching giftbox for my mom's birthday

And guess what? We forgot to bring the turkeys to give out on Thanksgiving in the end! Oopsie!!!!

Boon Inc. Review

Have you seen all the amazingly rad boon products?! If I could own them all I totally would! They are not only useful but stylish! 

Some of my faves include.....

Now I could even see these 2 items above in a craft room....just picture all your crafty tools poking out of the cute grass or stashed in these very cool modules! 

And just how amazing and rad is this highchair?!

I have been trying like crazy to win one of these as my sesame street one just does not equal stylish to me LOL! 

Boon was so generous to offer me the very cool Groovy bowl and Benders cutlery set to review! 

Now Miss Lainey is just approaching 9 months but we have been doing baby led weaning with her so she is pretty dang good at feeding herself. We have just started to introduce a plate and cutlery to her though and I have to say these Boon products are PERFECT! The bowl has a nice grippy bottom and is heavy enough to not just be tossed around. And how cute are the little add on dipper bowls for condiments and such?! (I cannot wait for Lainey to be ready to use those as they just make the design of the bowl in my opinion). The Benders are so nice as well....you can actually bend them in what ever direction to ease the baby into learning how to get it to their mouth! Perfect for right or left handed babies ;) 

Here are Lainey's attempts to eat baked beans, peapods, and turkey burger with her boon set!

Pretty successful! We will definitely be purchasing additional boon sets for her in the near future!

Please check out Boon today for unique and modern baby goods! Also you can find out more about Boon products on their various social networks!

 Follow on Facebook

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  Check out their Blog

Thanks so much Boon for creating such amazing and cool products!

Pink Princess Dress Review and Giveaway!

Are you looking for a special outfit for your little one? Pink Princess offers not only perfect dresses for your little princess but also adorable formal outfits for little boys as well! Pink Princess offers a huge variety of holiday dresses, flower girl dresses, flower girl accessories, first communion dresses, Christening gowns, kids costumes, pettiskirts, and more!

One great thing is that Pink Princess offers free returns and free shipping on ALL apparel! Now that is some great customer service especially when looking for such a perfect outfit for your little one, you want it to fit just right!

Pink Princess was generous enough to let me choose a dress for Miss Lainey and I chose the pink and brown polka dot taffeta dress. When the dress arrived I was in awe of what a gorgeous dress it was! It was wrapped so nicely in a clear bag hung on a hanger and not a wrinkle on it! So pretty!

I chose the 12 to 18 month size in hopes I would have Lainey wear it for her 1st birthday party....well the dress ran small! This is where the free return would come in handy! Lainey is not quite 9 months old yet and wears almost all clothes in the 6 to 12 month range and lots of 9 month sleepers and things. Well this dress is already a bit snug on my chubby bunny! It looks just adorable though on her!

Please don't mind her sleepy appearance she is currently suffering from her first cold :(

Pink Princess is a perfect place to find that special occasion dress or outfit for your child so please check them out today!

Buy it: Visit Pink Princess

Win it: Pink Princess is giving away one of my readers a $15 gift certificate! To win please enter a separate comment for each method! Contest ends January 1st 2011!

• Follow my blog and let me know you follow (THIS IS MANDATORY ENTRY!)
• Visit Pink Princess and let me know what you would put your gift certificate towards
• Follow me on Twitter (let me know your twitter name)
• Follow me through networked blogs
• Tweet 1x a day with a link to this giveaway (leave me link of your tweet)
• Follow Pink Princess on Twitter

Thanks so much and best of luck!!!

Chicken,augratin potatoes,asparagus

Lainey usually eats a little of what we are having each night (major bonus to BLW!) Her selection tonight included a new flavor in the augratin potatoes (now these were the boxed kind which def are not healthy but everything in moderation right?).

She LOVED those potatoes (she is my daughter after all and this mama has yet to meet a potato variety I don't like!)

Lainey is also starting to get more interested in our use of silverware so I figured I would start letting her try out her Boon benders we received (review coming soon!).

She of course didn't dive the fork right into the food but when we gave it to her pre-loaded with potato or chicken she didn't hesitate to put it in her mouth!

Lainey has also been using sippy cups more after mama couldn't handle the sound of her little teeth against the ceramic shot glass she had previously been using to have sips of water out of haha!

We have a tommee tippee cup and we take the valve out of it so the flow comes out like a normal cup! For on the go we have a think baby sippy which is more like a bottle with handles but works great for now!

And here is a video clip I would like to share of Lainey enjoying those potatoes :)

Oh and for some reason this is the face we get at the end of a lot of meals LMAO....

Bean Burrito

Lainey got to try one of Mama's fave foods this month....refried beans! YUMMO! Now I usually have loads of cheese melted into mine but figured I would let Lainey first try them in the pure form ;) I usually always buy the fat free or vegetarian varieties since they do not contain lard like regular ones do! I warmed them up a bit inside a flour tortilla and let her have a go! Lainey's first bite she was a little unsure....

 And the next bite she still wasn't sure about this new flavor and texture combo....

 But she kept trying more and was soon sucking those beans right out of the tortilla haha! Notice she would not let go of her red pepper slice (another new fave!). She skipped the pear chunks (these were the del monte packed in water variety but she was not keen at all but maybe it is because she prefers to take the bites herself off her pear slices!).

Pros: good protein source in all beans and fiber too! Good texture for those a bit nervous about BLW
Cons: MESSY! Also of course can cause gas ;)

Toast w/laughing cow cheese

Toast soldiers aka toast sticks are great for the BLW babe! Not only can you let the baby try different varieties of breads this way but they also have endless possibilities to top them with other flavors, or for baby to use as dippers! On this day at the end of  October I gave Lainey some whole wheat toast with some laughing cow swiss cheese spread on it! She loved it! Since this she has had egg salad, chicken salad, lemon yogurt, and cream cheese on different varieties of bread sticks and has loved all those too!

Pros: EASY PEASY which this Mama LOVES! Always have some sort of bread in the house as well as different things for Lainey to have on it or to dip the bread into!

Cons: mess factor can be high!

Potato,avocado,pear:letting baby decide!

Letting the baby decide is a big part of BLW. Of course offering them healthy choices to choose from is ideal since that way we are at least steering them in the right direction towards healthy eating! Lainey is loving being independent in deciding what she wants to eat and is becoming such a confident eater even with just 2 bottom teeth! On this day in October I offered her a selection of steamed potato, avocado, and pear slices. Lainey went straight to the avocado which remains a favorite but she did eventually have a nibble of the potato and the pear (Which has made it into favorites lately too!).

Pros: well all of these choices were easy to prepare and offered Lainey 3 different tastes and textures to explore!

Cons: none at all besides the mess of avocado ;)

Pasta with meat sauce

I thought I would let you give pasta with a semi-homemade meat sauce (jar sauce with added in ground lean beef) but you were def not too sure about it!

I think you were thrown off by the texture of the ground beef which was quite gritty and dry compared to the chicken breast you have been having! We will def keep trying though as pasta with a homemade sauce is such a great way to get in several food groups and your varieties are endless! 

Pros: economical, lots of ways to prepare it, can sneak in many food groups!

Cons: the sauce obviously adds to mess factor, baby may not take to the mix of textures right away

8 Months

8 months....and it is November! Your 1st Thanksgiving and 1st Christmas are going to be here before we can blink! And your 1st birthday is right around the corner! SIGH.....

This month has been a blur as I am sure the next couple will be as well! Things about this month

• You still just have your bottom 2 teeth
• You are eating LOADS! You eat pretty much everything and anything that we eat at meals. Favorites now include homemade egg and chicken salad spread on toast sticks! You like mommy are also really enjoying the pears that are so perfect this time of year! Avocado is still a yummy for you too! 
• You just learned how to get cheerios to your mouth in the past week you are working that pincher grasp.
• You are in desperate need of medium sized fuzzibunz (these are mommy and daddy's faves and we hope to get you 12 of them once Christmas shopping is complete!)
• You are now pulling yourself up to standing not only on us and the dog but also on our "leather" ottoman! You look too tiny and short to be standing it amuses us haha!
• You dance! You love rocking your head back and forth especially if we do it with you
• You are trying to clap but usually it results in your fists banging together 
• Finally I have heard "mama" but I doubt you are making the connection with it meaning me haha....
• You still prefer army crawl as your mode of transportation and you are FAST at it! 
• You are still a pretty great sleeper and most nights you are asleep before 8pm and sleep through until 5 or 6am
• you are doing better and better with sippy cups of water
• still nursing off mama around 6 to 8 times a day when I am home and then when I am at work you have around 9 oz of pumped milk along with around 3 nursing sessions when I am home (before and after I work)
• you still fit your 0 to 6 month robeez shoes (your feet are TINY lol!) but are in mostly 6 to 9 month clothes and even some of those are getting small.

My Husband Rocks my Socks!

So I am gonna be a bit busy learning how to use..........

that my lovely Bear surprised me with as an early Christmas gift! I was sat complaining about how I couldn't get myself to do any titles for my scrapbook pages as it is such a pain to glue down letter by letter and how it would be soooo much easier once I got my gypsy girl! Wellllll he went downstairs (I thought to get on his xbox and check his good ole hockey trades LOL) and came back up and presented me with my very own gypsy!!!! So stinking exciting! So now I am going to watch lots of videos by Miss Lauren over at My Creative Time to try and figure this thing out ;)

Every Penny Has A Place

I know I am not the only one out here in bloggy world struggling with the approaching holiday season....doesn't it seem though when you have every penny (and upcoming pennies for that matter!) spent you can think of a gazillion other wants/needs?!

It is beyond frustrating somedays especially when it stands in the way of completing projects and such.....for example I was all excited to finish up my monthly project life album but there is just no room to be buying the black cardstock or the prints of the photos for that matter to make this happen right now! GRRR.....

I know in the grand scheme of things it is not truly important and that getting Christmas gifts and groceries and yeah I guess my dog was worth that $50 extra bucks we had to spend out on him for a ripped toenail (somedays I wonder though hahaha!) but jeesh almighty it would be so nice to just have an endless amount of pennies to get all the little things that seem to pop up day to day!

I have also decided against Christmas cards this year which is a total bummer but I just cannot hack spending out for the postage!

Ok enough of my blabbering on about financial woes I have a crying baby to tend to along with a headache that will NOT go away today.....

November already!

I cannot believe it is November...and I really cannot believe Christmas is 3 paydays away....GULP! As always the panic is setting in over being able to get gifts bought that I want to buy etc....Christmas will be my slimmest I have ever done this year but I am surprisingly not that worried about it! Gabby knows things are tight and I have had her narrow her list down to most wanted....I am shocked that her most wanted is this.....

Yup she wants the 18 inch Aurora doll from toys r us....$50 bucks so overall I feel I am getting off pretty dang easy! I do have a hard time though as I know she will not be playing with these large dolls much longer but yet it makes me feel so good (and relieved!) that she DOES still want dolls! She already has 3 dolls this size; an American Girl doll and then 2 knockoffs from Target and I know she plays with them but not loads....why she is so enthralled with this particular doll I dunno but I know I will make sure this is def under the tree Christmas morning. What is your child wanting? Or what are you wanting for them?

I really need to think about Christmas cards and home made gifts as well as I soooo need to get started NOW if I want to accomplish those tasks!!! Thinking I may do homemade toffee bars for co-workers and just bring in presented in a cute manner for everyone in the break room as opposed to giving each their own as just easier!!! Nobody really gets anyone anything anyway but I feel like it this year as I am just thankful for so much in my life right now (which is weird since I am prob as broke as I have ever been in my life! Def goes to show money does NOT buy happiness!).

Lainey is growing WAY too fast and I will be doing her 8 month post next week already....sigh. Gabby is just amazing and maturing so much (I say this and she will prob have some dramatic meltdown tomorrow now haha). She loves to help with dinner and do family activities such as play games together and she is always such a good helper with her little sister too!

We had to bring Bruno to the vet today as he ripped his toenail somehow! YUCK. So he is on antibiotics and painkillers now poor mutt haha!

Big news for me......I start my masters program in counseling on January 26th YIKESSSSSSSSSS! I am excited though as I really love my job at the moment and know that I need to knock this degree out so that I can move up and get paid more too :)

Guess that is it for now as far as an update goes! I have a review coming up for Pink Princess that will also have a giveaway attached so stay tuned!