Graco Babies R US Event

I am totally having flashbacks to college. Since I do not have internet in our camper I am sitting at McDonalds using their free wifi at 10 at night...would so totally stay up til the last night back when I was in college to finish a paper! *Sigh I guess that is the life of a working mom and blogger!* Anyways on to the fun post!

Last weekend I have the pleasure of attending and assisting with the Graco car seat event at Babies R Us. This event was used to highlight Graco car seat called the 

Graco® SnugRide® Click Connect™ 40. First let me tell you this car seat is awesome...wish I had one! Our event in Little Rock was a little small but that is how it goes in small town America. But I am just as happy for the people that won. We had a first time mom who was in the store picking out things for her registry so I felt good knowing that she won an awesome car seat and how safe it was too! Our other winner this was a blessing in disguise for them. Grandma was also there and she was beyond thrilled since the baby was only 3 weeks old and they needed another car seat. So like I said I am so glad we had the event even if it was small.

It is a car seat designed to use for your baby up to age 2 and 40 lbs. This car seat is the only infant car seat that is designed for rear facing protection up to age 2. This is important because it allows your baby to sit rear facing longer and that is proven to be the safest thing for your baby as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. There are so many cool features on this car seat that I don't know where to start first. 

The base has 8 adjustable recline positions to allow for leg room as your baby grows. This is the most of any car seat available. The car seat also has the Simply Safe Adjust harness system that lets you adjust the harness with one hand as your baby grows so you don't have to re-harness it every time you need to move it up. How convenient is that!!! Then it is has the click connect which makes it an easy transition to and from the base to the stroller. One of the other cute features is a foot pad for the baby so they don't put their feet on the back of your seat. It even has footprints on it!  So cute! It comes in two designs one that is more girly called Mena and one that is for gender neutral called Moonstruck. 

Of course I know that I am just one review of this car seat and like always I believe that every mom should also do her own research so I encourage you to check out the site and see for yourself the best car seat around! Graco Safety

Love to all and go check out this wonderful car seat!

The Graco SnugRide® Click Connect™ 40 – the first and only newborn to two-year infant car seat that actually grows with your baby from four pounds all the way up to 40 pounds. The car seat is designed for a parent on the go. The infant car seat can be easily removed from the base and used as a carrier when the infant is small, providing portability and convenience so you can easily move your infant in and out of the car without disturbing them.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recently made the recommendation to keep all children in rear-facing car seats until the age of 2. Graco set out to make this product so parents can keep infants rear facing longer while still keeping them comfortable.
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Graco. The opinions and text are all mine.

Baby Sign Language

So I have been thinking about teaching Olivia sign language for the past few weeks as Olivia has become more verbal and has started to wave bye bye and clap.So I went onto Baby Sign Language and started to look into what all I needed to know about teaching Olivia to sign. They have flash cards, language charts, and a dictionary of all sorts of sign language stuff! So much information...I love it!

At first I was cautious because I naturally thought that if I taught her to sign that it would delay her talking but actually that is the opposite. Not only do they typically talk first but also even later on in their child years their IQ is higher too!

So my question to you all is did you try baby sign language? If so what is some advice you might have for me? I know I am probably in for some frustration at the beginning but the big point I am going to make is to keep it fun and not let it get to me! 

Where Has My Little Baby Gone?

On Thursday Miss Olivia turned 9 months old...9 months!!! As I was holding her this morning when she fell asleep in my arms I sat there wondering how much longer moments like this would be before she doesn't want me to hold her while she sleeps. I feels like just the other day we were packing for the hospital and picking up Granna to come watch Taylor so we could go have Olivia and now she is just a few months shy of turning 1! 

She is such a sweet baby with so much personality that I can already tell she is going to give me a run for my money! She loves to babble and say Da Da, Ga Ga and Ba Ba. She rolls around like crazy and does this funny little low crawl. She has 3 teeth and is already cutting 3 more! So needless to say that necklace is working perfectly because she isn't fussy! Her hair is growing so much and is finally not sticking up anymore. 

Thankfully one of the few good things about all this new technology is how easy it is to take a picture with my phone. I hardly ever get out of the camera because my phone takes just as good of pictures as my camera does. So needless to say I have easily taken over 2000 pictures since she was born. I know I know she probably thinks celebrities have no room to complain about the paparazzi with a camera toting mom like me!

 At 9 months my sweet baby weighs 19 lbs and is 27 1/2 inches...short and chubby! Love it!

My stepmom had told me about this nail polish that is safe for babies called Piggy Paint. I searched through some stores and finally ended up ordering it online through Walmart.

Love the little nail file!

Baby Livy's sweet little toes all cute and pink!

Product Review: Baby Bullet

So Olivia turned 4 months a few weeks ago and we have been working on spoon feeding. The first time I tried to feed her rice cereal I swear she thought I was trying to poison her.  And it didn't go so well.

 

Well since this first time she continues to DESPISE rice cereal or oatmeal. She will arch her back and try her hardest to get out of the Bumbo and away from the cereal!

So I decided to get out the Baby Bullet that I bought last weekend and make her some baby food that she will hopefully actually eat. Before I used it I was reading through the manual and my first impression was "Wow this seems really easy!" Not only does it tell you how to use the baby bullet but it also has a cookbook for baby and it is divided up into age categories (4-6 months, 7 mon, 8 mon, etc) so you know what to feed them at what age. It also has what foods are best to try first, which ones are no allergy or low allergy risk and then what food NOT to feed baby for the first year. This Baby Bullet is just awesome! It is easy to use and the directions are simple. And you can make your baby food for the whole week in about 5 minutes or less. I think one of the best things is that it has storage cups that you can choose the date you made it and then it has a storage tray too that you can also put in the freezer to store more food.

I am definitely recommending this to any of my friends with babies that will be starting spoon feeding soon!

FYI - we made bananas and she LOVED them! Now that she doesn't have a meltdown every time we try to feed her we have to work on her tongue so she doesn't spit it out.

Drumroll Please....

First I want to thank everyone who entered my first giveaway and who is now following me. It was so fun to do a giveaway and I have a few more planned!

So for the news: Jen from Baby is Boss is the winner!!! Jen email me your address to aprils83@gmail.com and I will get those beautiful hair bows in the mail to you ASAP!

We have also done a little decorating around the house and thought I would show it off :)

We've lived in this house for 10 months now and I am just getting around to hanging up more photos...horrible I know! But the hubby hung up some pictures on the wall so it definitely makes the wall look prettier!

And I got a new kitchen table. I have been wanting one since we moved to Arkansas but I have held off and waited. Well the table I was originally going to get ended up getting some bad reviews so I got a different one but I am so happy I did!

And lastly I thought I would leave you with this one...Now that Olivia is 4 months old we have been "trying" the rice cereal. She is getting better slowly and last night I had to work late so Daddy had to do it all himself and he thought he would be funny and send me this pic of him "attempting" to feed her...

My big 4 month old!!

I cannot believe that it has been 4 wonderful months since my baby was born! I swear time goes by even faster since I know she is my last baby!

She is so cute and cuddly and I could just go on and on about all the cute things she does!

I do have to brag about one thing...of course she got her shots but she only cried for a second and as soon as I picked her up she stopped! Such a tough little girlie!

 

She was 13lb 9oz and 24 1/2 inches long! (50% for both!)

She mimics faces now so we were playing around while waiting for the Dr.

*Disclaimer* About a half second after we took this picture she proceeded to spit up all over me...go figure that seems to be my luck nowadays!

Also don't forget to tell your friends to come enter the giveaway! I have 8 new followers and only need 12 more to get the extra giveaway item!!

Top 10 Diaper Bag Must Haves!

Whether you're a first time mom or a mommy expert I think it is good to know what all you need in your diaper bag! I have a 7 year age difference between my two cuties and let me be the first to tell you that there are things I carry now that I didn't with my first one. I decided to just go with my Top 10 because if not this blog post could be in the running for the longest blog post ever!

So here is my list:

1. Extra pacifier!  

You can never have too many of these! And as any mom will tell you this can be the difference between 15-20 minutes of quiet time and a meltdown right in the middle of a store!

 I used this one while I was BFing my youngest as the hospital recommend these.

 

 This one is used as my spare because when it isn't in the baby's mouth the cover is over the nipple so it won't get dirty.

2. Diaper rash cream.

Hands down Boudreaux's butt paste is the best stuff ever. Don't need to say anything more. Mom's know what I am talking about!

3. Diapers and Wipes

I prefer either Huggies or Pampers because my little one can pee through all the others. HOWEVER use what best suits you. One my oldest daughter I could put any brand on her and they worked fine so each baby is different! And for baby wipes I like the Pampers Sensitive.

4. Fold and Go Diapering Kit

I wish they had had this when my oldest was a baby. Maybe they did and I didn't know it but either way I love it! It is compact and can fit in my big purse (which now acts as my diaper bag/purse). AND it has a place to put the diapers and has a wipes holder so it is a 3 in one! This one below is made by My First Years and is only 11 bucks. So worth it!

5. Pacifier wipes.

You may have the pacifier on a "leash" attached to your baby's clothes. You may have the pacifier with the shield that covers it when it isn't in the baby's mouth but I guarantee you that the pacifier will still get dirty. Hence the need for the wipes!

6. Burp cloths

 Babies spit up. A lot. Period. Need for this item is a must have!

These work good and even the cloth diapers that you can get at Babies R Us work great too!

7. Extras...of every clothing item!

I could list each item individually but then this list would be really long so I grouped the extras into one. Extra burp cloth, bib, and outfit. 

8.  Baby Bottle 

This is obvious BUT I put it on here because it is necessary! And OBVIOUSLY when I put this on the list it means it also includes either an expressed bottle of breast milk or formula! I love the Playtex VentAire bottle because it reduces gas and spit up and helps prevent ear infections. 

 

9. Hand Sanitizer

This is one of my must haves because of how dirty restrooms are and doors and everything in general!

10. Baby Medicine

*Talk to your doctor about what is best (or even at all) for your baby depending on age!!*

At certain ages your baby can take medicine to help reduce a fever especially after getting shots. (Mine is getting her 4 month shots today! ) And gas drops for your small baby if they are having gas problems.

So there you go...that's my list! I also like to include a snack for mom in the bag as well but that isn't in my "Top 10" because it isn't for baby. But you will realize that running around doing your errands that you might have forgotten to eat so it is smart to have something handy for yourself as well! 

So what is one of your must have for your diaper bag??

 

St. Patty's Day Giveaway!

First let me tell you how much fun I am having blogging!! Not that I didn't love it before with my other blog but this is the "fun" blog and since we live closer to family now there is no point in the other blog as they get phone pictures every few hours of the girls from me or see them on Facebook.

Now with that being said onto the fun part!

I have been debating on what to do for my first giveaway. When I was planning this earlier I had about 7 followers and when you ask for a giveaway sponsor they want to use a blog with more followers. (Which I can totally understand!) So I figured I would "sponsor" my first blog! I love Etsy and everything it stands for so I go on there a lot and even though I haven't bought too much on there it is still an excellent place for a good deal. I was looking for some cute St. Patty's Day hair bows for my youngest's hair next month and I found the CUTEST ones!
They are designed by Heidi at all the frills.
 All The Frills FB Page
All The Frills Etsy Page
Go check our her pages and let them know I sent you!
I like them so much that I am giving away 2 of them! They are infant size but they are good for up to a year or until they become a "toddler."

 

Also in ADDITION to these beautiful bows I am giving away two pacifier clips that I have made from the previous post. I have TONS of fabric so just let me know what color and I can show you what all I have in that color.

Even if you don't have a cute baby girl to put these bows on you can still win this giveaway and use them as a gift for a friend! I am sure any mom would be thrilled to get these cute bows!

 So here are the RULES:

To get one entry into the giveaway follow me on twitter.
You will get one additional entry for each friend that you send to follow me AND leave a comment on THIS post saying that you sent them!

The giveaway closes on February 28th at midnight. AND if I get at least 20 new followers then I will be adding a special secret prize to this pack!

I am so excited to hold this and what is even more exciting is I have about 4 more giveaways lined up so keep coming back and checking to see what is next!!