Friday Blog Hopping Fun!

I joined in some Friday blog hop fun! Here's where I hopped to:

Welcome if you're new and thanks for stopping by to follow!

Wordless Wednesday - Help Me Obi-wan Kenobi!

My mom put her sweater on little man and all I could think was, "Help me Obi-wan Kenobi, your my only hope."

He had so much fun running around and flapping his arms!

Happy Wednesday!

Presidents Day Craftiness

I hope that everyone enjoyed their four-day Presidents Day weekend! 

This weekend, I took the opportunity to try a new craft project! I have been reading a little bit about using freezer paper to make stencils and then using the stencils to paint designs on clothing. I have really been wanting to try it! So, I finally got together my supplies (minus a t-shirt, because I haven't managed to find a plain t-shirt in little man's size that doesn't have a pocket on the front...what's up with that?) and Sunday night at 10pm, I was super motivated to craft! Why do I always get spurts of energy to tackle big projects late at night? It must be my night owl-y-ness. My first inkling of interest in this freezer paper project came from the blog, Helping Little Hands and her Car Shirt idea. I love it for little man and I am going to attempt to make that one soon! Then, I was reading through some articles on the blog, Made and I found the perfect freezer paper stencil for Presidents Day! I decided to make little man a Lincoln Shirt, so he would have a shirt for President's Day! Now, I didn't make him anything fun to wear for Valentines Day, but somehow I felt the need to make him something for President's Day. Not sure why, but that's how it went.
 

So, I sat down with my freezer paper and all my supplies and set my mind to cutting Lincoln's image out of the freezer paper. I had read all of the directions and I was confident that I would do a (pretty) good job. Hubby and my mom were sitting at the table with me while I was wielding my razor blade (thankfully, no one was injured in the making of this t-shirt design). It took me a bit longer than I thought to cut the design out, but hubby had some good tips along the way, so once I successfully cut the image out, I ironed Lincoln's freezer paper likeness down onto a onesie. I then got out my paint and started happily dabbing away. I had just started babbling to my mom and hubby how I had read the directions and learned so much when hubby interrupted with, "Shouldn't there be something in-between the front of the onesie and the back to protect the paint from bleeding through?" I then exclaimed with an expletive (Sorry about that mom!) that I hope that little man will never utter and was very thankful that his little ears were sleeping for the night. I quickly fixed my problem and there is only a minor flaw on the back of the shirt to remind me that pride does indeed go before a fall/mistake/potty language. 

"It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt."
— Abraham Lincoln

I finished my paint application and then peeled off the stencil to reveal...Lincoln! 

It worked! Yay! I was so happy. I let it dry overnight and then I set the paint with an iron in the morning. I had a lot of fun making this shirt and have learned from my hastily made mistake. I'm really looking forward to making little man some more shirt designs! 

Thanks for the new duds mom!

"Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."
— Abraham Lincoln 

Wait...what holiday is this?

  "Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm."
— Abraham Lincoln

This onesie is awesome...to run in!

"Nothing will divert me from my purpose."
— Abraham Lincoln

I thought little man looked mighty cute celebrating President's Day in his Lincoln shirt!

I hope you had a wonderful President's Day weekend! How did you celebrate? What fun things did you do?

My Newest Etsy Score! Clutch = LOVE

I recently won a gift card to Hot Mama Handbags Etsy shop and I chose this fun-n-fab little gray damask clutch! I'm loving my clutch, so I thought I would share some pictures of my newest accessory!

 

It came in the mail a couple days ago and I just love it! The colors matches pretty much everything I own - can't go wrong with black and grays! Then when you open the clutch you get a cheery little pop of teal! It reminds me that spring is right around the corner!

It really came at the perfect time for me, because sometimes I run to the store really quickly without little man (*gasp* I know, it doesn't happen often, but sometimes it does) and I don't need to lug my big-ol diaper bag with me. Now I have somewhere cute to stash my wallet (I love that this clutch is actually big enough to put my honkin' wallet in) and I still have room for my phone and keys!

I also just love that it zips closed - keeping everything nice and safe and right where it belongs. :)

It is also perfect to tuck in my diaper bag with a spare diaper or two for when I am out and about with little man! 

My new Hot Mama Handbag clutch it is fun and bold and I LOVE that it is handmade!

Do you have a fun, non-diaper bag purse that you keep your wallet and other necessities in or does your diaper bag go with you everywhere?   

*This is not a sponsored review, this is solely my opinion. I received a gift card from a giveaway that I won and this is the clutch that I purchased with the gift card.* 

Wordless/Wordful Wednesday - Leaf Collecting

We have been going on a lot of walks to the park lately and the other day we let little man walk on his own for a good bit of the way home. Hubby and I started by holding his hand and then ...he found a leaf! It was amazing! It crunched when he stepped on it! He could pick it up and hold it! Oh wait...there's another ...and another ...and another! 

He had quite the collection by the time we were halfway home. It was so fun to watch him toddle around and hunt for leaves! 

But, eventually when leaf collecting in a homeward bound direction turned to a leaf collecting expedition back to the park, hubby scooped him up and I watched as one by one, little man let his leaves flutter out of his hands and float back to the ground until there were no more leaves left in his little hands. It was a wonderful day.

We Have a Winner!

Drum-roll please....

Out of 468 entries (WOW!), the lucky winner from the Thirsties Duo Diaper review & giveaway is:

 Congratulations LizSamples!!!

Thank you to everyone who entered this very popular giveaway and a big thank you to Thirsties for providing me with the opportunity to host this review and giveaway!

Sassy Teether Recall

Do you have this teether? 

I do! Yikes!I like Sassy toys because they are BPA and paint free, but we will be taking this toy away from little man right now. He loves teething on it too!

Reason for Recall: Black soft plastic pieces may separate from some of the black and white polka-dot ball when chewed or pulled at, and these small components could pose a choking hazard if ingested by an infant or small child.  

You can go to their site and fill out a form to have Sassy mail you an envelope so that you can mail the teether back to them and they will replace it with a new toy.

Whoops!

You may have noticed (or maybe not) that now comments are numbered when you leave me a lovely little note or enter a giveaway. I must say that I am awfully proud of myself for figuring out how to do this - thank goodness for online tutorials! Well, this new addition came about because I mis-counted on the Pixiekids Toys giveaway. I can admit it... I made a mistake! I announced the wrong winner (whoopsie!) I had mis-counted and was off by one. My blogging newbie mistake was kindly pointed out to me by a fellow reader. I should have followed the age old advice of "count twice, announce once". So, since the mistake was completely and 100% mine, *blush* I contacted Pixiekids Toys in an effort to buy a second $10 Etsy gift certificate to her shop for the actual winner. Because, I really do want things to play out fairly here- I do my best and when I make a mistake, I try my best to set things right. well, Melisa emailed me back, saying she was so sorry for what had happened but that she would happily donate a second $10 gift certificate to the other winner!!! How wonderfully sweet is that!?! What a generous gesture to help fix the mistake that I had made. 

I am so relieved that things were worked out so smoothly and that there are now two happy readers who get to shop at Pixiekids Toys Etsy shop! On that note, I wanted to say that if you are on the hunt for cute, fun and well made felt toys or woodland creatures, definitely check out Pixiekids Toys! Melisa was so wonderful to work with and I know that her Etsy shop will be my shop for felt toys for little man!

Thank you again to my reader for pointing out my mistake and being so nice about it! I really do appreciate you emailing me! Thank you also to Melisa of Pixiekids Toys for being so sweet and generous!

Hopefully there won't be any other mistakes like this *fingers crossed* and now comments are numbered. I will do my best to not make any other mistakes like this, but, as I am human, feel free to email me if you catch a mistake! I promise, I won't bite!

Happy Valentines Day!

A year ago, we were celebrating our first Valentines day with our little man! Ohhh...he was so tiny!  I can't believe he is 15 months now and what a wonderful and lovely 15 months it has been.

Our sweet little baby Valentine at just 3 months old!

I'm a lucky mama to have my little man for my valentine (and dear hubby too of course!)

Cuddled with daddy

Happy Valentine's Day to all my readers!

CSN Stores - a Review!

Remember my post a little while back about an upcoming CSN Stores review? Well, here it is! I put my $35 gift certificate towards the Rachael Ray Bubble and Brown 4.25 Qt. Oval Covered Casserole in Chocolate! It was on sale for $39.95 and had FREE shipping! 

I love my new covered casserole dish! The color looks so nice in our kitchen and the dish is really tall, so it keeps your food from bubbling over. I put this to the test too! I baked a chicken dish that had previously bubbled over when I used another baking dish and lets just say, it took oven cleaner and many, many hours of scrubbing. :p So, I wanted to see if the Rachel Ray covered casserole dish would stand up to the challenge of this tasty chicken dish. Well...I am happy to report that it did! I opened the oven when it was done and there was no mess! The high walls on the casserole dish and the lid kept everything where it should be. It was super easy to clean too! Everything rinsed off very easily and it didn't require much elbow grease to make it look shiny and new again! 

Another successful CSN shopping experience! My casserole dish came packaged safe and sound in a very timely manner. CSN Stores has an unbeatable product selection and so many items have free shipping! I am a fan! 

I love my new casserole dish - I can't wait to bake with it again and the 4.25 Qt. size makes it perfect for holidays and parties too!

What are you shopping for? Check out CSN Stores and Happy Shopping!

Thank you to CSN Stores for providing me with the opportunity to review and item from your site. I received a $35 gift certificate to use on the site and I personally covered the difference of the item reviewed. I was not compensated in any other way. I have sought to give my honest opinions and experiences on these products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely my own. Thank you again to CSN Stores for sponsoring this review!

GoGreen Pocket Diaper Review!

GoGreen Pocket Diapers...cloth diapers for the rest of us.

 I love discovering new cloth diapers! Call it a fluffy addiction if you must, but I just adore my little man's fluffy little tushy! I love finding cloth diapers that provide a perfectly snug fit, won't leak (within reason of course) and come in cute colors and/or prints. Oh, and did I mention that I love when a new diaper (or 2 or 4 or 5) won't break the bank?!

I recently had the opportunity to work with GoGreen Pocket Diapers and review the Techno Tushie! 

Little man is about 26lbs and is wearing this diaper on the medium setting

Isn't it an awesomely boy-ish print! 

I was so excited to get this diaper because hubby is in the AV (Audio Visual) business and the yellow dot graphics reminded me of  a sound board. You should have seen me beaming when I showed him little man's new "AV" diaper! 

It had a great "grip" around his legs, no matter what gymnastics little man was attempting, the fit was nice and snug. (no red marls either!)

This is one of the standard pocket GoGreen diapers and at $8.99 it is definitely priced to be a staple diaper in anyone's fluffy stash! Some of the features of this pocket diaper include:

• Leak-proof exterior
• Soft microsuede lining never pills, stays looking new
• Ultra-absorbent 3-layer microfiber terry insert
• 3 rows of rise adjustment snaps
• Hip snaps to prevent "wing droop"
• Waist tab overlap snaps for newborns/preemies (<--- one of my favorite diaper features!)

  So, this all sounds great, right? This diaper comes standard with some great features and is priced so that every family can afford cloth diapers. But, how does it hold up? Well, little man put this diaper to the test! Shortly after I put it on him, he went down for a nap. Now, normally, he naps for about 1 to maybe 2 hours. Well, he napped for 3 hours!!! (We kept checking the monitor to make sure he was ok, haha!) So when we heard his little babbles and conversational tidbits from the monitor, I told hubby, "he's probably going to have soaked right through that diaper. He's going to need fresh clothes." (he has been leaking fairly often at nap-time...time to bulk up those nap diapers) Well, we picked him up and wouldn't you know it, his clothes were dry! He hadn't leaked at all! I was super impressed!

I love our GoGreen Pocket Diaper! It washes beautifully, it is well made, I can get a great fit, it is impressively absorbent, it comes in an array of cute colors and prints and I LOVE the price! At $8.99, I can treat myself to some new fluff and not feel guily about it. I think that Go Green Pocket Diapers is an affordable resource for any cloth diapering family - whether you are new to cloth diapering and maybe aren't ready to make the financial "plunge" or you are on a tighter budget. With GoGreen Pocket Diapers you don't have to sacrifice style and function for price. It can definitely stand up to the test again any of the major cloth diaper brands out there. I sure wish I had discovered Go Green Pocket Diapers when I was first cloth diapering little man and beginning to build my stash!

Want to add some Go Green Pocket Diaper fluff to your little one's stash? You can shop for their products on their site. Make sure you check out their Facebook page and Twitter too!

Here are some of my other favorite Go Green Pocket Diapers

<3 The wet/dry bags are only $7.99! <3

 

Which are your favorites?

 

Winner!

The winner of the Pixiekids Toys giveaway is comment #38:  

Tiffany who said...
I subscribe by email. 2

Congratulations Tiffany! Thank you to everyone who entered and a big thank you to Pixiekids Toys for sponsoring this giveaway!