VTech Safe & Sound

This post is part of a compensated campaign with Mom It Forward Blogger Network and Vtech but all my opinions are my own.

Sometimes when it comes to being a mom of two I think, "Gosh I feel like a first time mom all over again!". Please, moms of 2+, tell me I'm not alone in this.

Every child is different, yes that's true. Kendall loved playing in her highchair, James hates it. James has been sleeping through the night since he was two months old, Kendall was 10-11 months before she slept through the night. But also the gadgets that are available changes in the blink of an eye.

When I got pregnant with James I thought, "Meh...I'm good" when it came to all things baby related. And then I looked online and saw so many awesome things that either weren't available when I was pregnant with Kendall or have gotten better in less than three years. It was like I was a first time mom all over again.

One thing that I always wanted but could never bring myself to buy the second time around was a video monitor. When I was pregnant with Kendall I got the motion detection monitors and never thought twice about a video monitor. Then my mother-in-law got a video monitor for her nursery and I was jealous. It was so cool to be able to peak in and watch Kendall do sweet things when she was putting herself to sleep or waking up, things you would never be able to see without a video monitor. And then I added a video monitor to my want list.

James is at the stage now where he's sleeping through the night, yes, but he's also a pro a the "let's throw everything out of our crib and scream about it" stage too. It's fun, really. I'm at the point now where I can't tell if he's crying because he just threw his blankie out or if he's just being a booger so I'd always have to go in to find out. Of course, when he sees me it makes things even harder for him to go back to sleep and pretty much starts the cycle all over again.

The VTech Safe & Sound is a life saver when it comes to this new "game". Now I can just turn on my parent unit, pan around {270 degrees side-to-side and tilts as many as 124 degrees up and down} and see if he's dropped his blankie or pacifier. If he still has both then I don't need to go in and make things worse. This monitor also has a "talk" feature that lets you soothe your baby from your parent device without going into the room. How cool is that?

Every night since Kendall was born I have gone into her room before I go to bed to "check" on her. Every night. Call me a creeper mom but I really just love to see her sweet sleeping face and kiss those edible cheeks just one more time before I shut my eyes. I was doing the same with James but he's a much lighter sleeper and would wake up every time he heard his door creak open. The Vtech Safe & Sound allows me to zoom in, up close, on his sweet sleeping face so I can see him one last time before I go to bed. Who doesn't love watching a sleeping baby? This just took creepy mom status to expert level.

Moms of multiples, this monitor allows you to connect four cameras to one parental unit so you can just switch between all your kiddos rooms with the click of one button. I so wish we had a camera in Kendall's room when we were fighting all those bedtime battles earlier this year. Oh this would have made things so much easier because we could tell her "get back in bed" through the monitor instead of getting up every 2.5 seconds to put her back in bed.

Jimmy was pretty impressed with the monitor too, #winning. Guys like different things when it comes to electronics, especially when they're an electrician. He was sold on the clarity of the screen on the parent unit and the sound in the baby's room when using the "talk" feature from the parent unit.

Ooops gotta go, I can see James waking up now.

What other cool gadgets have come out in the past 3-4 years that I need to know about?  Perhaps for toddlers?

Blueberry Puff Pancake {Recipe}

“This post is part of a compensated campaign with Mom It Forward Blogger Network and Honey Bunches of Oats but all my opinions are my own."

Healthy eating does not have to be boring. It doesn't have to be gross. It doesn't have to be plain. Now that I'm officially on the weight loss train {I am down 5.2lbs this week!!!} I am always looking for fun ways to make low calorie meals. It can be tricky because typically everything that is yummy is usually high in calories. But you can take something as simple as a pancake and make a relatively low calorie breakfast option.

I saw the recipe for a puff pancake a while ago and pinned it to my food board on Pinterest eons ago. I've always wanted to make it so when I was contacted by US Highbush Blueberry Council to create a recipe using their frozen blueberries I knew just what I was going to make.

Ingredients Serves 4

1. 3 tbsp butter
2. 3 egg
3. 3⁄4 cup all-purpose flour
4. 3⁄4 cup milk, heated 20 to 30 seconds in the microwave {I used almond mil for added sweetness}
5. 1 tbsp sugar, plus 1 teaspoon
6. 2 tsp vanilla extract
7. 1 pinch salt
8. 1 pt frozen blueberries
9. 1 tsp sugar
10. 1⁄2 tsp fresh lemon zest
11. 2 tbsp powdered sugar

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Place the butter in a large saute pan and place in the oven to melt.
3. Meanwhile, in a blender, combine the eggs, flour, hot milk, 1 tablespoon sugar, vanilla extract, and pinch of salt, and blend on medium-high speed until uniform. Cook's Note: If mixing by hand, combine the eggs with the milk until the mixture is light yellow and no longer stringy, about 1 minute. Add the flour, sugar, vanilla, and pinch of salt, and whisk vigorously to remove the lumps, about 30 seconds.
4. Carefully, remove the hot pan from the oven. The butter should be melted. Swirl the butter around the pan to coat completely and then pour the remaining butter into the batter and whisk to blend. Pour the batter into the hot pan and return the pan to the oven. Cook the pancake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the pancake is puffed in the center and golden brown along the edges.
5. While the Dutch baby bakes, in a small bowl, combine the fresh blueberries, 1 teaspoon sugar, and lemon zest. Stir to coat and set aside to marinate.
6. Using a spatula, remove the entire Dutch baby from the pan and place on a cooling rack for a few minutes to allow the steam to escape without condensing along the bottom and rendering the pancake soggy. Slice the pancake into wedges on a serving platter or cutting board and sprinkle with the confectioners' sugar through a sieve. Serve with the marinated blueberries.

This delicious little treat was only 259 calories for 1/4 of the recipe {which was a plenty big enough serving size}.  I added some chocolate chips to Kendall's {per her request} and it was a huge hit!  The frozen blueberries were a little bit tart, mixed with the sweetness of the pancake and powdered sugar, it was delicious!  I will definitely be making this again.

Later that day Kendall and I got a little bit goofy with the blueberries and made a fun, kid-friendly snack.  She loved it so much that I ended up making her three different happy faces.

Cute, huh?

And now comes the fun part! Who wants to win $75?  
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Smile While You Shake It

“This post is part of a compensated campaign with Mom It Forward Blogger Network and Honey Bunches of Oats but all my opinions are my own."

How do you start your morning? Is breakfast essential or do you skip it?  What's your go-to breakfast food? Typically, when I have time, I'm an eggs kind of girl. They're easy, they're good for you, they are cheap, me and eggs are tight.  But when I don't have time for eggs I love a bowl of cereal.  Since Kendall was a tiny toddler she's been eating Honey Bunches of Oats like it's her job.

This weekend I had the pleasure of hosting my first, live, in home blog event.  I had some of my favorite bloggers and my good ole IRL{in real life} friends come over for a Smile While You Shake It Party.

Honey Bunches of Oats, recently launched a new brand anthem "Smile While You Shake It," to celebrate what it means to start the day off with a smile. The fun and upbeat song, inspired by Samba beats, incorporates the cereal box and breakfast utensils as percussion instruments. It is catchy and fun for families to make it their own.

I was a little bit nervous to host such an event in my home.  Not only was this a big deal but also my two worlds, real-life and blogging, would be colliding for the first time!  Finally my IRL friends would see that my blogging friends weren't crazy, Internet stalkers and were actually all really cool girls.

I emailed all the girls beforehand letting them know we'd be filming some videos and get ready to Smile While You Shake It and I thought it was going to be really hard to get them to show their moves but everyone was more than willing to show us what they've got.  Even the guys got involved. Maybe it was because they wanted to win some of the swag, or even the grand prize, $500 gift card.

It was really quite fun, if I may say so myself.  I think everyone got very creative and the boys may or may not have suggested we do a "make it rain" style video and pour cereal all over each other.  I knew I'd be cleaning up cereal for days so I quickly vetoed that idea however I kinda wish someone would have done it.  My mother-in-law loves Honey Bunches of Oats so much that she was like a walking commercial throughout the entire party.  I love her.

You can Smile While You Shake It too!  Every week from now until June Honey Bunches of Oats will be giving away a $500 gift card from the pool of entrants!  It's only 15 seconds for the chance to win $500!  Seems like a no-brainer to me!  Let me know if you do it because I'd love to see your videos!  Here's mine with my little sidekick, Kendall.

Can you "Smile While You Shake It" as well as Shannon Dew? With a little help from Honey Bunches of Oats, we know you can http://t.co/kRl4PZjA4T

Check out Honey Bunches of Oats on the following outlets:

Honey Bunches of Oats Microsite - http://bit.ly/1hCKc1o
Honey Bunches of Oats on Facebook – http://bit.ly/1gP5asG
Hones Bunches of Oats on Twitter – http://bit.ly/HQQsCv

Holiday Fashion

“This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and People StyleWatch and InStyle magazines but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #PeopleInStyle http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO”

So the holidays are right around the corner and you know what that means? Holiday fashion! Is there a time of year where fashion is more fun? Sparkles, glitter, shine, glitz, glamour! It's pretty much the only time of year that it is completely acceptable to look like a walking, talking disco ball. I love it!

I've never worked anywhere that had a fancy Christmas party and these days my form of a holiday party consists of a cookie exchange with my closest girlfriends who have kids. It's very glamorous.

I picked up both issues of People StyleWatch and InStyle December/January issues at Target last week and I thought it'd be fun to get inspired by some of their looks and recreate some of the outfits out of my own closet. If you are familiar with my blog you might remember that I did a Challenge Your Closet series and so making the most out of what I already have is one of my favorite things to do.

My first look was a combination of two things I saw in People StyleWatch. I know every girl has a little black dress but I was also seeing lots of skirts. So I got out my little black skirt and thought I'd mix and match the two ideas.

I took my little black skirt, a grey, slouchy, hi-low, dolman sleeve sweater and my favorite red pumps {nothing says Christmas like red, patent heels} and a chunky necklace and I think I'm in love.

Now if only I could squeeze into this skirt again, I might even wear this look to preschool drop off. I love it that much.

My next look was inspired by a red dress. It just stood out to me and I knew I had a red dress in my closet so this outfit would be an easy one to make my own.

I've actually wore this outfit to our friend-holiday dinner in the past.  This dress is so comfy and being that we live in Ohio, I love that I can wear black tights with it and not freeze my butt off.

My third look is my most favorite.  I got the inspiration from the "vacation" section of People StyleWatch. Not that I'm going on vacation anywhere, anytime soon, but a girl can dream.

This is comfy, cozy and totally suits my mom lifestyle.  In fact I wore this to Thanksgiving at my in-laws. #teamleggingsaspants is a must for Thanksgiving or any holiday where there's lots of yummy food.  

If you want to check out these issues of InStyle and People StyleWatch, go to Target where they'll give you a $5 gift card for buying both! Score!  Perhaps you'll find your holiday look in one of them too, even if it's leggings and a chunky sweater ;-).

Keep Your House Party Ready

“This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and Cottonelle, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #CottonelleHoliday  http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO.”

I've got a question for you, what's more annoying than walking out in the rain just after you curled your hair?

Think about it...

Toilet paper.

Namely when you run out and you're seemingly the only person in the house who knows how to "refill" the roll. Case and point.

I mean even my three-year-old knows how {and likes to} refill the toilet paper roll {#startemyoung} but I swear if my husband even sees that roll getting low he'll pull out another from under the sink and just place it on the sink with a half full roll still on the thingymabobber. And don't get me started on the bathroom trash, if I didn't empty it, it'd look like this for days, weeks, months even.

I'm a bit obsessive when it comes to things like toilet paper and paper towels. As in, I like to have LOTS of them on hand, at all times. I mean those are not things you want to run out of. Am I right? I usually always buy the Cottonelle 12 pack and each bathroom gets 4 rolls. Another thing Kendall is very helpful with.


This is especially true during the holidays. You have people over for Thanksgiving, a cookie party, a white elephant gift exchange, an ugly sweater party, the list goes on. My point is you have a lot of people coming in and out of your house and a lot of people using your bathroom. The last thing you want to forget about is toilet paper.

I can remember one time we had a party and for some reason, unbeknownst to me, we didn't restock the toilet paper beforehand. We ran out and I thought, "oh no worries, I'll get some from the other bathroom" nope. It was out too. So I checked the third bathroom, empty! So...that's embarrassing. THANKFULLY we have a store close by and the house was full of toilet paper but geesh! That was stressful, especially with a house full of guests.

Target and Cottonelle make it easy for you during the holidays. Buy Cottonelle Triple Roll 12 pack or larger and get a FREE box of Kleenex* (RevTrax system will only let you click on this coupon twice  per IP address so do not click on it till you are ready to print please. )
COUPON: https://secureimg.revtrax.com/RevTrax/cpn?merchantId=11613065&affiliateId=12832277&programId=28498808

*While supplies last.

ChoreMonster

Chores aren't fun.  When you were a kid you hated your daily chore whether it was making your bed, feeding the dog, or doing the dishes.  When I was younger I had the "strict" parents and, yes, I had chores. My dad didn't believe in sleeping in so even during summer break he'd call the house to make sure I was up by 11, rude.  He got home from work at 3:30 and so my chores had to be done by then.  Usually it was one BIG thing a day {vacuum, dust, laundry} and then your every day stuff like making the bed, putting dishes away, etc.  None of my chores took that much time and if I'd just suck it up and do them it'd take like 30 minutes, tops.  But?  They were still no fun and I would have much rather been watching TRL.

Now that Kendall's getting to a chore appropriate age I've been giving her little things to do here and there.  She LOVE to feed the dogs. She makes a mess most of the time and there's always some dog food on the floor but she's learning it and each time she gets better at it.  She also loves to help me with laundry.  If I'm putting clothes from the washer to the dryer she'll happily stand there and make the transition for me.  Lately her favorite thing has been "doing the dishes".  I'll pull up a kitchen chair and she will stand there for as long as I'll let her "washing" away.  Now I have to go in behind her and re-wash everything but still, it's cute.

We try to make chores "fun" but I'm not always the most creative.

That's where ChoreMonster comes in.

ChoreMonster is a fun, new app that make chores fun for parents and kids. Kids can earn points by completing chores that they can turn in for real life rewards like ice cream, an hour of Super Why or even a park day. Parents can enjoy a simple, hassle-free, digital system that takes the tension out of family chores.

ChoreMonster is easy, let me just say that first and foremost because chores don't need to be any more complicated.  You set up a parent log-in and a child log-in {More than one kid?  No problem!}.  You set up your kids chores and their rewards.   They can then log in to their child account and when they complete their chore they simply click the chore to mark it as done.  They can also review their rewards too.  Once they mark that it's complete the parent receives an email notification where they can go in and approve it and the kid{s} start racking up the rewards. There is also a "carnival" where they can spin a wheel to earn more prizes for each chore they complete. Pretty cool, huh?

For Kendall we've kept the rewards simple, more TV time, chocolate milk with dinner, an extra book at bedtime, and if she reaches her BIG reward she will be able to cash all of her reward points in for Monsters University DVD.  I don't know about you but that'd get me excited to make my bed!

She's still a little bit young to be able to do the whole online thing by herself but with my help she's figuring it out. She loves having the extra bit of independence and I love having a little helper!  I definitely think as she gets older it will get even more fun, when she can take the reins and do the whole "chore" by herself.  She always gets really proud when she can say "look what I did!".

ChoreMonster wants to give you a free one-month subscription to their service.  Click, here, and get your kid{s} set up and start having fun!  Have your kids handy because they'll even get to chose their very own chore monster to greet them when they log in!  Too fun!

I only accept brand opportunities to write about things I love and would normally buy on my own. I received an opportunity through Canopi to partner with ChoreMonster.

Preschool Problems

“This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Kleenex but all my opinions are my own. #KleenexAllergy #pmediahttp://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO

Everyone warned me, when Kendall starts preschool she is going to get sick. For those of you who are new around here, Kendall has only ever been in my care or the care of family up until she started preschool this year.  I knew that preschool germs would be inevitable, she would get sick more than usual, and we would need to stock up on all the first aid things we could get our hands on.  Oh, and add our first family of four trip to Florida, on an airplane, and we're just asking to get sick.

I am happy to report that, for the most part, we have been a super healthy family.  Kendall has literally had less than 5 "sick" visits in her chart in over three years.  So far, James has yet to get any signs of sickness.  Jimmy and I are both the type of people who will wake up with a sore throat one morning and wake up healthy as a horse the next.  We're very fortunate in the health department.

There is, however, something about this time of year that you just know a sniffly nose is inevitable.  It's bound to happen.  Before we left for our trip to Florida I stopped by Target for some essentials, toys for the plane, snacks, a new magazine on the odd chance that both of my children slept the entire 2 hour flight, a new pair of shorts, and some Kleenex {for various uses}.

Do you see how fun these tissues are?  I mean, who knew?!  Chevron?  Geometric? Quatrefoil?  Oh my!  I could have bought every pack and with the "buy Kleenex 4pack, get free wallet pack (2-pk) or pocket pack (3-pk): http://goo.gl/186og3" deal I could have!  I mean they were only $0.99!

I thought the wallet packs were perfect.  Perfect for the car, diaper bag, purse, backpack, you name it.  I snatched up a few and quickly shoved them in every spot I could think of.

Wallet pack in our carry on bag for the air plane. 

Wallet pack in the diaper bag, always.

Wallet pack in my purse.  Slender enough for the smallest of bags.

And there's always a wallet pack in KP's back pack.  This chevron pattern even matches!

They are the perfect solution to sneezing in public.  Have you ever had to sneeze into your elbow?  Or worse yet, your hand?  It's gross.  Add some sneezing littles to the mix and you have a recipe for {snot}disaster.  No one likes a snot sleeve.  These wallet packs are perfect as they are small enough to even fit in your back pocket.

After browsing the tissue aisles, Kleenex definitely had the cutest patterns, the most options {wallet packs, pocket packs, etc}, and were the softest of all the tissues brands available.  Don't forget, while supplies last buy Kleenex 4pack, get free wallet pack (2-pk) or pocket pack (3-pk): http://goo.gl/186og3.  You can get one for everyone in your house and every bag and car you own.