Review | Boon SNUG Spout

I just reviewed the new Boon SNUG silicone lids on my review site. Come on over and check it out! Hint: these lids will convert your lid-less, forgotten, sad Panda cups into a fancy new sippy option for the kids. Mine are big fans.

Things That Happened This Week

Weird, weird things, man.

Alternative titles: Is This the Twilight Zone? Is It Friday Yet? WTF? OMG! Blog Worthy! Where Is My Wine?

This week has been way too eventful for my tastes and deserves a blog post, although if you follow me on Instagram you're probably sick of me whining about the weirdness of these days. Also, since the week isn't even over yet, I worry that maybe I'm jinxing myself into having a particularly horrific day tomorrow but whatever. Tomorrow is a new day and hopefully more ordinary than the rest.

Monday drama: a large bird was stuck inside of our exhaust fan in our half bathroom. I thought it was a mouse, or a rat, or a raccoon because of how gigantic and terrifying it sounded. Literally, I almost had a panic attack when I realized a critter was STUCK INSIDE OF OUR WALL, which was predictably about 15 minutes after Nate left for work in the morning. And about 10 minutes before I had to rush the kids and myself out the door for a super early morning with patients. I was a blubbering idiot with them and kept trying to keep Cecelia out of the bathroom since miss curious was bound and determined to see what the 'noi' was. Truman was near tears because 'I don't want a mouse to be in our wall' --um, yeah. Me either, buddy.

Did I mention that I have a major fear of mice running through our walls after a particularly scarring experience in Arkansas? (shudder). All I knew was that a rustling loud enough to be heard from all parts of our house was haunting my soul on this Monday morning. And I had to get the heck away from our infested house before I lost my mind.

I had a friend of Tony's named Mike meet me back at home over lunch and that is when we discovered the startlingly large beak poking out of the fan. OMG. Thankfully Mike caught the bird and set him free and I did not accidentally kill the poor creature when I turned on the fan that morning to 'scare it away from the fan'.  Nate told me to do that over the phone when I was fa-REAKing out before work. The bird's head was totally stuck in the fan by noontime but it was able to fly away properly, so I guess I didn't commit murder that day. A bird. In our wall. I can't even.

Cover is off here--do you see the beak???


(video of the nomad bird's release. HUGE)



Tuesday drama: Cecelia had her first real stomach bug and barfed all over the house three times including once down my shoulder and twice in her crib. She was completely pathetic and sick and sad all day, and had a low grade fever, too. I was a nervous wreck imagining Truman and myself coming down with the bug and made us practically bathe in sanitizer. When CC wasn't puking she was in my arms and we didn't leave the house the entire day, adding to the stir craziness of feeling germs infest one's nostrils. Is that a queasiness I feel? Did I really let her drink out of my water bottle yesterday? Will I die of dehydration from barfing while pregnant, or worse....will Truman and Nate get the bug and cause the entire world to bow to their Mutant Bug Afflicting Men?

So much laundry. So much hand washing. So much paranoia. So gross and sad. Saddest face ever.








Sorry for the mention of manly parts to my family, but this Some Ecard cracks me up and was so fitting. Wanted to post on IG but did not.




Wednesday aftershock: I stayed home with the kids in the morning because I knew I couldn't send Cecelia to Lori's, and was too afraid to put her in the van to take Truman to Lori's by himself. Barf in our brand new mini-van would have done me in. Then Nate came home at noon and I left to see my patients. Tag teaming at it's finest and it made the day feel so different and out of our normal routine. Happy we have the flexibility to make 'sick days' work like this, of course. Happy to have no puke to consider while breathing a bit of fresh air. Happy that Cecelia started to feel better this day, too.

Popsicles for breakfast this day. Duh. Still with the sick eyes.


And it was a great mail day on Wednesday. 4moms sent me some of their products to try (it never hurts to ask, apparently?!) We tried out the spout cover right away for baths and got FANTASTIC pictures showing how wonderful it was. Sarcasm. Actually, we DO love the temperature gauge a little too much and I'm happy I no longer have to stick my hand in the water constantly to see if it's too hot or too cold. Truman is especially excited about this cover because now he wont stick his feet into a scalding tub without knowing it, and he loves the colored lights. Technology is his fave, just like his daddy. But bath time in general was just a disaster that night due to one overtired little lady. Real life pictures, for sure.





Thursday drama: Record number of errands run this morning including dropping Henry off to get his teeth cleaned, a donut treat with me and the littles, library fun, mini-van wash, and a craft trip to Michaels. Then a 5 minute car nap by Cecelia which is normally no big deal, since she will usually turn over in her bed as soon as I transfer her there and sleep like there is no tomorrow. But today it spelled disaster because once we were back at home she would NOT continue to sleep. Truman happily played on the iPad a bit for a portion of his 'quiet time' but my girl who loves to nap more than two hours a stretch? Nope. Not happy and she let me know through frequent check-ins that is just wasn't happening.

This card is funny but not right now. If this becomes a regular thing I will cry. Again, sorry for the foul language.

I'm not sure why this made me want to rage...probably because her nap time is when I get to recharge a bit. It's always a guarantee time in my SAHM days when I can do some paper work, return emails, and spend some 1:1 time with Truman, too. Without that assumed time to re-focus, I honestly felt angry and cheated of my meeeee tiiiiiiiime (said in a whiny voice). It was totally out of my control because my littlest didn't want to nap and therefore I had to continue on the marathon of our day without a breather. Not the end of the world but just enough to teeter me over the edge of reason. Patience runs dry for all of us. Mine was depleted by 3 pm.

It's a good thing they are cute.



Lucky for everyone Nate got home super early compared to his other nights of the week, busting through the door at 4pm with his Super Dad powers and annoying amounts of energy. We went to McDonalds for dinner because putting forth the effort in our kitchen was just not happening. Very good move as it was tasty and easy and the kids had a ball. Other positives from Thursday:  I did get a donut, a hot cup of coffee, and a fantastic workout completed today. Yes. Thursday was not so awful.



None of these ordeals are particularly earth-shattering. Combined they made for a helluva week, and yet? We survived. It could have been worse....especially if that bird had turned out to be a rat. Lord help me.

The baby is kicking like a man man (woman?) as I type this. I'm working on a fun little project for the gender reveal photo shoot which is a mere days away (!!) Our children are sleeping soundly in the same room, like little angels who did not challenge their mama this week at all (ha). Tomorrow is a fresh start. Someday it will be warm again and the snow will melt and we can all break out of this winter funk. It did snow RIGHT on top of my freshly cleaned mini-van, btw. February is such a fantastic month in general. Sigh. But life is still very, very good.



Also of note in the positive remarks arena, Truman had an adorable moment today while eating his donut.

T: "Mom, how did CC and I come out of your belly?"
Me: "Well, we went to the hospital and the doctor helped get you out of me." Easy as that! Riiiiiight.
T: "But what tools did they use?"
Me: hahahaha. "No tools, really. I just pushed you out of me." (praying that wouldn't sound too creepy.)
T: After thinking for a bit, "I think that probably hurt us." (Totally just painful for you, buddy, not me at all). "And I don't understand which way you pushed us." End of conversation.



I mean, adorable that he is starting to think about babies being inside and then coming out. He also asked me what we will do when this baby gets big enough to sit next to him at the table. 'Will we just have another baby then?' Ha. I told him that daddy doesn't want a fourth baby and three will be enough, but Truman did NOT agree. #BabyPusher

There have to be weeks like this to make the boring ones feel celebrated, I suppose. And it sure does feel good to vent about it all on the old blog ;)

Fave Kid Gear

As a mom of three, I sometimes forget how much time I spent researching baby gear for my first child back in 2010. I was literally obsessed with creating the 'right' registry and probably wasted way too many hours online comparing brands of bottles and pacifiers. I'm sure it's the same for many first time moms of present day, although there are SO many newer/cooler things out there now!

Babies seems to 'need' a lot of stuff and it can be overwhelming to decide what is truly necessary versus a luxury. Most of our baby stuff is over four years old now, since we got a lot of it from baby showers when I was pregnant with Truman. Most of it I would choose again in a heartbeat and since it somehow remained in decent shape, it's seen three babies through their newborn days. And then for our third baby I did modernize our baby gear a bit with a few main purchases, but otherwise we've used a lot of our same baby gear from the Truman era in 2010!

I also wanted to mention a few must have items for the toddlers and bigger kids out there, since that is when your house truly becomes overrun by all things plastic/a toy tornado site. We've learned a few things along the way as Truman paved our path of train tracks and cars ;)

But first, I will link to a few of my older posts I've written about baby gear. Not sure it will all apply years later but they are kind of interesting to read.

Nursing gear (March 2010)
Baby gear: month one (April 2010)
Baby gear: year one (February 2011)-car seats, strollers, high chairs, activity gear, etc

Researching strollers (November 2009)-pretty much just rambling about the BOB we kind of always knew we wanted
Money and Babies (January 2010)-budget breakdown of what we spent while pregnant with Truman, compared to what 'Baby Bargains' said we should spend.

Now. Onto my list of all lists. The lifesavers, the items I would buy over and over again, the gear that was worth every dime. I tried to keep this list minimal but there are a lot of other good/obvious things to have for kids (a boppy pillow, pacifiers, bottles, car seats, etc)----these are just my personal heavy hitters that might not always be on the standard lists. Some seem really pricey but again, I think they are worth it and I'm really cheap frugal so you know they must be good!

BABY STUFF:

1. The Ergo: specifically The Performance Collection style. $135


We also have a Bjorn and a Moby wrap, but the Ergo takes the cake for our favorite baby carrier. The 'performance' style is super light weight and easy to take on and off so Cecelia and Porter pretty much lived in this thing for the first few months of their lives. We never bought the newborn insert and instead I just tied the bottom off with a ribbon (see above) to make it narrow enough for their legs. Cecelia must have been about 3-4 months old when we bought it and over 12 pounds, so I figured the insert wasn't really necessary since it goes from 7-12 pounds. Truly an amazing purchase. I would frequently put Cecelia in the Ergo for EVERY outing and Truman would either be in the BOB or just walking (i.e. Target, Farmers Market, walks outside, State Fair, grocery shopping, etc). When Porter came along he also lived in it from about his second week of life on, and the big kids would be in the double BOB. I basically took the Ergo with me in the car at all times for Cecelia and also Porter because I was sure to use it with my babies that hated their car seats. And almost every evening if she got fussy, CC was in the Ergo and it helped tremendously. The only bummer is you cannot forward face the baby with an Ergo---but CC didn't mind having her head rest on my chest and didn't seem to care that she couldn't look around much. And yes, it's super comfortable. Never hurt my back once, which is something I can't say about the Bjorn and Moby. I used this very comfortably with Cecelia until she was fifteen months old.

The weight limits let you carry bigger kids on your back, too, but my kids haven't loved that option.  Each big kid has been back there once and we snapped pictures both times!



Many a walk with the Ergo. And a lot of drooling over the straps. My fourteen month girl and my seven week old boy.



How I survive Target trips with three children by myself: The Ergo! (plus snacks). How did women survive mothering three little ones before baby carriers??


2. Arm's Reach Mini Co-sleeper: $180


We bought this within days of bringing Truman home from the hospital because we were crazy to think he would sleep in his crib from day one. The pack-n-play didn't work well in our bedroom, so Nate found good reviews on this co-sleeper and it's the best. We used it for at least part of the night until Truman was about 6-7 months old and again for Cecelia from day one until about the same age. Porter currently doesn't enjoy sleeping ANYWHERE but on top of me but we still have this baby set up for him in case he changes his mind. I like having my babies close to me at night especially in those early months, and this is the next best thing to sleeping with them in my own bed (which I will also do). I like the size of this co-sleeper because it's really pretty tiny and hooks right up to the bed for easy nursing access in the middle of the night. There are lots of pockets for diapers, wipes, and burp cloths and I made this our diaper changing station for the nights, too. You can also pull up the dropped side and have this set up away from a bed, more like a bassinet--I think we tried that for awhile in the duplex with Truman, placing it in the dining room for a napping area. I've propped the 'mattress' up with a pillow before, to help with baby congestion and to sleep them on an incline and I've put them inside a boppy, inside the co-sleeper, too. It's pretty versatile and has been a great purchase for us!



3. Aden and Anais classic swaddle blankets: 4 pack for $50


I didn't have these for Truman but bought a pack before CC was born, hearing they were all the rage. This was one purchase I knew I would absolutely make for Porter since I loved them so much and couldn't stand to put my little man in his big sister's pink blankets;) Especially since Cecelia and Porter were both born in the summer, these were PERFECT for swaddling them, to use as burp cloths, and just to cover them up when we were out and about. They are light weight and super soft and feel a bit like heaven. Kind of want to venture into their other products but for now the swaddle blankets are our favorites.





4. Swaddle Me blankets by Summer: $16


Gah, baby Truman! You are killing me! We have a lot of these velcro swaddle blankets and I love them. I get bummed out when the kids get too big for them and wish they made them in toddler sizes (sort of kidding but not really). The velcro makes it really easy to strap them down tight and we have a few different weights/sizes (i.e. cotton versus fleece). They have held up really well for all three kids and each one had a hard time getting their hands free for awhile in them!





5. Baby Letto 'Nara' Glider and Ottoman: $950


This is obviously a nursery item and really pricey but we are still in love with this splurge bought for Cecelia's room. It's so incredibly comfortable with the high back and taller arm rests (for us tall parents!), it's held up really well through CONSTANT use, and I could easily sleep in it all night if only it reclined. Probably a good thing it doesn't recline to get me out of this baby and into my own bed, but we love this chair. The gliding motion is really smooth and the gliding ottoman is also a big key to the comfort. I cannot tell you how many hours I've spent nursing and rocking my babies in this glider. So happy we took the plunge and got a comfortable and 'nice' nursery chair for our second child!




6. BOB Revolution SE: $450, plus handle bar console $25, and snack tray $30

Our only stroller, and we swear by it. And yes, we kept the single even when we upgraded to a double because we still use the single BOB all of the time with one of the kids.
(with infant car seat adapter)


(without the car seat--Nate and Truman are pumped to take a picture!)


Definitely recommend the Revolution because of the ability to un-lock the wheel. Neither Nate nor I can stand to have that wheel locked----not for running or walking. It's so much easier to push and turn with the wheel unlocked, so I can't imagine liking the other version with a fixed wheel. We have the infant car seat adapter for our single BOB, the snack tray, and the handle bar console. Kind of annoying that you have to buy all of this separately but again, we really do love this stroller. I've taken it everywhere--inside the mall, Target, the zoo, etc. It's easy to fold up and it's amazing to run with one kid in here. Well, as amazing as it gets to run while pushing a large weighted object in front of you.

TODDLERS:

1. Tot Clock by Amazon: $60

We bought this clock when Truman was about 18 months old, because he was pulling his classic stunt of waking at 4:30 or 5:00 am FOR.THE.DAY.EVERYDAY. It was horrible and we could not convince him to fall back to sleep. We knew he might be a bit young for this concept of yellow meaning 'awake' and blue meaning 'sleep'. But after a few months he got it and we still swear by this clock. Over time we have gradually changed his wake up time from 5:30 (which used to be 'good'), to 6:15, and now we have it set for 7:30am on weekends or days at home. So freaking amazing that Truman will literally wake up, see that his clock is still blue, and will roll over and go back to sleep until it's yellow. Sometimes I will hear him wake up about 30 minutes before it's set to change to yellow and he will just play by himself in his bed until it changes. Like clockwork, that kid;)

We also used this for naps for a long time, to encourage a nap that is at least 2 hours (light blue for nap time, and again switches to yellow to wake). It also used to be very important for bedtime, which we still technically have set for 7pm which is laughable now. But he used to know when the clock turned blue for the night he was going to bed! There is a green light that you can use for good behavior and a red light for time out---we don't use those very much, but will use the green for 5 minutes to give T iPod time before his nap. This clock has a really creepy 'bedtime story' option and possibly some music or something that we only hear if T accidentally plays with the controls. Totally gives me a heart attack to hear some random lady reading a bedtime story upstairs, through the monitor. Luckily that does't happen often!

Anyway, if you are struggling with a kid who wakes up WAY too early, or who won't go to bed at night, or who won't nap long enough-----this has been a life saver for us. Truly. I was going to buy one for CC but now that the two kids are going to share a room soon, there really isn't a point. I don't know if she will follow the clock rules as much as her big brother, anyway, but we will see. He sure does love the thing, so we can't complain.

2. Kids Table: Tot Tutors Table and Chair set from Toys R Us $100


We bought this for Truman's second birthday and have gotten SO much use out of this table and four chairs. Whenever we have friends over, the kids can use this as their dinner table. My kids use it for breakfast and lunch at home, plus snacks. We do crafts on this table and in general, let the kiddos use it however they'd like. Cecelia also likes to push the chairs around the house, so it's a good thing we added felt pads to the chairs and table legs to protect the hardwood floors.


Considering how much we use this table, it's holding up pretty well. I have to tighten the screws every now and then (and I was the one that assembled the whole thing alone, which makes me proud!) but it's a good little table and chair set.

3. V-tech 3 in 1 Learning Zebra Scooter: $40


I wasn't going to include any 'toys' in this post, but then I saw a few pictures of this zebra on Flickr and realized that we used this ALL of the time in the driveway when the weather was nice. It goes from a push toy, to a riding toy, to a little scooter and CC couldn't get enough of it. It was actually a gift for Truman's first birthday and he liked it a lot, too, but we always kept it inside back then. It's a much better outside toy but it does talk/play music so we have to put it in the garage at night. The songs aren't horribly annoying and there are a few little toys that fit on top (a cell phone, a head lamp, and a compass) that will make the animals on safari do different things. I just really like this toy for some reason, mostly because how cute is Cecelia on the scooter?


It was also the first push toy she used to learn to walk. Obviously a keeper. I backed over one of the other push toys with my car once, and am happy it wasn't this one.


MANAGING MULTIPLE CHILDREN: 

1. Double BOB: the Revolution SE Dualie $660, plus snack tray $50, plus console for handlebars $30


(another version of a two year old plus baby)


Love our double BOB as much or more than the single. Yes, its huge and heavy when lifting it up into my trunk, but all double strollers are beasts. We still run with this stroller pretty often and it does push easily---again, because of the unlocked wheel (key!). It's expensive, but again---all double strollers seem to be pricey. It's a lot of stroller when you think about it.


We like the side by side style but I can see how a tandem would be nice, too. This one may be wide but the kids like sitting next to each other, and it does fit through doorways at the zoo (but not Starbucks, unfortunately).




Maybe it's just because we loved our single BOB, so we knew we'd just get the double someday---but we are big fans.

2. All Terrain Cargo Wagon by Radio Flyer: $150



A third birthday gift for Truman, and an awesome one at that. Love the big wheels, it turns really well, the sides can be removed for easy in/out with little kids that want to do it all by themselves. I can fit this in the back of my trunk with a little elbow grease so it's our favorite device for the zoo or other outdoor places like that. It seems to have pretty good shocks and is a smooth ride for the kiddos.



We can fit three kids in here someday, obviously, since our cooler of booze fit nicely one summer.



Upgrades for Porter, our third baby: (so modern, so fancy, he's so lucky!)

1. Boon Flair Pedestal High Chair $280

Guess who found this Boon highchair on Craigslist? For a whopping $65? Yep! Porter is going to be eating in style. I lusted after this baby when Cecelia first started to eat solids. I talked myself out of it because of the price but I should have taken the plunge with baby 2 so that we could have gotten lots of use out of it! Just so clean looking, and easy to wipe down, and not a monstrosity. I do like to use a high chair in general, instead of just moving right to a booster, because it's nice to have them up high and easily portable from kitchen to dining room to family room. I put CC in her highchair to snack while I'd make dinner a LOT back in the day, and we'd pull her highchair into the family room to eat breakfast with Truman in the mornings, too. A booster, or even the bumbo seat wouldn't be quite as convenient for us and also not possible with our dog roaming the house, preying on all people food within reach.

I'll let you know how great this chair is once Porter is eating solids.


2. 4Moms MamaRoo: $249.99 plus the Newborn Insert: $29.99

I just so happened to email 4Moms before I took the plunge and bought one of these beauts from Craigslist, and well...the blog finally paid off! Best gift(s) ever! The MamaRoo has seriously been a lifesaver for us with Porter. It was literally the only place he would sleep until he was four weeks old, and even after that we use it all of the time. But those first four weeks we literally carried the MamaRoo up to our room every night and back down stairs every morning because we used it so often. And it's really not too heavy even when lugging it around our house! Not only does it look really modern and cool, but it has five different motions, five different nature sound options, AND you can plug in any mp3 player to use your favorite baby soothing tunes through the speakers. Currently we have an iPod plugged in that blasts my new favorite white noise soundtrack called 'Baby Got Colic'. This should be another category of 'must have' items for us because it's the only white noise that soothes Porter. But I digress...

The MamaRoo seat reclines back for a newborn and as Porter grows we can tilt it so he is more upright. The reversible newborn insert is also a must for little bitty babies, to keep them from sliding all over the place. I really love this swing and am so thankful we were gifted one!

3. 4Moms Breeze Playard: $299.99


This is like a super modern, easy-to-use 'pack-n-play'. It's claim to fame is that it's incredibly simple to set up and take down unlike traditional PNPs and I agree---it really is easy! Right now we are using this as Porter's diaper changing station on the main level and it's been awesome to have in our sunroom.






4. 4Moms Infant Tub: $49.99


We always just used the standard inexpensive blue plastic tub for Truman and Cecelia, but when 4Moms gave me this I was super excited! It fits right inside the kitchen sink, has a digital thermometer to help gauge water temps, and allows clean water to flow in while the dirty stuff flows out. Super fancy and Porter loves it!

(My model didn't want to get undressed for these pictures)






5. Foscam video cameras: $65 each, with iPhone app $6

Something else that I wanted for Cecelia but never got was a video monitor. A blog reader pointed me in the direction of Foscam on Amazon and I'm so glad we went this route! We bought two cameras, mounted them in each bedroom, and can watch the kids' shenanigans on our phones/iPad/computers. Seriously fabulous. The camera has two-way audio, infrared light for viewing creepy white-eyed children at night, and we can move the camera around from our phones. Supposedly we can also view the rooms when we are off our own Wi-Fi but our internet company seems to have some sort of firewall that we can't figure out. Still awesome and even with two cameras it is a lot cheaper than any of the true 'video baby monitors' out there. I guess this is more of a security camera/nanny cam option and we love it.

This is the app--I get a lot of questions about this one and these cameras in general.




Mounted in Porter's room. Big brother is watching, buddy!


To end this post, I will share Nate's thoughts on the matter. I asked him 'what would you say is the most important kids gear we have right now?' His response: "Both of the BOBs.....and our second fridge in the basement, which holds all of our beer."

Ah, yes. Alcohol. Another great item on the 'must have' list, dear husband. What else did I miss?