BLUUM July 2013 Review

I am WAY behind on posting a review for our July BLUUM box! I received it about 2 weeks ago! Let me start off by saying I was blown away this month by bluum's customer service. I had a concern about my box, contacted them about it, and within 24 hours was contacted back. They then proceeded to go above and beyond to make my bluum experience nothing short of amazing! This really impressed me! I love a company that stands behind their product and puts the customer first!! A+ BLUUM!!

Onto my box contents. I am going to make this short and sweet since their are a million other reviews out there that beat me to the punch! Here is a look inside my box....

I didn't go through and price each item this month, but just for a frame of reference, the funktion wristlet is for sale from the retailers website for $39!

That has to put the value of this box at well over $50!!

BLUUM subscription is $25 a month! 

Sign up with this link: http://bluum.me/14uSApw

And As far as I can tell the code PAMPERS will still save you up to 50% off!!

By using my link I will earn BLUUM points! So thanks if you do ;)

You have until this Saturday, August 10th at midnight to sign up if you want to get the August box! After that your firsts month will be September!

~Brooke

July Citrus Lane Box Review

We got our July Citrus Lane box for a 40 month old boy today in the mail (I upped his age a bit). Anderson was sooo excited to open it but I did manage to get a few pictures in. We were very pleased (and pleasantly surprised) with our box this month! Here are our contents...

A goodbyn bento box with dishwasher safe stickers to decorate it yourself! This was a huge hit because Anderson Loves stickers! We decorated it together immediately! And he wanted a snack in it right away. He has been carrying it around all morning!

This car was the first thing he noticed in the box. It is a Melissa and Doug paintable wooden car that you put together. Kind of like a first model car. Her actually has done a bigger version of this before and loved doing it so we were thrilled to get this! He cannot wait to paint it!

A pack of freeze dried just bananas - these were consumed immediately as you can tell from the empty package. A big hit! I was happy because Anderson is such a picky eater but he loved these - in my book that means that any kid would probably love them!

Cool it buddy instant ice pack. A 2 pack if single use ice packs that do not have to stay in your freezer - great for the accident prone kiddo ;)

Last, but not least, a certificate for 10 free postgrams. I have never used these before but am really excited to try them. They are photo postcards that you design yourself and the photo pops out as a keepsake for the recipient! Great for out of town family!! 

All in all we were very pleased this month!  The total cost I estimated for this box is...

Bento box - $8.99

Dishwasher safe stickers - $3.50

Wooden car paint set - $5.02 on sale on amazon (normally $8.99)

Cool Packs - $2.99

Just bananas - $1.50

Postgram - $0.99 per card (10 cards)

Total - $31.90 and that is with the car sale price

Last month we were disappointed with our CL box, but after this month, the great products and how excited Anderson was, I think we will keep it up!!

Here is a link to sign up and a coupon code for 1/2 off! 

Link: http://ctrus.me/cSJD

Coupon: TAKEHALF

This makes your fist box only $12.50 - totally worth it in my opinion!

I will get a credit if you use my link, so thanks a ton if you do!!

The 4th

It was kind of a bummer 4th of July since it rained ALL day! We had fun at a cook out, turned "cook in" this afternoon with some friends from church... Then had pizza and fireworks at my parents house this evening (it was even sprinkling while we did fireworks). Last year Anderson wasn't a huge fan of fireworks, but this year he loved them! We even made a little vine video of him saying "wooo, 'Merica" haha it was pretty cute. If you aren't on vine, I highly recommend it! It is a fave phone app of ours! Here are a few pictures from our evening!

That tongue! He seriously has it sticking out any time he is concentrating:

There is that tongue again... And yes, his shoes are on the wrong feet! Haha!

I am hoping it is a sunny week because we have serious cabin fever from all the rain this past week! I even took both kids to the mall Tuesday to get out! We met Alyssa Laing and her kiddos... 4 babies in the mall is kind of crazy! But we managed to have some fun!! 

We cannot believe it is JULY! Life is flying by, and we are trying to enjoy all these sweet moments in the life stage that our babies are in - some days are easier than others ;)

Thankful for freedom, family, friends, and most of all faith in Christ! (How's that for some good southern baptist alliteration ;))

~Brooke

6 months old

I seriously cannot believe my baby girl is 6 months old today! (Partly because I keep thinking she would be 6 months on the 29th, not the 28th haha - I just can't seem to keep it straight! - he brother is September 29th). She is such a joy! Here are some baby Camille updates:

-she is so smiley! When she first wakes up she is just tickled and can't stop showing off that sweet toothless grin!

- she LOVES her daddy! If he is in the room all she is doing is trying to get his attention!

-she sits up great!

- she gets up on all 4s and rocks back and forth. She can move her knees but hasn't quite gotten her hand movement down yet, but full on crawling is in our near future!

- she loves food! (Total opposite of her brother). We haven't given her much more than table food to suck/ chew on. Apples, carrots, avocado, pears, watermelon, mango, mashed potatoes, and perhaps a few other things! She can't get enough and when we take it away she cries and cries!

- she laughs easy and is really ticklish

- she loves mommy to sing to her - you are my sunshine is her favorite!

- she loves her granna and lights up when she talks or sings to her!

- she has a tiny bit of stranger danger and does not like to stay in church nursery!

- she goo's and ga's like a champ! And when she cries it sounds like she says "ma-ma" which I think is pretty sweet because it sounds like she is wanting me :)

- she is seriously so pretty! Those BIG eyes and luscious lashes melt my heart (I think her eyes may turn green)

- she seems to love wearing bows and has never tried to take one off or acted like it bothers her- that's my girl!

I am seriously so in love with this little bundle! Her squishy legs are quite possibly my favorite thing ever, and I could just talk to her all day! I look so forward to developing a sweet relationship with my daughter. God is so gracious to have given us these precious children. Our hearts are so full!

I will do a little update Monday with some stats after our checkup!

BLUUM box and Citrus Lane box REVIEWS! JUNE 2013

Today I received my first BLUUM box, and my first Citrus Lane box! I was really surprised at how early they arrived! My initial thought on the boxes is that the Citrus Lane box was significantly smaller than the BLUUM box. Which was a bit surprising to me since they are the same cost. I will review the BLUUM box first. It is for a 7 month old girl....

The theme for this month is "sitting" which is great for us because that is exactly what stage our baby girl is in! The box was pretty heavy and packed full! I was impressed already on first glance.

Here are the Contents:

This book is so cute and comes with a rubber ducky bath squirty...

There are actually 2 Sippi Grips in this package, and they really have great grip on them so a sippy would not slip out of them! We will get a lot of use out of these starting in the next few months. I had another brand with my first and the sippys did sometimes manage to slip out!

These are baby sunglasses with a band to keep them from falling or being pulled off. We may use them, but they are not terribly stylish. The band however is soft and has a velcro closure so it can be adjusted to fit any head size.

I have never had a water thermometer for my children's baths, but I will most likely use it.. I just never bought one for myself.

The box also came with an Ella's Kitchen organic squeeze pouch, a vapur "The Anti-Bottle" water pouch for adults (or children), a parenting book called Brain Rules for Baby: How to Raise a Smart and Happy Child from Zero to Five, and a guide to early reading for your baby and toddler (an information booklet).

I loved this box! I was shocked by how many items it contained and that there were really no "samples". The parenting book alone is marked on the back as US $15 (which is what I paid for the whole box with a discount code). Here is the value (I googled each item):
Bath book and toy - $8.99
Brain Rules for Baby: How to Raise a Smart and Happy Child from Zero to Five - $15
Vapus "anti-bottle - $9
Ella's Squeeze Pouch - $1.99
Sippi Grip 2 pack - $15
KIdz Banz sunglasses - $17
Dreambaby bath thermometer - &7.99 on amazon - other providers offer it for $3.99

Total - $70.97 (using the cheaper price for the thermometer) - An excellent value at $25 for a one month subscription!

Now onto citrus lane...

This box was on the light size, which was a little disappointing considering it's already much smaller size. It is for a 34 month old boy. Here is the initial view

The card gives a list of what is inside. I was disappointed to only see 4 items.

The first item I saw was an iPlay sun hat. The one pictured on the card was a cute colorful hat, but mine was plain white - which i was not very impressed with. It is rather large and not terribly stylish. Not sure I will use it.

This is a Haba Toy sand castle mold, and again mine is more plain than any pictured on the card. It is ust basically a brick - a sandcastle wall is how the haba website describes it.

I loved this chalk, and so will Anderson! the gripper keeps their hands clean - which i really appreciate.

Last, a sample size of Episencial sunscreen.

Honestly, i was pretty disappointed with this box. it was my first so I was able to get it at a discount, but had I paid the $25 for the month I would have been very disappointed! Here is the cost breakdown:

iPlay hat - $7.99-$12 (differing sites)

Sandcastle mold - $4.74

Chalk - $4.56

Sunscreen - (2.7 oz full size is on sale for $11.85 So I will be generous and say this is worth...) $9

Total Value: $30 and that is using hte $12 price for the hat

I have a credit on my citrus lane account so I will probably get on e more month - maybe this was just an off month, but based on the contents of this box, I would not renew if I did not have the credit. It seems to me that the only thing my son will be excited about is the sidewalk chalk - which was the item with the least value. Sorry Citrus Lane, but BLUUM blew you out of the water in my opinion! 

Here is a coupon code to both companies if you are interested - you may have loved the things in my CL box, and if so go for it! Maybe next month's box will be great! But, I would HIGHLY recommend BLUUM! I was thoroughly impressed!

Also if you sign up through my links, I will get a credit to my account!! 

BLUUM Code: PAMPERS - not sure when this code expires! BUt I would pay full price for this box honestly!

Use my link to sign up! http://bluum.me/14uSApw 

CL Code: TAKEHALF 

Use my link to sign up! https://www.citruslane.com/invitedby/citrus.lane.966622

3 Months / 2 and a half

The past 3 months have to had been the fastest in my life. I seriously cannot believe that our girl is 3 months old! She is getting so BIG and  we are falling more and more in love with her each day! The house truly is sweeter with a baby girl around. Camille weighed 10lbs 11oz at her 2 month check up (which was about a week after she turned 2 months), but we have not had a weight check since then. We graduated her up to 3-6 month clothes on her 3 month "birthday". She can still sit into many of her 0-3 month clothes, but some are too short. She is LONG.

She can roll over from belly to back and does so pretty much any time we have tummy time. She goo's all the time and is very smiley. She is awake and alert most of the day besides a morning nap and an afternoon nap. Thankfully, she takes an afternoon nap the same time as her big brother most days - which mommy really appreciates! Camille still loves to be snuggled and held close and tight. She loves her activity mat and concentrates so hard to get her hand up and bop all of her toys. She is really good at it - better than I remember Anderson being at her age. She is a great nurser - eating every 3 ours during the day, and then doing a long stretch from midnight until anywhere from 4-6am! I cannot believe that I regularly get a 5 or 6 hour stretch! Anderson didn't let me sleep that long until he was like 10 months old! It is an incredible, unexpected blessing! And since I am such a night owl, it really is only waking me up once a night. We love our soft, sweet, snuggle bunny girl! Her sweet goo's and happy shrieks bring a new joy to our house. Seeing her brother love on her multiplies it by 10! Being a family of four is better than we could have imagined!

 

"I love to roll over"

 

 I think she looks so big in this one!

 

Not so thrilled to be getting her picture taken

 

This one made me laugh... looks like she is gabbing to a friend

 

Happy girl!

 

They love each other so much!

 

Anderson is 2 and a half now! I am AMAZED at how he has grown and matured since his second birthday. His vocabulary and ability to carry on a conversation blow me away daily. Just tonight he was making a joke calling everything at dinner a cookie - we had breakfast and he was calling the sausage a "meat cookie". Then he told Jon his Eggs were all gone and when Jon acted surprised he said "I am just jokin daddy" haha. He is such a little nut. He loves to help me cook. Literally EVERY time I am in the kitchen he pulls a dinning room chair in to be my sous chef. He does a pretty good job too. Anderson is also such a big helper. He is very neat and tidy and picks up is toys so well. One day when picking him up from Sunday School, his teacher said "Anderson is such a good cleaner. He is the only kid that helped clean up and he picked up all the crayons by himself"! So proud of our little man. He has been all about mommy lately, wanting me to hold him - I think this is because of how my time is now divided between two kiddos, but he has been really sweet about it and never acts jealous. He loves pretend play, cooking me breakfast with pretend toys, (he always makes me eggs and coffee). He loves me to play cars and make them have conversations with each other. He LOVES to play games. Uno Moo and Silly Faces are his two favorite "board games" - we play them each at least 3 times a day. He also loves to play domino's and he can totally match them! I was impressed when he picked it up so quickly. One thing that makes me laugh is how much he STILL loves his little push "popper". I really think of it as a baby toy, but he still plays with it daily. I think it is in correlation with his cleaning obsession, because when he is finished playing with it he often parks it with my vacuum - haha. Anderson is seriously the easiest, best toddler that I can imagine. We are so blessed to have such a bright, loving son. Our hearts are overflowing every day!

 

Here is our silly boy. He has the funniest little personality; keeps us laughing!

 

 

Oh yeah, I cannot forget to mention that Anderson peed on the potty for the first time. He sat on the potty one night for 45 minutes because he wanted a "prize" so bad. He cried when he had to get off to go to bed, so the next morning he wanted to get right back on the potty and sat there for another 15 minutes before finally going. He got a small Hot Wheels and was thrilled. Then he had 2 accidents and much to my dismay told me now that he had his prize he didn't want to go to the potty again! My mom tried to get him to go at her house and he said "Ganna, Andersin not do dat stuff" and laughed. So we are back to square 1! Here is the proud boy when he actually had potty success! (Sorry to those of you that may not be interested in seeing toddler pee) 

 

 

~Brooke

 

Paci-Free

Yes, that is right, my 2.5 year old is now officially "Paci-Free". Amen!

It is kind of a funny story.

Anderson bit a HUGE hole in his last paci. I am talking massive dangling piece hole. He didn't so much mind the hole seeing as he mostly chewed his paci anyway. Before bed I literally had to cut the dangling hole off of the paci, so we explained to Anderson that tonight (Friday) would be his last night with his paci, that tomorrow we would throw it away and go get him a small something new to take in bed with him instead. The next day he woke up and I asked him if he remembered what we were going to do today.

He said "frow ayay andersin's paci" I told him that was correct and asked if he was excited, to which he replied "no, andersin's sad".

We let him have his paci for the "last nap" and when he woke up we started getting everything ready to head out, dispose of the paci, and get this new small thing. Once we were almost ready I asked Anderson where we were going to throw away his paci. He said "Andersin aw-yeady did". I said "you already did?" And he replied "yes! See yight here mommy" and sure enough there was his paci in the garbage. I cracked up!

I had surely been dreading this day for a LONG time, and had done everything possible to avoid it... And here my big boy had thrown his beloved paci away all on his own. We began the night with a few tears, but once they subsided he never woke up once. We have now had a successful, tear-free nap and bedtime! I feel like I need one of those "That was easy" buttons. So much dreading over something so anti-climatic. I would be lying if I said I didn't shed a few tear over my big boy laying in is big bed with no paci - where did my tiny baby boy go? But alas, I know that my desire is for him to GROW into a man who loves Jesus and does not suck a paci, so I had a peace about it and was able to pull it together - haha!

Now onto potty training.... AHHH


One of our last paci pictures: