Mama Made Them wooden toy review

I normally don't review products on here, but these wooden toys are so cool that I wanted to share...

Wooden toys from Mama Made Them on Etsy-
We purchased these through a group buy (at a discount) as Christmas gifts for the boys. These are such good quality that I would definitely be willing to pay full price for them.  These toys are big fun for little hands & creative minds!

Bath toys - both boys have lots of fun with these in the bathtub. Good bye plastic bath toys, hello durable wooden toys!


Playground - my oldest LOVES this. The merry-go-round is so cool as is the swing.


Fire truck, bulldozer & flatbed truck - I love that the ladder comes off of the firetruck. The flatbed truck is just awesome.


Gas & Go Set - this one is awesome because it comes with 3 vehicles & lots of wooden people. All around fun.


LittleBigMan says his favorite toy is the firetruck. He thinks the peg person that is small with a black shirt & dark hair is himself. He has quite the adventures, especially when he replaces the fireman with himself! (And the red person in the back is his cousin Parker who I'm told is also a "good guy")


And here he is rescuing Daddy from the top of the swing...


Not pictured - teething keys. Baby Z really enjoys the sound these make & of course chewing on them.

Mama Made Them has some other great items... more vehicles, tools, storytelling sets, buildings & more. I think the Sun House & Little Kitchen look especially fun.

So if you're on the lookout for well made, durable toys that spark creativity go check out Mama Made Them.

Bunkbeds

Not long ago, Troy and I decided to make bunkbeds for the boys. We are almost finished building - we just need to add the safety rails & then I need to sand & finish the wood. LittleBigMan has asked about the bunkbeds every-single-day since we told him we are making this for him & his bro. Here are some project pics...

A summery day at the park (Oct 4th)-

And just 4 days later... our first real snow of the season-

BOOMER SOONER!

Fall

Though it's quite warm today, it is certainly beginning to look like Fall around here. Aspens are my favorite tree for a few different reasons, but mostly because of how they look this time of year. They stand out beautifully among all of the evergreens surrounding our home...


And here a few recent random pics...
Troy got a pic of one of the many hummingbirds that visit us each summer-


Baby Z enjoying his new carseat. It's so nice that he actually sleeps in the carseat now... makes going places much easier!-


3 has been a very tumultuous age for LittleBigMan. Here he is crying because... drumroll please... he's worried he could fall through the slats of the deck railing (even though his head is clearly atleast double the width of the space between them)...


That's all for now... we're just trying to soak up the last of this warm, summery weather.

Locks of Love

I have been thinking it's time for a change with my hair.  I decided to cut enough (10" or more) to donate to Locks of Love.  I am really pleased with my haircut from Crystal at the Harmony in Hair Salon.  It's so light and summery and just the change I've been needing.

Before

After

12 weeks old (and more)

On Tuesday, Baby Z turned 12 weeks old

At 12 weeks old he is...

cooing & smiling a lot

sleeping for 4 hours straight at night then waking ever 2 hours to nurse

taking 1 long nap plus several short naps during the day

prefers to be held in a sitting position instead of laying down

is still not a fan of the swing or bouncer (but we do get lucky using them every once in awhile)

still doesn't like being in the carseat

recently laughed for the first time

loves being naked

usually likes taking a bath

loves being talked to

seems to enjoy being outdoors

loves being worn in a babywearing wrap

uses a pacifier

still HAS to be swaddled to sleep well

He has also recently found his hands (and I'm pretty sure he will be a thumb sucker).  Here's how it goes...

 Step 1: Notice a hand in front of your face
 Step 2: Realize it is in fact your own hand, yay!
 Step 3: Wildly move hand toward mouth (usually punching yourself in the head once or twice in the process).
 Step 4: Touch hand to mouth.  VICTORY!
  Step 5: Give hand a little taste test.
 Step 6: Realize hand is not what you were wanting and grimace in disgust.

In other news…

…Baby Z can now sit in the Bumbo Seat.  He even seemed to love it when we put him in it for bath time this evening. 

…LittleBigMan found a laptop his size and had fun "checkin’ his email"

…we got a HAMMOCK!

 

Independence Day

We hope everyone had a nice Independence Day! We didn't do much - Troy volunteered with the Manitou Fire Dept. to be on stand-by during the fireworks.  LittleBigMan and I drove to a part of our neighborhood where we could see fireworks.  He really enjoyed them!

Rhino Pal

LittleBigMan has a new "friend".  His name is Rhino (original, huh?).  This is one of the coolest stuffed animals I've ever seen.

It's a 3-in-1 toy.
1) Plush animal


2) Opens to a pillow


3) Unzips to a blanket


It's a Zoobies!  Go check out all of the cool animals HERE.  Aren't they fun?!?!

Our 5th Anniversary

Today is our 5th wedding anniversary.


Where has the time gone?

For our special day, we enjoyed dinner at a really nice restaurant!

Bib & snack bag review

I recently purchased some items from Little Bugs Boutique.  Since  I love the items so much, I thought I would do a review here.  Amanda, the owner, was very nice to work with.  I ended up with 4 snack size reusable bags and 2 toddler bibs.

Here are the bags....

They are very well constructed and the perfect size!

Here are the bibs...


They look a bit different don't they?  Well, they are.  They offer great coverage so that the child's shoulders are covered.  Also, the snaps on the bottom are great because they create a pocket for catching food, but can be unsapped for easy clean up.

As a seamstress myself, I was impressed with the professional stitching on the items.

If you're in need of custom bracelets, stitch markers (for knitting/crocheting), bibs, cloth wipes or snack and sandwich bags go check out her stuff!
on HyenaCart
or cloth diapering mamas can find her here

Mother's Day

Thanks to my husband and my sweet little boy, I had a great Mother's Day.  Here's how we celebrated...

I got to sleep in until 9 a.m.!!!  We ate lunch at SouperSalad.  Yum...


Then we went to Palmer Park and did some hiking...


LittleBigMan received a lesson on why we don't touch the cacti...


Took a quick break to get a photo of me and my son...


LittleBigMan did really well hiking, but got tired at the end.  Daddy to the rescue...


LittleBigMan was pretty excited to see an airplane fly right over us...


And with some help from Daddy, LittleBigMan told me "happy. mama. day".

Baby A

*I thought I read the contest rules closely, but I did not.  I have changed the photo to one that has been taken within the last six months*

This is one of my favorite recent photos of my son, Baby A (no longer a baby and now nicknamed LittleBigMan). I snapped lots of pics that day.  Like in this photo, he laughed a lot at my goofy attempts to get him to smile.  He was such a good sport.  And, of course, bribing him with playing at the park didn't hurt.      

I'm entering this photo in the Beautiful Baby Photo Contest.  Please go vote for my little guy on MAY 17TH here:

and join in the fun by entering a photo of your beautiful baby!