I was so excited to write this review of Cuddle Covers because they are amazing! Cody had gotten one of the pillow pets (not sure if it was this brand name, but it was from walmart or somewhere like that) as a gift and loved it, but it completely fell apart in the washing machine so that was that.

I was soooo excited to get a Cuddle Cover for Cody because it was similar to the pillow pet, but WAY better, in my opinion :) You can fit a full size pillow in the Cuddle Cover which is nice now that Cody is in a big boy bed, or you can buy one of their pillows to fit it as well. The covers are machine washable and look like new coming out of the dryer. They have ADORABLE covers to choose from! Cody picked Max the Dog and LOVES to cuddle him at night! I love that they are reasonably priced and you can get a mini stuffed animal that looks like your Cuddle Cover for free (you just pay the shipping and handling). Overall Cody has loved his Cuddle Cover and so have I!

Luke got the Lion cuddle cover and loves it! What I love about it most is that you can actually use it as a pillow. Luke also has one of the pillow pets but the tail, etc. are in the middle of the pillow – not leaving a lot of room to lay your head on it and actually use it as a pillow! I love that with these, it’s a full size pillow and the covers are SO soft and cuddly! This would make a great gift for any occasion!!

Four years ago my mom and sister-in-law threw me an amazing baby shower at a place called The Tea Cozy Cottage in Mariemont, Ohio. It was a darling cottage that had tradition English tea with all the delicious food you could think of! I have fond memories of having Tea there with friends and family while celebrating the anticipated arrival of our first born, Luke.

When I heard The Tea Cozy Cottage had closed I was pretty bummed out! Until I heard the cottage had new owners and I was anxious to check out what changes they had made. My mom and I were invited to go for a Mother’s Day Tea and we were blown away by the beautiful transformation of the cottage! It is now called Heritage Tastings at the Cottage and you can tell they’ve worked hard on the outside because it looks like a different place entirely! The landscaping is beautifully done and they’ve also added a garden patio which looks so inviting you’re not sure if you’d rather enjoy the tea room inside or the outdoor patio al fresco!

There’s more good news because they’ve added a few more things to the cottage and they are now offering wine and beer tastings along with weekend dinners and weekend tea sittings! If you’ve never been, you should absolutely check this place out for your next upcoming special event, the charm of the cottage will have you coming back time and again! They are open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for afternoon Tea Sittings and evening Dinner. Their website has more info on special events!

TEA SITTINGS:
A 5 course meal for $22 includes finger sandwiches, scone, fruit and cheese plate, soup, salad, quiche, and dessert. The Heritage Tastings Tea Sitting’s are seasonally inspired with the fresh appeal of the farmer’s market and our own garden vegetables, herbs and greens. Check back often to view the changing menu.

DINNER:
The Heritage Tastings dinner menu is a prix fixe menu of 5 courses for $30. The themed menu changes frequently and includes appetizer, salad, soup, entree, and dessert. We feature dining choices that are thoughtfully prepared and in appropriate portion sizes so you will have the opportunity to indulge in a multi-course dining experience. You also have the option of a wine or beer pairing which includes a different drink carefully selected to harmonize with each course.

My mom and I enjoying Tea for Mother's Day!

They have 8 featured teas a month!

It’s important to also keep in mind that Heritage Tastings is a unique and cozy place to relax and enjoy, don’t expect to come here for a fast chain restaurant type experience. The owners are dedicated to ensuring you have a great experience and they work hard to provide that for you. The cottage has limited seating so even if you have a reservation you may have to wait a few minutes to get seated, but don’t be in a rush – the service for us was wonderful and we loved every minute. While we were there we noticed a couple groups waiting and they were fairly impatient despite the fact that the cottage was packed and they were doing their best to keep up with the excellent personal service and amazing food. I would imagine that word has spread fast that you are in for a treat when you go to Heritage Tastings!

Jennie will be going next to try out one of their Wine Tastings or Dinner and I can’t wait to hear how she liked it! After tea we went shopping for the baby girl and we came home with some adorable PINK clothes for her! Grandma had already bought her first dress for her and I can’t tell you how surreal it was standing in the girls section at the store! I honestly thought I would never be over there buying for my own little girl! All in all, it was a Mother’s Day I will never forget! Be sure to check out Heritage Tastings Facebook page to stay up to date on all their upcoming events! Their menu also changes each month so be sure to check that out on their website!

I am a HUGE supporter of Boar’s Head. This is the only deli meat I will buy. YES, it is more costly than most, BUT for GOOD REASON!

• No artificial ingredients
• Minimally processed
• Raised without antibiotics or hormones
• No nitrates
• Gluten free
• No MSG
• No preservatives
• No fillers

Boar’s Head meat, in my opinion, is superior for all the reasons above. Nitrates, antibiotics and hormones (among the other things on this list) are nasty little things and I really recommend not putting in your body, especially if you are preggers or putting in your kids growing bodies. I am excited to try their new flavors: Boar’s Head Jerk Turkey, Chipotle Chicken, 3 Pepper Colby Jack Cheese and Chipotle Gouda!! YUMMY :)

We had one of the most memorable weekends…finding out if we are having a boy or girl in September! This is all new to us since we didn’t find out with Luke and loved that. This time, we thought we’d do something a little different and have a gender reveal party! We had our big ultrasound a week before the party and the ultrasound tech printed a picture with “it’s a  boy or girl” on it and we put it in a sealed envelope to give to our baker. She made a cake for us with either pink or blue icing and we cut into the cake on Saturday with friends and family (near and far…lots of webcam/facetime was also involved for the fam back in London and across the USA!). It was a fantastic day and a magical moment for us to share with everyone! We were absolutely SHOCKED, thrilled and surprised to find out what we were having! Enjoy the pictures, videos and all the links to some great Etsy shops who donated some amazing things for the party!

For anything party related I turn to Etsy – you can get everything you need there! There were two invites I LOVED for the party:

This invite was done by Kiyomi Designs and she was fabulous to work with! She will personalize anything for you and it printed so adorable!

Check out her Etsy shop HERE. You will find the most adorable, unique, custom designed invitations, cards, business logos, and other fun items for birthday parties, baby showers, holidays, and special events that can be personalized to help make your special occasion memorable.

This was the other invite that was SUPER cute with the honey bee theme! It was personalized by Nicolle Spitulnik from LibbyLanePress.

What I loved about this was that it came with an entire printable collection for a Honeybee Gender Reveal Party! All of the other printables I had came from this collection and they came out looking fantastic! Keep scrolling to see all the other adorable things included in this collection! Check out her Etsy store HERE. There are SO many adorable party printables at Libby Lane Press! Check it out for your next big party!

I had a really hard time for some reason with the text not showing up right on the pictures so here’s more of the links of all the fantastic Etsy stores I worked with:

Paper Straws from: http://www.etsy.com/shop/DKDeleKtables

The honey sticks were from: http://www.etsy.com/shop/KlineHoneyBeeFarm

Super cute favor bags came from: http://www.etsy.com/shop/DKDeleKtables

Adorable honey bee cookies from: http://www.etsy.com/shop/StephanieJscreations

Printable party circles, yard signs, water bottle labels and straw flags from Libby Lane Press Collection! Here’s a picture of the FULL collection available to print out! Get more info HERE!

I had such a fantastic Mother’s Day yesterday with my boys and I had planned to take my mom out for tea (more on this later!) so after we celebrated the big news over some tea and a wonderful lunch we went shopping for the baby girl! It was the first time shopping on the GIRLS side of the store and let me tell you we were thrilled to buy some PINK! I’m so glad we found out early to give us all time to adjust to the idea of a little girl!

We have been in our house a year now, which I cannot believe! Time has flown by!! I have never been happier in a home or area. I have lived lots of different places and I tell Steve everyday how much I love it here in Mason. What I love about cincy is that there are so many great places to live and you just have to find which area is right for you! I was not a fan of Mason when we started house hunting, but luckily Steve talked me into it because it really is the place for me :)

One of the many things I love is that I am within 5 minutes from tons of shopping!! Who wouldn’t love that?! I was worried about moving far away from my old shopping stomping ground, Kenwood, but Mason has even more shopping than that! I have fallen in love with Target. Before we moved, I rarely went, but now I find myself going all the time. The dollar bins are the bomb! I am always finding little things here and there. I love that Target has it all. You can get everything from organic food to clothes and kids toys. The shopping possibilities are endless :)

Another store I have fallen for recently is Kohls. They have some AWESOME dealios! They are always offering 70-80% off items in store and they send me Kohls cash all the time in the mail. $10 off on any purchase etc. You can’t beat it!! They have adorable things too! I found some wedges there that I just had to have!!!!

How cute are these??!!

Although the hubs is the one who pushed Mason, he may be rethinking his position now that his wife can get to any department store, shopping and food within 5 minutes flat!!!

What stores are your favorite at the moment? Where do you find great deals?

Once I had Luke I knew then why we strategically planned to live 5 minutes away from my parents! To this day we still call them in a jam (like the extra tall ladder we needed to fix the broken smoke alarm at 11pm last Friday after the storm!). One thing Julian’s mom is great at doing is making sure I always had something to eat and drink every time I was nursing! She’ll be here again for a while in October and I plan to have plenty of things for her and Luke to do! The hubs is also planning to be off work for those three weeks so they’ll be able to take Luke on some fun trips out of the house.

Wouldn’t it be nice for us to really have someone come and do all these things for you when you have a new baby?!!

1. Buy us toilet paper, milk and beautiful whole grain bread.

2. Buy us a new garbage can with a swing top lid and 6 pairs of black cotton underpants (women’s size____).

3. Make us a big supper salad with feta cheese, black Kalamata olives, toasted almonds, organic green crispy things and a nice homemade dressing on the side. Drop it off and leave right away. Or, buy us frozen lasagna, garlic bread, a bag of salad, a big jug of juice, and maybe some cookies to have for dessert. Drop it off and leave right away.

4. Come over about 2 in the afternoon, hold the baby while I have a hot shower, put me to bed with the baby and then fold all the piles of laundry that have been dumped on the couch, beds or in the room corners. If there’s no laundry to fold yet, do some.

5. Come over at l0 a.m., make me eggs, toast and a 1/2 grapefruit. Clean my fridge and throw out everything you are in doubt about. Don’t ask me about anything; just use your best judgment.

6. Put a sign on my door saying “Dear Friends and Family, Mom and baby need extra rest right now. Please come back in 7 days but phone first. All donations of casserole dinners would be most welcome. Thank you for caring about this family.”

7. Come over in your work clothes and vacuum and dust my house and then leave quietly. It’s tiring for me to chat and have tea with visitors but it will renew my soul to get some rest knowing I will wake up to clean, organized space.

8. Take my older kids for a really fun-filled afternoon to a park, zoo or Science World and feed them healthy food.

9. Come over and give my husband a two hour break so he can go to a coffee shop, pub, hockey rink or some other r & r that will delight him. Fold more laundry.

10. Make me a giant pot of vegetable soup and clean the kitchen completely afterwards. Take a big garbage bag and empty every trash basket in the house and reline with fresh bags.

Source: http://www.glorialemay.com/blog/?p=34

This was going to be a Wordless Wednesday post for me, BUT I had to profess my LOVE for my boys!! Although we have been super busy lately (these days who isn’t?!), I have really been making a point to spend REAL, UNINTERRUPTED quality time with my boys. I have not been on the phone much, I have been limiting my computer time and really trying to get that time with them because I realize how fast time goes by and I don’t want to look back and say, “I wish I would have spent less time doing xyz and spent more time with my kids”

With that being said, I just have to say how much fun I have been having with the boys. Grayson has been such an easy baby (compared to the Codster) that I have really been able to enjoy every minute I spend with him (o.k. well almost every minute!). I have been SO much more relaxed the second time around and nothing seems to really bother me or make me nervous like it did when I first had Cody. I know I am not doing everything right, but I feel so much more confident as a mom and I think the kids only benefit from that.

What I have enjoyed MOST about being a mom of 2 is that the love between my boys grows stronger every day and I know that they will each have a friend for life and that makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. Yes, I know! You mamas out there with multiples are shaking your head and saying just wait…. wait for that sibling rivalry to kick in! I know ALL about that. I do have siblings of my own! BUT for now, I am in complete bliss with the innocence and affection between the two of them. Grayson is all smiles when big brother comes in the room and his entire face just lights up. When he is fussy, Cody is seriously the only one who can make him happy and content. Grayson just completely lets go and BELLY laughs at Cody for who knows what reason! Cody is such a nurturer and lover when it comes to his little bro. He loves on him, kisses and hugs him and although Grayson is only 9 months old, they play together ALL the time. I have actually been surprised at how much they play together already and now know why moms of multiples say that having siblings in the house is great because you don’t have to be the one to play with them all they time! They play with each other!! That is SO true!  Cody has a blast with G and he can be rough at times with him, but Grayson still loves it! Any attention from his big brother is good enough for him I guess.

The hub takes care of bath time in our house, but when he is working late it is mamas job. Last night I took bath over and it was a blast! Seeing my 2 boys sitting in the tub playing together actually brought tears to my eyes. How can we, as parents, love our kids SO much that it hurts? I have never known a love like this and I was the biggest skeptic when I got preggers with baby #2. I thought it would take away from Cody and change our family and it has done just the opposite. Cody is as happy as he has ever been and our family has changed, but for the better. Now I can see why people have tons of babies because they are addicting!!! Exhausting, but addicting!

O.k. so now I will get off my annoying rant about how much I adore my kids and show you my pic for “Wordless Wednesday”!!

I wake up the other morning and this is what I found :) Brothers playing happily in bed together!!!

I saw this ad this morning while watching the news and it brought me to tears…love this from P&G. We are always so proud of our kids (most of the time!) and getting ready for the upcoming Olympics is exciting! What’s your favorite part of the Olympics to watch? I always like to tune in each day for a few minutes and see what’s happening, I especially love watching the gymnastics.

We’re still trying to catch up around our house from the lightning that struck our house when the storms came through on Friday. I went up to check on Luke during it all and while sitting with him in his bed the outlet blew sparks right in front of us! We have a list of other items throughout the house that got fried, thankfully it’s a relatively short list and since yesterday we do have the air con back working! The satellite guy comes tomorrow but it’s really not the end of the world not having our usual TV…good to know that we CAN survive without it! Ha!

I had my ultrasound Friday afternoon and my parents were able to be there with us to join in on the fun! I mentioned the date and time to my mom and within minutes she had booked half the day off work so she could be there, have I mentioned that she’s a dedicated Grandma to all 6 of her Grandkids?!

We are having a gender reveal party this Saturday with friends and family so we don’t know what it is just yet. We’ve got a baker making a cake for us with either blue or pink icing in the middle of the cake and we’ll find out on Saturday with everyone whether it’s a boy or girl! We didn’t find out with Luke so this is particularly exciting for us and we’re thrilled to have friends and family involved in the fun! The baby looked great and it was unreal to see the 4D pictures of the baby too! I have to go in for another scan in 8 weeks to make sure the Marginal Previa (placenta too close to the cervix) has resolved itself – I’m not stressing about it but I really don’t want to have a C-Section so hopefully that won’ t be an issue for our plans for a natural delivery. My doula has reassured me that it almost always resolves itself with the growth of the uterus so here’s hoping it works that way for us too!

By the end of tomorrow our house should almost be back to normal after the storm and we’ll only be a couple days away from finding out if Luke is having a baby brother or sister! Anyone care to guess if it’s a boy or girl??!

]]> http://www.motherhoodsupport.com/2012/05/the-best-job-but-the-hardest/feed/ 2 http://www.motherhoodsupport.com/2012/05/transforming-from-baby-to-big-boy-potty-training/ http://www.motherhoodsupport.com/2012/05/transforming-from-baby-to-big-boy-potty-training/#comments Mon, 07 May 2012 18:46:42 +0000 Jennie http://www.motherhoodsupport.com/?p=6963 As I described in my last transforming from baby to big boy post, Cody was not always an easy baby! Those first two years, he was very needy. He clung to my leg and did not want me out of his sight! Things started to change when I found out I was pregnant. I think [...]]]>

As I described in my last transforming from baby to big boy post, Cody was not always an easy baby! Those first two years, he was very needy. He clung to my leg and did not want me out of his sight! Things started to change when I found out I was pregnant. I think Cody was getting bigger and I started viewing him as a big brother and not as much as a baby. I was getting him prepared for the new baby and I was allowing him to do many more things than I had previously and I think that also helped build his confidence.

Once baby Grayson arrived, I was trying to figure out life as a mom of 2 and Cody decided to spring his next transition on me….going on the potty!!! Any of my friends will tell you, I was DREADING potty training. I had no problem changing diapers and I didn’t want to have to deal with the change! The running joke was that Cody was going to potty train himself….which he kind of did (although I am going to take a little credit)! We did signing with Cody and he started using his potty sign when he was 18 months and started pooping and peeing on the potty. Nothing consistent, but I was relieved because he wasn’t scared of the potty which I know can be an issue for some kids. So, once Grayson hit the 2 month marker, Cody decided he wanted to go on the potty. He said he needed to go on the potty and wanted big boy underwear on so that’s what I did. I followed his lead and my hope on waiting to potty train was that he would find the interest himself and the transition would be easy enough. Thankfully, it really wasn’t that bad. He had some major “pee on the floor” accidents the first few days, but after that he did great making it to the potty to pee. Then, we had to work on pooping. He would not always make it for that. It took about two weeks and it was smooth sailing from there. He did great for 2 months and then regressed for a few weeks, but then was back at it again! I would take him to the potty every couple of hours and ask him constantly if he had to go. Eventually, he just started going on his own. We have very few accidents now, and those are just damp underwear because he doesn’t want to stop playing!! With that being said, I still make him try to go before we get in the car to go anywhere and if I have noticed it has been a while since he last went. Kids don’t want to stop what they are doing so reminding them to go is a must, in my opinion!!

Few things that helped along the way:
*Froggy potty: I am SO happy I had bought a potty that sat on the floor because Cody was old enough (2 1/2) to take himself to the potty, get his underwear off and sit on the potty to go which was super helpful with a newborn, especially when I was nursing!
*Car Seat Cover: I got this at babies-r-us and it just sits in the bottom if the car seat and saves your seat if they have any accidents. Thankfully, we never have had an accident out so we never needed it, but I highly recommend as a “just in case”! It is under 10 bucks too so you can’t beat that.
*Travel potty: The absolute first time we went out in big boy underwear, we were at Buy Buy Baby and I had a travel seat with us that we used when Cody said he needed to go. It was not good….Cody almost fell in! So I found this awesome seat and would highly recommend it! Kim has the same one and loves it too! You can use it as a potty chair when you are out and you can set it on the big germy potty so the kids aren’t touching the seat! Now that Cody is bigger, he stands to potty so I don’t have to worry about the nasty, germy potty seats!!
*Regression: I was sooooooo frustrated when Cody started peeing his pants after 2 months of no issues! I was ready to pull my hair out. From what I read, this is very common and the best advice I read is just continue staying positive, keep reminding them to go, firmly let them know it isn’t o.k. to go in their pants and praise them for going in the potty. Eventually they come around and Cody did so stick with it! Until then….keep lots of wine in the house!!!

In the end, it wasn’t as bad as I had thought (at least what I had made it out to be in my head)! I’m happy I waited until he showed interest because I think that made it a much smoother transition. I will say that this may not work for all kids. They all have different personalities, so some kids may never be ready….we all know our kids best so go with your gut. One positive on waiting until they are a little older is that they are a little more mature so you really only have to show them a few times how to go and they can take it from there. The downside on waiting is the cost of diapers. The longer you wait, the more you have to buy. You have to weigh it all out and decide what works for your family. Keep in mind, do what is best for your child!! Don’t get sucked into the mommy battle….some moms push their kids to do lots of things before they are ready just to say “my kid is doing xyz”. This will only make you and your child miserable and at the end of the day, it is about your family and your precious kids, NOT everyone else :)

Please share your tips, tricks and potty training experiences!!

Guest Post: This article was provided by the Frugal Dad. FrugalDad.com provides insights on coupons, career, and money.

These days it is very hard to find a lot of free time. Between work, cooking, and cleaning, time just seems to fly and if you add taking care of kids to that list then you can kiss your alone time goodbye. This is especially the case when those kids are not currently in school. If this sounds like your life then one of the last items on your to-do list on top of everything else is plan how to save money. Instead, forget the planning and check out this list of 5 ways to save money. It helps busy moms cut down on expense while having fun at the same time.

1. Lose the Home Phone. With the ease and prevalence of cell phones these days there is no need for a busy mom to keep the home phone around. Lose the extra bill without losing any comfort. If you love your home phone number there are easy ways to get it forwarded to your cell phone without paying for the extra cost of a landline.
2. Have entertainment at home. If you have kids then you know the rising cost of entertainment. With the cost of going to a 3D movie rising over $10 in most places, entertainment gets expensive. Try spending that money on a new board game or card game from your local game shop. For the same price, that game will be around for years and can provide entertainment in a wide variety of situations. Also, you can rent a movie for a fraction of the cost of going out to the movies. The costs of Netflix or Redbox are vastly cheaper than the theaters. Spend the extra money on popcorn and snacks at a fraction of the cost of movie food and you can keep everyone happy. Not only will you be saving money but you also get to spend valuable time with the kids.
3. Save money on cleaning supplies. Kids are dirty. Between sports, playing outside, and their general mess inside, a lot of time is spent cleaning. It is a skill that is not going out of fashion. So if you find laundry detergent or dish soap at cost, or even learn how to make your own, then you will save money for many years.
4. Try outings that are cheap or free. You can kill two birds with one stone if you take your kids out to do something active and cheap. If it is an activity you enjoy then you can also get your exercise done at the same time. Go out hiking or to the local beach or pool. You can wear the kids out for the rest of the day, provide entertainment and save money all at once. Also, getting outside provides some good habits for the kids at the same time (just avoid telling them that until after they realize how much fun it can be).
5. Lastly, get the kids to help you with errands. Although this seems counter intuitive at first, try turning the chores or errands into games. Have a lot of shopping to do? Split your list in two and turn it into a scavenger hunt for them. Like gardening? Get your kids interested in it and use their skills to help grow a whole vegetable and herb garden.

Try incorporating some of these ideas into your everyday life. There are very few drawbacks and the benefits go far beyond just saving money like spending time with the kids, building good habits, and even saving time. This is just the tip of the iceberg but it is a good start for a busy mom.

Sources:

http://www.frugalmom.net/blog/fun-family/frugal-kids/kid-friendly-frugal-fun/

http://stayathomemoms.about.com/u/ua/moneymatters/frugal-mom-tips.htm