Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Toddler Montessori Room

A blog wayyyy over due, is Nate's Montessori room. I've procrastinated for about a year on writing this blog because the room wasn't completely finished. It needed a bunch of little details that would bring the room together. A year later, the room still isn't complete haha but I'm going to share it anyways! 
For Nate's first birthday, we wanted to change his room to a big boy room but I knew he was too young for a big boy bed. I also knew I wanted his room to be a free space for Nate to explore and learn. With doing research, I came across a toddler Montessori Room. A Montessori-style room is a space where everything is within a child's reach for his personal growth. So before I continue babbling on, let me just show you Nate's room! 

I was too excited to start his room that I forgot to take a decent before picture, the only picture I have of his old room is the one time daddy thought it'd be funny to put a TV in his room! His old room was just a crib and a toy chest filled with toys. Nate never enjoyed playing in his room. 

With the new Montessori room, Nates toys are within reach and organized so that he isn't overwhelmed.  His bed was within reach for him to nap and wake up peacefully. That was the biggest plus for us, when a baby wakes up from a nap in a crib, they're crying until they're rescued. With the Montessori Floor Bed, Nate woke up without crying and was able to explore on his own. 


I was most excited and nervous about the floor bed. Nate has always been a great sleeper, but I was worried he would play more instead of sleep or fuss for me the whole night. Like I said, he's a great sleeper so he had no problem transferring to the floor bed. He loved his bed so much!! If anyone came to look at his room the first thing he'd show off was his bed; it made me so happy! 



His first night, consisted of David & I checking to make sure he was okay and putting him back on the bed. haha! Nate is a tosser, so for a couple nights he ended up everywhere in the room. lol. That stopped after a week or two. 




His reading corner was another favorite of his and mine! I'd always catch him there in the mornings when I'd wake up. 



 
We also painted a little area with magnetic and white board paint! It was the toughest part of the entire room; super long process. I'd recommend skipping the magnetic paint and sticking to the dry erase paint! 

The most important part about creating a Montessori style room for a baby is that the room must be childproofed! Nate started climbing on the table so he can turn his own light on. It was cute and funny but made me nervous. That is when I found KidSwitch!!!! Its great for any room in the house. Nate no longer needs to stand on the table to turn the light on. We love KidSwitch so much that we are giving one away to a lucky reader! Join by logging in below! 



Sunday, February 15, 2015

Replay Recycled Review + Giveaway

As a Crunchy mama, I always try to find whats best for Nate and our environment. I had been on the hunt for some divided plates to make meal time easier. I wanted something simple, durable, affordable, and cute. Found a couple at Target but they weren't the right size to hold Nate's food. With that being said, I am sooo happy to introduce Replay Recycled!!! 


If you follow me on Instagram, you already know how much I love their products and how much they have helped during meal time with my picky toddler. Re-Play is a division of Re-Think It (Family owned, family focused company). They have the greatest costumer service I've seen; truly care for parents around the world and the environment we are raising our children in. That alone makes them different than many other companies. 

What I love about their products? 

-The deep walls on the divided plates are the best I've seen. All of my sons food stays in the plate while he is learning self feeding. 
-I was afraid the forks wouldn't be pointy enough to grab food which leads to frustration with Nate, but they are perfect! Nate was so happy that he can use the utensils all by himself. The spoon has the perfect scoop to ensure the right amount into Nate's mouth. 
-The sippy cups are the ONLY sippy cups that I've ever used that have been truly SPILL PROOF! 
- The Snack stacks are perfect for storing snacks at Nate's level for him to reach on his own in his kitchen. It keeps the snacks fresh. 
-Easy to clean! 
-Fun Colors! 

-Extremely Durable. I wasn't expecting that. 
-Extremely Affordable 

Because of Re-Play Nate truly looks forward to meal time every day! 







Re-Play 5 Tenets of Responsibility

1. Sustainability:



  • Re-Play products are made out of milk jugs! HDPE plastic, one of the safest. 
  • They are BPA, PVC, & Phthalate free. 
  • Their packaging is made from recycled paperboard. 
  • The total miles Re-Play travels from recycled material to finished product is only 940 Miles!! In China, most conventional plastic goods travel over 12,000 miles.
  • Re-Play products save energy and also reduce greenhouse gases. (1LB=2 gallon milk jugs) Saves enough to charge a smartphone for 31 weeks and charge an electric car for 6 hours. How amazing is that? They consider everything from the product to the environment.

2. Safety



  • All colors and products are FDA approved. 
  • Milk jug plastic is specially selected and cleaned, to meet FDA purity standards. 
  • Meets FDA requirements for food contact. 

3. Durability

  • Proven to last families through multiple children. 
  • Products are dishwasher safe. 
  • Vibrant colors do not fade away. 
  • So thick and durable that you can run them over with your car! 

4. Functionality



  • Each product designed for early eaters. 
  • Makes the self feeding process easier and more successful. 
  • No spill valve really is NO SPILL! 
5. Affordability
  • Divided Plate 3 pack - $7.99
  • Utensil Pack (4 spoons & 4 forks) - $4.99
  • Snack Stack (2) - $4.99
  • Bowls 3 Pack - $5.99
  • Spill proof Cups (2) - $7.99
  • Drinking Cups (3) - $5.99
  • Soft spout cups (2) - $8.99
  • You can find Re-Play products at Walmart, Whole Foods, Kroger, Amazon, & at Re-Play
Overall I recommend these products to family, friends, and my readers. Since we love their products so much, we are giving away one orange set to one of our readers. Starts today and ends March 2nd! Stay tuned for a toddler meal series using Re-Play. 


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Toddler Valentine Smoothies

Fruit smoothies is the easiest way to nourish your body with nutrients. It's also a great way to incorporate certain foods that a toddler might not like. For instance. Nate does not like greek yogurt, but when I throw it into a smoothie with fruits and veggies that make the taste even better, he will drink until the last sip. I try to include a smoothie a day in our daily diets. Here are three easy smoothies that your toddler valentine will love! 



What You'll Need: 
Choice of Frozen Fruit
1 tbsp of Lemon
2 tbsp of Honey
1/2 Cup Greek Yogurt




Always getting in my pictures lol. 

Here is a special treat to go along with the smoothie. 
What you'll need: 
2 tbsp of Butter
5 Cups of Mini Marshmallows
5 cups of Rice Krispie Cereal

Melt the butter and marshmallows down. Then throw in the cereal and mix until the cereal is evenly coated. Lastly just evenly spread it onto wax paper until it cools down. I then took a heart shaped cookie cutter and made little hearts for my Valentine. 


Mamas Helper! 





Thursday, January 15, 2015

DIY Montessori Sorting Activity


Here is a fun sorting activities for toddlers. Helps teach them their colors. 

I went to AC Moore and bought these little cups that came with the covers you see above. They were $1 each (cup included with cover).  I created a sorting activity with balls as you see below. Click Here to see how I created this. I didn't know what to do with the covers, so I created a separate sorting activity for those. All you have to do is follow the same steps in that link. All items were bought in the AC Moore wood section. 

I recommend starting with 2-3 colors depending on the age. My son is 20 months old and all 6 colors were too much for him since it was his first time learning about color. 




Friday, January 2, 2015

Maternity Photoshoot - Brittney & Joshua

Pregnancy is the beginning of all things: wonder, hope, a dream of possibilities...

David and I got to capture this beautiful moment for Brittney and Joshua. They're having a baby girl and naming her A'layla. Here are some of their pictures...