life saver baby teething tip.

 It feels like Max has been teething for ages and for the little buggers still haven't popped through!  I thought I would share with the other mamas out there a tip that has helped sooth my little guy and all you need is their pacifier and water.

 Take the paci and hold it under a cup of water and squeeze it so it fills with water.

 It should look like so.. you want it to have as much water and as little air as possible.

 Then toss it in the fridge to freeze.

This is a life saver in our house.  Hope this helps some of you mamas out there. :)

april favorites skin care/makeup.

 I appualogize for being mia but I went through yet another laptop cord!!!  So my new one came in and I have soo much to share with you guys. I will just dive right in and start with my skincare favorites for the month.  I have been trying out the new garnier line and I have the gel face wash too which is good but the stand outs are the smoothing cream cleanser and the nourishing cleansing oil.  I use the oil to remove my make up then after I rinse that off I was my face with the cream cleanser and my spin for the perfect skin brush.  I will do a full review and let you know more about the brush later.  Once a week I have been using my neutrogina microdermabrasion and I love love love it and look forward to it all week.  My skin feels and looks amazing after.  I also have found a huge amazing find every dry skin person needs: fruit of the earth vitamin e cream.  It is in walmart at the bottom shelf of the lotion area and it comes in a two back for 3$ and some change!!!  It is awesome it cleared up maxs eczema and dry burnt up crawling knees in one application like magic!!!  Something i have been fighting all winter and boom one use gone!  I use it on my face and hands. Love it!!!  I gave the second to my sister because I love her.

 As for my makeup favs I have been reaching for non stop are my cream blushes. and contour.  I love how natural and fresh it looks I blend it out of my beauty blender and use my elf small stipple brush on my contour.  I use the elf cream contour kit with that I have my nyx cream blush in  tea rose and my be a bomshell blush in sunset.  I would say I do have cream and half my maybelline master highlight blush in mauve.  I use this soooo much and love it.  I need to try some of the other color.  As for brows I have two favs that I have been using allot. I use my anasatia brow wiz in medium ash.  (yes I gave in and bought it for myself for my bday and love it)  but If I don't use that or I want my brows to really last and I think it works just as well if not better then anastasia dipbrow is maybelline 24 hour tattoo in tough as taupe.  I love it it is matte stays all day and easy to work with.  I have a new concealer I love it is maybelline fit me.  It is creamy and blends out well.  I have enjoyed it.  I found myself wearing my nyc sparkle eye dust allot on my lid in the shade pink topaz.  Use a good primer to hold it in place and then add some matte shades in the crease and boom beautiful eye look.  Be careful pulling the wand out though do it over the sink because it will make a mess.

That is what I loved for the month of april.  What did you guys love in april?? 

Lookie what I got

My spin for perfect skin just showed up can't wait to review this for you guys. If it's good it will be a great deal at 40$

Monday mani

Finally got to do a Monday mani this is inspired by miss Jenn fabulous
Easy Nail Art For Beginners!!! #11: http://youtu.be/4PA0MTw6iAY

best purchases (most worth the money) for babies.

I thought I would write a post to show what we used with Max.  It is always good to know what was worth the money and what wasn't.  What to grab second hand and where to not.  Lets get started.

The jumparoo: Max loves this thing.  You aren't supposed to use rockers anymore and this gives you a few minutes to get something done with out worrying about them getting into things while they strengthen their legs and entertain themselves.  This also doubles as a exersaucer. so if you have this you can skip on that, save room in your house and some money.

 The vibrating bouncy seat: while Max wasn't a huge fan he is the exception and not the rule.  Every other baby in the family has loved these.  They have saved more then one life through out the 15 almost 16 years our family has used them.  They are pretty easy to find at garage sales this time of year.  Hold out for one that is in good condition, and make sure the vibrate and music have different switches so you don't have to have both on. buy it.

 Bumbo all three of my babies have loved the bumbo.  It has seen allot of use but it look new still.  It is a good thing, portable, and can be used as a booster seat to feed them in a pinch.  It helps them to sit up and later on holds them in one place.  It is compact so good for those who are space challenged. So it can go either way but was a must with all three of mine.  It is a perfect price point for a baby gift throw it on your registry and if you don't get it you can decide if it is a priority then.

 Boppi.: I love my boppis.  I have used one with all three of my kids and Fire Monster loves hers soo much still and sleeps with it every night that she wouldn't hand it down to Max.  He had to get his own.  They aren't meant for sleeping I realize but we are weening max off of the rock and play and he is always trying to sleep on his belly now that he is a crawler so I feel that it is the lesser of two evils.  He is 7.5 months and I keep a close eye so don't shoot me.  They are to help with breast feeding which saves your back and arms but I have been leaning toward the laid back nursing method, but this guy still gets plenty of use for little thing like this.  Buy it.  If you can get one second hand handed down or something jump on it!  Just grab your self a different cover. :)

 breathable bumper if you are going to do a bumper it is the way to go.. buy it. (they are a pain to put up at least with this crib)

 Rock and play...YES YES AND YES BUY IT BUY IT NOW!!  RUN TO THE STORE AND GET ONE.  I think I wouldn't have had any sleep to date it if I didn't have this.  It is one of the few things that I bought first hand (it was around 50$ at target) and was worth every penny. It is like a cradle with straps that go front to back and not side to side. Max would only sleep in this for ever.  He napped in it during the day and it went by our bed at night, it got collapsed and brought to the cities to sleep in when visiting family.  It folds pretty flat to pack up and fold easy and is easy to drag around the house where ever you need it plus you can save on the play yard and bassinet.  BUY IT.

 High chairs:  I never spend much on a high chair because I trade my kids to a strap in booster seat pretty quick because I want them to be used to eating at the table like the rest of the family.  That being said I bought this one on clearance at walmart for 30$ and I love it.  It collapses flat and tiny so it goes to the cities with us and it is great.  If you are going to make your kid eat in it until they are like 3 sure spend big money but I don't believe in that.  Plus then you have to store a big high chair when you are done with it! Nope this is a save for me.

 Swing:  these are very black and white.  Either babies like them or the don't.  They are either a waste of time or huge life saver. I would say before rushing out to buy one (which can be expensive if you want a new one) try a girlfriends on your baby first or borrow one to see if they like it before spending big bucks.

 One thing I say is a splurge is their skin care.  Their skin is so sensitive and they regular stuff is soo harsh.  It really gave my kids skin issues, really brought out problems with eczema and cradle cap.  When I first changed fire monster to burts bees.  I was at my wits end she had cradle cap soo bad her poor hair was just matted to her head.  I bought some at the co-op and it was immediate drastic change.  I have sworn by it ever since.  Max has a small patch of cradle cap and I just max a bit of sugar with it to make a gentle scrub for that area or brush it with a baby brush. 

Well those are this 3 time mamas thoughts.  Have a great day guys.

down stairs family room progess.

 This part of the house was definitely one of the most changed.  The before was dark and icky.

 We painted and new carpet went in.  This area is also one of the last to be finished it isn't quiet there yet.  It is mostly a place for the girls to hang out and play and watch tv.  I just got some wall art yesterday for this area.

 To the left of there is my craft area (it needs to be organized and set up better but we are getting there)

 From this angle you can see the girls room down the hall and the hall to the bathroom and laundry room.

 Here is the family room area.  They have the old couches down stairs as well as some bean bag ottomans. 

 We still have a dinosaur t.v. (we are like that commercial where the people get robbed and they leave their electronics.) We have the tv secured up there well btw too.  So you don't think its going to fall on the kids lol.  We have all their movies and some wii stuff and a bin of toys for max there on the shelves.  We also have the desk top on the left waiting to be hooked up for the kiddos.

That is it so far not bad considering it started as this..

 and so far we ended up here.

Have a good day guys.

10 cute easy spring manicures

 It has finally warmed up here in minnesota and I have the itch for some cute spring nails.  Here are some cute easy spring nail designs.

This is super cute mint with silver glitter from kimberly maranan

 cute pastel colored polka dots from willpaintnailsforfood.com

 These are a cute different take on both polka dots and half moon nails.

 This is a very sweet soft look for nails.

 This has four thing I am loving jade, coral, sparkle, and chevron whats not to love.

 This is a very cute alternative to the common pastel colors.

 Stripes and hearts this would work in any colors you love.

 Can't chose? You can always go multi colored.

 Or take that one step further with a sparkle accent nail!

 Or if all else fails and you are in a hurry throw on a great spring color like this coral and a bit of glitter over one for a accent nail.