Transition from Cosleeping to Toddler Bed: Night 2

Hey guys. I am late writing this but it's been a busy day. 

Night 2 was not as successful as night 2. The biggest problem was the long day we had. We went to visit his granny and spent the whole day with her. So his nap was in a bed with me instead of in his toddler bed. It is hard to find a week where absolutely nothing is happening. This is the best we could do. So not only did he have a nap with me, we didn't get home until 11. He was a bit too wired to sleep right away. So we tried to calm him down and get him ready for bed. But even still, he would not lay in his bed. He whined and got up about ten times. It was hard but I didn't give up (even knowing that if I did, we both would have been asleep in two minutes.) It wasn't until after midnight before he fell asleep. He was in his own bed and he did fall asleep on his own. So that is a plus. I am hoping that the length of time it takes him to fall asleep shortens. 

He got out of bed three times to come lay with me. Part of the problem is that I stayed up the first night and when he stirred or whined, I was there to get his Paci or milk. But last night I fell asleep. So he came to me. I did the same stuff and put him back in his bed. And once again he slept the last hour with me. 

My plans for night 3 will be to keep him in his bed as long as possible. We have to wake up early again tomorrow so hopefully it will last. This is an exhausting trial. I want to give in and get some normal sleep, but I know in the long run, this is the best choice. 

Pray for us. 

Transitioning from CoSleeping to Toddler Bed Night 1

Hey all I'm back with this week long series. I'll try to get back to my regular posts afterwards but while I was researching sleep training this week, I realized there wasn't much information on transitioning toddlers from cosleeping to toddler beds. A lot of resources have younger infants or older children or cribs or twin beds. For my situation though, I only have a toddler bed and I'm not going to go out and buy a crib or twin bed when his toddler bed is perfectly fine. 

So the purpose of this series is to transition and sleep train an 18 month old toddler from cosleeping to sleeping in a toddler bed in the same room. Hopefully if someone searches those terms, they can find me and get some help. I am going about this is a way that works for us. I don't care about what research says or the books. This is me and my son and what works for us. 

I started by getting the bed ready. We put in an extra soft blanket in addition to his bedding set and gave him some comforting stuffed animals. Nothing crazy but just his favorites. In our case it was a late bubble puppy pillow, a talking Jake doll from Jake and the Neverland Pirate, a stuffed Cubby from the same show, and a soft Mickey Mouse dressed like a bunny (Easter gift from his memaw). This works because it gives him something to cuddle and get comfort from. Normally that role goes to me, but that is what this transition is about. 

At nap time yesterday I layed him in his bed with his drink and put on Frozen. This is the same routine we have for nap time in our bed, just in his. He layed down and watched it for awhile but wasn't interested in actually falling asleep. He stayed there for 20 minutes and then came and layed down with me. After he fell asleep, I put him back in his bed. The reason I did it this was was to get him comfortable with it. I don't want him to hate his bed and associate it with crying and loneliness. So I felt that the length of time he stayed in his bed was sufficient to get used to it and then I made sure the actually process of sleeping would be in the bed. Falling asleep in the bed will come later. 

That night I made sure he was tired and ready for bed. We don't have a specific bed time. I like for him to be asleep by 10 but some nights are better than others. I did our normal routine and got him his cup of milk, his Paci, and some books. I layed him in the bed, surrounded him with his loves, and gave him his milk. We read a couple books with me on the floor and him in the bed. He wasn't a fan of staying in the bed. He grabbed his blanket and took off for the living room many times. I let him explore and them brought him back to bed. At this point I put Frozen on again. It is his favorite movie.

Now I am not condoning TVs in bedrooms and having them on and blah blah blah. I know the studies, I know the tips of having no tv on, but that doesn't work for us. If we didn't have the tv on he would just go to another room where a family member had the tv on. So we have a rule, we watch his movie once and then it goes off or we put on music or the news. Most of the time he is asleep before the movie is over. Do what works for you. 

He did stay in his bed a little but kept getting up. That is the problem with toddler beds and not cribs. If he wants to wander, the only thing you can do to stop him is hold him down. That doesn't turn out well. We struggled like this for 30 minutes. Then he climbed up with me and cuddled for a minute or two. Just enough to relax him and get him sleepy. Then I put him in his bed and gave him his Paci and milk. An hour after we started the process of falling asleep, he finally succumbed to his dreams. On his own. In his own bed. Major stepping stone at that act alone. If he didn't sleep the night in his bed, I would have been happy at that anyways. 

I had trouble sleeping, I was worried he would cry and want me. So I stayed up most of the night. He cried for milk once and his Paci a few times. I did what I do every time while cosleeping and gave him his cup and Paci each time he wanted it. He would turn over and go back to sleep. Two times in the night he got up and climbed up in my bed. I cuddled with him, relished the love of my son, and then took him back to his bed. And he went back to sleep. Both times. And he slept pretty well for being without his momma. At 7 am he climbed into bed with me. I had the alarm. Set for 8 because he has therapy at 9, so I let him sleep with me for that last hour. 

It's been hard in the sleep department with him. It was my fault. He is my first son and for the first 6 months of his life, I was a single mom. So I held him when he wanted it and he slept with me and on me. So I contributed to his dependence of me, but that worked for us. My fiancé doesn't mind him sleeping in the bed. In was my decision to start this transition. We are trying for baby the second and it will be easier to have a baby with Raylan in his own bed. And with a new baby, I will do things differently. But with Ray, I am still learning. I still do it wrong and do it differently. But as long as he is happy and we both get some sleep out of the deal, I am happy with my decision. 

So that was night 1. I will follow this for a week and hopefully by the my little toddler terrorist will love sleeping in his big boy bed. 

Pray for us. 

Target Deal Alert!

Hey guys. Just writing a quick message. I was out at Target today with my mom looking for some things and there were signs up for a coupon deal in the beauty department. If you spent $20 on beauty, then you got $5 off. This included cosmetics, face care, hair care, and fragrances. This was a great opportunity to pick up a couple things I have wanted to try but was waiting for coupons. 

This is what I got with my deal. Nothing special but it was a great deal on them. The Jergens BB Body cost $11.99. The Baby Skin was $5.99. And the hair clips were $2.99. This made my purchase $21. Because of the $5 off, I essentially got $1.66 off each product. This made is so the Jergens was 14% off. The Baby Skin was 28% off. And the clips were 56% off. That is a heck of a deal. 

To get the coupon, go to http://coupons.target.com/weekly-ad-coupons

Or you can text BEAUTY1 to TARGET. 

Go get your shopping on!

Lifestyle product review: Infuser Water Bottle and Recipe Ideas

Hey guys! So I have been on the road to eat better and cleaner. The biggest change in my life is cutting out all sodas and teas. This is to help cut out sugar and caffeine. So I have been exclusively drinking water and sometimes milk (I hate the taste of milk though). One thing that has been helping me is fruit infused water. The basic idea is to soak real fruit in water and letting the flavors and nutrition infuse into the water. A simple way of doing this is just cutting up a fruit and placing it in a pitcher of water. We have a large pitcher here to push my family to drink it too. But there are sometimes when I want to take it with me. That is where fruit infused water bottles come into play. They are very popular and are sold in most stores but they are normally pretty pricey. 

Here is a popular one called the Define Bottle, which for a 17 ounce bottle retails for $29.99. http://www.definebottle.com 

Here is a more affordable version that is 20 ounces for $8.99. But if you look at the reviews, it breaks really easily so be cautious. https://m.bedbathandbeyond.com/m/product/rove-20-ounce-double-wall-deluxe-tumblers-with-infuser-lid/203969?categoryId=12120%204294966331

This one is made by YouTube beauty vlogger AprilAthena7. It is a 20 ounce tumbler for $13.99. http://www.saturdaysunshine.com/products/infuse-tumbler

These will all get the job done and vary in prices. But I found one at Walmart that has a much better price point and is good quality. They don't sell it online so I can't link it. The brand is Cool Gear and is a 28 ounce bottle. This was priced at $5.89. 

This is all plastic (BPA Free) so the bottle doesn't break easily. Ray loves this and he is rough on this bottle, but it still holds up. It is bigger than others I've found and is a better price. I was excited to find this. 

So you cut up your fruit of choice in small pieces and put them in a strainer part that fits into the middle of the bottle. It fits a good amount but not so much that you are using a lot of fruit. The one in the picture is one strawberry and two lemon slices cut up into wedges. It fits perfectly and flavors the water great. 

The Infuser middle fits into the opening of the bottle so that when you drink from it, the water goes through the fruit and spout. 

The opening in the lid is also a strainer like piece, so that the water goes through but you don't get pieces of fruit. 

So overall this product is an a+ product to me. It is big enough to hold enough water and isn't fragile. It isn't expensive and does the job perfectly. If you are looking for an infuser, I recommend these bottles. They also come in blue, green, and pink. 

Raylan also approves. 

If you need some ideas for fruit mixes, I have tested out a few. Stand alone fruit will work perfectly. Strawberries, lemons, watermelon, peaches, oranges, blueberries, pomegranates. Or you can mix it up. My favorite is the one mentioned: strawberries and lemons. I have also tried   Strawberry, pomegranate, and mint; orange and strawberry; watermelon and peach: blueberry and mint; and cucumber. Another that I have tried is one that is supposed to be very detoxifying: cucumber, lemon, and mint. There are so many fruits you can use and combinations that will be great and will make drinking water a more delicious treat. 

Here is a blog that has many different ideas for fruit and fruit combinations. http://www.52kitchenadventures.com/2012/09/17/fifty-awesome-flavored-water-recipes/

And here is an article about why drinking water is important to your health. http://fruitinfusedwaters.com/infused-water-for-weight-loss/

Thanks and I hope you try some of these ideas. I have a haul to write soon but since I just did my birthday haul, I'll try to postpone it. I have other ideas I will write up first. 

Toddler Apps: What is on My IPhone

Hey guys. I know some of you readers don't have kids but I'm sure I have some moms out there who have toddlers and idevices. So this is a post to show what I have on my iPhone and iPad and what Raylan and my niece Kynzee love. This is a good mix because Ray is 18 months and my niece will be 3 this summer. So I have apps that they both love and some that one prefers over the other.

On my ipad, I have three pages to the kids' education folder. The first has their favorites.

The first is Peekaboo Barn. This app has a free trial but it isn't worth it. The real app costs $1.99. It is a barn that shakes and makes knocking sounds until the baby pokes it, then the door opens up and an animal appears. It makes the animal sound and a little girl's voice says the name of the animal. Then the baby pokes it and the barn closed and it starts over again. It is a simple app and goes through about 15 animals. It is really cute and it keeps Raylan occupied for awhile. Now my DF and I agree that we don't want Raylan to depend on electronics. We won't be buying him his own tablet or portable game system for awhile because we want him to focus on reading. But there are times when he wants my phone or ipad and so I let him play one of his games. I try to make sure they are educational. And he loves this one. 

The next is my niece's favorite. It is called Endless Reader. This app is free but only comes with about half the alphabet. You can buy the rest. This game is similar to Endless Alphabet but that one costs money and we have it on our Kindle Fire. This game features a word and has the kid spell it by matching letters to their part in the word chosen. As the kid moves the letter, the letter animates and says the sound the letter makes. Once you're done, it comes up with a sentence using that word and has the kid match the word to the sentence. It sounds advanced but it isn't. The app is fun, cute, and teaches the kid how to spell, what sounds letters make, and how it use them in a sentence. 

I am going to go through a few of these quickly because they aren't favorites but they are still nice. The sorting game is free and has levels to it where the child can sort objects by color or shape or can be more advanced. The game has the first three levels free but then you have to buy them. Kynzee loves it. PBS kids is a free app that has episodes of PBS shows like Caillou or Daniel Tigers Neighborhood. Squiggles is a fun free app that allows kids to draw and animate their drawings. So for example it has one with three cars on a road. Your kid draws something behind the car, like swirly lines or hearts or whatever and then pushes the go button and the cars zoom around the page with the kids drawing attached and moving as well. It is cute and keeps Kynzee occupied. The last three are Lego Duplo play worlds. In this, their is a story being told with lego duplo people or animals and has fun scenes for the kids to play with. Kynzee loves the zoo one. These are all free. 

I skipped Sign and Sing for a reason, this is both of the kids' favorite app. It is free but only comes with one song. You can buy a pack of about 8 songs for $2.99. In this app, animated children sing songs and use simple sign language while they do it. So the song Twinkle Twinkle Little Star comes free with the app. A girl sits on a swing and sings the song while doing signs for the song. These signs aren't complete, they dont cover every word/phrase of the song, but it is enough for little kids to understand. This app is weird with the animations but it is a great learning app. It has helped Raylan completely learn the signs for duck and dog, which are ones I have worked on but he never really got them until he played the Old Mcdonald song. He also can do the entire Itsy Bitsy Little Spider song, because it is his favorite song and he watches that one about twenty times a day. There is also an option to watch a real person sing and sign the song, which is a great way for the parents to learn the signs in their true formso they can work on it with the kids. 

The next page of apps is just for Fisher Price apps. The great thing about these apps are that they are free. All of them. And they cover a variety of things. From ABC's and 123's. Shapes and colors. Music. There are ones for smaller babies where they just touch the screen and little giggling characters pop up and move around the screen. There are storytelling ones where they have common nursery rhymes and they tell the story and then sing the songs as well. So these are great for all around play.

There are only two apps on the last page. The first is Wheels on the Bus. This app is free and has many parts to it. You can sing the song with animation, race things, color pictures, or drive the bus. It is pretty entertaining for Kynzee and Raylan loves the song. This is a free app. The last one is the Learning Academy app. This is a companion app to the website ABCMouse.com. The app is free but you have to have an account for the website to make it work. There is a three month free trial available, if you want to try it without paying, and then it is a pay monthly type service. But it has a million different things to do that goes with your child's age. Raylan is too young right now for it, but my neice started the program at 2 1/2 years old. So you don't have to have an older child for this. 

So that is it for my iPad apps for toddlers. I will show you my iPhone apps really quick, but most are the same. 

Phone4Kids is a free app that mimics a phone for kids and lets them talk to voices and rings like a phone. It is good if your kids like the call China on your phone. The Towers game is made by the same people as the sorting game. But it just has them stacking different things. This is good for both ages of babies. Duolingo is a foreign language learning system. It is more for adults but I let the kids look at it so they can get used to other languages. It is a free app and supposed to be good like Rosetta Stone. The Relax Music is like a white noise machine for my phone. It has like 20 different sounds you can choose from and you can even mix some together to make different soothing sounds for kids to sleep to. I love this app and it is free. The last is a sign language dictionary so that when I want to know how to say something in sign language, I don't have to google it. 

And that is it! These are the apps we like, some that we love, and some that you should definitely buy. I will work on getting a list together of these apps with the links so you can get to them easily. 

Make sure you check out my instagram for quick mini reviews that don't make it into a blog. Right now I have a pic up of a new nail polish from Maybelline's new Bleached Neons collection. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the Instagram camera. Thanks!!

Birthday haul, Y'all!

Hey guys! So a week ago was my birthday. I am 24! Woah! Time goes by so fast these days. I feel like it was just yesterday that I was turning 21. So much has changed since then and I couldn't be happier. Having kids makes things go by much faster. 

I received most of my presents a few weeks ago. It seemed to be a Disney themed birthday from my family and fiancé now that I think back on my gifts. I got the Disney version of Apples to Apples, which is hilarious board game that my siblings love to play. I also got a 2DS which was special edition to the release of the new Disneg Magical Workd game, so it is pink and comes with a Mickey Mouse case. I also got the Magical World game. No review on that just yet, I have barely opened the box. Last from the Disney inspired birthday gifts was two shirts from TeeFury. They are by an artist whose name I can't find at the moment but I will edit this when I find her info. They are Disneys Frozen mixed with Doctor Who. The first shirt is toddler Anna peeking into the windows of the TARDIS that is parked in her play room. The second one is the TARDIS crashed into ice in Elsa's ice castle with Elsa looking at it. Both are beautiful and geeky. I love them. 

The point to this post isn't the bizarre Disney theme, it is the fashion/makeup/bath items I recieved. 

The day before my actual birthday, I met with my best friend and we spent the day together. It was a dream. No Raylan, no dogs, no worries. Just her and I shopping. First we went to Maurices. If you are a Southern girl, you may have heard of the store. It is a clothes store that has both small size clothing and plus size clothing. It is pretty much the only place around here that has fashionable plus size clothes. I mean Forever 21 has some, but their sizes are soooo off. Useless. And Lane Bryant is cute but expensive. Maurices' is in the middle for price. Great stuff, okish prices. So we went there for some new clothes. I didn't get much because we are saving money, but my BF did buy me a beautiful shirt. I love it and have worn it like four times since then. 

Isn't it adorable. I love the colors. I am a big fan of gray and black but I wanted some more spring colors in my wardrobe. This is the perfect compromise. And it was on clearance, so the shirt cost about $17. Not bad. 

Next we went to the mall and ate some pretzels and tried on some new clothes. She got some pants, I refrained from purchasing. Next was Ulta. Our Ulta store is about 45 minutes away which is both far away and not too far. It takes about 30 minutes to get anywhere good around here so we can manage an extra 15 for some makeup. She got some good products for her mom becasue she is a good daughter. ;) And she also bought me some things. There are a million things I want from Ulta. I have a list going in my head for if I ever win the lottery. Or marry rich. But I didn't want to spend a bunch of her money. So instead I picked out two things from NYX Cosmetics that I really wanted. I got a butter gloss (I have been coveting these for months) and the Jumbo Eye Crayon in Milk. This was specifically gotten because I have a pallete that I love but the colors are a little too dull. So I wanted to see if using Milk as a base would work. 

Next we raced to a mall nearby. It was late and the mall was about to close but we relly wanted to go to Macy's. At our mall, my BF discovered that we dont have an actual Lush store, instead it is inside the Macy's. We have both wanted to try these products forr awhile but we can't make these kinds of trips on a regular basis. We have a birthday exception. 

We made it just in time but discovered that Lish had been taken out of Macy's and is now its own store in the mall! Yay us! It was like heaven and smelled better. I am very lucky for the amazing woman that is my best friend because she said I could pick out whatever I wanted. The choices! We both grabbed a container of Ocean Salt, the much talked about face and body scrub. I have used this almost everyday since I got it and I love it. It smells great, is coarse enough to scrub but is soft enough for your face. And damn does it make my face smooth. I got the small version which is $22. 

We talked to the sales lady about some shampoo because I have oily hair that never stays not oily, so I'm always on the hunt for shampoo that works. She was very helpful but I decided against it because of the price. It was outside my price range. But she was amazing and gave me a sample of the one I wanted and a conditioner. They were small samples but have lasted 5 washes. I got the Rehab shampoo, which is a clarifying shampoo. And the veganese conditioner. I love the shampoo. I would buy it in a heartbeat. The conditioner was just so-so. 

We also both got a lip scrub. I have been on the hunt for one for awhile because my lips have been so bad. We got the mint julips scrub. It is a completely edible scrub that smells amazing and tastes better. Chocolate and mint! Completely worth the $9.95 price tag. 

 

BF also got a soap and then at checkout they asked us if we wanted a lotion called Charity Pot. Each one is labeled with a specific charity and if you buy it, the whole amount goes to that charity. I believe it cost $5.95 for a 1.7 oz container and all that goes to the charity. It is made with cocoa so it smells like chocolate but has a hint of other smells that just smells amazing. I use it every day and I always smell myself because it is delicious. 

 

I can't wait to go back to Lush for more stuff. I want the bath bombs like crazy! 

Last we went to Macy's and looked at their MAC section and perused the Bobbi Brown cosmetics but didn't actually get anything. And we ended the night eating a late dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Talk about delicious. 

And that's it! It was so fun and I wish I could do it every week. Baby free shopping is on my list of perfect days. And the next day was my birthday. So it was even better. 

This post took days to finish. Like 4 days. I barely had time to do this. So I'm working on a better schedule. I have ideas galore. So keep checking back! 

Ipsy Time! Unbagging and First Impressions

Hey everyone! Back again with my ipsy! This is my third month getting this service and I was excited because this is my birth month. (Happy Birthday! To me!) I had been following the reveals and the sneak peaks like a hawk and I was excited for the month. The theme was pretty cute, but I am waiting for a spring theme!! Maybe in May. 

So to start off, the bag is pretty meh. 

It's dark purple, vinyl-y material I guess. And it stinks. Like plastic grossness. I dunno. But I like the shape and size. I'll find a use for it just like last months. 

The first thing I got was the Urban Decay 24/7 Velvet Liner in black. I'm pretty sure everyone got it. It is a simple black liner but those are probably my favorite makeup items. It is velvety smooth like the name implies and glides on well. I put it on my waterline and it worked perfectly. So this is a plus! 

Next up was the Starlooks lip liner in Naked. It is a nice nude, with pinky peachy times to it. I love the color and love how it glides on. I lined my lips in it, then filled them in and put my Lorac Coutore Shine liquid lipstick on top. It was beautiful. A+

Next was a single eyeshadow. This is an Elizabeth Mott shadow in the line Pop! Goes the Shadow. It is in the color champagne. It is a simple frosty color, just like the name suggests. It is a bit sheer but goes on well and gives a nice sheen. I'm sure it would be beautiful over another color or in the inner corner. My big complain was the shadow pan. It looked precariously put it. The pan was uneven and had bumps on it because of it. After having it for ten minutes, the pan fell out of the crystal exterior. 

The last two things I got were an eyeshadow brush from Coastal Scents and a microdermebrasion from Dr. Brandt. The brush is a fluffy shader brush. It is very similar to the ELF shader brush for a dollar, which is my go to eye brush. So I was a little unhappy to get another shader brush but I can't really complain. The face product I am excited to use! I love trying new face products. So I will review that when I have had more chance to try it. 

 

Final thoughts! I liked this month better than the others. I got products that I could create almost a full look with instead of things I would have to use separately. I love the lip liner color. 

Here is my link to my ipsy! Feel free to join. Http://www.ipsy.com/r/5sut

Mommy time: Update on Life with Ray

So I don't have much to write about with him lately. But this is a mommy blog too and I wanted to add in things about my Ray as well as the reviews I have been doing. Just so I have a chance to write more. 

I have been feeling so burnt out lately. I have been the main babysitter of my niece this past week and we acquired a new puppy. So between two toddlers and a puppy, I have had my hands full. Like I have wanted to pull my hair out, run away, cry myself to sleep, etc etc. You parents know how it is. These kids get crazy and needy and loud and you go insane. That has been me. A big ball of crazy. I have yelled at my fiancé more times than I can count because he had been working doubles and got a break from these kids. That is how horrible they have been; working a double equals a break. Lol

I have to say I have been pretty proud of myself and getting Raylan on a better schedule. I wasn't too worried about schedules when he was younger because he barely ate, so he could eat whenever he want and sleep whenever he want as long as he ate and slept. Know what I mean? But with his occupational therapist coming on Wednesdays really early in the morning, it was getting too hard for us to stay as we were. 

Previously he would wake up at 10 or 11, take one nap at 4, and go to bed at 11. Horrible schedule, I know. But it is what he taught himself and we allowed. We are night people. We would rather stay up late than wake up early. But he has his therapy at 9 am on Wednesdays and he would hate being woken up at 8. He would get so cranky. It would disrupt the therapy. So I put my foot down. 

Now he is up by 9 every morning, takes a nap between 12 or 1, and falls asleep by 10. Still not great but so much better. I do wake him up at 8 on therapy days but he is happier about it. The time is killing me though. Like I'm a zombie by 4 (which is about now) and I go to bed when he does. Which I hate because I want some me time! I want to lay in bed and watch Parenthood or to read or play on my new 2DS. But I'm so exhausted. I know I'll get used to it but still. 

Whew!

Other than that, we have been good. He had such a great Easter you guys! He made out like a banshee and spent all day outside playing. We visited family and had a cookout and had two Easter egg hunts. It was amazing. I hope everyone had a great time too! Let me know. What did you do? 

My birthday was this past Saturday (day before Easter), so I'll have a post up about my spoils soon! Have a great day! 

Walgreens Haul and Mini Reviews

Hey all. I'm back and planning on posing more now that life has died down a bit. I still have a crazy toddler but he has increased his independence (said while he keeps trying to steal my ipad). So I have more time to play with makeup and research some things. I've even been writing, so I will have some posts on that as well. I just need stuff to do with my time again. I've been very down about things lately. But that is another story. 

Today I have a Walgreen haul, like the title implies. I meant to write this when it happened but decided to wait and give some impressions on the products I picked up. 

                                               

  

I picked up L'Oreal's Pore Vanisher, which is the new edition to the Texture Perfector line. I was lucky enough to sample this when the product came out and I loved it from the samples and decided to buy the full product. It is about $25 normally but a lot of places have been having it on sale for $20 and then there are some coupons. Overall, it is a good price for a nice size product. It is a 1.4 fl oz product. I feel like it has a good ability to blur the pores, but that isn't why I love it. You can get similar results for the Baby Skin or Benefit's Porefessionals, but what I find amazing is the texture. It is creamy and smooth, but not oily at all. I have oily skin and this doesn't make me oiler and helps me feel like my face can stay oil free all day. Plus my face feels like silk afterwards. I seriously want to just touch my face all day long. Definitely a 5/5 for me. 

The second product was the Jordana liquid eyeliner Fabuliner in black. It is the basic $1.99 product but I have continued to hear good things about it. Especially from one of my favorite Youtubers, EleventhGorgeous. They have done many tutorials with this eyeliner and it has looked great for a great price. I have tried using it about three to four times and I think I got a bad one, because it is dry and patchy and not black enough. I can't get an even line to save my life. I'm thinking it is going to go in the trash. 1/5 (In this pic, the one on the left is with medium presssure, and the one on the right is pressing down really hard, much harder than I would press on my eyes.)

Another product I got was Covergirl Clump Crusher mascara in very black. This is another product I got because of a youtuber. Melissa Raymond, or Melmphs has talked about this product in a ton of videos. So I took the leap and grabbed it while it was on sale. I think it was $8.99 or something similar to that. But they were having a buy one get one half off sale and I had a coupon. I really like this mascara. I love the brsh and how it curves and I love what it does to my lashes. I have pretty normal lashes so they give good volume and good length. It is pretty good at crushing those clumps but I do notice some sticking together and it smears a lot on application. Overall, a 4/5. 

The product I got for half off was a Covergirl Outlast Stay Brilliant Glosstini in Scalding Emerald. This is a little 3.5 ml product but it is beautiful. It is part of their new Hunger Games: Catching Fire collection. It looks fine alone but absolutely beautiful over a light color like a pale green. I ended up getting this free with the half off and coupon. It is about $3.99 normal price. 5/5

The last beauty product was the Olay Fresh Effects exfoliating wet clothes. It is in the scent honeysuckle and white tea and they smell great. I can definitely smell the honeysuckle but the tea gives it a fresh scent. Very pleasant and not too strong. As for the wipes themselves, I have tried the Simple brand exfoliating wipes and they are similar. I think the Olay ones are more saturated and do a pretty good job taking off the face makeup. Obviously it doesn't work well on eye makeup, but not many wipes do. The exfoliation is nice and not too rough, but does the job. I use these when my face feels really oily because they do have a drying effect I feel. Overall, I am enjoying them. 3/5. 

Last product was a baby product and because this is more than a makeup blog, I will include it. It is the BabyGanics Bye Bye Dry moisturing eczema care cream. It is a 3 oz tube and was about $5.99. My little monster has bad eczema, he gets little dots all over his back and face and then gets some on his arms and legs too. They went away for awhile but came back so I needed something stronger than normal lotion. There is no scent to this product and it says to have no parabens, no sulfates, no Phthalates, and no toxins. It is made with natural, plant-based ingredients. I like this product a lot. It is not oily or greasy, so it works great as a regular lotion as well. My sister uses it on her face when she is really dry and loves it. It dries quickly and leaves his skin feeling very smooth. It does seem to keep the bumps to a minimum. 5/5 

Ok that is it. Thank you for reading. I hope these mini reviews helped and if you have a Walgreen's product you feel like I should try, let me know. Or if you want me to post on specific topics. Until next time, love you all.  

Links: 

EleventhGorgeous: www.youtube.com/eleventhgorgeous

Melissa Raymond: www.youtube.com/melmphs

Product review: Glamglow YouthMud

In my life, I have never been into beauty products. Up until I was 16, I didn't even care what I looked like. And even then, all I did was change my hair. I never did makeup or a skincare routine. It wasn't until I was in college that I got interested in it, but not enough to actually research it. I just wore mascara and eyeliner and went on my way.

Now at 23, I finally am starting to care. And I spend a lot of time on Pinterest looking up makeup boards and watching YouTube videos of makeup tutorials (I will link some favs at the end). Unfortunately I am not rich enough to buy the good stuff. I live by ELF right now, lol.

Coincidentally, my best friend is going through the same thing, but has more money to play. So recently she went to the Sephora section in JCPenney and got this good deal on some sample size products. For around $30, she got a pretty makeup bag and got to fill it with 5 sample products. She had been hearing good things about Glamglow and got a few of their samples. Lucky me, she gave me one to try.

Glamglow is a skincare product out of Hollywood, California. The one I have tried is the YouthMud Tingle Exfoliant. It is a mask that goes on your face to exfoliate and tighten your skin to give it a younger, softer look. It is made with volcanic rock, green tea leaves, and French sea clay. So the directions say to put a light layer on clean skin and keep it on for ten minutes. The tingle is intense and many people say it hurts, but that was not my experience.

So I tried this stuff last night.

I did my nightly routine and just skipped the moisturizer. Then I put a layer on with my finger. I have watched videos where people use makeup brushes to put it on for a more even application. Whichever you choose is fine. Some places started drying quickly and would tingle almost immediate. It was intense but nice. I liked it. When it completely dries, your face is nice and stiff, you can feel the tightening. And there are peices of green tea leaves in the mud so watch out for that.

Once the ten minutes is up and after your kids try to pull it off (Ray kept trying to touch it and my niece told me my face was dirty and tried to wipe it off), you use warm water and a circular motion to scrub it off so that is exfoliates.

My reaction to it: The mask was nice and I felt it working almost instantly but the exfoliation was painful to my skin. Once it was washed off, my face felt raw. I put moisturizer on right after to soothe my skin. Which I would have done anyways because my face was also dry dry dry. But once I did that, my face felt soft and new. And for hours after, that tightening feeling stayed.

The next day, I forgot I even did the mask. My face was back to normal, and I saw no difference in my skin. Of course that was one use and you are supposed to do it twice a week. So after a second use, it may be different. I know people live by this stuff. I hope I see results before my sample runs out because right now. I wouldn't say it is worth the $65 for the full size.

Overall rating: 3/5 Stars

Links:
http://www.glamglowmud.com/youth-mud.html#.UtWD0mIo4uw

Favorite Makeup Channels:
Melissa Raymond http://m.youtube.com/user/Melmphs
Emily Noel http://m.youtube.com/user/emilynoel83

How to Feed My Son

It seems like an easy thing, feeding your offspring. From breastfeeding to formula to baby food to solids, the concept is simple. But when you have a 5 month old that won't drink more than 2 oz at a time or an 8 month old who gags on pureed baby food, eating is a harder task. If I knew how to feed my picky eater then my life would be much easier. Instead I spend lots of time looking up recipes that he may try and looking up tips. Getting tests done on his stomach and throat. We also spend an hour every Thursday with a therapist to talk about why he doesn't eat much. So a how to would be wonderful.

Instead, this is about how I feed my son.

Here he is, at 14 months old and 16 (almost 17) pounds. He is my clingy, whiny, non-sleeping, loving, cuddly, beautiful man cub and this momma bear could not love him more. But it's such a struggle to get him to eat a normal meal. He picks at his food and throws it on the floor or takes it out of his mouth. I understand that toddlers are tricky, but even with the foods he likes, he eats the bare minimum.

This week I have been working on structured meals and our homework from the therapist is to work on him eating meats. Meats are his hardest foods to eat. He just spits them out or gags on them. So I have been working on new recipes using meats we haven't tried. For example on Saturday we had Middle Eastern Turkey Burgers and sweet potato fries.

To me and my sister, they were delicious. But Ray was not convinced. He ate two bites of the bun (he loves bread), one bite of the burger, and two fries. And his bites as small little slivers. And then he was done. Nothing makes me want to cry more than to watch my son struggle to do an everyday necessity.

This is my struggle and my life.

This is the recipe for the turkey burger: http://weelicious.com/2012/03/05/middle-eastern-chicken-burgers/

Welcome!

Hello, my name is Ashley. I am a 23 year old first time mom. I stay at home with my little munchkin who is 13 months old and a little terrorist, but I love him so much.

For the most part this blog will be my own musings. I will write about my son, who has many eating issues and is in occupational therapy for it. So I work on recipes that will help him eat. I also have gotten into makeup and skincare, so I will be talking about that and reviewing new products that I try. I am a woman, a mom, and a girlfriend. This blog will be a illustration of how I try to be it all.