Baby Kicks diaper review

So, most of you know by now that I'm pretty crunchy. So, I'm sure it doesn't surprise you to know that I use cloth diapers with Sage. We have been doing it since day one, and it's been pretty great! It's something I find pretty important, so of course I want to share that with you!

I recently had the opportunity to review a BabyKicks diaper and am excited to tell you about it. It is a  One Size Premium Pocket Diaper in the limited edition 'Outfoxed' print. It fits babies from 7-40 pounds which is great since this little boy is growing faster than I can stand! It has a super soft bamboo velour inner lining that seems like it would be so comfy on the bum! I thought it would lose some of that softness after the wash, but it didn't at all. It came with a super absorbent and trim hemp insert and also a stay dry liner in case you wanted to use that too.

Something a little different about theses diapers is the front stuff pocket. I didn't think it would matter too much having it in the front instead of the back, but I really like it in the front! It makes it really easy to adjust the absorbency by folding the insert over in the front, to double it up where it needs to be.

The Baby Kicks pocket diaper also has side snaps. To me, this seems to just change the look more than anything, which is kind of fun because you see more of the pattern in the front.

The last thing that is pretty different about these diapers is the fleece leg gussets.  When I first saw these I thought 'Wow, that looks soft, but how is that not going to leak?!' Well, it doesn't. Don't ask me how, but it's pretty awesome.

Here are some pictures of Sage showing of his diaper, fancy hair and all!

Over all I really like this diaper. It fit's his chubby little body well, and doesn't leave any red marks on his chunky thighs. It fits pretty trim too, which is great for trying to get jeans up over that fluffy butt! Plus it's a super cute diaper! Even Daddy thinks it's pretty cool!

If you want to check out this diaper (it comes in other colors and a fun elephant print too!) head on over to the Baby Kicks site.

Our amazing Thanksgiving!

Our thanksgiving was simply amazing! It was so warm and beautiful, I don't think I've ever seen such a nice Thanksgiving day. We started off the day with some very amazing very out of season strawberry picking. {this is why it pays to know your farmers!} Sage was loving it! We let him pick some strawberries, and play in the dirt,,, he got a mouthful of both, plus a little bit of the strawberry plant too. He spit it all out, but it was funny seeing him 'eat' a strawberry.

We took a quick little jaunt up the creek after we left the farm. The colors of the leaves were so pretty. We found a massive wild grape plant that was climbing all the trees around it. Sage was loving this too! He definitely takes after his daddy and his love of nature already!

We had and early-ish dinner outside since the weather was cooperating so nicely. Everything was AMAZING! The menu was simple and delicious. There ended up only being a few of us, so we had leftovers for days! Which was a good thing, since it was all so tasty!

Although Sage didn't get to try any of the food this year, it didn't stop him from checking it all out! He had his fingers in anything he could reach! 

All in all, it was a great day filled with friends, family and great food. What more could you ask for?

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone is having wonderful day with friends and family!

There are so many things to be thankful for today, and every day.
I am most thankful for my family, and especially my wonderful husband and perfect baby boy! I couldn't imagine my life without them. I am truly blessed to have them in my life!

In between all the stuffing and pie {which I'm also thankful for} make sure to give thanks today. Then, when you wake up tomorrow, do it again! We should be thankful for all the wonderful things that we have EVERYDAY!

So, what are you thankful for today?

Getting ready... for pie that is.

Can someone tell me how tomorrow is Thanksgiving already... Wasn't it just yesterday that it we were gathered for Thanksgiving telling the family that I was pregnant!?! Crazy!

This year we get to have two Thanksgiving celebrations! {That means two chances for PIE!}

Our first Thanksgiving is going to be small, mellow and of course delicious! Just a few of us and tons of great food. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!

I'm not in charge of dinner, but I am going to be helping. Lucky for me, Sage is able to sit in his 'big boy chair' at the table while I'm working beside him now. Which means I just might be able to pull out one of my cute aprons to wear while we are prepping. I swear wearing a fun apron makes just about anything more fun! It's been a while since I've worn one, they don't exactly fit over a baby carrier!

Tell me I'm not alone in my love for fun aprons, I mean how fun is this...

via Etsy

I could wear that all day! Yup, I'm going to go dig mine out right now! I don't think I have one quite that cute though... sigh... any who...

Lucky for us, and by us, I mean our stomachs, our second Thanksgiving is Sunday. And it will be full of family and babies! Sage's little cousin will be there, so there will be a serious cuteness overload going on!

It's going to be such a fun long weekend. Now I just have to remember to stop and take some pictures along the way! Probably of aprons... and pie!

Anyone else spreading the love throughout the weekend?

28

This week I turned 28. I'm officially in my late twenties... yes, I was counting 27 as mid twenties.
27 was such an amazing year, it's going to be a hard one to top. The only thing that can top having a baby is going to be seeing him grow in the next year! He is already getting so big it's amazing. It's funny trying to think of what I want to do in this next year, and all I can think about is watching my little boy grow and taking in every small change as it happens. The past five months that he's been here have gone by way too fast, I know the next year is going to do the same, and I'm not going to miss one single bit of his cuteness! That's my goal for the next year, tough I know! ;)

...like that cuteness. {he doesn't get the whole photobooth = funny face thing yet... or even the making funny faces thing at all!} So, here's to 28! I'm sure it'll be a fantastic year!

Fall is for the crows

Fall has finally reached us here. Since we have a coastal climate the difference is subtle.

Cooler nights. A nip in the air. Pumpkins everywhere. And, my favorite, the return of the crows.

I love when the crows are out in full force. I'm not sure where they hide out the rest of the year, but right now they are everywhere, and it's great!

via

Our neighbor has a walnut tree that they flock to right now. They fly in, grab a walnut, fly out to the street and drop them on the hard ground to break them open. Pretty smart, right. I can hear them dropping out my window right now. It's such a simple sound, but it always puts a smile on my face.

When I'm driving and see a walnut in the road, I always try to hit it and crack it open for them.
My aim isn't dialed in yet this year, I mostly miss them so far. lol.

Does anyone have a, not so obvious, thing that really makes it Fall?

oh, hi.

It's amazing how time flies when you have an adorable baby to kiss, hold, take care of, and just stare at all day! Somehow I've managed to let more than a week go by without so much as thinking about looking at the blog! Yikes!

Last weekend we took a really long and way too short trip for my cousin's baby shower. That sounds a little weird, so let me explain... We drove 7 hours, straight to the shower on Saturday morning, visited with a few friends and family on Sunday and drove back home Sunday night! All the driving was exhausting, and we definitely did not get enough visiting time! If we could have I think we would have stayed all week!

It was a lot of fun though, seeing everyone, and seeing my cousins big ol' baby bump! I'm so excited that Sage will have a cousin so close in age! They are going to have so much fun together!

I wish I would've taken some pictures, it was such a cute shower, but, I was busy with Sage. The little stinker was up pretty much the whole drive being cute for me, and was SO tired when we got there. He was NOT a happy camper!

So, besides that busy weekend, my only excuse for not keeping up around here is one handsome little boy. Which is a pretty amazing reason if you ask me!

Insta-Friday time!!!

It's been a long time since I've done an instagram post! So... I'll skip quite a few (mostly pictures of Sage) and just give you a peek at what's been going on around here. If you want to see the immense amount of baby pictures, (they are pretty cute) then you can follow me @amerynmarie.

We like to get some sun time in pretty much every day.

CORN! This has been a staple food lately! and yes, sometimes I eat on the kitchen floor!

and this is why! How else could I almost get my cat to eat corn on the cob?!

Another staple: morning oats!

LOVE these red sunflowers from the garden! They looked almost black in person!

Took a little trip up to Figueroa Mountain, it's so pretty up there.

This is the center of one of our giant sunflowers! Isn't that so neat!

Sage finally met Kule up close, he couldn't keep his eyes off of him!

Look at those eyes! Getting bluer everyday!

Dandelions grow free in our yard!

Took a little family hike.

Matt made this, just to make it, one day. Pretty fun.

Well, I'll leave it at that! Have a great weekend everyone!

Let's make Scones!

Last week I came across a recipe for vegan scones and drooled about them all week long. I wasn't going to make them because we are trying to go pretty much gluten free. Then I thought 'duh! Just make them, but without the gluten!' So, I played around with the recipe and ended up with some delicious and not too bad for you scones! And now I get to share them with you! The recipe that is, you have to make them yourself. The good news is they were pretty quick, and easy too!

Gluten-Free Vegan Scones

Takes about 30 minutes start to finish. Makes 12 good sized scones.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Cups All Purpose Gluten-Free flour

1/2 Cup Teft Flour

1/2 Cup Ground Almonds or Almond Flour

3/4 tsp. Xanthan Gum*

1/3 Cup Sugar + some for topping

1 Tbs. Baking Powder

1/2 tsp. Sea Salt

1 1/4 Cup Canned Coconut milk (cold) + some for topping

1 tsp. Vanilla Extract

3/4 Cup Chocolate Chips or Carob Chips (vegan) OR fruit

*the Xanthan Gum helps to bind the flours, which is nice, but if you don't have it, you could skip it.

Preheat oven to 425

Mix all your dry ingredients: flour, xanthan gum, baking powder and salt.

Add your wet ingredients: vanilla extract and coconut milk. Stir until combined.

Fold in your chocolate chips or fruit.

On a floured surface, form the dough into a 3/4 inch thick disc. Using a sharp knife cut the dough into wedges, like a pie. I cut mine into 12 pieces, and they were a great size.

Place the wedges on a parchment lined cookie sheet an inch or 2 apart. Brush on coconut milk over each scone and sprinkle a good amount of sugar over that.

Bake at 425 for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Eat. Enjoy. Repeat.

I made a batch of these after dinner, and didn't think they would make it to the morning, they were that good! We did manage to save a few that night. I hope you get to enjoy these yourself this weekend. I am going to make more for sure, but this time maybe with blackberries!

And the ad winners are....

Side Street Style

Nicole

and

Ashley

Congrats to all! I'm sending you lucky winners an email right now!

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend! We sure are!

Sewing projects for the baby boy

Since I've been itching to sew something, but haven't quite gotten the time yet, I've just been collecting ideas! Since they are pretty fun I thought I'd share them too!

I think this 'little man gown' from The Cottage Home is too cute!

and this whale plush is so fun!

As Sage is growing out of his clothes faster than I can stand, I've been wondering what to do with all the super cute onesies that he barely (if at all) wore. I found this the other day, and just might give it a try, it's a baby hat made out of onesies from The Sewing Rabbit

And because I'm a hoarder thrifty gal, and have lots of old shirts waiting to be turned into something cool, I thought this idea from Small Fry is fabulous!

So, durring nap time one of these days, when there isn't a pile of laundry to fold, or a sink of dishes to do, I will be making one of these... I really want to sew up a ring sling too! So many ideas, so little time!

Do you have any fun boy projects to share? There seem too be far less boy things out there compared to all the girly patterns!

Hey there, you'd look pretty good on my sidebar!

Now that I'm getting back into blogging post baby, I thought I'd post some fun offers to 'meet' some new faces and get my sidebar filled back up!

First off, let's start with a great discount this week. How about 50% off all ad sizes with code BACKINBUSINESS

Yup, that sounds good. Go check out my sponsor page to get in on the deal!

Now let's throw in a giveaway too! How does a small, medium and a large ad to three lucky winners sound?

Good? I thought so!

Enter with the Rafflecopter form below. Anyone can enter, and remember to be honest with your entries.
I will check, and nobody likes a fibber! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

It's been two months...

I can hardy believe that it's been two months since my little man came into this world! On one hand it seems like he has been here forever, but it also seems like just yesterday I was holding that positive test in my hands!

I know I haven't been very present around here lately, {getting a routine down takes some time} but things are going great! Sage is growing like a weed, and already seems more like a little man than a baby! He sleeps really well, and I am sooo thankful for that! Momma needs her sleep! He's smiling and talking {gooo's and ahooo's mostly} and is the cutest baby ever! I know every mom says that about their baby, but look at this picture and tell me i'm wrong!

See why I've been absent?! How could you not want to snuggle that all day??!!

I still plan on getting all my snuggles in everyday, but I also plan on posting on a regular basis again. Definitely with some mom and baby stuff, getting back to our garden, and hopefully some fun projects too! I'm itching to turn on my sewing machine again!

So, until next time... which should be soon!

Wordless Wednesday : Photobooth

I came across these pictures today and thought I'd share, words aren't necessary.

My baby boy is 5 weeks already!

I can't believe that 5 weeks have gone by already! It feels like yesterday that I was holding him for the first time. It also feels like he's been here forever. It's kind of weird how that works.

It's been an amazing, and busy, 5 weeks. I can't believe how fast they days go by just hanging out with my little man. Holding him, feeding him, changing his diaper, and just watching him and admiring the perfectness that he is! It's a wonder I ever get anything done!

He's changing so much everyday. This week he has started to smile! Matt got the first real smile out of him, and I got a good one two days later. This morning we both got him to smile a big ol' grin. It's pretty much the greatest thing ever! I can't wait until this is a regular thing!

And now I'll leave you with the cutest thing ever... baby toes!

and baby makes three

As you've probably guessed from my absence on the blog, our sweet baby is finally here! and...

It's a BOY!!!

Pretty precious, right?!
Sage was born on June 14th after a long but amazing 25 hours of labor.
We had a home water birth, and it was the best experience ever.
It was just me. Matt and our two midwives.
The whole birth process was so calm and peaceful. Just how I hoped it would be.
Our midwifes were so laid back, and totally let us do our own thing. They kept checking on baby's and my heart rate, then would just give us space to labor how we wanted.
In the contractions right before the birth I would push and then in between we were talking and smiling knowing that our baby was almost here.
When his little head finally came out, Matt called out 'We have a head', and as soon as Matt's hand was there he felt a little hand grab onto his finger. Then he yelled out '...and a hand!'
When the midwifes came in I asked if it was okay to keep pushing with his hand out {I had heard bad things about babies coming out with arms up.} But they said to go on, and before I knew it I was pulling my baby out of the water and onto my chest!
There was at least a minute of snuggling and kissing before I even though to look if it was a boy or girl.
When I lifted him off my chest and saw that he was in fact a boy, I told him how he fooled everyone, because they all thought he would be a girl!
He was born at 10:47pm. The midwifes left by about 2am and we were out by 2:30! I hadn't slept in two days and was exhausted. Sage must have known, because he slept until 6 and then after a quick diaper change and a feeding went back to sleep for a few more hours. He's such a great baby!

He's now almost 4 weeks old! I can't believe how fast the time has gone by!
He is so big too! He is already wearing 3 month clothes! And his socks are 6 months!

He's already met a lot of his family, been to the beach, a farm, and on a camping trip! He's a busy little man!
Here's just a little bit of his cuteness from the past few weeks! There will be more to come, don't worry!

As I am typing this {one handed} he is sleeping in my arms like the perfect little boy that he is!
I'm loving this whole mommy thing, and just can't get enough of this little man!