First Year Favorites - Toys

For today’s edition of FIVE on FRIDAY, I’m going to post about EM's FIVE favorite toys over her first 12 months. She got a ton of new ones for her 1^st birthday (and I’m sure more to come for Christmas), so maybe I’ll do a post in about 6 months with her new favorites then.  This is the follow on to my post yesterday about our First Year Favorites.

(1) Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Magical Musical Mirror: This was one of the first toys (besides a few small rattles and soft things) I took out for EM. She received a ton on her first Christmas but was only 5 weeks old, so many of them were saved in her closest till she was big enough for them (in fact some still are as they were aged 18+ months – she’ll have a birthday and 2nd Christmas before she’s ready for those lol) She loved being able to look at herself in the mirror, spin the scroll to make music, play (and chew) on the pieces and open and close the compact. The songs are cute and not too annoying and it has a soft and louder volume which I liked. It was a great first toy to give her! (Age: 6+ Months or once sitting up)

(2) Kidoozie Peep N Peep Eggs: To say EM loved these eggs would be an understatement. Personally, I could do without. They scatter easily and hurt when you step on them, but since she loves them, we keep them around. Although, sometimes we don’t take them out and defer her to other toys when we get sick of cleaning them up. She loves taking them out, dumping them over, opening and closing the case, throwing the shells, and carrying them in her hands when she crawls around. I don’t know what it is about them, but she loves them. She doesn’t match the shapes on the bottom yet (you can’t see in the picture but on the bottom of each egg is a shape that is specific to its spot in the carton) but I’m sure she will eventually. (Age: 6+ Months or once sitting up)

(3) Oball Rainstick Rattle (ball): This was good for when she was pretty little. She liked me holding it over her and tried to grab and kick it and seemed to enjoy the rain stick sound it made. She could easily grab on to it and push it around. Even as a crawler she seemed to like it. (Age: 2+ months)

(4) Fisher-Price Go Baby Go! Poppity Pop Muscial Dino: Now that EM crawls, she really likes this toy. She makes the balls pop and chases after the ones that roll away. It’s fun to watch her play with this one because the popping stops after a minute or two and then she sticks her hand in there and it pops some more and she laughs! To be honest, she’s so into balls of all kind right not, she’d probably love any toy with them but this was the main one she played with before  she got several new ball ones for her birthday. (Age: 9+ Months or once crawling)

(5) Green Toys My First Stacker/Shape Sorter:  Ok, so there are two here, but they are both basic  basic toys that have been around for ages so they both count (maybe not these SPECIFIC ones, these just happen to be the ones she has, but the same concept). The stacker toy was another Citrus Lane find and she can’t really stack them the correct way herself yet but she does try and loves to knock them over once I stack them up for her. The shape sorter is another one which can occupy her for a decent amount of time. She likes to dump the shapes out, tries to put some of them in the sorter if I help her (she’s mastered the circle), and loves to carry the shapes in each hand as she crawls around the house.  (Age: 6+ Months or once sitting up)

What were your kids favorite toys for the first year?

First Year Favorites

Now that EM is a year old (and that I have a bunch of friends pregnant with their first child), I figured I’d do a recap of all my favorite things that helped get us through this past year. When you go register for the first time, especially at a baby super store like Babies R’US, it’s over whelming with the multitude of options they have to offer on EVERYTHING. We of course ended up getting some things we never ended up using, and ended up trying things out after the fact, but in reality most of them are “nice to haves” and definitely not necessities. You can raise a child with very little but of course we got spoiled by our friends and families (and splurged on some things ourselves) and these are by far our favorite 1^st year items:

Hands Free Pump Bra: For the breastfeeding working moms (or any that use a breast pump), sitting there holding the cones (that’s what I call them anyways) for 30+ mins is not fun and makes you hate pumping. After about 1 week of that I went on the search and came across this hands free bra. It made pumping so much better. I was able to do both sides at once (I had a dual pump), keep my hands free for reading, texting, playing candy crush etc. Once I went back to work, it made it easy for me to bring my laptop into the mother’s room and work while I pumped so I didn’t have to make up my time while pumping. It made pumping 100x better!

Lanolin: Also for the breastfeeding moms, Lanolin was the ONLY thing that worked for me. I was super sore/chapped/bleeding (TMI sorry) from pumping and nursing and I lived in lanolin. I tried other stuff, nothing compared. Stock up! I probably was able to finally discontinue use after about month 2 once my boobs finally got use to nursing/pumping, but during the first two months, it was a lifesaver!

Boppy Pillow: There are several variations of the same “idea” of this pillow. I’m sure they all serve the same purpose and work great, but I only have experience with the Boppy. Even though that tiny little newborn only weighs between 5-10 lbs, your arms get tired very quickly when feeding! Having this pillow to lean on was wonderful. We also used it to just prop EM up, tummy time, cushion when she was still a wobbly sitter, and now for her to lay back on and take her own bottle/sippy cup. They have a ton of different cover choices as well!

Video Monitor: EM has been in her own crib, in her own room since day one (some people agree with this, some don’t, but it worked for us). However leaving such a tiny little baby is a little nerve wracking (especially for first time moms) so we knew we wanted a video monitor. We did a ton of research on the different ones out there and decided we wanted one that we could hook up to our cell phones and tablets (which by the way we NEVER did, so can’t speak to how well that actually works). There was only ONE true baby monitor on the market that had that capability at the time and it had JUST come out so we didn’t know how good it was but we were thinking about getting it. However, one day while browsing around Costco, we came across this security system monitor. It had everything we wanted in our baby monitor and more and was roughly the same price (maybe even cheaper, can’t recall). What really sold us on it was that you could hook up multiple cameras to it so in the future we could put them around the house in different rooms (play room, living room, kids rooms, back yard) to keep an eye on the kids when they are older and playing in a different room than we are. The cameras work perfectly. They have night vision, zoom capabilities, volume control, etc. The only thing I wish it did was “dim” down. The display screen is pretty bright, although I suppose if we ever hooked them up to our iPhones/iPads we could have controlled it on there and turned off the display monitor part.  

Car Mirror: This seems so simple, but these mirrors are great! They have flexible, bendy things in them so you can easily adjust them to the right angles. G and I both have them in our cars and love being able to see EM in our rear view mirror to see if she's awake, sleeping, or smiling at herself!

Teethers: : There are two teethers that EM really loved. The one EVERYONE brags about is Sophie the Giraffe, she definitely loved it and the day care folks even requested us bring it back in for her once when we took it home since the said she seemed crankier without it. Yes, it seems ridiculously to pay approximately $20 for a teether, but I can’t deny the fact that it is one of her favorites. The other one is is Innobaby EZ Grip Teether. I got it in one of my Citrus Lane boxes. I would have never bought it by the looks of it, I had never heard of the brand, but I think EM loved it more than Sophie. It was the perfect size to fit in her hand and she seemed to really gnaw down on it. Granted she ONLY got her first tooth at 11.5 months but she still enjoyed these teethers and still does now that she’s ACTUALLY teething.

Swings: Some babies love them, some hate them, but our EM LOVED her swing. This is the one we have, but she has another one at her Nan and Pap’s that she loves too so I don’t think the particular model of the swing mattered. Sometimes you just need to put the baby down someplace safe because you have to get something done. Sometimes you just need a break. Sometimes it was the only way she’d fall asleep. Sometimes she’d whine until we put her in it. It was almost a given that if we put her in it, she’d go to sleep. As she got older, she started to just like relaxing and swinging in it.  We still use it, not as much as we used to, but many naps are taken in it.

Diaper Genie: Some people say they don’t work, but I disagree. We have two (one upstairs and one downstairs) and just make sure to empty them when full. They definitely keep her stinky diapers from stinking out the house. Sometimes, I wonder how that cute little girl can create something so foul, but she does. I’m glad we don’t have to make our garage small bad by needing to put the stinky diapers in the trash cans in the garage.  And I've tried the Target brand diaper pail refills and they don't work as well as Diaper Genie brand refills, in my opinion.

Triple Paste Medicated Ointment -  When EM got her first diaper rash, we used Desitin and A&D (I got both at my baby showers) and it didn’t seem to be helping so the nice ladies at her day care recommended the triple paste. I almost died at the price when we got it (it’s MUCH cheaper on amazon and that is where we currently order it- along with almost everything else lol)

Formula Dispenser: When we switched from breastfeeding to formula at 6 months this came in handy. It’s a very simple concept, yet so many people are amazed when I whip this out of my diaper bag so figured it deserved to be on the list. Easy to use, easy to clean, and makes days outside of the house easier when making bottles on the go (which we always are) It can also be used for snacks but has divided areas for re-measured formula.

Snack Stackers: The round one can also be used easily for formula and was another Citrus Lane find.  There are a ton of similar items out there, but they come in very handy when our and about and you want to carry some snacks.

Exersaucer: We actually borrowed ours from a friend. She liked the jumparoo but preferred the exersaucer. Once she could reach the ground on it, she loved twirling around and playing with all the toys. She still loves it at a year old. It’s another one of those things that I liked because I could keep an eye on her, know she was happy and empty the dishwasher at the same time. The picture is of the one we have borrowed, which it don't believe is still sold anywhere (and now that I see what it looked like brand new, we are missing quite a few pieces but EM doesn't mind) but she loved the ones at day care too so I'm sure any/all are similarly loved by most babies. 

High Chair Toys: Once EM started eating “solids” (aka pureed baby food), these really helped keep her occupied while eating and not flinging her hands too much or trying to touch the spoon. The suction cups worked pretty well and she liked spinning these two toys while I shoveled the food into her mouth.

Sanitizing Wipes: I never thought I’d appreciate these wipes as much as I do. They are another Citrus Lane find and we use them every time we go out to eat. Now that EM eats all “real” food and feeds herself she eats off tables, high chair trays, and whatever else we can stick her food on that is not a plate/bowl. Those don’t exactly work yet since she just throws them. These wipes are great to clean the area up before we put her food down. They also come in handy for shopping carts, EM really likes to try to chew on those, and they are pretty nasty. (Yes, I know they sell shopping cart/high chair covers, ours was more hassle than it was worth). I know they also sell disposable tray liners/placemat things but I found just giving the table/tray a good wiping was easier and just as sanitary. I’m sure there are a ton of different brands out there, this just happens to be the brand we use since Citrus Lane has sent them to us a few times.

All the rest of EM’s favorite toys will be on tomorrow’s FIVE ON FRIDAY post (figured I’d do a separate post since there just happened to be five).

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow blog readers! I'm thankful for so much, not just today, but every day! Hope everyone has a great thanksgiving!!

I got most of my Christmas Shopping done yesterday via Amazon.com and Target.com. As much as I love a good deal, I love the convienince of online shopping. I do a little online price comparison and hit check out! Plus, Amazon is offering an additional 5% back on my chase card this quarter so that makes it a little more of an incentive to avoid Black Friday madness (and they have their own Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales which I obviously didn't wait for). And I always gets 5% off and free shipping at Target with my RedCard sooo that makes me a big Target shopper too! 

I totally haven't been running much at all lately and with the Space Coast Half Marathon on Sunday, I'm totally going to regret that when I can barely move on Monday. And then another half marathon 6 days later, what was I thinking? (Oh yes, I remember - super cool medals!)

Last night we played this game Partini over at my in-laws, it was a blast! We played for hours! We then started monopoly (Millennium Edition) but I quit at 1 am as I was super tired. I was losing anyways but regardless I love game nights! (we weren't planning on games but G suggested it and we all went along with it) Maybe we'll make this a Thanksgiving Eve tradition :)

Random Wednesday

I took a look at our Christmas List (those that we are buying for) and yep, we only have ONE person completed. Time to get shopping! (and NOT black Friday shopping, hopefully I can get most on Amazon and/or at Target )

Last year we bought EM like one or two things because we “had” to get her something since it was her first Christmas at 5 weeks old. Well this year, she still isn’t going to know what is going on and she just got spoiled on her birthday and I know the family will spoil her on Christmas so I don’t feel the need to really get her much (let’s be honest, she’ll enjoy the wrapping/tissue paper more than the gifts anyways). We already got her Christmas PJs (a new tradition we started last year, it’ll be the one gift we all open on Christmas Eve each year) and that is all. I was discussing this with my friend Katie(who has an awesome beauty products blog – check it out!) and she told me about an idea her sister was doing with her niece that she found on a blog (Katie doesn’t have any kids yet, although I’m dying for the day she tells me she is pregnant!). I thought it was a very cute idea and I think it is perfect! You pretty much get 4 gifts (Plus stocking stuffers, which I still think EM is too young to really enjoy, so maybe we’ll start those next year): something they WANT, something they NEED, something to WEAR (check!), and something to READ. The blog talks about how they have since expanded to: something to WATCH, something for DRESS UP, something to LISTEN TO, something to EAT and something to CREATE; and I love that idea, especially for the younger kids. I’m not going to say in the future we won’t go crazy with gift buying for EM and future children (I’m sure we will!), but I’d like to at least use these categories in the future. I think it will help prevent us from going TOO overboard in the future since I know our families will. This is a picture from last year at 5 weeks old (only two of those gifts were from us) – some of the thing she still isn’t old enough for! (also not pictured is Elf on the Shelf) 

DEAL ALERT: Now through 11/30/13 you can get a FREE 8x10 at Walgreens.com(CODE: TURKEY8X10) – Of course I get the email the day after I pick up my 8x10,  but at least I had a 50% off coupon code for that one. (50% off all orders $10+ with CODE: HOLIDAY50 – valid through11/30/13)

What do you do about Christmas Gifts for kids? Do you put a limit on quantity of gifts per child (i.e. each child gets 5 items to open) Dollar value per kid? Just buy whatever? A big family gift? Don’t buy gifts at all?

Cruise Recap - Weekend Shenanigans

On Friday, G and I (and our friend Tommy) set sail on Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas for a quick weekend cruise. We left out of Port Canaveral, stopped in Nassau on Saturday, hit up RCCL's private island (Coco Cay) on Sunday and were back in Port Canaveral, bright and early Monday morning.

cruise ship selfie

Friday, we got on board, ate our favorite lunch (which is only ever offered on the first day of cruises) - Honey Stung Chicken and then took naps. We woke up in time to go on the Jump zone trampoline. We were told before we got on it that we had to hold the ropes and could only go up and down. I thought tht was lame and after watching kids on it for like a solid 10 minutes I was like wow it must be fun. I got on and my fear of heights kicked in every time I bounced up. I made it maybe 3 minutes before asking to get off and was glad to not be trying any flips lol. After jumping we headed to the Diamond Lounge. Since G and I are Diamond Members (RCCL's loyalty program), we are allowed to go into the Diamond Lounge, each night from 5-8:30 and drink for free (Yes, you read that correctly, FREE DRINKS!). We took advantage of this perk and drank probably a good $100 worth of beer (for me) and Jameson and Cokes (for G). They also have special hors d'oeuvres that they don't have anywhere else on the ship. (sometimes we can't take advantage of the lounge because not all of our friends can get into the lounge so we don’t spend as much time in the lounge when we sail with others, but always pop in for at least a few drinks). We also meet interesting people in the Diamond Lounge. Being a short weekend cruise, there are a ton of Central Florida locals on board and especially in the lounge and this time was no exception. Every person we talked to was from Central Florida and were all very nice. Even met a race car driver! After our free drinks ended, we went to dinner in the formal dining room and got sat with two other couples. We were both very tipsy and I'm pretty sure our table-mates probably thought we were annoying alcoholics lol., oh well, we were enjoying ourselves. After dinner, G and I lost some money in the casino (way too quickly). I don't mind losing (well don't mind AS MUCH - I'd obviously prefer to win!)  as long as it lasts a good amount of fun playing time, but losing our budgeted "casino" money in like 30 minutes, no bueno! After the loss at the casino, we finally met up with our buddy Tommy and hung out in the club until about midnight when this old lady was ready for bed!

bouncing

ready set...

BOOOOOING!

Saturday we slept in, went and had breakfast and then they were doing a "Top Tier" loyalty event for all Platinum + members. It was once again free drinks (I had a few mimosas) and they acknowledged the top 3 people on board. The top couple had over 1400 nights sailed on RCCL! That's insane! (granted you can get double "nights" for booking suites and other promotions, but regardless that's a TON of cruising) Although, G and I may not be that far behind them once we are their age (they were probably in their 60's). After that event, we went back to the room to relax and waited for Tommy to meet up to go off into Nassau. We walked to the fish fry district, didn't have any fish fry and ended up at a beach bar for the afternoon. We drank a bunch of Bahamian beer, used their free wi-fi (kept up to date on the UF game and celebrated their loss to a Division 1AA school -- love seeing the cocky Gators lose) and just hung out.  It was absolutely gorgeous out! Around 5, we made a stop into Senor Frogs (dropped Tommy off there so he could continue partying) - G and I went back to the ship since we wanted to indulge in some free (and way better) drinks in the Diamond Lounge. We went and showered, and then whoops, fell asleep and didn't wake up until 9ish. So we missed out on our free drinks (not that we actually needed them) and formal dinner so I went up and got some food from the snack bar and we called it a night (yes, I slept A LOT on this cruise).

G and I at the beach bar in Nassau

Tommy and I

celebrating UF's loss haha

Sunday, we slept in again (don't ask me how we slept so much, but sometimes those pitch black interior staterooms help encourage it).  Since we've been to Coco Cay a bunch of times, we decided to not get off the ship on Sunday. After breakfast, I headed up to the pool and laid out reading a book on my kindle for a few hours. I'm about half way through, In the Company of Heroes but Michael Durant (if you remember, he came to my company and spoke to us on Veteran's Day and it really made me want to read his book). It's a really good book and very interesting to read about what he endured while captive. I highly recommend it. It's insane to think that he actually went through all of that. And to think he was only held captive for 11 days, some POW get held for YEARS.  Anyways, after some reading, I went to the gym for an hour, I did mostly walking since I wanted to be able to read as well, but ended up with 4.32 miles so I did do about 20ish minutes of actual running. After a shower, we watched whatever football game was on with Tommy and then headed to the Diamond Lounge for our free drinks. After our free drinks ended, we met up with Tommy for dinner since he had room at his table and hung out for a little while. I think we crashed pretty early though because I can’t for the life of me think of what we did after dinner which was around 9 pm. I'm an old lady at heart and like to sleep. Sunday we got up and headed home... and I ended my mini vacation with an amazing 90 minute massage (not on the cruise, but at Massage Envy)!   It was a fun and very relaxing cruise and I can't wait until our next one in 11 days on Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas and this one EM will get to go on too. This ship looks more amazing than any ship I've ever been on and can't wait to do it all!

**Oh yea, Friday Night right before I was out of cell phone range, I got a call from my brother and he was saying one of his employees couldn't go on his company cruise that he takes them on each December and it's too late for a refund so he offered it to us for just the cost of the name change, so obviously I couldn't pass that up! Since it is on Carnival, G won't go on it, but EM and I will be going on another weekend cruise right before Christmas! My parents are going on it as well (they also are taking a "non-refundable room" from someone else in my brother's company that couldn't go) and so Is my sister and her husband (she works for him), so it'll be just like the cruise we went on in September (obviously my Sister in law and my nieces and nephew are going to be there as well). It's even the same ship and port, just over a weekend vs during the week. I'm very excited to be able to go since that last one was so much fun! This one makes 3 in a 5 week period and a total of 5 for the year! (and we're already booked for one in February... aah, the perks of living in Florida and super close to the ports!) I have a cruising addiction, yes I'm aware!

Holiday Shuffle

On the radio this morning they were talking about what different people do for the holidays - do you rotate holidays? Do you visit multiple houses in one day? Do you jump ship and vacation on the holidays to avoid the hassle? This is what I call the holiday shuffle.

Prior to having EM, if my memory serves me correctly we had been kind of rotating Easter and Thanksgiving with Easter w/G's family (or not at all since when it's his family's holiday it's his choice if we attend or not and he usually chooses to skip since he hates holiday food) and then Thanksgiving with my family. We then would do Christmas Eve at G's family annual party and go to my parents/brothers (whoever was hosting) on Christmas Day. As much as I love being wih family on the holidays it always stressed me out. Trying to make it fair between the two families was always hard since they both want to see us. I actually came to dread the holidays (mostly Christmas - which is typically my favorite holiday) because of having to make all the drives and shuffling between families. I could never fully relax and with both families kind of near by (at the time my inlaws were about 15 mins away and my parents/brother were almost 2 hrs away) it wouldn't make sense (or make anyone happy) to rotate between YEARs. I always ended up having a good time with both families and like I said I loved spending time with them but after our 2nd year of doing so G and I both told our families that once we had kids, things were going to change. We said that we were no longer going to travel for Christmas and that we wanted to start our own traditions. We hadn't really discussed Thanksgiving or Easter though, but we figured that out now.

So once we had EM we were excited for the new holiday changes. Having EM a week before Thankagiving last year it only made sense that we were going to stay home with our one week old. We celebrated Christmas with my family a few days before Christmas and that was going to be our new thing. My mom said as long as she could have everyone at her house for a nice meal and present opening she was happy. We ended up going to his parents Christmas Eve party since there was no reason to sit at home alone but said going forward we would be hosting the Christmas Eve party (just with a 6 wk old this year it wasn't feasible). Christmas Day, we woke up and did Christmas morning with our new little family of 3 and told the families they could stop bye if they wanted to but we weren't hosting anything other than an open front door. Last year we moved about 45 mins away from G's parents and they did come over for a few on Christmas day. Since we already celebrated with my family earlier that week, they spent it with my brother's family. It worked out very nicely. So that was last year.

When Easter came around, we were still getting settled into our new house/new baby routine and decided to skip it all together but made the plan that going forward we would spend Thanksgiving with G's family (who now live down the block) and Easter with my family. I figured Easter was more fun for kids with egg hunts and baskets so it would be more fun for EM to be with her cousins on Easter than Thanksgiving. 

So that brings us to the current holiday season. We are going to G's parents for Thanksgiving Dinner and going to the UCF vs. USF game on Black Friday!  

For Christmas, we are hosting a Christmas Eve party and then Christmas Day we are holding true to our plan of spending the morning just us and the door is open for anyone who wants to pop bye. Because of vacations and such, my Mom isn't getting her "early Christmas Day" but she'll be with all of us on a cruise from December 19-23 so I think she'll be happy with that and then of course coming over on Christmas Eve. Other than getting back from a cruise the day before hosting a party and the normal party planning stress that comes with that, I can honestly say I'm completely looking forward to the entire holiday season this year!! 

What are your plans for the holidays? Do you do a holiday shuffle? 

And just because a post isn't complete without a picture, here is our little family from Christmas last year and then one from our Christmas shoot this year! (Not the one that is on our Christmas card since those only went out today and I want it to kind of be a surprise for those who haven't stalked my FB yet) 

Bluum - November 2013 Review

I hadn't subscribed to Bluum since they changed their boxes earlier in 2013 so I was excited to see what was in it! For those of you that don't know. Bluum is a monthly subscription service where you receive a box each month with products that are based on your child's age, gender and developmental stage. The boxes start as low as $21/month if you choose a longer subscription or just $24.95/month for one month, and you can cancel anytime. If you use my referral link (http://bluum.me/1hReL0W) you can get your first month 50% off, so it's not a bad deal to try out for $12.50! Which considering they advertise a $40+ value, you can definitely get a good deal of goodies for much less!

Here is my review of my box, which is for my 12 month old, daughter. At first glance, it looked like a huge box, although it wasn't very heavy. When I first opened it there was a bunch of cards on top, and once I moved them and the Happy Holidays note from Bluum the box looked jammed pack. Much to my disappointment though, there was a ton of filler/stuffing paper underneath and the box wasn't as full as I thought, although does have some good items in it! There wasn't an information card (which since this is my first month since they made their changes back in early 2013 I am not sure if they are supposed to have one or not but I did log in my account and they had a little summary about my theme of the box being "Mini Cruiser"  and about EM being at the age to start walking, which is right on par with EM's current development. 

Peek-a-Boo Friends Handle Board Book by Little Learners - This book is absolutely adorable! We love getting books and EM is really getting into them when I read them to her. This is a great quality board book! In addition to the book, they included a little brochure about Little Learners and their other book options (including their app and singalong book they have in iTunes and iBookstore) . It looks like they have a lot of great reads!  ($7.19)

Monster Blankie by Angel Dear - EM actually got one of these in another box when she was much littler and loves it. She's no attached to any one blankie (thankfully) but I'm sure she'll love this one too! It is super soft!  I couldn't find this particular monster one on the Angel Dear website but I did find it on amazon ($13.95)

Calendula Weather Protection Cream by Weleda Baby (1 oz) - I'm not sure we'll really need this with our Florida Winters, but I'll put it away for safe keeping if the weather does drop and EM's skin starts to get irritated by it (or my own). (~$7.35)

8 Corner Protectors by Dream Baby - these will actually very much be needed for a few areas in the house once EM can reach the corners. She's already banging her head on various things so I'm sure the corners of some items will come soon enough. ($5.97)

HappyYogis: Mixed Berry by HappyFamily Organic Superfoods (1 oz) - EM hasn't had these yet, she wasn't too much a fan of the yogurt melts she got in a different box (I think because they stuck to her fingers) but we'll try these out and maybe she'll like them. She's also older now so she's gotten MUCH better with her finger foods. They are an easy, healthy snack to throw in the diaper bag. (~$2.81)

I also got a postcard for 25% off at www.bugalugbaby.com and $10 off a 30+ page memory book at www.tweekaboo.com  I never include these in my "total estimated value" of the boxes as they require you to purchase something so in my opinion they aren't part of the value if you have to buy something.

Total estimated value of box: $37.27 (not including shipping or the postcard coupons)

Total Cost of box: $13.00 (free shipping)  -- Well it's normally $24.95, I paid less because I found a deal on Plum District

Overall impression: Being that I only paid $13 I was very happy, but had I paid the full $25 I wouldn't have been as excited only because I just wasn't WOW'd by any of the items in the box. Although they are all great items and will all get used. I think it annoyed me more because they filled 80% of the box with filler/streamer stuff so it appeared like you were getting more than you were. I'm going to do one more month before I decide if I want to keep it coming or not.

As mentioned above, If you are interested in signing up for Bluum… use my referral link and get 50% off your first box (and I’ll get a credit as well): http://bluum.me/1hReL0W and I'll love you forever! Apparently you can also review you items and earn more points that way too, although I haven't figured out how to do that yet. 

Remember, you can cancel at any time, so your first box would only be $12.50 (with the single month pricing), not too shabby! 

Did you get Bluum this month? What'd you get in your box (and for what aged child)? 

Disclosure: This post contains referral links!