Bright Bean Toys

Hey mommas,

Just wanted to take a quick minute to share a sweet little find with you!
I heard about a new online toy store that will be opening later this month, called Bright Bean Toys.

I was intrigued, and contacted them for more information about the company and what makes them different from other toy stores. I absolutely love their philosophy - that play is vital to a child's education and development (because I obviously need more reasons to buy toys). They are structuring their website to help parents find the best toys for their kids at each stage, from birth to age 12. The big difference in their store? Every single toy they sell is attached to a specific developmental category, and you will be able to shop by age and developmental category.

They will be carrying some of my personal favourite brands, such as Hape, Melissa & Doug, Boon, Crazy Forts, Lego, and Lamaze. There are lots of brands that I'm looking forward to exploring such as Janod, Seedlings, Tegu and Uncle Goose. Have any of you tried them?

Just to get you even more excited, they're offering some special perks to people who register before the launch. Head to their website (http://www.brightbeantoys.com) to register and you will receive:

• 6 months of free shipping
• $10 store credit
• 20% off for one month
• 1 year's subscription to Today's Parent magazine

Uhh, yeah. Kind of awesome. Once they have launched and you've done your shopping, drop me a line and let me know what you bought!

Bringing Home Baby...the Sequel.

Three months ago, we welcomed little lady Lily to the family! With two little ones, life can be hectic. I was mentally prepared to be exhausted and feel torn with two little humans vying for attention, but nothing could have prepared me for the heartbreak and sadness I felt at some moments.

Photo by Shannon Nicole Photography

We took time while I was pregnant to prepare A to become a big brother. We read books about being a big brother, he helped me set up parts of Lily's nursery, and spent many bedtimes talking about what he wanted to do with baby "Monkeyhead" (as he affectionately named her in the womb) when she was out of my belly.

When Andrew came to the hospital, he was surprised with a present from baby Lily, and he was thrilled to finally meet the baby that was growing in mommy's belly. From the start, he was a proud big brother, telling everyone we saw that this was 'his baby.' I felt like such a proud mom, what a smooth transition to two kids this was! We were doing awesome! A wasn't acting out at all!

And then.....the honeymoon ended. A started to realize he didn't have my full attention and could not have me at times when he usually did. I still remember in the first few weeks the first moment that brought me to tears. Bedtime was usually me and A reading, snuggling, and talking in bed before he went to sleep. This particular night, newborn Lily needed to feed right at bedtime, so hubs stepped in to put Andrew to bed. I promised A I would come see him as soon as I finished feeding Lily (which as we all know, can be a pretty long time with newborns). I was sitting there, rocking Lily and enjoying that quiet and bliss that comes with a sleepy newborn, when in comes my three-year old with tears running down his face.

"Mommy, you say you come see me. You forgot about me Mommy."

My heart broke. In that moment, it was the first time that both of us realized that I couldn't always be there when he needed me. 

I scooped him up with my other arm and assured him that I could never forget about him, that I was still taking care of Lily and was coming to see him soon.

That is the absolute worst mommy guilt I have felt in my three years as a mom...and I'm sure that is just mild training compared to what is to come in the future. But right at that moment, I felt guilt that I couldn't be there when he needed a hug, that I had turned his world upside down by bringing another baby home, and guilt that I couldn't focus all my energy on Lily like I had when I brought A home. I think guilt is one of those things that is just part of being a mom.

Three months in and we're all getting used to things being done a little different, but A loves his little sister, and I'm sure he will enjoy having her around as she gets to be a little more exciting to him!

Photo by Shannon Nicole Photography

How do other moms balance having more than one little kid at home? Especially moms with more than two! How do you keep that balance between each child?

The newest member of the Momtourage

I remember back in the winter, hanging out at Beans when momma Sharon told all of us that she was pregnant again - immediately following the shock of it (her first son Brody was under a year), we were all thrilled and excited to meet the newest member of the Momtourage.

On August 8, the littlest member of the Momtourage came into the world, a beautiful baby boy named Blake Aayden. He is just so sweet! Sharon sure does have her hands full with a toddler and a newborn, but she is handling it incredibly, and has a sweet little boy to snuggle all day long!

Sweet baby Blake

 A few of us moms went to visit her when Blake was a couple weeks old, and it felt just like old times, but there were lots of arms to hold the only newborn, as all the babies from last year are cruising around on their own now. There's nothing quite like that newborn baby smell! I couldn't get enough of him! It was funny, all of us being around a newborn again....it seems so much easier the second time. I know I am infinitely more at ease with wee ones again - I'm pretty sure those first few days alone with A I was pretty shell-shocked. I hope if we ever have another baby I'm as cool, calm, and collected as Sharon is!

Can't wait to snuggle him again!

Just as I feel so lucky to have such an amazing momma support group, I feel lucky that Andrew has this wonderful group of kidlets to grow up with.

I can't wait to watch Blake grow up as I did with the other babes! Congratulations to Sharon, Andy and Brody on the newest addition! 

The Frustaci Family - Sharon and her boys

 Sharon had these photos done with Natalie Higgins of Logan's Photography. Check out her website for more info: http://www.logansphotography.ca/about-me.html

Batterfingers

After the success of our cooking afternoon with Chef Deb, I decided to do a kitchen get-together more suited to me. I am a decent cook, but...baking is really my forte. So I decided to organize something baking-related for the next outing. Like any resourceful momma, I hit Google for ideas, and came onto a company called Batterfingers, who offered cupcake decorating classes in your home.

I contacted Julia at Batterfingers and we set up a date - we were her first mom & baby group! Hosting with Batterfingers was so easy - All I did was cover the table with a plastic tablecloth, lay out aprons for all the moms, and set out some punch and finger foods to nibble on, she did the rest!

Julia getting Sharon and Julie started on their cupcakes

The lesson covered how to colour, shape, and mold fondant, as well as how to roll and decorate with it. Julia brought 3 cupcakes per person, delicious buttercream frosting, colouring, edible ink, rolling pins, and all the other tools necessary to decorate the cupcakes. We also each got a copy of the cupcake and fondant recipe, and she came prepared with boxes for us to take our cupcakes home.

Melinda & Jen 

 Julia was so patient with all the babies. We set up a playroom in my living room so they could hang out and we just left the table periodically to feed, soothe, or play with a fussy baby.

I bought a disposable plastic tablecloth to put down and I was SO happy that I did. If any of you choose to do something like this, it cut down on cleaning time so much, and it was so easy to decorate the cupcakes. No one had to worry about getting fondant or dye on the table. Once we got all Julia's tools into the sink to clean and packaged up our creations, I just folded up the tablecloth and dumped it. Easy peasy!

My finished products - they tasted as pretty as they look!

Jen's finished cupcakes - I love her sparkly cupcake with the daisy!

 If you're interested in having a cupcake class with Julia, get in touch with her here: http://www.batterfingers.com/index.html

Happy 1st Birthday Andrew!

A year ago today, Ryan and I welcomed a tiny new man into our life, and experienced a love that I never knew even existed before that day. After a relatively short natural labour, Andrew was born as a 7 lb, 9 oz bundle of endless energy. He has grown so much...but the endless energy hasn't changed! Instead of bouncing him for hours at night, I spend my days chasing him around the house.

What a journey this past year has been - after MANY sleepless nights (I won't lie, I still occasionally have them), bouncing a screaming colicky baby, I feel like all three of us have come so far. A has a little more patience with us, and we have learned so much about taking care of a baby, ourselves, and even about taking care of each other. I truly believe that having a baby is a delicate balancing act, and is a struggle for most moms - you invest every ounce of your being into this tiny new life, but I eventually came to realize that it is just as important to invest in my relationship with Ryan, and into myself. Sometimes that means having a spa day, and sometimes it just means walking around Target by myself after A goes to sleep for the night. With that being said, I am so incredibly happy with my little family. I feel so blessed.

I can't believe that a year has flown by already - I feel like it was just yesterday that I was at the hospital meeting A for the first time. In my mind, he is still this big:

On the weekend, we had Andrew's 1st birthday party in the middle of the heat wave, and despite the heat, it was a wonderful time. We had a Very Hungry Caterpillar theme, and I tried to incorporate it wherever I could.

Here are the invitations and the little envelope seals we had made:

I think that the star of the show (other than A, of course) was the cake, which was made by a friend of our family, Maria. I just told her what the theme was and she let her imagination run wild, and did a FANTASTIC job. I was completely blown away when she brought it in!

The level of detail was amazing - the leaves on top (under the caterpillar), the strawberries and pickle even had tiny little detailing on it! There's even a little piece of fondant Swiss cheese on the back that is so perfect but you can't see it in the pictures!

A found the polka dots on the cake fascinating!

For decor, I happened to find wrapping paper at Chapters that was reminiscent of the Hungry Caterpillar dots, so I used that as a backdrop...it didn't work out so great, as the room was so hot (even with AC!) that the tape didn't seem to be holding it too well!

Table Centerpieces

For favours, I decided to make chocolate chip cookies with mini M&M's instead of chocolate chips to give it the same colourful polka dot look, and had labels made to stick on the bags:

The birthday boy even had a decorated highchair, with a banner that I made:

Here are some close-up shots of the cake - can you tell I am still in awe of it a few days later???

Another exciting moment of the party was getting the Momtourage together for a picture with all the babies. Well, I guess I have to say toddlers now, as they are almost all over a year. Just for comparison, here is a shot of the babies the first time we all got together. In this shot, A is only three weeks old, and is second from the right.



We're missing one of the babies in the first shot and have another addition in the second, but the other five pretty much hung out every week for the first year of their lives!

And here is the rowdy crew, at A's birthday! They have all changed so much, and I am so lucky to call these incredible women my friends. They have been such a source of support, entertainment, and laughter over the past year and I look forward to watching our kidlets grow up together.




After pictures and lunch, it was present time! A only opened a few gifts and then got sidetracked by toys!

The Bubble Guppies microphone was a huge hit - Char even came crawling over to get in on the action!

As A has been cruising around constantly lately, we brought his walker so he could cruise on his own and not get cranky. It ended up being perfect, as he zipped around and visited all the tables while burning off energy!

One of the funniest moments of the day was A's first taste of cake. It was delicious, as you can tell from the photos. He couldn't get enough of it!

Andrew was surrounded by love and laughter at his party, and got spoiled rotten! It makes me feel all mushy and sentimental knowing that he is surrounded by such love in his life. What a lucky little man he is. Huge thanks go out to all of our friends and family who love him, encourage him, and support us in this journey.

NOTE: I have had a lot of comments about his little man-tie. I bought it from an awesome local vendor called Eva + Dell. She has tons of adorable clothes and accessories for girls and boys. She is at many mom and baby shows, but you can find her on Etsy and Facebook as well. Her products are very high-quality, and cute as can be. Please take a moment to check her out :) 
https://www.facebook.com/evaanddell?fref=ts
http://www.etsy.com/shop/EvaandDell

Any plans for your little one's birthday? What was the most memorable kids' party that you have been to or thrown? Let me know in the comments below!

Happy Father's Day!

This post is a day early, as tomorrow will be spent showering my wonderful hubby with love, affection, and appreciation for everything that he does around here! I have to give him a little Father's Day shout-out today.

One of the most amazing things in our marriage so far has been watching Ryan grow into the wonderful father that he is. Just when you think you couldn't love a man anymore than you already do, watching him love, play, and protect A just makes me fall in love with him all over again. Watching your husband become a dad really is an incredible thing, isn't it?

I know we both had many fears and apprehensions about becoming parents (who doesn't!?!?) but he has become an awesome daddy. Right from the beginning, he jumped right into fatherhood full-force. From cutting the cord, changing the first diapers in the hospital and staying up many nights rocking and bouncing a colicky baby, he has been amazing with A from the start. Nowadays, I love how the highlight of A's day is seeing Ryan come home, and watching the two of them play and bond, as A babbles away, trying to tell Ryan all about his day.

For Father's Day, Ryan got celebrated with a week of gifts, a little gift each day (homemade cookies, PJ pants, framed photo of him and A, etc). Tomorrow is the best one, and I can't wait to give it him! I know lots of you are celebrating your husbands' first Fathers Day - any special plans? What have you gotten your dads/husbands for Father's Day? I'm always in need of ideas! Let me know in the comments below. 

Here's a photo I snapped of the two of them reading bedtime stories last week - A is so much like his daddy in so many ways already:

Happy Father's Day Ryan, A and I are so lucky to have you in our lives!

Happy Father's Day to all the daddies out there, hope you get spoiled rotten and have an amazing day! What are all of you doing to celebrate Father's Day? 

An Afternoon with Chef Deb

One of the default outings for the Momtourage was lunch out - we didn't have to cook and got to spend a few hours together...perfect! The only downside to that as the babies got a bit older is that it gets a bit trickier. It got to the point where we needed 5 highchairs (couldn't keep them sleeping in the strollers anymore!) and after awhile they wanted to move and explore - in other words, our lunch outings became shorter unless we were at a playplace.

I started trying to think of activities we could do together, and ended up getting in touch with Chef Deb. I have known Chef Deb for a few years, and she has catered a few events for us, including our rehearsal dinner and showers. She is fantastic, and cooks so many different cuisines. My personal favourite is her Greek dinner - chicken souvlaki, homemade tzatziki, yum!!! But I digress - I called Chef Deb and asked her whether she would be willing to host an afternoon cooking class for a few moms at my place. To my delight, she agreed :) We settled on an asian theme, learning to cook a proper stir-fry, and then we could sit down and enjoy our work!

Chef Deb

Mandy working on her knife skills

We got so much more than we bargained for - to start off, Chef Deb taught us proper knife skills. Apparently none of us even knew how to use a knife properly. It takes some practice to get comfortable using knives the way chefs do, but when you get the hang of it, you can chop pretty fast...plus I kinda feel like a contestant on Masterchef...a contestant that Gordon, Joe and Elliott would promptly swear at and throw out of the kitchen.

Jen and Char taking in all the action

Sharon and Brody taking a break from the kitchen

General Tao's Chicken

First up was learning to make General Tao's chicken. I'll be honest, I'm not a very adventurous eater, so I had never actually tried it before. However, I did try it this time and it was delicious! Flavour was amazing, chicken was crispy and perfectly cooked. Hard to believe it came out of my kitchen and not a restaurant!

London taking in the sights from the floor

 Next up was tackling a proper chicken stir-fry. I know we all know how to essentially throw together a stir-fry, but let me tell you...doing it properly makes a HUGE difference. First was learning to cut up vegetables the correct way - doing matchstick veggies makes it look nice and makes it a whole lot easier to cook!

A look at our work in progress

Stir-fry in action!

Both of the recipes were deceptively simple, and I have made them numerous times on my own since then. I haven't quite mastered the General Tao chicken, I don't usually get it quite as crispy, but the stir-fry turns out perfect every time, no fail. I've done it with chicken and beef, and they are both yummy. If you like doing a stir-fry at home, check out Chef Deb's blog (details below), as she has a video on stir-frying. There are some really simple techniques and tricks that make a world of difference in stir-frying.

Cooking with Chef Deb

Chef Deb and A

As always with the Momtourage, it was a fantastic afternoon! We all learned a lot, had a great meal, and spent time with one fantastic chef! A few of us even took cookbooks by Chef Deb home!

Take a few minutes to check out everything Chef Deb has to offer - her blog is witty and entertaining, her cookbooks offer lots of weekday meal ideas, and her catering is phenomenal!

Catering site: http://www.culinarycaravan.com/
Blog: http://thefridgewhisperer.com/fridge/