SWEET SUMMER TIME

SCHOOL'S OUT FOR THE SUMMER!
It's my absolute favorite time of year, and we have been enjoying most our days spent outside. The best part is that really don't need much - just a pool (or a sprinkler), some sun, a few snacks and you're set! Today I'm sharing two of my favorite Nuby goodies that I have been pretty much using as much as possible. My kid's sure aren't complaining about it either!

Nuby Designer Series Snack Catcher

When it comes to snacks, my kids are all over the place with them. As horrible as it sounds, my 3 year old still hasn't grasped the "not spilling" part of snacking. So instead of having every piece of goldfish strewn across the house, I put them in the Nuby Snack Keeper! The designer series they have right now come in bright colors and patterns, perfect for those little ones in your life. These Snack Keepers are always a hit, and something I always give out as gifts for new moms-to-be. Why do I love them for summer vacation? The Nuby Designer Series Snack Keeper is absolutely perfect for traveling! We took them to Mexico, we packed them on our trips to pretty much anywhere. One of my favorite things is that the Snack Keeper lid is so soft that Sawyer's hands don't take a beating when she's snacking, and they're super easy to wash. Lucky for you these are available mid June (which is practically now!) at Babies R' Us stores & Amazon.com.

Nuby Garden Fresh Fruitsicles Tray

You have no idea how much my kids love popsicles, and the Nuby Fruitsicles Tray makes all of their sweet summer dreams come true! These are perfect for little hands, because the popsicle sticks are rounded for easy handling, and the popsicle mold itself holds approximately 1 fluid ounce, which is just the right about for Sawyer. When she eats popsicles, she's all over the place - which is one of the reasons it's more of an outside sweet treat. The wide base of the popsicle makes a perfect catch-all for the melting juices that drip down. One of our favorite recipes for our Nuby Garden Fresh Fruitsicles Tray is roughly 6 large cubes of watermelon, and 3 strawberries pureed in the blender. Since I only have two kids, lucky for them they each get two popsicles, and lucky for me they're healthy! I would say it's a win-win for everyone. Go grab these Nuby Fruitsicles Tray for some fresh summer sweets at Amazon.com or Buy Buy Baby.

Along with these fun Nuby products that are perfect for the summer time, I also have a few more products that we love to incorporate into our outdoor fun. Want a chance to win the Nuby Garden Fresh Fruitsicles Tray and a few other fun goodies? Then head on over to my Instagram account to learn more! {@the_summerdays click here}

HINT HINT: LOOK FOR THIS PICTURE BELOW! 

FEEDING FRENZY WITH NUBY

For some reason, my daughter is a crazy eater. I almost need to go out and buy a swim cap for her head, to stop her from running her messy "foodie" fingers through her hair at every single meal. She's also a fan of picking up and throwing her plate of food, tossing her bottle, and smearing food all over herself.

It's no surprise that when Nuby came to me with some of their newest feeding time essentials, I was elated! My husband was a little skeptical, how could a matt stick to our refinished antique highchair and my hulk of a baby wouldn't be able to rip it off and throw it? How could these feeding items make mealtime a little less chaotic? That's what I'm here to share with you today!

Nuby Sure Grip Miracle Mat

This technology and this mat are nothing short of a miracle!! The Miracle Mat is virtually a plate and placemat in one, that suctions to any surface and stays put. What I love is that Sawyer can easily maneuver her food within the sections of the mat. I was a little hesitant because we don't use your everyday highchair, we have an antique highchair that I refinished before she was born. But sure enough, the Miracle Mat really does stick to the tray of my wooden highchair! Owen was a little jealous, so at snack time I let him use the tray on our kitchen table, and again it doesn't disappoint. Thank goodness it's 100% silicone and wipes clean so easily because we use it often. Another bonus is that it is dishwasher safe, and just like every Nuby product it's BPA free. Lucky for you, the wait is almost over! This Sure Grip Miracle Mat is launching this June @ Babies R Us and this July at Amazon.com.

Nuby Designer Series Clik-it Grip N'Sip Cups

When Sawyer turned 1, we cut her off the bottle cold turkey. I'm a firm believe in having your children learn to use a sippy cup as early as 6 months. Lucky for us Nuby created their Designer Series Clik-it Grin N'Sip cups, perfect for ages 4 months and up using their first sippy cup! They have two easy handles for your little one to hold the cup, allowing for better control. Sawyer loves walking around the house gripping her sippy cup right by her side. One of my favorite parts of this cup is the click that you hear when you've screwed the lid back on - that's when you know it's locked. The spout is easy for her to use and perfect for little ones just learning how to use a sippy cup. This designer series release features some of the cutest prints and patterns, they're bright for your kids to see and in my opinion pair perfectly with these summer months ahead. The good news is that the Grip N'Sip Designer Series cups are available now at Babies R Us stores!

Nuby Fun Feeding Utensils

Who doesn't love a fun fork and spoon? These Fun Feeding Utensils are perfect for those little hands just learning, or the toddler whose almost mastered using utensils during mealtimes. Owen loves to use is "spork" as he refers to them as much as possible. The spoon and fork are very deep, so that lots of food can be scooped up and not spill. Just like other Nuby products, they are made for little hands to easily grip onto. The handles are shaped perfectly for your lefty or righty, and are also colorful and fun to look at. These of course are BPA free, dishwasher safe, and come in a pack of 4 - perfect when you have two littles that fight over who gets to use it first! Now they can both have their own set. These Fun Feeding Utensils are available now on Amazon.com.

Want to win a pair of Nuby Designer Series Grip N'Sip Cups for your little one? Read the instructions and enter below!

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CREATE YOUR OWN CALENDAR

[This post contains affiliate links. If you shop from my blog, I may be compensated for clicks or purchases that you make.]

Mother's Day - the one special day out of the year to really go above and beyond honoring mothers all over, showering them with love and sweet gifts of gratitude. As a mom of two myself, some of my favorite gifts I've ever received were the handmade presents from my littles. The painted handprints, the pictures, the sweet poems, the personalized effort that goes into all of those gifts truly gives them a special place in my heart (even if it was all teacher completed).

This year my sister-in-laws and I wanted to do something really special for the moms in our lives - and ultimately have a few fun keepsakes for ourselves too. After pages of group texting, two weeks of shooting, a little chaos, lots of goldfish and a few bomb pops later a calendar was created. But not just any calendar, a themed calendar with monthly photos of the cousins complete with outfit changes, prop changes, and of course backdrop changes. We took our photos straight to Shutterfly, where the customization options were endless.

Shutterfly has two calendar sizes to chose from in size (12X12 inch or 8X11 inch) which come printed on high-quality cardstock. One of the best options that they offer was being able to start the calendar on any month you wanted. For us this was perfect since we were giving it to our moms for Mother's Day, we started our calendars with the month of May, and then continued for 12 months into 2017. We chose matching patterned backgrounds for each month that complimented our pictures. Shutterfly even allows you to personalize special dates of each month using a photo and test - perfect for all of those birthdays and wedding anniversaries!

The best part about this project? It's perfect for any holiday! 

This calendar could be given for Christmas, for a birthday, Father's Day - really any holiday. After our "been there done that" experience, I came up with a few tips for making your calendar perfect!

TIP #1

Take each photo as the months go by. While we crammed everything into two weeks due to our Mother's Day deadline, it would even be helpful to do it as you go. That way you don't have to take all of the boxes down from the attic with all of your decor from Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc. 

TIP #2

Organize every month. Since it was the three of us bringing four babies together, we mapped out each month's theme, and came up with a color scheme for outfits as well - that way all of the clothing was cohesive in the pictures.

TIP #3 

Bring on the bribes. After about shooting four months, the kids knew what was up, and they weren't having it anymore. A few m&ms or crackers never hurt anybody, am I right? 

Now I'm sure you want to see the rest of the monthly photos with all of the cousins corralled together - check them out below! 

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

This calendar is definitely going to be a hard gift to top. Every emotion was evoked watching our moms turn each months page which made it all worthwhile. I think the candid photos and everything going on in each picture from babies sleeping to babies crying makes it so special. It's the perfect keepsake for all members of the family - good thing I ordered one for myself! 

I don't know if I could just chose one, but which month was your favorite?

Shutterfly personalized calendars // Shutterfly coupons (you may use more than one)

BEHIND YOUR BABY BOOK

It was a custom baby book, filled with pages that I picked out just for you. I used extra fabric from your crib bedding to cover the book with. It was so perfect and simple, and ready to hold those first moments. And then you were born, and our lives were changed.

The days seemed to go by so slow, but your first year felt like it flew by in the blink of an eye. Your baby book stayed in the same place, on your shelf, in your room. I applaud the mom that completes the keepsake, recording all of the milestones along the way. Frankly, your mom is not that mom.

I don't need to know our reaction the first time we saw you. There are no words to describe our pure joy the moment you finally entered the world.

I don't need to know your first visitors. Every loved one that was dear to us came to see your beautiful face.

I don't need to know when you started sleeping through the night. I'll never forget how big of a champ you were at 12 weeks sleeping through the entire night, because I still brag about it to this day.

I don't need to know the day you cut your first tooth. We all thought you were an early bloomer with the toothy grin between the 3-4 month range works, right?

I don't need to know the first words you spoke. I vividly remember those babbles like it was yesterday, unfortunately they weren't the words I wanted to hear. "Dada!"

I don't need to know when you took your first steps. I was still trying to corral you in the living room using pillows as barriers, so the longer it took was fine by me.

I don't need to know when you started using the potty like a big boy. That moment outlives the baby books, and please nobody remind me of this time.

I don't need to know what kind of mom I am just because you don't have a baby book. Trust me, by the way you give me those hugs and hold my hand I already know. Sometimes when I walk into your room and put your laundry away I see the baby book still sitting up there. I've even thought to myself, "I could just go fill in the blanks," but that would defeat the purpose. Those moments were happening, and instead of grabbing a pen to jot down the details of your first steps, I was catching you before you fell face first into the table.

The truth behind your baby book is that there isn't one. It's unfinished, empty, and might as well not exist. Even admitting it out loud makes me cringe, but for superficial reasons. In all honesty, there aren't enough pages to hold the memories I have of you during your first years. I won't need to open a book up to relive all of the special moments, because they are already with me. When you turn the pages of bare prompts and fill-in the blanks unfilled, you will still love me just the same.

Now the hundreds of bathtub pictures on my hard drive? That's another story.