Teal Pumpkin Project: Safe Trick-or-Treating for Everyone

This Halloween we're participating in the Teal Pumpkin Project to promote awareness and inclusion of all trick-or-treaters, no matter their dietary restrictions.  

Unfortunately a lot of kids have food allergies, ranging from mild to potentially very dangerous.  These allergies can include dairy, chocolate, nuts, soy, gluten, artificial dyes, and more.  These kids either can't participate in trick-or-treat or have to throw out 95% of what they get - and when you're a kid that's really rough.  

By having a teal pumpkin out, you're letting kids and their parents know that your house is a safe place to trick-or-treat and you have non-food items available. These can be things like novelty pencils, erasers, stickers, bubbles, crayons, small toys, etc.  You can still give out the usual candy, but it's a good idea to keep the non-food items separate.  This is a great project to allow all kids a chance to feel included in trick-or-treat on Halloween. 

FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education) has some wonderful resources on their website - including crowdsourcing maps to identify participating houses, printables you can use to proudly show your support and educate others, and fundraising opportunities to help fund food allergy research and awareness.  

Affiliate Product Links

| Teal Acrylic Paint |

Post originally published 10/30/15

Cute Fall Maternity Photo with Pumpkin

Okay, throwing it back to our last pregnancy and still in love with this easy Fall-themed maternity picture my husband and I took with a pumpkin!  It's so simple but I think it came out so sweet.  This idea would also be perfect for a Fall pregnancy announcement too.  Fall is our favorite time of year, so I'm happy we could capture a classy Fall-themed "belly" picture.  

I promise I'll share some photos from when I was farther along at our Christmas maternity photo session too - some sweet, simple ideas for your "special delivery" to come!  

Shop Fall Fashion

Sneak Peek: Kids Book Rails

Making over our daughter's room has been slow-going to say the least.   We had a busy, wonderful summer and now I'm already deep into Christmas ornament orders so finding time to work on the whole makeover has been tricky. 

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In progress

Today I finally hung the book rails I made in this tiny nook and I think it will help make this space functional.  Now I need to make something to hold the large, heavy books on the floor - and finish the rest of the room - and then I will share the whole project!  ;)

Featured on A Hopeful Happenstance

Payton from A Hopeful Happenstance rounded up the 7 Top Tips for Surviving Month One with Baby Number One (including a tip from yours truly) over on her blog, and it's a post not to be missed!  

Anyone who's about to have their first baby should check out these tips and take them to heart, because it's definitely an amazing - and very trying - experience :)  

Credit: A Hopeful Happenstance

Mom Style: Statement Teething Necklaces by Nûby + GIVEAWAY!

Statement necklaces are big right now, and why not put that style to good use by working double-duty as a teether for your tot?  Sounds like a great solution to me!  Nûby was kind enough to send me two of their new Teething Trends statement necklaces to style and review - and one lucky winner will get to choose one necklace for themselves from Nûby's line!   

All of the teething necklaces in Nûby's new line are both on-trend and on-hand when you need them most.  By having a teether that you wear, you always have one at the ready when your little one is in need of something to teeth on - especially handy to keep them from gnawing a finger off while you're stuck in a long line at the post office.  

These teething necklaces are BPA-free and made from soft silicone so they're easy on tender gums.  They also feature a break-away clasp in the event of an overly-grabby toddler but please keep in mind these necklaces are meant for moms to wear, not your teething littles.  

There are a variety of colors and styles available, as well as bracelets (not pictured in this review), so you can find one - or seven - that match your style and every item in your wardrobe.  What I love most is these don't even look like teethers - they're stylish enough to wear to work or a girls night out.  

Mom Style

Necklaces featured are Nûby Teething Trends Medium Oval + Pearl Necklace in Teal and Nûby Teething Trends Pearl Necklace in Grey.  

This is probably one of my favorite combos and a perfect outfit for a lunch out with friends.  This necklace really pops against the crisp white linen shirt and the straw fedora and aviator sunglasses add some more fun, trendy elements.  

The teal teething necklace also pairs perfectly with this geometric print maxi dress, over-sized sunhat, and sunglasses.  Perfect outfit for getting ice cream with the family down at the water.  

This monochromatic outfit is ideal for doing errands and running around town with a grey and navy striped tunic top, dark washed jeans, and the grey pearl beaded necklace.  

Just love the grey pearl beaded necklace against the grey and navy stripes!  

This week we made the trek up north to check out the Lupine Festival.  The flowers were in full bloom and still gorgeous despite the constant drizzle (though I wish I could have said the same thing about my hair).  We dressed for breakfast out and walks around the lupine fields, and the Medium Oval + Pearl Necklace in Teal was a great pop of color against my white button-up and black quilted vest.  

**GIVEAWAY!**  
A teething necklace of your choice from Nûby

One winner will be chosen to receive one (1) Nûby statement teething necklace in their choice of style/color.  Open to US entrants only, 18 years or older - winner will be contacted by the email address provided.  
You can select how many entries you would like to complete but keep in mind an invalid entry (i.e. stating you're following on Instagram, but you are not) will result in disqualification.  Thank you and good luck!  :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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- I received these items for review from Nûby but all opinions expressed are my own.  Please see our Disclosure Policy for more information. -   

Nûby's Teething Trends Jewelry is available at Babies 'R Us and Wal-Mart.    

Our 4th Pampers Rewards: Melissa and Doug Tool Kit

If you're not familiar with Pampers Rewards, you can check my previous post here for all the details - but essentially it's a program to earn free gifts for buying Pampers diapers!  Our little girl has been really into "helping" Daddy build things lately, so we decided to get a tool kit just for her.  | This post contains affiliate links |

The tool kit is by Melissa and Doug and we were pleased with how sturdy it is. Our daughter really put it to the test, whacking the whole thing all over with the wooden hammer but it still survived.

The kit contains a wooden wrench, screw driver, hammer, bolts/screws, nuts, "nails", and some pieces of wood with holes in it that you can screw or nail together or attach to the side of the tool box.  

Miss M and Daddy have really been enjoying building with this set and we've even caught her "working" on her trains with the wrench - this Reward has definitely been a big hit!  

Want to see what else we got from Pampers Rewards?  Check out our other posts:  

• Our First Pampers Rewards - Free Gifts for Buying Diapers!  
• Our 2nd Pampers Rewards:  Little Tikes Shopping Cart
• Our 3rd Pampers Rewards:  Potty Training Chart

Please note, items available from Pampers Rewards are subject to change.  

Our 3rd Pampers Rewards: Potty Training Chart

If you're not familiar with Pampers Rewards, you can check my previous post here for all the details - but essentially it's a program to earn free gifts for buying Pampers diapers!  I usually try to save up our points for something big, but this time I decided to get the Potty Training Chart for our daughter which is one of their smaller rewards.  | This post contains affiliate links |

Our little one is currently potty training and it's been slow going.  She totally understands the concept and can be successful when she wants to, but usually chooses not to tell anyone that she needs to go and/or completely refuses to use the potty at all.  We're hoping that a reward chart will help motivate her to see her progress and get rewarded with a special prize at the end.  

We decided to hang the chart next to her little potty so she can watch her progress and see how close she is to earning that special prize.  Some good reading material is important too, to help her want to stay on the potty long enough to finish her business (books pictured are:  Potty Time with Elmo, Potty, and Counting 123).  

Want to see what else we got from Pampers Rewards?  Check out our other posts:  

• Our First Pampers Rewards - Free Gifts for Buying Diapers!  
• Our 2nd Pampers Rewards:  Little Tikes Shopping Cart
• Our 4th Pampers Rewards:  Melissa and Doug Tool Kit

Please note items available from Pampers Rewards are subject to change.  

Paper Pizza Craft

Our little one made this Paper Pizza at story time at the public library the other day and I thought it was so cute I wanted to show you all.  The story time lady read several pizza-related stories and then had the kids make their own paper pizzas to bring home.  The kids really enjoyed this project and I think it would make a great activity for a pizza-themed kids' party.  

They gave the kids paper plates and a brown crayon to color the "crust" (our daughter skipped this part), then a paper red circle "tomato sauce" to glue down, shredded yellow paper "cheese", as well as paper mushrooms, pepperonis, and meatballs.  After the pizzas were done, the kids took them home in actual pizza boxes which was the perfect finishing touch to the project.  These brand new boxes had been bought ahead of time at the local pizza shop for a few cents each.  

I don't remember the actual books she read before the project, but I've linked some cute-looking pizza stories here (affiliate links):  

• Curious George and the Pizza Party by Margaret & H.A. Rey
• The Pizza Delivery Mystery by Natalie Shaw
• Pete's a Pizza by William Steig
• Pizza for Paul by Schneider Deve
• Little Nino's Pizzeria by Karen Barbour