A Bundle O' Bows Give Away

Let's talk all things girly today!! Having a baby girl is seriously soo much fun!! Maybe it is because I have always dreamt of having a girl, dressing up my dolls as a kid, and now I have my own baby girl!! Now if only she would stay doll sized for just a little bit longer??

I am soo happy that at this point, Emilya doesn't seem to mind a little hair accessories at this point and as soon as she was born, you bet I was hair bow shopping. The nice thing is, they don't grow out of them!! You can always repurpose them later!

I came across this Canadian shop, because let's face it, with the dollar these days, Canadian shopping is where it is at!! I ordered a few bows and they threw in a few extras!!

A Bundle O' Bows

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Ashley Walters is the shop owner, along with her husband Reid. They created A Bundle O' Bows mostly to give Ashley something to do on maternity leave and a creative outlet. They have a baby girl named Oaklyn Willow who just reached her 6 month mark! 

 This is another awesome shop that donates part of their proceeds to Operation Smile. Ashley's husband and his brother were both born with a cleft lip/ palette. Reid recently got into Dental Techology school with a goal of one day being able to profoundly impact Operation Smile by creating for these wonderful children!! As a family they hope to be able to volunteer in a big way one day.

They sent me the sweetest package of bows:

And it is pretty safe to say, that it is easy to incorporate these into our daily lives! Em doesn't quite have enough hair for the clips yet, but the headbands are a common occurence:

 

We really love the nylon headbands, they really do stretch!! The quality is great and they really are well-made!! 

Ashley and Reid were kind enough to send an extra headband for me to share, and I was going to do a give away with it, however, Ashley has offered to send a package to the winner instead!! 

 It is is open to Canadians and Americans only and you can enter the give away on my Instagram!!  <<< click there to go enter!! 

Best of luck everyone!! 

Thank you soo much Ashley and Reid for the bow package, we really do love them!! 

Friday's Five with A Give Away!!

1. The 14 day weather forecast!! Are you ready for this? ALL positive temps!!! It's going up to +9 today!! It's raining, but I don't even care if it means warmer temps!! Spring might have finally sprung!! 

2. Mr. Noah gave us a nice 5 hour stretch last night and then 2 hours!! Loved it!! Speaking of Noah, he is 1 pound over his birth weight, topping the growth chart with 8 pounds 1 ounce!! I know one day he will grow faster, so for now I will enjoy my tiny man. 

3. I am IN LOVE with the song Human by Christina Perry. I find myself singing it to Noah non-stop. It reminds me of our infertility journey bang on! Such an encouraging song. Check it out:

4. Hoping to get some more spring cleaning done this weekend and finish organizing Noah's clothes. 

5. Give Away Time!!! 

Today I am sharing a fabulous shop with you all!! Quinn and Lane. I found her shop on etsy and loved these pacifier clips!! Another awesome reason I chose to purchase from her, she's a fellow Canadian!! Love supporting Canadians!! Catherine is a SAHM like myself, but she has two boys!

I also love that she gives you the option to modify the clips to fit various pacifiers! We use the gum drop pacifiers (that's what the NICU sent him home with) So you can get them universal:

or modified to accommodate the gum drops or soothie brands:

I was lucky enough for her to send me one to review! So I chose this one:

I love it! We only have 5 pacifiers, so I really can't afford to lose any, we have one for the car seat, one for his bassinet, one in the diaper bag, one washed and ready to go and one to clip to him!

It is a bit big for Noah now:

But he will grow. 

I loved this one soo much, I ordered 5 more! She has a great deal where you can buy 5 for only $18!

The shop also sells toy and cup straps:

Toddler Belt Snaps:

And she has just now started doing wall decor/prints:

Catherine has not only given me the opportunity to review her product, but she also offered to do a give away to not 1 of my followers, but 3!!! 

What is up for grabs? 

1 pacifier clip/winner - shipped word wide, altered or unaltered!!

You must be a follower of Life As I Know It via blogger, bloglovin' or facebook

How can you win?

(1 entry per task, leave a separate comment for each)

"Heart" Quinn and Lane on etsy and leave comment with which pacifier clip you would choose!

additional entries:

Like Quinn and Lane on Facebook.

Follow Quinn and Lane on Twitter.

Follow Quinn and Lane on Instagram 

Follow Quinn and Lane on Blogger (p.s she has a free printable up for grabs today)

Good luck!!!

Huge thanks to Catherine for this opportunity!!

Pink Blush Maternity Review and Give Away

When I first became pregnant, I was definitely worried about the dreaded maternity clothing, but I will admit, it has come a long way, with a lot of trendy and cute options. I was first introduced to Pink Blush Maternity on Zulily, however I was afraid to order, because let's face it, you never know about sizing. After seeing a few other give-aways other bloggers were holding and people reviewing their clothing line, I decided I better try it out because their clothing is super cute!

So I ordered 3 things first:

I just absolutely loved this one:

And 2 shirts for Christmas:

And in all honesty they are all shirts I could wear again without being pregnant! They were actually long enough, which for me on a non-pregnant day is important, but even more important being pregnant because no one wants a shirt that doesn't cover their belly and lets face it shirts only get shorter when you are pregnant (like the one I am wearing today! - I will spare you the image).

Pink Blush then went above and beyond and offered a product review of my choosing. It was soo hard to choose, because as I mentioned before I like soo many of their items!!!

So I chose a striped cardigan, an option that will work for nursing post-partum. Which is another thing I love about Pink Blush! They have nursing friendly wear for after you have the baby

This sweater is nice and lightweight, yet I love the colors and as I mentioned above, I think it will be a great option for after I have the baby as well. It is long enough I could wear it with leggings even.

Another thing I will mention is that shipping to Canada was affordable!! And fast!! I was a little worried I wouldn't get my first order in time for Christmas, but luckily I did!

Here are a few items they have now that I have my eye on:

Needless to say you should head over and check them out. But before you go, know that one lucky reader of mine will be walking away with a $25 gift certificate!! Be sure to enter below:

As mentioned, the winner MUST be a follower of Life As I Know It on either Bloglovin', Google Friend Connect or Facebook.

Here is how you can enter:

Mandatory entry:

Head on over to Pink Blush Maternity and leave me a comment telling me what you would choose.

Extra entries:

Facebook.com/SweetPeaMaternity - "Like" page

Pinterest.com/PinkBlushMat - "Follow" page and "Re-pin" an item
Instagram.com/PinkBlushMaternity - "Follow" page
Twitter.com/PinkBlushMat - "Follow"  page

Also, entrants who have won a giveaway from us in the past 6 months, or have hosted a giveaway in the past 6 months, are not eligible to win a gift card again.

Good luck!! I will pick a winner on Friday!!! Happy shopping!!

Home Sweet Home Friday

Another week just zoomed on by! Just like another snow storm is about to zoom on in!! I'm soo over winter, and I know we have like 2/3 more months to go! Yuck!

This week was a busy one, as we had M's drainage conference. It was his last year on the board of directors for the land improvement contractors for Ontario (LICO). 

So after our long day of appointments on Tuesday (update coming next Tuesday, but so far so good), we checked in to our hotel and M was off to his first meeting. I got ready for dinner in the meantime. We had dinner at the Keg with the board and then M and I relaxed back in the hotel room afterwards. 

Wednesday I took part in the ladies program, while M had a day of meetings and seminars. They had an interior designer come in Sarah St. Amand come in and talk about the latest trends and tips and and tricks for design in our homes, how to achieve high end looks for less, etc. It was great! After that was laughter yoga - which was a bit of a flop as far as I was concerned. We had lunch afterwards and then the spa services started. I opted to have my hair done! The lady did a great job! When I was finished I heard back to my room to try to grab a cat nap sitting up (because I didn't want to wreck my hair). I ended up laying carefully without damaging my hair. Unfortunately, I awoke to the worst Charlie horse, infact I still have it today. I've tried heat, cold, walking, stretching, you name it and it won't release. 

Wednesday night we had a formal banquet to attend (at the head table nonetheless with me gimping along). M and I got all dressed up.

I felt large and incharge, despite M loving the dress and getting compliments, I was not overly confident in it! But it was one night and I didn't have many other choices. It was a long night on my feet. After dinner they did a casino night (a group comes in sets up various tables and you can gamble with fake money that you then trade in for raffle tickets at the end of the night for prizes). It was a lot of fun, but by the end of the night I was done. 

Thursday M had a tour and meetings to attend, so his Mom and I packed up and headed home, while his Dad stayed with M. We hit up lowes on the way home and bought the bathroom flooring. They didn't have the exact floor I wanted in stock, so I went with something a touch different. But I do love it!  Now we just need to pick a paint color and gut it! 

When he got home we just went to the restaurant here in the village for wing night. It felt soo nice to sleep in my own bed last night. Baby must have been happy too, because I only woke up once for a bathroom break. 

Unfortunately while we were gone, we missed Miss Lily's birthday!! Hard to believe she is 6!!! Wasn't she just a pup yesterday?? 

Can't wait to see her with the sweet baby though!! 

Let's talk about a winner for the custom onsie giveaway shall we?? Nicole from Haute Runner is the lucky winner!! Congrats Nicole! I will be in contact with you regarding this soon!!

The recliner comes in for the nursery today!! Soo excited!! Now we can determine the furniture layout because have all the pieces now! Oh and we hang stuff on the walls after that, all the while M will be renovating the bathroom!! Fun times ahead!!

This weekend aside from the nasty weather, we have Brandon's 2nd birthday and then the bathroom is being gutted!

TheA-Dorable Designs Give Away

Alright let's get started with the first give away of the year!!! A little something for a little one!!!


I was searching all over the place looking to have custom baby hats made. I couldn't find anywhere local, that was able to do exactly what I wanted, so of course I turned to etsy!! I scrolled through hats and came across TheA-Dorable Designs page. After scrolling through her items, which there are several to choose from:

Burp clothes and bibs

Towels and hooded towels

A little something for the twins in your life

Onsies and of course hats

All of which are customized to your liking!! She has a ton of different fonts and colors available!!

So I decided to have these hats made:

I didn't see the exact colors I wanted, so I messaged her on etsy and she responded right away and gave me some other options.

The colors turned out perfect!! Shipping wasn't badly priced for coming to Canada and I honestly couldn't be happier.

Thea (the shop owner) was great to work with, responded quickly, shipped fast and the quality is great!! I cant wait to see Baby V sporting these hats!!

In conversations with Thea, she has kindly decided to do a give away to one of my lucky readers!! A custom onsie of your choosing!!!

I was going to do a rafflecopter give away, but we are going to do one "the old fashioned" simple way!

The winner MUST be a follower of Life As I Know It, either with GFC, bloglovin or facebook - this is not an entry.

This give away is open to Canadians and Americans.

Mandatory Entries:

- "favorite" TheA-Dorable Designs on etsy. Leave me a comment letting me know you did.

- leave me a separate comment indicating which onsie you would choose!

I will pick a winner next Friday, January 24th.

Good luck!!

31 Weeks

How Far Along:

31 weeks - January 5 - 11, 2014

 

Size Of Baby?

 

Baby is becoming more pink and less red this week as fat fills in under the skin. His/her irises can now dilate as well!

 

9ish more weeks to go!! This week we hit less than 2 months on the count down!!

Maternity Clothes?
  Still able to mix in a few non-maternity items like this shirt:

Love that it is a comfortable option, although it didn't get much wear previous to being pregnant! It was a bit big, but now it fits better! It might just get put away with my maternity clothes when we are all said and done in 2 months! 

Ready for my OB appt on Friday:

Stretch Marks?

Still just a small one, but nothing really noticeable.

 

Gender?

Team Green!

What the Doctor Had To Say:

Baby is a growing machine! Still measuring ahead as far as my belly is concerned. Blood pressure is back to being borderline. So he has decided to do another ultrasound come my next appointment, where he will also most likely decide to increase my blood pressure meds. In the meantime I will monitor closely at home. We will also most likely come up with our birth plan at our next appointment. Baby is back into breech position.
  

Sleep?
  Is not happening. Hit my all time high for bathroom breaks in one night (3) and have just been tossing and turning non-stop seeing every hour on the clock. Napping isn't even going well! My dreams this weeks were out of this world! I dreamt we adopted a baby elephant??? And mentioned the other one below in crazy pregnant moment! 

Baby Purchases This Week:

 Purchased a car seat net used, as well as a baby on board sign. 

The baby's custom hats I ordered from  TheA-dorable Designs on etsy came in and I couldn't be happier with how they turned out!! 

Can't wait to see the baby in them!! I have an awesome give away coming up from the shop within the next week or two! Stay tuned!!

Made this Week:
Crocheted away

Cravings/Aversions?

I am definitely eating smaller meals now. Cravings have pretty much curbed at this point since I'm not loving the side effects. Water is my best friend right now. 

I did spoil myself with Cinnabon after maternity clothes shopping. I always wondered why Cinnabon was soo awkwardly located in the mall, until Friday when I rewarded myself with Cinnabon after trying on clothes (what a chore). It is conveniently located near the maternity stores!! Duh! What prego isn't going to smell Cinnabon and hit it up? Haha

   

Movement?
  Feeling lots of tumbles and rolls, kicks and hiccups. Baby V is quite active and I am loving it!! 

While shopping I had a stop and breath moment, not sure if it was a contraction or just a really BIG movement, but it made me stop for a moment. My energy level for shopping is dwindling, so our babymoon shopping trip should be interesting. Not sure if it's my foot that's causing the issues or just not being active for a month - maybe both! 

Feeling?

I feel great despite the lack of sleep. I think being able to get up and move around more freely is helping, as I finally feel able to get things done myself, but in short intervals. 

Reflux and heart burn have been big contenders this week. 

Weight Gain:

It's been a while since I've updated this, but now that my cast is off the weight they take at the doctors office is now more accurate. My cast weighed 5 pounds!! We are looking at about 20 - 22 pounds so far. 

  

Highlights:
We had our prenatal birthing class this week. We opted for the one day course instead of weekly classes. Turns out we knew some of the couples in our class from high school and we are all due around the same time! The class was informative, just long with horrible chairs!! 

 

Belly Button?

In, but it is getting flatter and flatter. 

 

Wedding Rings?
On and loose.

Best Moment of the Week?

Hearing sweet baby V and getting those adorable hats in the mail was pretty darn exciting! Also knowing that our baby is going to be here in less than 2 months feels soo surreal!     

Crazy Pregnancy Moment:

  Had my first dream about the baby's sex. Although it made no sense because first it was a girl, then a boy... Crazy pregnant dreams. But the name stuck out for the boy! So although the sex wasn't clear, the baby was cute and the boy names we struggle with was settled. 

  

Bump Pic:

And bare belly shots... 

Looking Forward To:

    My baby shower!!! I honestly feel sooo honoured and incredibly lucky to be able to celebrate my baby shower with my closest friends and family! 

What a Week!!

Thank God it is Friday!! This week has been one I am glad to see over, not that anything dramatic happened, it was just long!!! Too looong!

Monday was a photo shoot that I was wrapping up for a corporate company, but the staff didn't show up on time, so I was stuck waiting. I was home by 7 PM - shoot was for 3 PM with only 4 people... that should tell you how it went. I'd love to say I was snapping pics the whole time, but that was not the case either. Enough said.

Tuesday I had appointments to take my Mom to and they were long, one doctor didn't show up for the first appointment, but then ended up calling us and meeting us after her other appointment, equaling to another really long day! I left the house at 11 AM and was home by 7 PM. M keeps joking that I am working part-time.

Wednesday I vowed to stay home, and did just that, although I did a ton of housework, as well as some baby crafting!

Thursday I woke up to find that Jazz had peed on the dogs bed. Her first time since being medicated. I was not a happy camper. We had just started her weaning off the medication and was down to every other day. Turns out she will be taking them everyday for life... I called the vet and then went and picked up more of her pills. Jazz has been heavy on my heart lately.

Thursday evening, M attempted to help me with pinning my blanket together to sew, and we were having issues, because when I pre-washed the fabric it must have shrunk to a weird size. We were both super frustrated!

Today, my nose is crazy from nose bleeds to being super sensitive to smells. My scentsy smell that I usually like smells like a cleaner, the cat and dog food is just horrible... the list goes on. It is also snowing again today, mixed with ice pellets, luckily it isn't sticking around. The good news is I went grocery shopping and they had cheesies in stock! They also had these super cute blankets for the baby! I had wanted them since we found out we were expecting! I grabbed the last one on the rack!

Other good news is that we have picked a winner from the give away we were doing for my sister's jewelry. The winner is fellow bump buddy, due just a few weeks before me: Hilary!!! Congrats!!!

This weekend M is in training again for the fire course! Last one! I have a little guys first birthday party to go to and photos to get edited.

Have a great weekend!!!

It's An Awesome GIVE AWAY!

I know this post is going up late, but I'm over it! Blogging is slowly yet surely taking a bit of the back seat with my Mom being sick. But good news, her transfer was accepted to our hospital here, well 10 minutes away, instead of an hour! They hoping to have it go through next week!

On to the give away!!

Today we have an awesome company that is willing to give one of my lucky readers $50 to their amazing shop!!

 

Babee Producks!!!!

 

This shop has the cutest shirts for not just little peeps, but for grown ups too!! I just love the encouraging slogans on their products!!

 

The shirts are all super soft too!

 

My favorite is the hope line!!

But their new line is pretty darn cute too!!

 



 

 

 

Be sure to check them out on facebook too!!They have awesome and encouraging quotes!!

 

So how can you win?

 

Well because of all that is going on, I am going to make it super easy!! Go to their website and leave me a comment with the product you love most. I will pick a winner next week!!

 

 Good luck!

 

And We Have A Winner!

The winner of the camera strap is.....

 

Abby from Murdock's Mama!! Congrats!!!

 

But fear not, Ashley from Corner With Love has offered a discount code for my followers!! You can save 15% off from her etsy shop found HERE!!

 

Use the code:

ASHLEY15

I personally love Ashley's straps!! Like I mentioned previously, I have two myself. She is willing to do custom straps, in fact, she made not 1, but 2 for me to choose from for the give away. I couldn't decide so I purchased the other one!! The shipping is super fast and great quality!! Don't miss out!!

 

Happy Shopping!!!

What's Been Up Wednesday

Yesterday I got to pick this little lady up from Pre-School and take her swimming:

She just melts my heart! I got there to pick her up and she knew I was coming and as soon as I got there she says "Aunt Ashie I missed you! What took you soo long?" haha. Then during her swimming lessons she blew me kisses and waved whenever she had a chance! We went for dinner and then I took her back home to have some ice cream!

Today I am ever hopeful to put a piece of my present in my past! More on that to come I promise, but I'm hoping to celebrate with a glass of wine tonight!

I think I might regret wearing my chevron maxi today! It was soo warm yesterday, but now I see the temp is going to drop this aft!

The winner of the give away will be posted tomorrow, as soon as I pick one!! So you have one last chance to enter!!

I had something else to write about, but for the life of me I cannot reember what it is! I thought of it right before bed! Hopefully it will come to me! I recall it being funny!

Happy Wednesday friends!