Nuby Foam Bath Letters and Numbers Review

The boys absolutely LOVE taking baths so imagine the excitement of new bath toys! I've recently became a Nuby Mommy Blogger and had the opportunity to review these Foam Bath Letters and Numbers. 

Kellen had a messy breakfast this morning therefore he ended up in the tub as soon as he took his last bite of oatmeal. I thought it would be a good time to break out the new bath fun.

Of course they were a hit! Not only did Kellen enjoy sticking them to the walls but I love them as well. Since bath time is a fun time in our house this is a great opportunity for us to work on our letter and number recognition. The bright colors are patterns are super fun too. 

How cute is he? Oh and did I mention he recently turned two?

Usually we have a tub full of toys but he was content just playing with the foam letters and numbers. He never once reached for our bath toy bucket. 

He really did love sticking them to the walls, knocking them down, and re-sticking them again.

We're still working on our letters but he still likes to pretend he knows them and shouts out random letters. :)

This set is recommended for ages 18 months and up.  The Toddler is about to turn two-pinch me-and he seems to really enjoy playing with the letters/numbers and learning their sounds.

The Nuby foam Bath Letters and Numbers are an easy way to make bath time a fun learning experience.  The 36 letters and numbers float in the water and stick to the walls when wet.

Where to buy:

• Meijer
• www.BuyBabyDirect.com

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*Disclaimer - I was provided a product for review as a Nuby Mommy Blogger. No other compensation was received. All opinions  are honest and 100% my own.

Breakfast Cupcakes

Every good food idea always starts with...I was browsing Pinterest!

I came across these while looking for some new breakfast ideas for the kids. We have a lot of fruit and oatmeal and while they don't mind it...I wanted to give them a little more variety which brings the Breakfast Cupcakes into play. 

Preheat the over to 375
Daddy has duty today making it just the boys and I, so we only made a half batch of pancake batter. We chose to use blueberries and bacon to mix in the batter. 

Be sure to spray cupcake pan with Pam to keep it from sticking.

1 scoop of batter in each. I used an ice cream scooper.

Bake for approximately 15 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes, top it off with a little butter and syrup and you've got a yummy breakfast cupcake. 

I used a cupcake pan since I was making these for children but you could use a muffin pan for larger cupcakes, or even a small cupcake pan for a bite size cupcake. Baking times will vary depending on the size of the pan.

Talon approves!! :) Kellen on the other hand isn't feel well this morning and is my picky eater so he refused to try it.

I'm not a big breakfast person but I even had a cupcake. I would have preferred mine to not have any blueberries in it so maybe next time I make it, mine will be only bacon. You could also try adding different nuts or other fruits. 

Triumphs and Trials

I became a Mom at the young age of 22. I am the oldest of five and at one point I had two step-brothers. You would think this would set me up for becoming a mother, right? Sure, it helps but nothing prepares you for becoming a mother except of course...becoming a mother. 

© Dayna Stevens Photography

Talon knew his ABC's by 2 1/2 and could even recognize the uppercase letters. He could count to 10, knew all his shapes, colors, and much more. When he started preschool last fall, I thought he was ahead of the game since he already knew so much. 

Talon didn't finish pre-school because we PCS'd 2 1/2 months before the school year ended and I didn't want to put him through too much change by switching his school once we made it to Florida, so he started summer vacation a little early.

A few photos Talon's pre-school teacher took during class.

The end of last week was an eye opener for me after attending open house. I went expecting to hear how well my child was exceeding. His teacher passed a handout to all the parents and the first thing on the handout was talking about everything Talon should already know. I'm not sure if Pennsylvania school systems are behind on their curriculum or if Talon's pre-school failed us but there were several things that Talon did not know. 

After the first few weeks of pre-school I considered switching him to a different school and I wish now I had done so. Anytime I showed concern to his teacher, she always assured me he was doing great. He never came home with activity sheets working on his letters, numbers, site words, etc. He mostly brought home sheets of paper with scribble drawings or scraps glued on them.

A few of Talon's pre-school creations.

This is where I should have stepped in. If his pre-school teacher wasn't working with him on these things, I should have been. This is where I failed as a parent. I have a hard time working with Talon on these things since I am Mom and he doesn't really want to do these things with me and it turns into a fight. I'm not a teacher and I am still learning how to be a parent even though my son was 4 years old at the time and now I am learning how to be a teacher too.

So for the next couple weeks Talon and I will be working on our letter sounds, recognizing lower case letters, writing our letters correctly both upper and lower case as well as numbers 1-20. 

I've searched blog after blog, site after site for ideas on how to keep him interested and I am feeling really good about it, we will do this...together. 

Came across this great site for FREE printable worksheets!

When everything was first brought to my attention, I was angry. Angry with his pre-school teacher, angry with his current teachers, angry with the school system. It took me time to realize the only person I should be angry with, was myself. I am Talon's FIRST teacher, I am his MOTHER. 

I'll post updates throughout the next couple of weeks on how things are going. Since last Thursday I already feel like we've come a long way.

These lowercase letters are driving Talon crazy. On the bright side, if he joins the Navy...he will do most of his writing in all caps. ;)

Kellen has even joined in on the fun with learning the sounds each letter makes. Teaching two at the same time.

Do you have any fun ways of making learning interesting for a child with a short attention span?

A Seusstastic First Birthday for Kellen

Before Kellen was born I already knew we would have a Dr. Seuss first birthday party meaning I had plenty of time to plan. We had recently joined a play group and would actually have friends to attend our party since it wasn't likely our families would be able to visit since we lived so far away. I scanned Etsy for HOURS looking for a reasonably priced birthday invitation that I could print on my own. FINALLY I came across little forests. I had these printed professionally and paired them with some super cute recycled brown paper bag envelopes from Mind The Wrap. 

See above for link to Little Forests Etsy shop if interested in purchasing.

I found the perfect birthday shirt at Lil Threadz Clothing. We loved the shirt so much that we ordered our 2nd birthday shirt already which I will blog about sometime in October.

At 10 1/2 months old Kellen finally got his first tooth and was teething like crazy as you can tell from all the drool. lol

Had I thought about it when I ordered his shirt, I would have had it say "1 I AM" instead just to go with the Dr. Seuss theme. Regardless I still loved the shirt as well as everyone else. I even had another friend order the same shirt for her son's 1st birthday. :) So if you're looking for an awesome unique birthday shirt. Definitely check out Lil Threadz!!! 

I have a love/hate relationship with Pinterest because I find so many great ideas and gorgeous parties but realistically I cannot afford to spend 500+ on a birthday party like most of the parties on Pinterest. Being a photographer I was able to barter my services with Cakes by Design for Kellen's Seusstastic smash cake and cup cakes. We had our friends sign the Dr. Seuss's Happy Birthday Baby book. I've seen other use the other Dr. Seuss Happy Birthday book but I thought this one was more appropriate for a 1st birthday.

Here are a few photos of the snacks/food.

Green Eggs 

& ham

One Fish, Two Fish
Red Fish, Blue Fish

I also bartered my services for this banner along with a few other I used for photography props. The girl doesn't run a shop but if interested, I can give you her email.

Our friends and family spoiled Kellen with lots of party loot!

It was also game day so of course we had to show our love for our team! GO RAVENS!! p.s. we won our game that day. ;)

Unwrapping one of the many birthday gifts!

No matter how much planning goes into a party, I always feel like I forget something. It was pretty windy at the party and our balloons ended up getting away, I didn't take nearly many photos as I wanted. I wrapped board books for all the children as a party favor. I chose board books since I figured it was something they could actually use. It really drives me crazy going to a party and leaving with a bag full of things that I will end up having to pick up broken pieces from for the next couple months. Most of the children were close to a year old or had just turned a year old so the books were age appropriate. 

Audrey with her party favor!

The cupcake liners and paper straws (not pictured) were purchased from shoppe3130 on Etsy.

I hope you enjoyed Kellen's party and maybe even found a little inspiration. I've tried to include links to where most things were purchased from.

Subscribe to my blog, we're having a Toy Story 2nd birthday party in October and there is lots of adorableness going on already. 

Kellen was excited to be turning one. I took this photo a few weeks before his birthday to prepare for his 1st birthday photos.

Little Brother Blues

It is very clear that little brother, Kellen misses Talon while he is in school. Last week it seemed like it rained almost everyday so we've been cooped up in the house. Last Wednesday we managed to have a short beach trip to let loose. Kellen really enjoys running up and down the beach, picking up sea shells, tasting his sea shell collection, playing in the ocean and just having his toes in the sand. He is definitely my child.  

Come on Mom!! Let's go!!

I love when his curious little face runs right up to the lens on my camera.

Checking out the ocean while patiently waiting for me to help him down the stairs.

He likes to run EVERYWHERE he goes!

Today was a rare day that Daddy had off work so after we dropped Talon off at school we spent the day at the zoo. I really love the age Kellen is at. He is so interested in the animals, especially the giraffes and birds. I think he likes them because we're able to feed him which he really enjoys. Most kids are scared of the giraffes,but Kellen will just run right up and start babbling his toddler gibberish. 

Checking out the elephants from the best view! 

See!! Told you he runs everywhere! ;)

The rhinos were being very lazy today. Oh and don't you love those curls? :)

His favorite part of the day! 

While I know Kellen misses having his brother to play with during the day, I really enjoy having this special time alone with him and being able to give him my undivided attention. 

I'm sure we'll spend a lot of time at the beach and the zoo throughout the school year. Another place I plan to check out is the library and our local spray park since Kellen LOVES water.