Life as a family of 5!

I am finishing up the end of week 2 as a mom to 3, 3 and under, and I finally just now am getting time to blog about it. How has it been? Well, being that it has taken me two weeks to get this post up, instead of one, it shows it has been busy. I feel like I have less time to get stuff done and less time to have "me" time, but you know what, I haven't missed it and the stuff that needs to get done still has gotten done.

Week one was wonderful. The girls all napped each day at the same time, I got the house clean, laundry done, and I even cooked meals. I was impressed and feel like it really had to be a God thing our transition went that well. Week two has been just as wonderful. Of course, the house isn't always clean, the laundry has piled up some, and sometimes (like today) I call Chris and ask him to bring lunch home for us because I just can't get it all together, or I just don't feel like cooking, or we don't have any groceries at home to cook! Overall though, it's been a smooth, easy transition.

But I am no superwoman. Someone on facebook stated I was and trust me I'm not. I have failed many times in my attitude these past weeks, I've screamed and cried, sometimes at myself, sometimes at my poor hubby, and I'm ashamed to admit, sometimes at my girls. I have had three girls crying at the same time. Three girls wanting my attention at the same time, 3 girls wanting to nurse at the same time (Zoelle is weaned, but she is constantly asking to nurse now that I have a newborn again), and three girls needing kisses at the same time. It's a good place to be in though.

Zoelle has flourished with a new baby. The same little girl who a year ago screamed and screamed whenever Meridian cried, has had a complete turn around. She is happy, helpful, and still our spirited little Z. Most of her day however is spent doing this

She literally will hold Xiomara all day long if I ask her to. I have hundreds of pictures of her holding Xiomara, but I love this one as this was her very first time and she looks so happy and proud.

Meridian has done very well with the baby! We did have to teach her to be gentle, but other than that, she has been great. When we got home from Georgia, she full on started walking and is now doing that cute little tottle step wherever she goes. My favorite has got to be her walking over to the baby and saying over and over, "Hi baby" "Hi" and then she will look up at me with this big grin

point to Xiomara and say "Dat?" knowing full well who that is. Speaking of that full smile...notice those teeth? Yeah, those teeth are making Meridian not want to smile but to whine and cry all day and night long. They are also creating some interesting nights of sleep around here for mom who is trying to make sure the baby gets the milk she needs, while comforting the teething girl who thinks she needs the milk for her little teeth. Still trying to figure that one out in my sleep deprived mind.

Last, but certainly not least is our little Xiomara. She is beautiful, wonderful, and by far my easiest baby! I'm a bit nervous at times that the easy baby part will go away as she gets older, but for now, I'm reveling in the little girl who stole my heart immediately and made us a family of 5!

Wordless Wednesday: So in love!

4moms Cleanwater Infant Tub Review & Giveaway

I don't think I will ever forget my girls' first baths. Or at least it's one of those moments in time you never want to forget. I'm not sure why, but it seems so special to give them a bath. Maybe it's because you truly get to examine each little wrinkle and count all ten fingers and toes. Whatever it is, it is special and I looked forward to it with each daughter.

With Zoelle I remember being so very, very nervous about it all. We went out and bought a little tub and then I proceeded to make Chris give her the bath while I sat there crying through her screams and tears. Meridian's first bath wasn't nearly as traumatic for me and I remember we decided to forego the infant tub in place of just giving her a bath with Zoelle. It worked perfectly and Merdian cooed through the whole thing. That brings me to Xiomara's first bath, which we just were able to give her. Since she was considered slightly premature, we didn't feel comfortable putting her in the tub with Zoelle and Meridian. However, our old infant tub left one of us having to bend over the tub while holding on to a slippery baby. When I found 4moms and their Cleanwater Infant Tub, I knew I had found my solution. It fit perfectly in our kitchen sink.

Thus making it easy for us to give Xio her first bath. While Xiomara still looks tiny in this tub, being that she is only 6 lbs., I can say that we have plenty of room to grow, yet I also didn't feel like it was unsafe for her. Another reason I know that she is safe in this tub is the built-in digital thermometer. I so wish I would have had this feature on my other tub with the other girls. It brought me so much comfort knowing that when the light was green, the temperature was just right. A word of advice, the temperature can change really quickly when you are filling it up, so keep your eye on the built-in thermometer and once you have it right, keep your water from your sink the same temperature so that way it doesn't change on you.

The best feature on this tub has to be the fact that the water in the tub is always clean, thus giving it it's name. I remember as a child my mom never liking giving us a bath as she always felt that baths never truly got you clean as you are sitting in the dirty water. She was right, and so the moms at 4moms created a solution just for that. All they did was poke a hole in the side of the tub so that the dirty water goes out while the clean water goes in. Problem solved!! Another feature I love is the clean water reservoir. This area is separate from the bath area and has fresh, clean water that I can use with the rinse cup in order to rinse Xiomara's hair or body. The best this about this is that the water is at the perfect temperature already so that I don't need to worry about filling up a cup with too hot or too cold of water!

Overall, this tub met and exceeded the needs that I was always looking for in a tub when I was first looking for Zoelle. I definitely would recommend this to any friends, family, or blog readers as the tub to get! What did Xiomara think? I think she liked it!

Buy It!

Without a shadow of doubt, this tub is worth it's price tag of $40. If you are in the market for a tub for you or to give as a gift to a friend, check out the store finder to find a store near you.

Win It!

The wonderful and generous moms at 4moms have given one of you the chance to win your very own Cleanwater Infant Tub.

Mandatory Entry:

Visit 4moms, look around and come back here and tell me something you learned. Please do me the favor of making sure you leave your e-mail address in the comment if it is not visible on your profile. (1 entry)

Extra Entries:

1. Follow me on google friend connect and leave a comment telling me you are. (1 entry)

2. Follow me on Twitter and leave a comment telling me you are along with your Twitter ID. (1 entry)

3. Follow 4moms on Twitter and leave a comment telling me you are along with your Twitter ID. (1 entry)

4. Tweet about this contest making sure you include @jewelsntreasure and @4moms along with a link to this contest somewhere in your Tweet (1 tweet/entry per day)

5. Become a fan/like of Jewels & Treasures on facebook and leave me a comment telling me you are along with your first name and last initial. (1 entry)

6. Become a fan/like of 4moms on facebook and leave me a comment telling me you are along with your first name and last initial. (1 entry)

7. Become a 4moms insider. As an insider you can enter contests, get deals, submit your feedback, and sign up to test products! (1 entry)

 

That's It!

 

Winner will be chosen at random from random.org Winner has 24 hours from being contacted to respond, or else a new winner will be chosen.

Contest ends Wednesday, August 4, 2010 at 11:59 p.m. CST!

*Congrats to #4: Amy You have been emailed and I hope you enjoy!!

*The featured product(s) in this post were provided to me free of charge by the manufacturer or pr company representing the company. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by anyone.

Our little "boy"

If Chris never gets his little boy, he has "him" in Meridian. Our little girl has gotten more bumps, bruises, and cuts than Zoelle ever had at this age.

Meridian is incredibly daring and makes this mama gasp a time or two. Like the time, I turned around and found her climbing over Zoelle's toddler bed.

Or the time I found her crawling up on our footstool.

Those two things didn't seem too big of a deal until she started climbing up the stairs to our playhouse.

At first she started just climbing up a few stairs, and then would turn and go down.

But within a few days she was going up higher.

So you can see just how high,

you can maybe understand why this mama is scared being that her 13 month old is doing this! Yep, pretty sure Chris has his "boy" and that is just fine with both of us!

Blog Changes

So as you have probably all noticed my blog background is now white. I was/am using a free background from Cutest Blog on the Block and two days ago when I logged on I saw that if I didn't follow directions and change it, my background would be disappearing. So, last night I finally had a chance and I followed directions and somehow my background still disappeared! I'm not too worried about it and I actually have a blog re-design coming in August. So for now I hang on tight until Cutest Blog on the Block figures it all out! Hang on with me friends! :)

Wordless Wednesday: Sisters

I missed this girl

So the day after I got home from Georgia when it was pouring buckets, I decided to have some fun with her, just her. We got on our rain gear (or at least Zoelle got on hers) and we ran and played in the rain.

Our pictures didn't turn out the greatest as daddy was watching the babies in the house and didn't want to get wet. But, it's the memories that matter and I'll cherish those forever!

Wordless Wednesday: Absolutely Perfect

Little Pim Review

As I've mentioned before, whether we homeschool our girls, send them to a local private school, or send them to our public schools, we know one thing is for sure, we will be making sure that they learn a second language. We've chosen Spanish to be that second language because of where we live.

I've been searching for great Spanish language learning programs and I've found a few. One of the newer ones I have found is Little Pim. The series uses a panda bear named Little Pim to guide your child through everyday life. Using the Entertainment Immersion Method™, Little Pim leads Zoelle on everyday adventures through repetition. I have found the repetition to be the most helpful and useful thing for Zoelle to learn Spanish.

Some things I absolutely love about Little Pim besides the repetition is the cartoon character of Little Pim himself. Zoelle seems drawn to the cartoon character and while we haven't allowed her to watch cartoons before, we have allowed her to do this as it is educational. We reviewed the In My Home  DVD which is the 4th DVD in the series. This DVD is 35 minutes long and is broken up into seven 5-minute episodes which as anyone with little ones with short attention spans know, is super helpful.

Without a doubt, I plan on buying the whole set to use for Zoelle this Fall when we do our little preschool time each day! She loves it and so do I!

Connect!

Feel free to keep up to date with all that is going on with Little Pim through their Facebook, Twitter, or Blog.

Buy It!

If you are looking for a language program to get your young toddler or child, check out Little Pim and one of their 10 (yes 10!) different languages that you and your child can learn!

*The featured product(s) in this post were provided to me free of charge by the manufacturer or pr company representing the company. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by anyone.

Introducing

Our new daughter

I'm away from home this week awaiting paperwork to go thru, so I probably will be blogging while I enjoy my little girl. I know I have some reviews and giveaways that will for sure be coming out! When I get home, I will probably be a bit more quiet to enjoy my babe and our family.

Wordless Wednesday: Soon to be a family of 5

What we did over the weekend

We had one of the most relaxing 4th of July's I can ever remember! It was seriously great! Here is a recap of our weekend in pictures.

We dressed in our Patriotic dresses and attempted to get cute, happy pictures of each girl

As you can see, I succeeded in that one!

Then we ate,

and ate,

The end! Just kidding! Somewhere in there, Chris went boating with Zoelle, while I napped in the sun on the beach. We also watched fireworks on the lake, while my baby slept on me. It was pure joy! Have I ever mentioned before how much I love my little family?

How about you? What did you do for the 4th? Is it a family tradition, or do you do something different each year?

Boca Beth Review & Giveaway

One of my biggest regrets in life is never becoming bilingual. In today's age, I feel like I would truly be doing a disservice to my daughters if I did not give them all the tools necessary to become bilingual. Of course, not being bilingual myself makes it harder to teach my girls, but I will definitely be trying my hardest to make sure my girls are exposed to and have the option of learning a second language.

Since we live very near a Hispanic community, and we plan as a family to do missionary work (once the girls are older) to Spanish speaking countries, we have decided for our daughters to learn Spanish. I am a research maniac, so I did my research and in my research I came across Boca Beth.

I believe I first won something from Boca Beth, and then won something else, and then from there I have just fallen more and more in love with it. Boca Beth is a captivating way for our girls, especially at their ages, to learn Spanish. We have both DVDs and CDs and without a doubt the girls love them both.

One of my favorite things about Boca Beth is that it appeals to all learning styles: visual, kinesthetic, and auditory. Since my degree is in education, it is very important to me that I choose a learning method that both my girls, despite their learning styles, can learn. It is a great introduction to Spanish for the little ones!

Now the only negative (if you want to call it that) about Boca Beth is that I hear Zoelle singing at the top of her lungs in Spanish almost everynight in her bed when she is suppose to be sleeping. :)

Buy It!

If you are looking for an awesome Spanish program for your preschoolers, I say to take a look at Boca Beth, I really don't think you will regret it!

Win it!

Boca Beth has generously offered one of my readers a chance at winning the Boca Beth Beginner Backpack.

Mandatory Entry:

Visit Boca Beth, look around and come back here and tell me something you learned. Please do me the favor of making sure you leave your e-mail address in the comment if it is not visible on your profile. (1 entry)

Extra Entries:

1. Follow me on google friend connect and leave a comment telling me you are. (1 entry)

2. Follow me on Twitter and leave a comment telling me you are along with your Twitter ID. (1 entry)

3. Follow Boca Beth on Twitter and leave a comment telling me you are along with your Twitter ID. (1 entry)

4. Tweet about this contest making sure you include @jewelsntreasure and @bocabeth along with a link to this contest somewhere in your Tweet (1 tweet/entry per day)

5. Become a fan/like of Jewels & Treasures on facebook and leave me a comment telling me you are along with your first name and last initial. (1 entry)

6. Become a fan/like of Boca Beth on facebook and leave me a comment telling me you are along with your first name and last initial. (1 entry)

That's It!

Winner will be chosen at random from random.org Winner has 24 hours from being contacted to respond, or else a new winner will be chosen.

Contest ends Saturday, July 10, 2010 at 11:59 p.m. CST!

*Congrats to #4- Mandy! Enjoy this with your girls!

*The featured product(s) in this post were provided to me free of charge by the manufacturer or pr company representing the company. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by anyone.