Designs by Tahra Review

I recently won the "Stuff the Stockings" giveaway. My prize package was Prize Seven - 3 pack Fish Foam, Custom Wax Seal Necklace, and Custom Social Icons installed on your blog (estimated value at $185 total). I will review the other prizes in other posts.

I received the Custom Wax Seal Necklace from Designs by Tahra a few days ago and I love it. Here is the description from her Etsy listing:

This pendant is handmade in fine silver which is .999% silver and silver is such an investment these days. Each pendant is stamped with a wax stamp for each initial just for you and paired with a sterling silver bead ball chain. I love the vintage flavor that this pendant exudes. This is a one of a kind stamp and it will be custom made with the initial of your choice. You can choose an oxidized finish or a bright silver finish. 

I would like to add that these are individually made and they each have their own character. Each one is uniquely made which adds to its charm.

Each pendant weighs between 4-5.5 grams of silver. These pendants are approximately 3/4 to 7/8 of an inch.

Sure you can get metal necklaces from here or there, but this one is Sterling Silver! I am highly allergic to anything not Silver or Gold, so this is a great necklace for me. 

The necklace came beautifully gift wrapped and she included a personal note along with a business card. Cute!

Inside of package

My necklace! I got the oxidized finish.

Here is the necklace on me, love the length!

Check out Designs by Tahra on Etsy she has a great turn around time for her custom creations and is having a holiday sale (10% off with tahra10 for the holidays)! She also states - You must order by December 20th to receive your order for Christmas.

Disclosure: I was given the product due to winning a contest, I was not paid for my review and all opinions are my own.

Stork Stack Review - December 2012

Adeline is very spoiled this month with 2 new boxes - Bluum and Stork Stack! Guess we can consider them part of her Christmas!

I was very happy with this months box! Lots of toys/products for Adeline that we will and are actually using.

Rockabye Baby "Good Day, Good Night" 2 CD set - $24.98 - There are a lot of recognizable songs on these CDs that you will enjoy listening to as well as you little one. We love listening to music in the car and at home.

BearHands & Buddies Fleece Mittens - $12.99 - SOO cute! I can't wait for it to get cold enough for Adeline to wear these. They fit her great and she doesn't mind wearing them at all.

EDUSHAPE Maracito - $3.25 - Adeline immediately started playing with this as soon as she saw it. She has other maracas and doesn't play with them much - this one she just takes to for some reason.

Rubbabu Educational Ball - $6.95 - So far we haven't gotten to play with this because our dog thinks it is a toy for her! She already rubbed off some of the fuzzy-ness of the ball before we realized she was playing/biting it! So keep this away from dogs!

Rockin' Green Detergent sample - $1.25 (15.95 - 40/90 loads) - We already use this for our cloth diapers. We have to use Hard Rock due to having such hard water here. I like it and haven't really used it on our clothes but a few times. May be making the switch soon though.

Overall I am very satisfied with Stork Stack. If you want to sign up for your little one click here.

Bluum Box Review - November 2012

This is the first month of Adeline receiving the Bluum Box. This box is different from other boxes in that you receive various baby/mom items and once you do reviews on the items you gain points that you redeem the points for boxes or other rewards.

This review is way way late!

Here are the items we received in our box:

mOmma Teether - Gino, Jack & Fred $5.99 - Adeline immediately played with this. She's never been big on teethers for the actual purpose, she just likes to play with them. But this is a very nice teether and a great size. Where to buy a mOmma Teether.

Babybug Magazine - 9 issues $33.95 - I've read this to Adeline several times and she loves the colorful pages and stories. She loves to just look through it by herself as well. A subscription would be great, it's just not in our family's budget. To get your own - Babybug Magazine.

Montagne Jeunesse - 7th Heaven Mud Mask 7 oz. $2.99 - This will be in the next box due to the Hurricane in the North East.

Numi Organic Teas - 18ct box of tea bags $6.99 - I'm not a big tea drinker but I can't wait to try these samples - Decaf Simply Green (smooth, Mellow and full-bodied) and Rooibos (Earthy vanilla South African Healer)

Madhava - Organic Agave Nectar 11.75oz $3.99 & Organic Coconut Sugar 16 oz. $6.69 - Didn't get to try these as the nectar leaked out!

Dapple Baby Laundry Detergent - 50 oz. $8.99 - This is a detergent perfect for newborns, toddlers, and kids with eczema. And it states it can also be used with cloth diapers. I'll probably do a little bit more research before I try this on my diapers! We don't need special detergent for Adeline's clothing.

Niko Luxe - $15 credit towards the website - the clothing is gorgeous

The way bluum works is that you get the product and then write reviews for the products and earn points. And once you get enough points you get a free month. I'll try for another month or so before I give my final verdict if it's really worth it or not.

If you'd like to sign up click HERE. Disclosure - you sign up and get boxes I get points towards free boxes.

Adeline's Christmas & Birthday Portraits

Adeline had her 1 yr pictures and Christmas pictures taken Sunday at Portrait Innovations at Valley View Mall. They did her pictures back in March and we were happy with them so decided to head back. They were crazy busy! I really wish we could have gone during the week, but with Alan's schedule it's not possible. But they went great and we really didn't feel rushed at all. The one thing I like about Portrait Innovations over some of the other portrait studios is that you get your pictures within 30 min. after the session - not 2 weeks or more!

I'm hoping for other pictures in the future we can plan more in advance and get an independent photographer to do them. I would love some outdoor pictures too.

PHOTO BOMB!!!!!!!! Here are the pictures! They turned out great as always.

CHRISTMAS

1 YEAR

Photo Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly photo books are the new way to preserve your memories. Create your own today.

Holiday Dinner with Friends and Family

Tonight Adeline and I went to a Friends & Family Holiday Dinner! It was so great to see some people I hadn't seen for awhile and it was great for Adeline to get to play with her cousin Lucy who is close in age (8 Months). It's always great to see familiar faces around the holidays and relive the past holidays. It's also a time that you miss the family that is no longer here with us or couldn't make it.

Last year we didn't get to celebrate the holidays (Thanksgiving through Christmas) very much due to Miss Adeline being so new & young. So this year I am extremely excited to celebrate. Tomorrow we are getting Christmas pictures done, heading to a friends birthday party, then coming home to finally decorate! I've been dying to decorate all week but Alan has been busy working for UPS - those guys work hard and Alan is exhausted when he gets home!

I didn't get any pictures of the adults at the dinner party, just the babies! The pictures didn't turn out so great due to the low lighting of the room we were in and the fact that these babies couldn't stay still! While we were there we had a few spur of the moment pictures taken by Mary (Merry Studios), so I can not wait to see them!

Scott and Adeline playing before we went