Buttons Diapers Covers, Inserts and Wetbag giveaway

This review was originally part of the New Year, New Baby Giveaway hop.

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For the last year I've had the pleasure of working with and sharing about Buttons Diapers. I first met Amy about a year and a half ago at my nephew's birthday party, as she's friends with my sister in law. We later connected as blogger and company and over the past year I've shared about my love for Buttons Diapers many times. 

Buttons Diapers is an "All in 2" system, meaning it is one of the most economical ways to cloth diaper. You start with a few covers and enough snap in inserts to last through diaper changes over several days (I suggest washing every 3 days).

What sets Buttons apart from the rest?

Double gussets at the legs to help keep messes in

Extra elastic at the tummy and back to make a customized fit

Durable snaps

A one size cover that fits babies from roughly 9-35 lbs 

Snap-in microfiber inserts that come in small and large size, day time and night time thickness

The inserts are soft, plushy and extremely absorbent. I love that they have an extra contouring stitch (think: maxi pad)

The ability to "stack" inserts for heavy wetters without creating a massive bum

Adorable colors with lots of gender neutral options! 

Most of all, the affordability of being able to diaper your child from newborn to potty training for $240!

In addition to diapers and inserts, Buttons Diapers rolled out a few new products in the last few months - flannel wipes, bamboo liners, and wet bags.

This travel wet bag comes with a dry and wet pocket - perfect for separating clean from wet diapers. It has a handle with a snap release and is well sewn. Like Buttons Diapers covers, I know that I don't have to worry about leaks. They come in 3 sizes - small, medium and large.

Disclosure: I received product in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links.

Nuby Fish Swoosh Review

Penny's Vovo (grandpa) and Uncle Nick would be ecstatic if they heard what was going on in the bath tonight -

swoosh {splash}
swoosh {splash}

swoosh {splash}

Penny: (giggles) "Fishie!!"

Because tonight Penny has discovered how much fun it is to slam dunk her three squirty fishies into the basketball net that we've got suction cupped to the end of her bath.

The set comes with 3 multicolored fish, which give us another opportunity to go over our colors. The hoop suctions to the tub (though you can see that we've had to suction it to the non-textured part of our tub) and the hoop has a drawstring at the bottom. 

You can find the Nuby Fish Swoosh online at Buy Baby Direct.

Need more inspiration for bathtime fun? We also like the Nuby Tub Time Turtle and Octopus Bath Time Toss. 

Make sure you follow along with Nuby on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram to keep up with all the latest products and promotions!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I am writing this post as part of the NUBY Mommy Blogger Program.  I did not receive compensation for this post, although as part of the program I may receive items to sample or review.  All opinions are my own.

Bump Babies Maternity Review

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial (1).

My maternity style for round 2 is pretty laughable. I don't even really care to begin talking about it as a 'style' because well, come on. I'm a SAHM and comfort to me is absolutely key. Anyone else want to raise their hand that their wardrobe is also taken over by yoga pants and over sized shirts? The cute ensembles that I used to get myself in when I was pregnant with Penny wait in the wings for whenever I go out and need to make myself presentable (the grocery store barely cuts it).

Well, here and there I pick up a few new items and recently I got to try out Bump Babies maternity clothes.

For some reason I don't normally wear long sleeved shirts but I love them during pregnancy.

Bump Baby Maroc

With rouched sides to show off the glorious bump (and grow with me), Penny suddenly realized that there is something different going on with mama...

This is the low-key tank dress. I can see wearing this pregnant or not.

[bump]-tank dress

Adam was so cute when he took this picture - he got himself up on a chair, angled me just so and wanted to use the shadow to accentuate the bump.

Want to see more styles? Check out Bump Babies Maternity Wear online // twitter // pinterest 

Disclosure: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com (1). Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Inspiring Bilingualism: French for Kid Dedans et Dehors (Inside and Out) DVD review

Disclosure: I received this product as part of an advertorial.

I grew up in a bi-lingual household - we spoke primarily Polish at home and English was reserved for outside of the home. At the time I thought it was embarrassing and silly to do that, not only for the language aspect but also culturally. My first memory of white bread or mac n' cheese is in high school - when I bought lunch at the cafeteria. My last name was 11 letters long - and had more consonants than vowels. Knowing Polish didn't really gain me very much besides it being a pretty cool party trick in college. That girl was ready to ditch that Polski last name and get herself a good, easy 'Merican one.

As I got "older" I realized just how truly special that experience was. Learning a second language is becoming more of a standard in high school and college but research shows that learning language begins long before that - in the womb and expats with young children can attest to just how quickly their littles can pick up on another language even before their adults do. Already knowing how to switch my brain over to another language helped me learn french quickly in high school, which has also been useful in our travels across Europe on our first babymoon when we visited Spain and Italy.

Although my Polish has become quite rusty over the years, my daughters will definitely be learning all that I can teach them, with supplements from their babcia (grandma).

Truth be told, Polish will probably be a "party trick" for them too. So we've decided that we'd like to put our efforts into also teaching them a language that might be useful to them in the future.

We recently checked out the educational dvd French for Kids: Dedans et Dehors (Inside and Out) from Whistlefritz. We followed along as a silly mouse named Fritzi shows us simple French phrases around the house. The narrator clearly repeats over and over the phrases as well as shows visual cues. I really appreciated that there was no English spoken - it was all immersive. There are appropriate breaks for dancing and songs to help keep kids interested. 

Although Penny is too young to truly grasp the concepts, it's a great foundation for getting her started in her bilingual journey. I definitely recommend the Whistlefritz for an easy, fun way to get your kids learning another language. Whistlefritz has educational dvds in Spanish and French.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

No "Cream of ____" Chicken Pot Pie

Who wants to learn how to make chicken pot pie without using 'cream of ________'? I know that in a lot of southern recipes that this ingredient is a must, but in the attempt to making as much as I can from scratch, I knew there has to be a different way. After all, chicken pot pie has been around long before canned foods ever ever invented. I also find a deep sense of satisfaction in creating a dinner from ingredients that I can already find in my well stocked kitchen. 

So after a little bit of research and some tips from other very good cooks (Ina Garten and Motherhood on the Rocks) I came up with my rendition of chicken pot pie - no canned soup!

Note: this recipe is enough for 2 individual servings.

You will need:
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast (We love Zaycon Fresh chicken breasts, read at the bottom of the post why!)
salt, pepper
olive oil
salt
pepper

1/4 onion, thickly sliced

1 carrot (or 5 baby carrots), thickly sliced
1/2 cup of peas
1/2 cup of corn
1 cup of chicken broth (here's a really simple recipe for how to make broth in a crockpot)
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp thyme
1/4 c of flour
1/2 c milk or cream
Pie crust - make it yourself! Here's my favorite pie crust recipe using a food processor. I omit the sugar and use salted butter. If you want to make a really great crust, I love this buttermilk pie crust. You can sub soured milk (1T vinegar to 1 cup of milk) for the buttermilk.
This will make 2 pot pies in 16 oz size Corningware Ramekins.

You will do:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil onto your chicken breast and season with salt and pepper. Place on a tinfoil lined baking dish and bake until done - about 20 minutes or so.
3. Remove the chicken breast from the oven and shred or chop. Alternatively, if you have left over chicken from another meal use that!
4. Meanwhile drizzle a little more olive oil in a pan and gently sautee the onion until it is translucent. Add your carrots, peas and corn. Sautee for a few minutes.
5. Pour the chicken broth over the veggies and bring to a quick boil, reduce to medium and allow to cook until the carrots are soft.
6. Season with garlic powder, thyme, salt and pepper (to taste).
7. To thicken the filling, add a little bit of flour at a time. Stir quickly and efficiently so that you don't get clumps. This probably won't take the whole 1/4 cup - it may only be a few tablespoons. It depends on how much of your stock has evaporated.
8. Add the chopped chicken.
9. Simmer for a few minutes to get everything nice and happy. Then stir in the cream until it is well incorporated and remove from heat.
10. Spray your ramekins with non-stick spray and pour in your filling. Don't fill it to the brim, leave a little bit of room.
11. Meanwhile, prepare your pie crust. Alternatively, you can use pre-made pie crust but home made is soooo much better.
12. Lay the rolled out crust on top of your ramekins and run a rolling pin over the top to cut off the excess.

Use a fork to crimp the edge all nice and pretty, and sprinkle with a little bit of sea salt. Cut 3-4 slits into the crust.
13. Place back into the 350 degree oven and cook for about 25 minutes, or until the crust is golden and you can see the filling bubbling underneath.

As a growing family of 4 I make it a goal to source the best quality meat at the best prices. That's why I buy all of our meat through Zaycon Fresh. Every 6 months I order 80 lbs of fresh chicken breasts and I cut them into individual dinner serving sizes and freeze. We've saved hundreds of dollars in the price of meat as well as I always have the convenience of not having to go to the grocery store to purchase meats. Sign up for Zaycon Fresh and see all the different meats you can buy - beef, pork, chicken, sausages, bacon, turkey and more! By signing up for Zaycon Fresh I get a referral bonus, so thanks in advance for helping me feed my family!