Crayon Crunch Kickstarter Relaunch

Wanted to let everyone know that the Crayon Crunch Kickstarter has been restarted.  They are a new company that makes personalized books for your little one.

By contributing to the Kickstarter you get a book as well.  Here is some more information about the project:
http://learningtopeewiththedooropen.blogspot.com/2015/05/crayon-crunch-kickstarter.html

Here is the Kickstarter link http://www.crayoncrunch.com/learningtopeewiththedooropen/

The First Trimester

With my 1st pregnancy the 1st trimester was great as was the rest of my pregnancy for that matter.  My 2nd pregnancy was a nightmare (I miscarried in my 13th week).  My 3rd pregnancy was fine.  This pregnancy oh holy mother of nausea.  I have been so nauseous the entire time.  Eating is definitely a challenge.  My mind knows it needs to eat but some how my body is not happy with this.  Most times I am forcing down a meal because I need to eat.  But most of my days are spent in a general state of nausea.  Many times I have seen my bathroom far more than I would like.  My poor children have had a mommy that to them never wants to do anything.  I am hoping that my nausea disappears and my energy returns in my 2nd trimester.  Did you have a rough 1st trimester with your pregnancy?  What helped you to combat your nauseous feelings?

Note:  I wrote this in my 1st trimester I am currently in my 2nd trimester.

The Secret I Have Been Keeping...

I have always prided myself on my authenticity.  I am a very open person and I am happy to be one.  I have been keeping a big part of my life private for quite sometime.  Writing a blog and keeping this part under wraps have been very difficult.  But I think I am finally ready to shed some light on the life I have been living for the past 4-5 months.  In 2011, I found out that I was pregnant and was so excited my oldest at the time was 2 and we were looking forward to adding another child to the family.  At my boy's upcoming 3rd birthday we made a Wonder Pets themed shirt that said "Guess who is going to be a big brother" on the back and let him run around and see how long it took for everyone to notice.  At the time I was 12 weeks had already visited the doctor and felt I was out of the  woods.  Excitedly we shared the news at the party.  A week later, at the time the unexpected happened and I began to miscarry our little one.  I was devastated  and even more so that we brought our son with us to the doctor for the ultrasound.  I tried to hold back my hysterical crying because my boy started to get really scared.  Fortunately on the drive home he fell asleep and I had the opportunity to grieve.  Looking back if I was really honest with myself I would have known that I was in the process of miscarrying.  We had, a month before my boys birthday, attended a cruise and I was having some of the signs of miscarriage.  The worst part about the miscarriage which made it more painful was having to share the news to everyone we had just told at my son's birthday.  It was so painful and heartbreaking to let everyone know.  It is amazing how quickly your life can change.  The day after the miscarriage I was in the living room with my boy and he told me he saw an angel and it was beautiful.  Out of the blue.  It really was an amazing thing to happen after such a horrible night of loss.  I went on after losing this child to have what they call a rainbow baby my youngest who is currently 2 in 2012.  Boy do you appreciate your pregnancy in ways you never thought about before. I was throughout the pregnancy considered high risk because of the miscarriage and lucky me at the gestational diabetes test was borderline.  So the girl terrified of needles had to check her blood 4 times a day.  I was a wreck and constantly stressed.  I lost a lot of weight and for awhile I was really terrified to eat. Thankfully my boy was born healthy and he is a little bruiser today let me tell you.

My secret was kept because of all of these experiences but I want to share with all of you what I have been keeping to myself for these months.

I am in a state of shock but so excited to share that we are expecting a little girl!!!!

The G Free Diet Book Review

My husband is living the gluten free life and has been for quite some time.  I recently got the opportunity to read The G Free Diet by Elisabeth Hasselbeck.  This book is a great book if you are newly diagnosed with gluten allergy or celiac and don't know anything about it.  There are great suggestions for food at home and restaurants that you can have a safe meal.  There is a lot of education information as well so if you are struggling to understand your new diagnosis this does a really good job of explaining it.  There are tips galore of how to handle social situations, traveling, and parties.  Now for me reading the book and my husband and I being immersed in the gluten free life for several years it was more of an overview of many of the things we have encountered with my husband's diet.  So if you are looking for new info or new ideas this probably isn't too informative but it is nice to read about another person's journey.

****This book was supplied as part of a blogging opportunity from Mom's Meet.  No additional compensation was given in exchange for this review.  All opinions are completely my own.

Nogii Review and Giveaway

Gluten free is a way of life for a lot of people from any reason to health to eating healthier.  Nogii is a gluten free product with many yummy options to get protein throughout your day.  There are many flavors of Nogii

                                                                  Chocolate Mint

                                                                     Rocky Road 

                                                                 Cookies & Cream

                                                                 Cocoa Brownie

                                                                  Chocolate Coconut

                                               Chocolate Peanut Butter Caramel Crisp

                                                     Peanut Butter & Chocolate

Paleo Bars No Dairy or Gluten (My husband compared these to breakfast bars)

                                                                Nuts About Berries

                                                                   Nuts About Nuts

                                                       Nuts About Tropical Fruit

Why & Quinoa Protein 

This comes in vanilla bean and chocolate

Chocolate Caramel Bliss

As you can see there are a lot of options.  Each bar is full of protein and if you are fan of chocolate most of them have this.  Every bar that I tried was very good.  These are great for any situation when you are in need of a snack and being gluten free this can arrive in many different situations.  I know a common concern is being able to get sufficient protein and nutrition from your food.  

I want to give you an opportunity to try these bars for yourself.  I received quite a haul of these delicious bars.  I will choose 5 winners from this giveaway so that several of you can try these.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

***Moms meet provided this blog opportunity and all of the Nogii product.  Winners has 1 week to claim their prize.

Minecraft the Obsession

My boy is obsessed with Minecraft!!!  If I let him play 24/7 it wouldn't be enough.  It is such a simple, pixelated game but I am sure you know a child who is quite attached to it.  I think what is so appealing about the game especially for my boy is that you can make whatever you want to make.  There is no specific formula or steps to follow.  It is easy to understand and to play.

I wanted to share with you one of the recent creations my boy proudly made.

I will let you be the judge of if Mario is waving or doing well, something else. My husband and I got a little laugh out that one.   If you haven't guessed my boy has quite a Mario obsession as well.  So he goes into Minecraft and makes Mario worlds.  Pretty awesome.  This game definitely makes kiddos use their creativity.

***This post is not sponsored or affiliated with Minecraft or Mario.  All opinions are completely my own.

Diaper Catastrophe

In my years as a mom, I have encountered a lot of really disgusting, messy diapers as most moms have.  But I wanted to share with you my most traumatic diaper mess to date.  When my oldest was around 2 he won the award for the most disgusting experience.  I was in the kitchen and he was in the family/playroom.  I was busy cooking and knew he was right there.  He was really happy, dancing around, giggling so I didn't think anything of it.  Our kitchen has an island so I could only sit the upper part of his body having lots of fun.  When I went around the island that is when I saw what was so funny to him.  He had taken off his diaper and of course it was a poopy diaper and he had smeared all over the floor and was dancing in it....in carpet.   Needless to say lots of cleaning of not only my boy but the floor as well.  Thank goodness for steam cleaning because otherwise this carpet might have needed to be replaced...yes it was that bad.  I have been pretty fortunate with my youngest and there has not been anything too horrible or I blocked it out.