bluumBox: November / December

It's that time again! And for a while I wasn't sure if I was even going to get November's box, but I finally received it by the end of the month, and by the time I was ready to write up my review, sure enough I received December's box as well! So here you go -- another two-fer bluumBox post!

November: goodnight moon

Sadly, I couldn't find a stock photo of November's box, so if you're curious about any of the products, you get find more information here.

• Skin Free Skincare Sleep Tight Spritz
• Oh Baby Organic Baby Butter
• Mini Drops Soothing Eye Drops
• Apothederm Stretch Mark Cream*
• Little Pim Fun With Languages 25% off Coupon
• Special Gift -- Uncle Good Block

I don't even know where to start. This box, along with the next box coming up, has just been sitting by my computer waiting for me to do this recap. I mean, there's nothing in here that shouts out to me as being awesome, and makes me want to run out and get a full-sized bottle. PLUS, I already received a sample of the Apothoderm(*) -- so what are they trying to tell me, I not need double the help to get rid of my stretch marks?? I don't even know what I'll do with the baby butter. As for the sleep tight spritz, I don't know if I'd actually use that for Sam... hell, I don't know if I'd actually use it for me. I can give Sam the Uncle Good block, but again it's only one block. Coupons are nice, but I have no interest in additional languages as of right now. The only thing in this box that I can see using, and actually plan on using today thanks to the craziness that was last night, is the eye drops sample. Other than that? I think this one was a miss.

December: new beginnings

Again, no stock photos for December's box, but again, if you want information on the products, you may be able to find it here. If not, I will be back to edit the link as soon as they post it on the website.

• Wry Baby Drooly Bib**
• Dapple dish liquid
• Spiffles tooth wipes
• Dr. Sears baby wash
• Plum Tots fruit snack
• Yu-Be skin cream
• Special Holiday Bonus - biodegradable Wysie Wipes

Strike two, bluum. I already have a Drooly Bib(**) which makes me start to wonder how many vendors that might actually have. If that's the case, and I going to see the same stuff in next month's box as well? I mean, we had a pouched fruit snack before, and as much as I love them for Sam, so much for variety. And we're getting more baby wash and skin care samples than we even want/need and chances are Sam can't even use them at this point. The Wysie Wipes are interesting as they come in dehydrated little discs and I guess you just need to add water and they expand? Of course, it won't help when I need a wipe ASAP which is usually the case. Tooth wipes are a waste because at this point we're brushing Sam's teeth with a regular brush and training paste. Drapple, however, is a good product... but again we're beyond needing baby-specific cleaning products.

The verdict? I have one more box coming to me thanks to the PlumDistrict deal, but after that I think it's going be a sweet farewell to bluum.com. And sadly? No love lost there...

Happy New Year!

(Courtesy of my mother-in-law while Samantha was spending the night at her house on New Year's Eve so we could go out and celebrate adult-like.)

Here's to a happy and healthy 2012 to you and yours!

And here's to a year of better blogging from yours truly!

Cheers!


.... wait, MB. What about the rest of Samantha's Christmas?

Well, I was thinking about doing a Christmas recap, but do you really need a rundown of how exhausted she and we were after running around all day opening presents and eating food? No, I say... I missed the boat on that one so I'm just going to move forward rather than dwell on the past... New Years Resolutions, and all. I will say we had a fantastic time, are so very grateful for our generous families, I know Samma had a great time and I look forward to so many more to come!

Merry Christmas to all...

Happy Holidays, from my family to you and yours!

'tis the season!

I don't know about anyone else, but our holiday season starts pretty much right after Thanksgiving, and it doesn't stop until New Year's Day. And with Samma around, it's just makes it all the more enjoyable! And I don't know why, but I've been in the spirit for much longer -- hell, this is the first year I actually started my holiday shopping prior to Thanksgiving, and my sister and I were at Kohls at 1am Black Friday! Yup. Crazy.

So what have we been up to this Holiday season?

First, we have our annual Holiday Brunch with our friends out in Worcester. It's Yankee Swap-style, and for the first year, since there were so many kids, we organized a Secret Santa for the little ones. Samma received fingerpaints from Lexi-- yay!

The following weekend we had our nearby friends and families visit our home for our annual Baby Holiday Festivities. There are only three babies in this group, all within months of each other age-wise, so it's fun watching them interact with each other and open their gifts and whatnot because really, this is what the holiday season is all about! :) This time around we received a Little People amusement park from Auntie Bob, Weebles from Gabe and a Leapfrog magnetic Farmhouse for the fridge from Cole... or maybe it was Weebles from Cole and the Farmhouse from Gabe... it was pretty chaotic! Regardless, everything was much appreciated and all the babies had fun!

Then we had my uncle's annual holiday party. That was fun. And by "fun" I mean absolutely exhausting. Sam definitely seemed to enjoy herself, though. Of course, she's really easy to please so long as she can run around and get to places she shouldn't be with her partner-in-crime, Papa.

This past Thursday was my dad's office party for the kids, and Sam's first time visiting with Santa. As you can see, she was not amused, and for that I am grateful because I didn't have to spend money on Santa picture this year just to have her freaked out. She did enjoy the blow-up Fisher Price wobble penguin Santa "gave" her though (read: I wrapped it up, gave it to my dad, he put her name on it and Santa gave it to her when we visited). It was fun though!

And now, here we are. Tonight was our annual Christmas Eve gathering with Chris' extended family, tomorrow morning brings presents from Santa as well as our immediate families coming to our house for more presents, heading up to my aunt's house tomorrow afternoon for my family gathering, heading back down to southern MA for our annual Yankee and Regifting swaps with our group of friends, and then Monday is our annual gathering with my dad's side of the family.

Sadly, Samma fell asleep in the car on our way home tonight, so we weren't able to leave out cookies and milk for Santa. =( But something tells me Santa won't be missing us this year.... gonna have to make it up to him next year!

15 months!

I feel like it's been forever since I actually did a well-baby check-in, but with everything else that's been going on in the last few months, I can see how that can happen. Anyway, as I mentioned before I had almost forgot about this appointment, but luckily they were able to fit us in before the new year, and even though it wasn't with either of my top two choices for doctors, it turned out to be a good yet long well-baby appointment.

So let's start with Samma's stats:

Weight: 23lbs 9oz (72nd percentile)
Length: 30.5 inches (43rd percentile)
Head Circumference: 17.75 inches (23rd percentile)

Growing girl! We had a little bit of a freakout because of her length, because when we first took it she registered in the 15th percentile, but that just wasn't right because I know in the last couple of week she's been growing out of her 12mos pants, but I think when the nurse initially took her height her head was tilted to the side or something, because when I was able to hold her head straight the second time, she shot right up the charts, which is where she should have been. Also, looking at her weight chart, it was kinda scary to see the dip in weight when she was in for 2 weeks straight because of her bronchiolitis... poor sick girl.

But anyway, those times are behind us because she did very well, and the doctor checked her chest and there was no sign of wheezing or anything connected to the bronchiolitis, so we were given the green light to just finish up with the Albuterol we have and then she is off the nebulizer! At this point we're down to just morning treatment and I think we have a week's worth of medicine left, so we are almost there!

Everything else looked perfect - the doctor was really impressed with her ability to run across the exam room, and was happy to hear we had an easy transition to adult food, no bottles, sleeping through the night in her crib. We were "easy" she said -- thanks, I think? One thing she did say that made me go "Hmm..." was no peanuts until 3 - I was always under the impression it was 2, but I guess we'll see. I really can't wait to give her peanut butter and jelly sammiches, not gonna lie....

And then we had to get not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR shots, two in each leg. Shots + tired baby because she missed her nap at daycare for her appt = miserable baby girl after shots. :( But we got a flu booster, another HepB, and FINALLY her chicken pox and MMR vaccines. Chicken pox is crazy though because not I guess it's requirement for schools, so she has to get it every 10 years.... back in MY day we were just told to go play with our friends! Crazy how times change...

So that's about it. Next up - 18month appt, where we will discuss getting off the binkie and our first visit to the dentist. Of course, they didn't have the schedule for March yet, so I wasn't able to make the appt, so PLEASE don't let me forget this one like I almost did the 15mos appt...