Reinventing Myself

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Hey everyone!

I’m back! I have missed you all! I have taken some time to enjoy my family and really be present. After everything that has happened the last couple of years, I felt that that was the right thing for me. Once the dust settled, I felt like I had lost my own identity and somehow I became someone’s partner, someone’s mom, someone’s daughter or sister but what happened to me alone? I had become so focused on keeping my family united and spending as much time together as possible that I lost my sense of individuality. At first, I thought that would be fine but now I’m ready to come back to what I love to do. I love writing and sharing my experiences with you all. I love getting your feedback and tips on how you handle situations or items you love. Please feel free to share with me. Can’t wait to get in touch with you all!

The Soulfull Project Review

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Hey guys!

I was recently sent a box of sample hot cereals from The Soulfull Project for me to try out. Before I even tried the hot cereals/oatmeals, I was already in love with the company. The Soulfull Project donates a serving of their hot cereal to food banks in your area for every serving purchased. In essence, you buy one, they donate one. It is such a great thing to do. The way they give back is truly admirable.

I have to say I was surprised to like the hot cereals so much. In the past I have had steel cut oats oatmeals as well as the instant oatmeals of various flavors. With the steel cut oats, I always had to add tons of sugar to make the oatmeal taste okay and with the instant flavored oatmeals I always felt they were too soft and sweet. The hot cereals from The Soulfull Project are a wonderful balance. They have texture and a natural sweetness that, when paired with milk or almond milk, are absolutely delicious. They are the first hot cereals that I literally did not need to add anything to and was fully happy and satisfied with. They are filling and delicious, and not to mention good for you. All of their oatmeals/hot cereals are vegan and some are also gluten free. I followed their recipe guidelines when it came to the measurements. The only thing I did differently, was that I substituted water with milk or almond milk. I love that milk gives it a nice creamy consistency and I like the health benefits of using almond milk instead of just water.

I loved all of the flavors that I tried. I had the pleasure of trying the Hearty Grains and Seeds Hot Cereal (vegan and gluten free), Cinnamon Spice Multigrain Hot Cereal (vegan and gluten free), and Apple Cinnamon Multigrain Hot Cereal (vegan and gluten free). I really want to try their Brown Sugar Pecan Multigrain Hot Cereal next.

My son, who is now 5, loved all of them as well. When I tried giving him the instant oatmeals a few days later, he told me “yuck mommy, giving me the good one, not this”. This was not only hilarious to me but also pleasantly surprising that he no longer wanted the other oatmeals and really enjoyed these. I’m always looking for healthy options for my son that taste great because 5 year olds are tough critics lol.

I believe these can be found at Stop and Shop, Shoprite, Wholefoods, Amazon, and other retailers, as well as on their website. thesoulfullproject.com. I definitely recommend these. They make a great meal or snack at any time of the day. They are vegan, gluten free (most of them), healthy and delicious.

What are your family’s go to breakfast ideas? What do your kids request?

*As always, this review is my honest opinion. I have not been compensated in any way, in exchange for this review. I was sent free samples to test out and to give my honest opinion. The pictures on this post are from their website so you can see what the items look like. (I had taken pictures of the items I received and my son devouring his food but can’t find the pictures anymore. Mom life am I right?!)
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Surreal 2020: Having fun with your kids

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Welcome back everyone!

I’ve missed my blog and am so happy to be back. What have you all been doing to keep busy? What do you do to unwind after a long day? What have you been doing to have fun with your kids? These have definitely been trying times to say the least. I hope you all are staying safe and making the most of this time. I have been trying to spend quality time with my family, while trying not go nuts with cabin fever lol.
I will be posting weekly blogs sharing what we’ve been up to and fun ideas to try with your kids. I want this to be a place where we can share ideas and thoughts to help each other.
Thank you all for supporting me and staying by my side throughout the years. Please feel free to comment with your thoughts and experiences.
If you have any fun ideas of things you’ve done with your kids please share them below. I would love to hear about it.

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Giwox Red Diaper Bag/Backpack

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Good morning everyone!! Hope you all had a great weekend. I was able to enjoy a beautiful sunny day at the park with my little one. Is it just me or is time just flying by? I can’t believe how fast time is going. My little guy is going to be 15 months tomorrow. (ahh!) But I digress lol.

 

IMG_1408 (1)I was lucky enough to be able to try out the Giwox Diaper Bag/Backpack. I have been wanting a backpack of some sort to carry all of my little guy’s stuff for some time now. I had a diaper bag already but as beautiful as it is, it is heavy on its own and is really heavy and bulky once I pack it with every possible thing my little guy could ever need (I know it’s unnecessary but it makes me feel more in control of possible meltdowns lol). I figured a backpack would be more comfortable and easier to carry for longer periods of time without causing shoulder and neck pain. I WAS SO RIGHT!

I am super happy to have the Giwox Red Diaper Bag/Backpack. I have had it for a week now and I have used it consistently since I received it. It fits everything that I had in my other diaper bag. I feel like it is more organized in this bag and easier to access than before. And for the best part, it can be carried as a regular bag, a shoulder bag, AND a backpack. I have been using it as a backpack the entire time. It feels much lighter this way and I am left with no pain by the end of the day. The bag is also really cute and made of an easy to wipe clean material.

Th Giwox Diaper Bag/Backpack comes in 3 colors (white, red, and navy) with polka dot patterns. It took me forever to choose which color I wanted because I kept going back and forth between them. I believe they vary slightly in dimensions so that is something to consider (or at least what I used as a tie breaker lol). The bag has 14 pockets which makes organization easy. It has an insulated pocket for baby food on the side and a baby wipe pocket on the opposite side. It comes with buckles, a changing mat, and a storage pouch.

My favorite things about this bag are that it can be carried as a backpack and the baby wipes pocket as well as other pockets making it easier for storing things neatly.

What I would change about this bag would be to have a slightly bigger insulated pouch on the side so that sippy cups and different sized baby foods could fit easily. ( I was only able to fit pouch foods in there and some spoons.) Also I would have the storage pouch have a zipper tab like the Giwox Diaper Bag because it is sturdier. (I was trying to cram a lot of stuff in the storage bag because I wanted my stuff separate and easy to access and while closing it or attempting to, the end of the zipper tab broke off. :( I know that it broke because of how much I had shoved in there but I wanted to point it out so that if anyone else is like me, you won’t do what I did lol)

Overall this is a really great bag made of durable and easy to clean material, good amount of pockets and space, and easy to take with you anywhere you go. I think it was great that they added the extra touches that make it really unique (insulated pocket, baby wipe pocket, multiple ways to carry it.)

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I was lucky enough to receive the Giwox Red Diaper Bag/Backpack for free in exchange for my honest review. It is currently on sale on Amazon.com for $39.99 which I think is a great deal. It is regularly priced at $69.99.

Check it out:http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AJ4Q6U4   http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CZG40E8   http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CZDX3CQ

Does anyone else have this bag or one similar? What do you think of it? Let me know in the comments section below :) If anyone would like me to do a what’s in my diaper bag post please let me know.

Thank you to Gina for sending me this bag! You have made my life much easier and less painful. Thank you everyone for being loyal readers. If you haven’t already, please subscribe to my blog! XOXO

Having a 1 year old son

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I can’t believe that my little boy is already 14 months old. It went by so fast. I can still remember the first month like it was yesterday. He was so little and he’s now such a big boy. I’m so amazed by how quickly he learns and absorbs everything around him. He tries to help me change his diaper, he wants to eat foods by himself using a spoon and holding the bowl, and he is feverishly trying to walk. It’s so incredible to witness him become independent so quickly. Of course it doesn’t go as he plans it. Life has definitely gotten messy. I spend more time cleaning him than anything else but he just loves trying things himself and I think it’s great. What I can honestly say I am not so fond of are his very loud and demanding temper tantrums. It’s almost as if the minute he turned one, a switch went off in him, and he all of a sudden wanted everything his way and he will let anyone who disagrees or tries to stop him hear him ROAR. Lol. He is adorable even then but I have to say my ears could do without such noise. He gets so into it too. He literally throws himself onto the floor and flails while yelling and screaming. The funny part is that he will pause to see if he has my attention and then continue on. Having a toddler is nothing short of a roller coaster but I wouldn’t change it for anything. It’s so incredible.

Thought I would share a little of my experience with you guys. Leave me a comment down below about your experiences. I would love to read about them! XO :)