Quo Beauty Sponge Review

Hey Guys,

We have all heard about the Beauty Blender. Every youtuber and beauty guru swears by it. I will admit the price turned me off. I don't wear makeup often (1-2x a week) so for me to shell out a lot of money didnt make sense to me. I was at shoppers one day and saw a Quo dupe. I had heard about dupes before and people fell in love with them, and for $6, who cares if it didnt work.

It looks like a beauty blender, with a flat bottom and a pointy top. For those who dont know how to use it, you run it under cold water until it is soaking wet. It will expand, so in actuality it is much larger then what appears in the package. Squeeze out all the water and then use it. A beauty sponge it suppose to give you a flawless and natural finish to your foundation, concealer and other makeup products. I have never used a foundation brush, always my fingers. Once i used my beauty sponge i fell in love. I got many compliments about my foundation and makeup. Alot of people told me they wouldnt have thought i was wearing foundation at all. I was told the quo sponge uses more foundation then the Beauty blender, so beware.
I have gotten into the habit of cleaning my makeup brushes regulary but i find my quo sponge takes forever. Everytime i need to clean it multiple times and im never satisfied.
The flat bottom is perfect for foundation and blends fast and seamlessly. The pointy end is perfect for under the eye and those hard the blend areas.
All in all i think if you are hesitant about shelling out $20 for a Beauty Blender or are on a budget you should give this a try

Why I caved and got a Keurig

Hey guys,

So a few months ago i purchased a keurig! I must say it was the best decission i ever made. I went back and forth a lot, but my boyfriend pushed me to buy it.
In the summer curtis worked the night shift. I would always have coffee ready for him when he came home. Most days he would come home exhausted and fall asleep with a full cup of coffee in his hand. I ended up dumping out a whole pot of coffee most days. That is when i first presented the idea of getting a keurig. I could make one cup at a time and we would be saving more money. He would wake up around lunchtime, or later so some days he wouldnt have coffee.
Then he switched to a daytime shift. So we went back to our coffee pot brewing ways.
 As any mom of a toddler knows, by late afternoon fatigue sets in. I found myself half awake, just trying to make it through the afternoon. i never wanted to brew a whole pot of cup so the keurig was starting to look pretty good.

As you can see there are multiple reasons why i loved the keurig brewing system. It was convenient and customizable to each person. We mostly use the keurig on weekends. We use it for our morning coffee and sometimes in the afternoon if we need a pick me up. We have a single serve resevoir, and for now it is perfect. Since we so not use it daily, we dont need water to sit in the machine, which could possibly be for a week at a time.
I only had one issue with the keurig since i bought it, which was water leaking all over my counter. I called customer service and they were able to resolve my issue and taught me about my machine. I learned you need to use room temperature water. It takes less time to warm up and will not leak all over the counter.
Pods can be quite expensive, costing $10 for a box of 12. If you have a costco membership it can be a lifesaver! I did the math and i would save $20 when purchasing a box from there.
All in all i love it! I wish i had purchased a keurig sooner and i definitely see what all the hype is about! It is fast, convenient and there are so many drink options, there is something for everyone!

Im back

Hey Guys

I know its been awhile since i blogged, but i have been busy and done a lot of self reflecting.
Holiday season is officially done, and it was our first real holiday as a family. I cooked Thanksgiving dinner, had people stop by for christmas and had a fun traditional christmas morning.
I went back and forth about whether or not i should blog. Not because i didnt enjoy it, but rather i felt overwhelmed. I had a lot going on in my personal life and i didnt want to publish posts that i wasnt passionate about.
The more i sat back and felt like the pieces were going back together i thought of some blog posts i wanted to do and couldnt help but come back to blogging

Gift Guide for Children

Hey Guys,

With holiday season around the corner (some consider it now), many struggle with keeping their children balanced. For the past two years Kayden has had a low key Christmas. His gifts haven't been extravagant, but as he is getting older he is becoming more aware of what holidays are about.

Curtis and I are lucky that we are on the same page about what holidays should be about i.e. family and religion. Christmas can quite easily be about getting a bunch of gifts, rather then it being a celebration. I never want my child to be overly spoiled or ungrateful. I have seen families buy so many gifts for their children that they loose track of the gifts they have bought, and find them hidden somewhere months later, not my impression of the holidays.

Curtis has no family in Canada, and my family doesn't celebrate Christmas, even if they did they wouldn't join us. Christmas is always a special time for our family and regardless of our financial situation we have always made the best of it.

With Kayden getting older I wanted some guidelines on how to approach gift buying, this is what I found

Buy something they want

Every kid wants something impractical that usually costs a lot. This is what I consider to be the 'main gift'.

Get them something they need

This is what parents pick out for their children. It's usually practical and something that children dread seeing

Something they can read

Something they can wear

I love all of these categories. It allows children to receive presents, enjoy that aspect of the holidays but it also keeps them balanced. It gives children gifts they want as well as parents giving them what they feel they need. A little fun with a little education.

As kayden gets older there will be two additional categories.

Something to do as a family within the home

This includes a board game, movie etc. This gift benefits the whole family. It is usually something the whole family would enjoy and is non-stressful.

Something to do as a family outside the home

This may include a nice dinner out, going to the park, seeing a movie, playing mini golf etc. I know for many families going out and doing these activities is cobsidered special. Its nice to go out and not have to celebrate a birthday anniversary etc and do something out of the ordinary.

Tips for saving $$ on children's clothes

Hey guys,

As the mother of a two year old toddler I know how expensive it is to buy clothes for you little one. I did a post a few months ago in the summertime about how to save money when you have young children, because the costs can add up quickly. I know one of the best things to do as a mother is buy clothes for my little one and just dress him up. Because we all know been a few years he's gonna have an opinion and is gonna buy what he wants and wear what he wants to wear.

Unfortunately at this age children grow so fast. I'm so lucky that he is at the stage now where he is the same size for about one year which makes it a lot easier and makes it less stressful to purchase clothing because I know it'll last a lot longer than before. I decided to share some of my tips for buying clothes.

Sign up for emails to your favorite stores

 We all have favorite stores we like to go to for our little one's, mine are, The children's Place, Osh Kosh and Joe Fresh. All of these stores have stylish clothing at affordable prices. There are so many benefits to signing up to their email program (if you don't mind getting an e-mail everyday). Many of these stores have online exclusives, which are amazing deals. You get access to sales that many don't, with many perks. For instance 50% outerwear, 50-75% off of clearance items etc. Even when you shop for clothes, items can be expensive, so whenever you can save money on daily/seasonal items I will take it. Usually these stores will have a different theme every week, which can be easy on your pocket. The stores also give you a heads up about sales going on in stores, so you are the first to know and can beat the crowds!

Take advantage of seasonal sales

We all love dressing up our kids in cute pumpkin shirts, and have shirts with cute christmas saying's on them. One of the thing's I don't like doing, is shelling out $20 for a top he will only wear for one month. What we often forget as parent\s, is that stores need to get rid of their merchandise before the holiday arrives. For instance, halfway through October, I was getting sales for Halloween items. One of the great things is you are getting fashionable themed clothing at a discounted price. Often times I love buying a size up so Kayden can have stuff for next year. This is applicable for anything, shorts, t-shirts, jackets etc. The great thing about children's clothing, is it doesn't go out of style over a year. To be honest, I see the same christmas pj's online that Kayden wore 2 years ago. That just shows children's fashion takes a full circle. 

You don't always have to buy name brand clothing

As parents we want the best for our children. We often want to buy our children Nike, Ralph Lauren etc. While their clothing is cute, there's often no point to it. I admit, I have bought a few brand name items for Kayden, but those are few. At this age children only wear clothing for about 3 months. Luckily I live in Canada, so sometimes I can stretch it out for a bit longer. Buying a sweater for 45$ that Kayden will wear a handul of times (if I am lucky), makes me want to sweat. Walmart is my friend. I know I know, when I was growing up, we would turn our noses up at that place. What changed my mind is Cityline. They often showcase fashion and one week they talked about Walmart. They improved their quality of clothing, and stepped their game up with fashion as well. I love buying pj's from there for Kayden. It's hard to find his size, but when I do, I jump on it. I don't always find clothing that I love for kayden, but if you search I am sure all of you can find something. Their clothing is reasonably priced, and it does last a long time. They also have a gurantee, that the clothing won't wear out before your child outgrows it.

How I clean my makeup brushes

Hey Guys!

I'm sure if any of you wear makeup, you know how important it is to clean your brushes. I'll be honest, I use to be horrible at this. I wanted to find a quick and easy way to wash my brushes and also something that didn't break the bank. The way I did it previously just didn't make the cut. I always had makeup left on my brushes, which isn't hygienic at all. I decided to take to google ( my lifesaver) and see what they had to offer.

I came across a website that suggested using baby shampoo and warm water. I thought to myself this is exactly what I have in my house Bristol using baby shampoo on Kaden so why not just try it out. So I decided to share with all of you this new way I have been clean my makeup brushes that is quick easy and inexpensive.

So I take a old yogurt container that I am no longer using and I fill it up with warm water. the amount of water you need will depend on how many make up brushes you are washing. 

 

 

Because I've gotten into the habit of washing my brushes after every use I fill it up about 1/4 of the way I pour a tiny bit of baby shampoo and a tiny bit honestly goes a long way, then add a bit more water.

 

 I dip my brushes into the water, make sure to only get the bristles in the water, and I swish it around for about 10 seconds and then I rinse it under the warm water.

 

 I continue to do this with all of my brushes.

For me this is the most convenient and cost-efficient way to clean my brushes. The last thing I want to do is go out and have to buy a specific cleaner for my make up brushes. baby shampoo/wash runs for about $5 maximum where I am and I always have it in the house because of Kayden. I never have to worry about running out of it. It is gentle on my bristles and so far I haven't had any makeup residue.

Adventures in Potty training

Hey Guys!

So for almost a month I have been potty training Kayden. I decided to discuss the whole process with all of you, and hopefully share some of my insight.

How to know when they are ready

Kayden started verbalizing a lot more. Everytime I changed his diaper I would say whether he peed or took a poo. This help familiarize him with the differences between the two. We were also going through less wet diapers. It would be lunchtime and I often wouldn't have changed it unless he took a poo. This meant his bladder was growing and he was able to hold his pee for longer which was great. Kayden would also tell me when he peed. He would grab the front his diaper and wouldn't like how it felt. I knew it was time to get things started.

What you need

Pull ups and diapers (30$ for size 2T-3T and you get 74 in a box)

Potty seat ( We got ours online for about $14)

Wipes for the toilet (when you child poo's, they work great for toilets because they wont clog them) $3

Underwear (pack of 4 for $10)

Treat/reward

What I did

We started on a weekend because his dad was home and was able to help out. At first Kayden freaked out whenever we put him on the toilet. He didn't understand what was happening, but we continued to reassure him. We started using pull ups unless we were going out or Kayden was napping. We refer to them as underwear, and started saying that we don't pee/poo in them. The weekend was hard, he didn't actually pee in the toilet until atleast 3 days later. I was frustrated as well. The first week we put him on the toilet every 20 minutes, then 30 minutes the next week and so on. This allowed for a natural increase in the amount of time in between bathroom visits and he hasn't noticed that he needs to hold for a longer amount. Some people use stickers then give their child a reward after they get a certain amount. We chose to give kayden a small treat. Right now we are using skittles, 1 skittles when he pee's and 2 when he poo's. It has worked wonders for us. He is so motivated to use the toilet and runs to the bathroom when I tell him it's time to pee. It is true what you hear, you need to cheer loudly an make it seem like they did the greatest thing ever. Now I've toned it down it down quite a bit, I still cheer when Kayden does go to the bathroom but now he knows that he's done a good job so he does a thumbs up and he gets excited himself. The great thing is on the weekend his dad's home so his dad makes a really big deal out of it because he's not here during the weekdays to celebrate those moments so there's still a lot of excitement for Kayden.

Review on products

The first brand of training pants we bought was pampers and I will tell you I do not care for their version of it at all. One of the biggest things we did not like was we had trouble knowing which was the front and which was the back. On the box there was no clear distinction of how to put them on, I actually had to google it myself. I then found out the pattern that does need to remain at the front because that will fade once your child has soiled the diaper. Another thing I did not care for was the sides of the training pants. One of the things that Parents will find when they are potty trained their child is the ease of opening the sides if they do happen to make a mistake and go to the bathroom in a training pants. Kayden is amazing at peeing in the toilet, the one thing that I am trying to get him comfortable with is pooping in the toilet. He has expressed to me that he is scared, I don't know exactly what he is scared of but that is something I am working with him on. As a result he does still poop in his training pants and I did find when opening the side you really have to pull on them and you really do see a clear distinction between training pants and diapers and it is so difficult to open up the side you almost yanking it. And once you have opened up the sides you cannot close it back up it's basically opened it and then you gotta throw it out so that part was not a plus in my box.

I personally do not have a preference when it comes to diapers. I bought Huggies because it was on sale and it was something that I was able to easily find in my local Walmart. I was under the impression before purchasing Huggies that the pampers style was the style of training pants everywhere. I was so relieved to find out that Huggies was a million times better then pampers. One of the major pluses was a clear distinction with the front and the back of the training pants. Huggies clearly stated back on the training pants are there was no confusion. The pattern for the front of the training pants was bigger and it was more clear when it comes to your child to soiling the training pants. there was a picture within a circle and it was so much easier and quicker to read whether not the child has soiled the training pants then peppers. Also the sides of the training pants were quite similar to a diaper. If I would compare it to anything I would probably say it's almost like a Velcro and the great thing about it was if you did open it as a diaper you could quite easily close it back up and you would feel confident that it was still secure on your child.

Because we live in an apartment buying something for kayden to train on was difficult. Experts say it's important for toddlers to only use the potty in the bathroom so they associate going to the bathroom with that room. Also, once you take the toilet out of the room, and place it in the kitchen, bedroom, hallway etc for instance it can become a toy. We decided to get the seats that fit on top of the toilet. It helped save on space and Kayden loves it. There are two handles on the side for kayden to hold onto, and we can tuck it away nicely when he is not using it. With a tiny bathroom it such been such a relief that it doesn't clutter up the space.

My thoughts

Potty training is exhausting. You are constantly getting up and sometimes chasing after your toddler because they think it's a game. Sometimes you think they are never going to catch on, and yes, I have a few days where kayden rarely pees in the toilet and I feel like I'm back peddling. You honestly need to take it one day at a time and im just focusing on Kayden staying dry in the daytime. I don't want to overwhelm anyone. I keep it short and sweet on the toilet. I don't force him to sit if he's fussing because it's counterproductive. He knows there's an incentive if he goes and that's enough.