When we first found out that we were pregnant with our second baby we were ecstatic! We started to plan, prep and figure out what we were going to do with the bedrooms in our home and how to prepare Ezra to stepping into the role of a big sister.  We started potty training, moving in to her big girl room and finally, into a big girl bed. For most of these transitions Ezra did great and now we just had to wait for the biggest transition, becoming a big sister!

Baby Monitor : Motorola Baby Monitor Review

When we brought home our sweet baby girl Isla, we knew that one day we would not only need a monitor for both of the girls rooms, but one that had video and a could reach a good distance. The monitor we currently had would constantly cut out and lose connection after you went farther than 5 feet. Very frustrating!

We began searching for a video monitor and had quite an extensive list of what we were looking for. Having to use this monitor for 2 children and already been through the ringer with a ‘half-working’ one, we knew that it would be worth it to invest in a quality monitor that we knew we could depend on.

Baby Monitor Checklist:

• Wifi Connection
• Long Range of Distance
• Video / 2 Cameras
• Speak option
• Battery Life

We made our way out to buybuy BABY in Langley, where we came across the Motorola® 5-Inch HD Video Baby Monitor with Wifi and Two Monitors, this one stood out right away! First because it came with TWO cameras and secondly that it had WiFi, which meant it could be accessed almost anywhere! (Such an added bonus, especially if you have a newborn or are a nervous nelly like me when you leave your kids at home haha!)

We ended up going home with the Motorola Monitor and I couldn’t wait to set it up! Being able to see and hear both girls all night long and not worry, we were in for a good night’s sleep and everyone in the family was excited about it. The first night went great, Isla woke up once to nurse and Ezra slept through the night. There was a moment where Ezra tossed and turned, but  taking a quick peek at her and seeing that she was tangled in her blanket allowed Mackenzie to quickly go in when she look a little bit rested, untangle her and tuck her back in, then slip out quickly.

Later that week we also had a chance to go out for a date night – something we hadn’t done in forEVER, and while we were out, we had the comfort of being able to check in on the girls through the Hubble App on our phones. (This App also has a zoom feature – crazy!)

At the end of the day, this will always be the right choice for us because we were in need of a monitor that had two cameras, Wifi because soon we will both be at work during most days and lastly, the range that this monitor has is amazing.

Sound Machine : Hatch Baby Review

The other I found helpful, especially when transitioning your little one into a ‘big kid’ bed or in our case, switching seasons, is the Hatch Baby. We chose this sound machine for Ezra because we finding that it was challenging for her to stay in her bed until it was a decent hour to get up. (Unfortunately the sun comes up at 5AM in the summer and Ezra assumes it is time for breakfast haha)

If your child is old enough to understand bedtime and routine, I would really encourage you to bring them with you and explain to them what the Hatch Baby is before purchasing. Let them play with it, touch it and try out the different colours and sounds. Something that is being brought into their room that is going to change colour and make sounds can be a big change for them.

Why we chose Hatch Baby:

• Has an OK-to-wake function
• Can control it from your phone
• Soothing sounds and colours
• It’s simple
• All the controls are hidden
• It’s pretty and neutral – fitting in to any nursery decor

Hatch baby is one of those products that are so simple to use that even your toddler will know how to work it! It is accessible from your phone, can play a variety of relaxing sounds, create presets for bedtime, dinner time and other notifications and also create a completely custom colour for your little one to really make it their own.

Ezra is one of those toddlers who likes organization, routine and being told what to do – even though it feels like half of the time she disregards this completely. This is why bringing the Hatch Baby into her routine was perfect! I think that the Hatch Baby will be something that we use with Ezra until she outgrows this final stage of transferring into her big girl bed and then use it through and through with Isla, reaching each milestone of dreamland and conquering it with a soothing sound, warm hue and just the right touch to help her rest easy.

buybuy BABY Nursery+Baby Registry + One-on-one Customer care

If you are in the market for a monitor or a sound machine, I would suggest making your way over to a buybuy BABY near you, their staff were so helpful when we were trying to decide and answer any questions about why A was better than B etc. Did you know that buybuy BABY’s in-store experts offer FREE one-on-one personal shopping appointments and are available to answer questions and help parents shop for everything they’ll need. buybuyBABY also offers an amazing assortment of items from top brands, for every style and budget, I really appreciated this about buybuy BABY with myself being on Maternity leave and my husband being the only source of income, you can imagine that our finances are not very high at the moment and I know that a lot of parents are usually in this boat, wether it be their first or third child.

If you are interested in finding out more and keeping up to date on exclusive sales and in store deals, make sure you sign up for their email list to always be in the know! Wether it be for you or someone you know who is expecting, their amazing staff is always ready to help and put together something beautiful to welcome your little bundle of joy into this world.

If you have any questions that I didn’t cover in this post, please reach out and ask! I would love to help you also achieve a better night’s sleep with the comfort of knowing your little one is sleeping safe and sound.

Take care,

Cassandra

This post was sponsored by buybuy BABYCa. All text and opinions are my own.

#buybuyBABYca #Ad

I feel like I have already touched on this in past birthday posts, but being a teacher, I am a planner, and when a planner is pregnant with her first child, she plans. ALOT. When we brought Ezra home, our sweet baby girl, my ovaries were exploding with love for this babe and my mind was exploding with cute baby clothes, DIY’s for her nursery and most of all, BIRTHDAYS! All the birthdays I was going to throw, that I was going to plan and go all out, that I was going to shout it from the rooftop how much I loved this little girl of mine! Right then and there I had mapped out what I wanted to do for her first 3 birthdays, and thankfully all that ‘pinning’ didn’t go to waste, because I never changed my mind on any of the themes!

Check them out here: Ezra’s First Flamingo and Tea for TWO

Wild + Three Birthday Highlights

• Jaw Dropping Face Painting (Rainbow Faces Face Painting)
• DIY Balloon Garland
• Custome Leopard Scrunchies (Haven Ohlee)
• Action Packed Goodie Bags (Creations by Sonia)
• Delicious Macarons (Kizzy’s Macarons)
• Tattoo Bar
• DIY Golden Jungle Animals Decor
• Wild+Three Geometrical Cookies (Little Acres Home Bakery)

Leading up to Ezra’s birthday my thoughts were scattered everywhere, my first initial thought for Wild+Three was a rock and roll, leopard tights and air guitar theme. I then started to plan and research the theme and there wasn’t really much to go off of to really encompass the exact theme. I decide to shift gears, keeping Wild+Three but shifting the theme to a colour scheme of dark green, gold, white and leopard print, LOTS of leopard. (We all know I love my leopard print, so this worked out perfectly.)

I wanted to steer away from the classic ‘Jungle Theme’ birthday party and put a modern twist on it. I love the idea, but it just wasn’t screaming ‘EZRA’S BIRTHDAY.’ To start a vision board for an event or party that I am planning, I’ll always look for a colour scheme first, then from there I can find different foods, decor items and dessert table layouts that I want to incorporate or tweak so that it fits just right! In this case, Dark Green, Gold, White and Leopard. To make this Leopard theme really stand out, I made a special request that everyone come wearing some sort of leopard print on them! (This was SO fun – some people went ALL out!)

As I started to embark on the weeks ahead of assembling, creating and accumulating, I was reminded of something I had written way back in my post for Ezra’s first birthday, I’ll leave it below to help you out when you’re planning your next party!

“PLAN//PREP//PREVENT

After planning and writing everything down on paper, I went through the stores I would need to go to, compared prices and made a ‘To buy’ list, ‘To do’ list and a ‘To make’ list. Having it all jumbled on to one piece of paper would’ve driven me crazy. Having separated each task into three lists gave me some sanity in picking and choosing what I wanted to do that day and not be overwhelmed with a list 30 items long. I looked through the things I needed to make and chose to start on the most daunting task first. ” – Ezra’s First Flamingo

The day before Ezra’s WILD+THREE was a bit eery, everything was done, there was nothing to pick up or make and we were just putting things in it’s place to make for an easier set up in the AM. We had a few friends and family helping out with pickups of balloons and cake, but other than that we were able to sit back and relax before the chaos ensued.

DECOR

The bulk of the decor was completely our own doing, my husband was the mastermind behind the balloon garland and I put together the golden birthday jungle animals. We did however ask the talented Creations by Sonia to create some custom pieces for decor, labels and invitation and she nailed it! (I love using giant rolls of craft paper to create a theme related backdrop. you can paint it, cut it or just write on it!)

DIY PROJECTS

• Binocular Craft
• Balloon Animals (If you had a child at the party, you were the animal maker haha)
• Golden Jungle Animals + Party Hats
• White Wooden Backdrop : My husband made this piece for Ezra’s second birthday as the backdrop for her Tea for Two dessert table – I love how simple it is and how you can easily transform it to fit so many different themes!

FACE PAINTING 

We set up a spot at the back of the yard that we knew would be in the shade most of the day so that our amazing Lisa(the beautiful face behind Rainbow Faces Face Painting) would not burn and her beautiful paints would not melt away! As you can see below, there was quite a demand for leopard print, but Lisa had also prepared to do a Zebra, Tiger and Unicorn with bright colours and glitter!

SNACKS // BEVERAGES

I really wanted to embrace the raw and whole fruits of the jungle so I decided to have tons of bananas, apples, watermelons and pineapples covering the table – I think the parents and children both loved this! I also had a really fun time coming up with different names for each of the food items in the trail mix bar and also other snacks on the table like ‘Giraffe Food’ or ‘Gorilla Lunch’ (KD that was supposed to be bananas). For beverages we had green coloured lemonade for ‘Swamp Water’ and ‘Crystal Falls’ for water.

The Trail Mix Bar was definitely an ‘A-HA’ moment for me. I was racking my brain on what fun ‘food’ could I serve for adults that wasn’t candy of Kraft Dinner, and then it came to me, Trail Mix! This also fit in perfectly with the theme.

DESSERT // TREATS // FAVORS

I wanted Ezra’s cake to be simple on the outside but SO fun on the inside so I thought of what she loved, strawberries and the colour red. Little Acres Home Bakery was amazing at capturing the exact vision I had of layers of strawberry throughout the cake and a simple flat white on the outside. I decorated the outside with green ferns and then on the top I had some smaller golden animals and a ‘3’ cake topper from Little Sprout Creations. Little Acres Home Bakery also created a beautiful custom set of cookies fitting the Wild+Three theme perfectly. Guests kept asking me if they were allowed to eat them because they were so beautiful!!

Kizzy’s Macaron’s are a staple for EVERY event that I plan, Kira does SUCH an amazing job at curating the perfect flavour and colour for every crazy vision I give her and she always goes above and beyond. As for the favors, those were another DIY that Creations By Sonia helped me to achieve! Small baggies filled with animal crackers – the perfect toddler goodie bag (I also thought of the parents when I was planning this one, that way they don’t go home with a bag of junk lol!)

We are so thankful for everyone who came out to celebrate our big WILD and THREE birthday girl. She had grown into such a character and has so much love to share, every time someone arrived at the party Ezra would throw her hands in the air, jump up for a hug and wished each person a happy birthday! (Still to this day she sings Happy Birthday when we are grocery shopping, at bed time and even when she’s on the potty.)

I hope you enjoyed every fine detail that went in to celebrating one of the brightest lights in my life! Please let me know if you try any of these DIY’s or have your own Wild+Three party – I would love to see what you create!

Take care and have fun creating,

XO Cass

Details from Ezra’s WILD + THREE Modern Jungle Themed Birthday Party:

Photography : Myself

Leopard Scrunchies – Mommy + Me Set : Haven Ohlee (Custom request)

Face Painting : Rainbow Faces Face Painting

Kenz Shirt : Mens “Fox Brown” Kindred Clothing

Jungle Macarons : Kizzy’s Macarons

Peacock Chair : Moreno Home

Door Mats : Monkey Fly Memories

Letter Board : Letter Peddler

White Divider Plate : RePlay

Isla’s Custom Bonnet : Fawn + Lace

Invitations/Signage/Food+Favor Bag Labels : Creations by Sonia

Large Jungle Animals : Various dollar stores

Balloon Garland : My sweet loving HUBBY!! (with some guidance from Little Rose Company – Thank you!)

Leopard Romper(Ezra) + Leopard Dress (Isla) and Leopard Tee (Mine) : H&M

Trail Mix : Walmart

Balloon Animal Kit : Party City

Tattoo Bar : Amazon

Animals Print Balloons : Party City

Greenery : Dollorama

Letter Balloons : Party City

Plates : Party City

Mixed Candy : Party City/Winners

If you know me, you know I’m not shy, you know I don’t hide from ANY sort of social interaction, but if you asked me what is one thing that makes me uncomfortable, it’s my smile. Not necessarily my hamster cheeks that puff out when I smile REAL big, or the crooked grin I often give, but the many yellow-tinted chompers that hide beneath. Being a mother, or just a working human in general,  you can imagine that each day has a couple cups of coffee in it and on the weekends, a couple glasses of wine. My teeth have taken quite a blow over the last couple years and try as I might, every whitening toothpaste out there hasn’t made a dent on brightening up this smile.

[Make sure you scroll to the very end for an awesome giveaway and my before and after teeth whitening pictures!]

When I found out about Smile Brilliant I thought it was too good to be true. An at home and CUSTOM teeth whitening kit? I’ve got to hear more. As I went through their website, I discovered that this was a brand new way of whitening teeth and for what you get and the precision it offered, it was a fraction of the cost that most whitening kits on the market were. You are whitening your teeth 5x faster and for roughly 70% less!

One thing that made me a little bit nervous was the gel and that it does offer caution to sensitive teeth, there is an option to order desensitizing gel you apply after each session and their online staff is more than helpful! My experience I worked with one of their amazing online customer support and she was with me EVERY step of the way, answering every question I had about pregnant/nursing mothers who wanted to try it, as I was expecting Isla and planning on whitening my teeth.

You may also like : Beach ready from Head to Tote

The process was fairly quick after I received my materials to create my imprints. I did them that night and sent them off and received my Smile Brilliant custom whitening trays within a couple weeks. (and guess what?! You don’t have to have perfectly straight teeth to use these trays! They are completely customizable, even for that one tooth that kind of sticks out a little bit on the right, Smile Brilliant has got that covered; literally!)

Guys, I was nervous. First of all, I thought I completely messed up the initial molding of my teeth and thought ‘there’s no way that this is going to feel good when it comes back’ but it DID! Smile Brilliant put together such a comfortable set of custom whitening trays for me that I sometimes forget that I am whitening. I’ll be in the middle of chores around the house, folding laundry, unloading the dishwasher, fluffing the cushions (haha. jk.) and feeding both my babies in-between.

Each of the whitening sessions can take anywhere between 45 minutes up to 3 hours for a session, depending on sensitivity and how intense of a session you are wanting, everyone has their own goals. Wether you are looking for a touch up or a full revamp, you can go anywhere from 2-3 sessions a week and up from there, but it is best to stay consistent if you are looking for a bigger change.

10 Facts about Teeth Whitening

For my personal journey with teeth whitening, I have only tried it once and that was when I was 17 with Crest white strips right before high school graduation. It hurt, but I did it because I wanted to have those pearly whites. Even after the painful sessions I did not achieve the beautiful smile I was hoping for. Now when I made my order with Smile Brilliant, I know my teeth are sensitive and I also have quite a bit of sensitivity through nursing Isla. The first thing I made sure to order was the desensitizing gel and have started with 45 minute sessions and have been whitening every 2 days, I find that that has been my comfort zone. It is suggested to whiten right before bed to reduce the amount of drink/food stains right after a session and to allow time for the desensitizing gel to soak in.

You may also like : Bed in a box : Endy Mattress Review

Overall I am so excited to have this option literally at my fingertips in a matter of seconds. This is more than I could have ever asked for when I think about teeth whitening. Being a mother is busy, you’re always on the go even when you feel like you’re resting, you’re most likely nursing your baby or folding clothes while sitting, this is the exact reason I love the custom at home whitening kit. Even though I may feel a little dull, diluted and on the sleepy side of the spectrum, my girls constantly keep me smiling and with Smile Brilliant I’m smiling bigger and brighter than ever before!

My crooked smile: Before + After (6 Sessions)

GIVEAWAY : SHOW ME YOURS : Now it’s your turn to win a chance to show me your before and after photos! CLICK HERE to enter to win your very own at home teeth whitening kit, it’s SO simple you don’t want to miss out! And remember to use code ‘STUMBLINGGRACE15’ for 15% off site wide if there is something else you’ve been eyeing!

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Take care and happy smiling friends!

If you have been thinking about getting yourself an at home teeth whitening kit and have any questions please reach out! I would love to answer any questions/concerns you may have or direct you to the amazing team I worked with when ordering my own!

This post was sponsored by Smile Brilliant. All text and opinions are my own.

#smilefearlessly