Snow Days

We are on our third "snow day" of the week.  I woke up this morning annoyed that school was once again canceled.. but I think I'm just antsy and ready to have this baby boy.  I'm 38 weeks now and in complete discomfort.  I'm to the point where I'm done nesting - I'm too tired.  My hips and legs hurt, I sleep okay up until about 3am, and my belly is so so tight.  I don't think it's possible for it to stretch any more (although I've been lucky enough to evade any stretch marks once again.. so far).  I think I'm just anxious for everything - wondering when exactly I will go into labor, hoping I have time to get Clara where she needs to go before I head to the hospital, etc.  I know it will all work out either way.  And I'm not the only one who's anxious - Clara keeps asking almost every day now when baby brother will be here.. and I have no doubt that my husband is tired of listening to me huff and puff.  I'm just going to go ahead and be thankful its not 100 degrees outside like it was when Clara was born.

Anyway, I thought about it this morning.. and after being annoyed about the snow day, I decided I needed to be thankful.  And I am.  Thankful for these few extra days with my girl before this new little one arrives.  Time for just me and her.  I'm a little worried with how she will be when a newborn is taking up a lot of my time.. but again, I know everything will be okay.  Tuesday I took her out to the nail salon.. and I got a pedicure.. and she had her toes and nails painted.  She thought she was pretty special.. she got to sit in these fun "big girl chairs" and all.  ;)  As she sat next to me while they finished up my pedicure, she was smiling at her sparkly pink fingers and then she turns to me and says "I love you, Mama".. heart.. melt..

On Monday we had enough snow to go out and play in.. Clara was so excited as she was watching it fall from the kitchen window.  :)

Wesson loved the snow, too.  It was pretty funny to watch him run around in it.  He's a big pain in my rear, but he's pretty cute covered in snowflakes, don't you think?  And Clara would have shoveled snow up all day if I let her.  

The snow is all melted now, it never does last long down here.. and it's suppose to be back up to the 50's next week.  At least I won't have to be worried about driving on icy roads if I go into labor (at least for right now).. and I'm hoping labor comes sooner rather than later!  I'd totally be okay with not seeing week 40...

PS- Don't forget to enter my current giveaway here (ends 3/4/15).

Crane Cool Mist Humidifier {review & giveaway}

For the past 2.5 years we've been living in Arkansas.. where the weather is unpredictable this time of year (unlike in the summer where it's just constantly hot and humid).. one day it's in the 30's and the next it's in the 60's.  It really does take a toll on your body - your skin, throat, sinuses, and just your health in general.  And then we're just trying to keep the house comfortable, stop all the runny noses and sore/dry throats, and attempting to get a wink of sleep!  So when Crane USA contacted me a few weeks ago about reviewing one of their Drop Ultrasonic Cool Mist Humidifiers, I was all about it.

Who knew a humidifier could be so exciting?  ;)  This pregnant mama couldn't wait to test it out.. and after doing so, I'm pretty sure we'll end up buying another one for Clara's room (baby boy can share with us since he'll be sleeping in our room for a while;).  Since I've started using the Drop Ultrasonic Cool Mist Humidifier a few weeks ago, I've noticed that my nose and throat are a lot less dry when I wake up in the morning.  I'm thankful to have this around, and especially will be when baby boy decides to make his arrival any day now.  Infants are nose breathers, and it's so important to keep those passages clear and easy for them to breath through... and since we're in the heart of cold and flu season right now, the humidifier should help out immensely!  I'm also happy to report that these are not noisy at all.  It has a very gentle whirring, which I think is actually pretty relaxing and definitely not enough to disturb even the lightest of sleepers.

I adore the sleek design of Crane's Drop Humidifier.  It's not an eyesore, and it can fit in with just about any decor - and it comes in some pretty colors!  I opted for the pure white one, because that's what fits best in my home.  Not only does it work great, but it's also a easy-peasy to maintain.  Make sure you change the water out daily, and clean it once a week or so.  I found this great video on using and cleaning the humidifier.. it's super helpful and only takes about 3 minutes of your time to watch!

See how lovely it fits in our room?  I love it!

Oh, and I have some great news for you!  Crane USA has so kindly agreed to giveaway a Drop Humidifier to one lucky winner - and they get to choose which color!  The color choices are:  the original blue/white, green, teal, white, pink, orange, and gray (you can view the Drop Humidifier colors here).  Enter below for your chance to win!


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Crane USA provided me with the Drop Ultrasonic Cool Mist Humidifier with no additional compensation - opinions are 100% mine!

Fluffy Chocolate Chip Biscuits {recipe}

I'm officially 37 weeks.. 1 week and 2 days away from when Clara was born.  Things are really getting hard.  I can't sleep at night.. if I'm not waking up from heartburn then I'm waking up because I have to pee.. and if it's not because of either of those then it's because I can't get comfortable or I just simply can't sleep.  So Sunday morning I was up way earlier than I like to be on a weekend - 6am - and decided to put my time to good use.  I know very soon that my ambition to cook or try anything new will disappear for a while, so I decided to try a new recipe and make my darlings a nice breakfast before church.

These biscuits are obviously more of a 'sweet treat' for breakfast.. so I also made some scrambled eggs and we had some fruit with it.. but you could easily switch up the recipe.  I think next time I will mix in some blueberries and then they would be just fabulous drizzled with honey!  They are super light and fluffy - not dense at all.  Clara loved them, as you can see from the photo below.. ;)

Fluffy Chocolate Chip Biscuits

recipe via Southern Plate

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup milk (preferably whole or buttermilk)
• 1/2 cup cold butter, cut into slices
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tbsp whole milk

Put sliced butter, flour, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl and cut butter in to flour with a pastry cutter or fork until incorporated (but it will still be lumpy).  Place bowl in fridge for 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes, take bowl from fridge and stir in sugar and chocolate chips until well mixed.  Add milk and stir until just moistened.  If you need to add more milk, add up to 1/8 cup to make sure everything is moist.. but do not overstir.  

Turn dough out onto a floured surface.  I prefer to place a piece of parchment or wax paper on my counter and flour that - it makes for easier clean up!  Flour hands and then pat the dough into a rectangle.  Gently fold right side to middle of rectangle and do the same with the left side.  Pat out into a rectangle and repeat the process one more time.  Pat out into a rectangle.

Take a biscuit cutter or a glass and dip into flour then cut out your biscuits.  Place biscuits in a lightly greased cake or pie pan with their sides touching.  I used two pie pans.  Bake at 450 degrees for 13-15 minutes, or until lightly golden.  

Make the glaze-  Stir together confectioners' sugar, vanilla, and milk until smooth.  Brush over tops of biscuits.  Let set a couple minutes before serving.  ENJOY!  :)  Makes roughly a dozen biscuits.. maybe a few more.

Send Some Love {kid craft}

Clara's at the fun age where she likes to color everything, cut everything, put stickers on everything.. so that makes craft time a lot of fun.  ;)  We made this hand chain (kind of like a paper doll chain, you know?), to have fun with and send out to Nana & Papa.  After she was done decorating it, I wrote on each hand "i love you this much".. and the little scribbles you see on each hands, that's her "writing" her little message out.. I was just translating it haha.

I love that she loves doing these kinds of things... seeing all her creations makes my heart so happy.  You see that little sun she drew in the above photo?  Yeah, that's the cutest little sun I ever did see!  ;) Her attention span is a little short to do anything too involved craft-wise.. so we stick with simple for now.

Has anyone else done a Valentine Day craft with their little ones?  Leave a link to it in the comments, I would love to see what you've created!

Levana Stella 2 Camera Monitor {review}

Does anyone else have a husband who gets incredibly excited to test out new baby gadgets?  When our Levana Stella (2 Camera) Monitor came in the mail, he couldn't wait to get the box open and figure this thing out!  When we had Clara, we just had a plain jane monitor.. no camera, nothing too fancy.  It worked for us at the time.  But now that baby #2 is due in just 5 short weeks (less if he's nice to me like Clara was;), I really wanted something that was going to help me keep an eye on both of the kiddos.  We've been using it with Clara for the past couple of weeks, and I can honestly say that I would highly recommend this monitor.. it's 100% worth the money!

Just a few things that I love about the Stella Monitor?

• The screen size is perfect.. at 4.3 inches, it's big enough to clearly see but it's not obnoxious.
• You can talk to your baby through the monitor.. and it plays lullabies!
• Once it's charged, it lasts up to 36 hours in PEEP mode.  And PEEP mode is also awesome because it puts your monitor to sleep when it's quiet (no bright screen bothering your sleep!) but as soon as your kiddo makes a "peep" the camera will activate so you can immediately see what's going on.  Oh, and it's portable!
• You can use this with up to FOUR cameras.  It's great to know that is can expand along with your family.
• You can zoom & pan the camera!
• I also love the sleek design of these cameras and monitor.

A photo posted by Haley {LittleBitsBlog} (@hwes21) on Jan 22, 2015 at 8:39am PST

If you follow me on Instagram, you'll remember me posting about it when I received it in the mail.  And I'm excited to be able to use it with both of my kiddos, but it's great if you have older kids as well.  You can stick it in their playroom and check on them without disturbing their play time - I just know that when I would stick my head in to check on my daughter she would get distracted from what she's doing.

Disclaimer though.. if you have a toddler, you might want to first tell them that you can talk to them through it.  I said something to Clara through it for the first time a few days ago, and I wish I could show you her reaction - I laughed so hard I cried.  She was so confused and went up and put her face right in front of the camera.. she figured out it was just me after I started laughing so loudly from the other side of the house.  Haha! 

All in all.. this is a fabulous product!  This monitor is regularly $229.99, but it's currently on sale on their website for just $169.99... I'm telling you Mama's.. it's high-quality, and very worth it.  :)

Disclosure- I was given this product for review purposes and was not financially compensated otherwise.  All opinions are my own, based on my own use of this product.