Steph's Pick | Gymboree Bubbles

Did you know that Gymboree has the most amazingly super bubbles?!

I had no idea... until recently!

When compared to regular market bubbles, they burst every other competitor's bubble. While regular bubbles quickly fall to the ground and pop upon immediate contact with anything, Gymboree bubbles magically float suspended in the air.

Case in point - we live on the second floor of a condo complex. We blow bubbles out on our patio (yes - even in the 110+ degree heat). Since getting the Gymboree Bubble Ooodles there have been numerous times that after 10+ minutes of blowing bubbles we hear one of our neighbors yell out something to the effects of "It's a Bubble Wonderland out here!" The bubbles just don't pop. No joke. It's amazing.

They are a perfect summer activity for your own kiddo's and a perfect gift idea for any kids in your life. At $5/set they might be a little more expensive than the average bubbles BUT they are still affordable and oh so much better.

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elsie's announcement

Photos: Kimberly Bee

Design: Me!

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How to "Host" a Baby Shower by Mail

One of life's happiest occasions is a baby shower! But what if she lives in ________ (and you don't)? You can still celebrate by instilling the spirit of a shower into a thoughtful care package -- a shower (by mail).

This is exactly what I just finished planning for my dear friend Jess. And let me tell you - it was soooo much fun!

You see Jess and her hubby, Nate, live in California (aka: too far away from me if you ask me). So when I first heard they were expecting a baby in August my wheels started turning about how I could host a shower for Jess. You know how much I love throwing a shower?

But reality sank in fast ...I had forgotten (oops!)...I was also expecting a baby BEFORE Jess. There was just no way I would be able to make the trip to CA to host an in-person shower for her. Grr... I was totally bummed. But Dr. Google pulled through again. I started researching baby-shower-at-a-distance ideas and decided on a Baby Shower by Mail!

Let me tell you ladies... it was perfect! The ladies who participated loved it. I loved it. And most importantly Jess loved it.

So for those of you interested in knowing how to host a Baby Shower by Mail - here's my step by step guide to doing just that!

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How to "Host" a Baby Shower by Mail

1) Start a Facebook Event. Isn't Facebook wonderful?! When planning this event I knew there was no way I wanted to manage it all via email - so a Facebook event it was. Here are the things to include in the "More Info" portion of the event:

- Note if it's a surprise or not.

- Date that gifts need to be mailed to you by.

- Mailing address for gifts.

- Wrapping specifics. (I'll discuss this more below)

- Note for guests to keep in mind that all gifts will be mailed together so it's important they buy smaller gifts (if at all possible).

- Registry info.

- Invite guests to invite additional guests who might also be interested in participating. Hey - no one is FB friends with everyone, right?!

- Ask guests to RSVP via the FB Event so you know who to expect gifts from.

2) Collect Gifts. As gifts came in I kept all of them in one place and was sure to make a note of who sent what. That way it wasn't too overwhelming when it came time to put everything together.

3) Receipt Envelope - I wanted to be sure Jess had all of her gift receipts in one place so as the gifts came in I started a receipt envelope which I included in the Baby Shower package that was sent to Jess.

4) Wrap and Package up Gifts. I decided I wanted the package to look uniform (and cute of course) so I asked all of the "attendees" to not worry about wrapping the gifts as I would wrap them all once they arrived. I chose a couple different colors of wrapping paper and spent an evening (or two) wrapping all of the gifts that came in. I then packaged them in a large box and prepared the box for shipping.

5) Include a few fun/random items. I decided it wasn't a shower w/o some sort of sweet baked good. Now shipping a cake or cake pops is nearly impossible so I wrapped up a cake mix and frosting. Include your own fun random items in your shipment. The expecting mother will really appreciate the extra touches.

6) Ship it.

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And that's it!! It's easy-peasy and a great way to really bless the expecting parents.

Thanks so much to all of you ladies who participated in Jess's shower - she LOVED it.

And this post just wouldn't be complete without a picture of the guest of honor after receiving her Surprise shipment :)

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Steph's Pick | Mr. Clean Magic Erasers

If you've yet to hear (and try) Mr. Clean's Magic Erasers I honestly feel sorry for you. Here are two reasons...

The first reason... I'm sorry I haven't highlighted them on our blog yet. I honestly was STUNNED when I went back through our "Steph's Pick" archives and didn't find these fabulous cleaning gems. To think that I could have helped your cleaning efforts all of these years and didn't.... ugh... it gives me a knot in my stomach (wink, wink).

And the second reason...I guess I just figure everyone has heard about them. So if you haven't - then you really have been missing out. I'll just assume your hubby is the only one who does the cleaning (oh wouldn't that be nice).

So why are they so great? These little erasers really are MAGIC. No marketing ploy here.

Case in point. We just bought Nora a new little table for all of her coloring efforts. Although we color with Crayola Color Wonder Markers a majority of the time, a crayon still comes out a time or two.

Yesterday for example. I was busy doing something (probably feeding Elsie). I knew Nora was up to no good when I hadn't heard from her in 5+ minutes. My suspicions were correct when I came into her room to find her white (yes - we bought a white coloring table - it looks so much better from a design perspective) coloring table covered in Nora's version of Van Gough's "Night" painting. After my miniature mom panic I thought I'd give my little Mr. Clean Eraser a try... just to see if it would display it's magical abilities once again in or home. Well - sure enough. With little to no elbow grease I cleaned up Nora's table in 10 seconds flat and felt so good I gave myself a little pat on the back. For what? For remembering the secret power of the Magic Eraser of course! :)

And these Magic Erasers aren't just for cleaning up coloring tables, but for virtually anything you can think to clean.... tables, chairs, walls, doors, sinks, shoes. You name it. It's really pretty amazing. I have no idea how they do it... but they did... and I'm thankful!

You're welcome ;)

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Nana meets Elsie

If you spent a full day with Nora recently it's safe to assume that you'd hear the following words spoken a number of times: Mommy, Daddy, Barney, Reagan, Caillou, Nana, Bubbles, Papa and Ma.

Nora never ceases to amaze me with how many times she can say one word over and over (and over) again.

Today her word of choice is Nana.

You see, Nana spent the past week with us. Nora and her spent countless hours reading books, coloring and playing all sorts of fun games. (Aka Nana helped Mommy soooo much)

And of course she helped snuggle lil' Elsie too.

Nora was SUPER lucky one afternoon when Nana suggested it was time Nora try Yogurtology for the very first time. And boy did she LOVE it :) We honestly couldn't get a picture that didn't look exactly like this (hence the family pic in this post- hehe).

Here's a little glimpse into how much she enjoyed her time:

And a family pic at Yogurtology of course.

Thanks Nana for all of the extra lovin' you gave to our girls (and us) this past week! I'm honestly wondering what we'll do without you.

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Elsie | One Month

Our sweet Elsie turned ONE MONTH old today! Can you believe it?! We certainly can't!

It really is amazing how fast time has flown. Between all of the extra kisses we're giving and hours of lost sleep, I feel like we've stepped into a time machine and can't seem to slow down these precious days with our girls.

Before calling it a night, here are a few of my One Month thoughts:

- Elsie's stats are as follows: 8 pounds, 8 ounces. 21.5 inches.

- She LOVES her Miracle Blanket. So much so that we're going to go out and buy a second one simply b/c I don't have enough time to wash the one she has.

- She dislikes her car seat (major bummer). Not sure why I have two girlies who strongly dislike their car seat. I'm starting to think it's God's sly way of teaching me patience. :)

- Nora is adjusting as well as a 2 year old can adjust to being de-throned by a little 7 lb baby. Although she is still our little princess, the adjustment to sharing our attention has been hard on Nora. Thankfully each day it gets easier and easier.

- Elsie spends a large portion of her days in the Baby Bjorn or Moby Wrap. It's just the only way this mama can be hands free with a highly energetic toddler.

- Elsie's tummy is a sad situation. i.e. she's pretty gassy and constipated. Needless to say I'm learning how to eat dairy-free and we're praying it helps with her digestive system. Thanks Jordan for all of the great tips.

- For those interested in comparing our two little girls: Click HERE for Nora's One Month info.

- Interested in how we chose the name Elsie? We'll save that for another post ;)

Love you Elsie Grace! We're so thankful for you.

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Steph's Pick | Crayola Color Wonder

Please allow me to introduce you to my new BFF...for serious!

The Flies Blend Reader - Meet Crayola Color Wonder.

Crayola Color Wonder - Meet The Flies Blend Reader.

You see Nora has become very interested in coloring over the past couple months. Great - I know. I'm sure it's a developmental milestone of some sort. But there's a problem with this new found hobby - It can be MESSY. Although I'm learning to be ok with the mess that Nora makes (thanks to Darcy K's encouragement in this recent FM Blog post), I certainly am not going to shun a mess-free toy. :)

Insert Crayola Color Wonder. Thank you to the working mom who is employed by Crayola and suggested the Color Wonder Markers and Coloring Pads (that has to be how this came about, right?). Nora loves to color with them and watch them magically appear and I LOVE them even more b/c they only appear on Color Wonder Coloring Pads (that means not on skin, furniture, TVs or most importantly- walls).

At first I was less than eager to try them out just thinking they were a marketing ploy as they are more expensive then your average coloring book and crayons BUT take it from this mom - they are well worth it!

If you have young children I would totally suggest that you try Crayola Color Wonder markers and coloring pads! Your house will thank me... I have no doubt.

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our little gymnast

I thought a Nora video was long overdue.

Here's her new favorite activity...doesn't she run like she's going to mount a gymnastic vault?! :)

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Steph's Pick | My Goodreads

Where has time gone? I can't believe the last time I did a "Steph's Goodreads" post was back in November of 2009?!!! For those interested, click here to read that post.

So a year and a half later I'm back with another edition...

1. Her Mother's Hope & Her Daughter's Dream by Francine Rivers. When I found out one of my very favorite authors recently released a two part series I immediately requested it at our local library. I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. Thankfully the books didn't disappoint (as very few books of Francine's do) and I would HIGHLY recommend you read them as well. So good.

2. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay. I actually picked this up at Target before heading to Iowa for my G-Gma's 100th birthday party. I'm generally not a person to buy books that haven't been personally recommended by a friend or family member. Well - Sarah's Key was an exception. And I'm soooo thankful I picked it up. This is a historical novel (which I always love) that brings to light a disturbing hidden aspect of French behavior towards the Jews during WW II.

3. Still Alice. by Lisa Genova. I loved everything about this fiction novel about a Harvard Professor that is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's at age 50. Genova is also a Neuroscientist and so she writes from years of experience to paint a very realistic picture of what an early onset Alzheimer's patient might go through personally and relationally. I'm also currently reading her most recent book Left Neglected and am also really enjoying it.

4. The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan. "The Middle Place", as Corrigan describes it, is that unique time in your life where you still heavily rely on your parents admonishment and direction BUT you also have a family of your own who obviously looks to you for those things as well. This book is an excellent novel about the special bond between a father and daughter.

5. The Athena Project by Brad Thor. For those of you who know my reading preferences, this suggestion won't seem odd. But those of you who don't - I'm a quirky reader. I obviously love me some standard "chic-flick" type books but I also love to pick up the occasional espionage/thrilled book. The Athena Project is just that! But what I loved the most about this espionage story is that the "hero's" are a group of undercover WOMEN operatives. LOVED it!

And that's it!! Happy Summer Reading!

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Ma and Papa in AZ

After a week of doing this two kid thing on our own, it was time to call in the reinforcements :) AKA: have the grandparents come into town to help around the house and assist with the girls. I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm always up for an extra helping hand. And two sets of hands are even better!

"Ma" and "Papa" (names selected by Nora herself) flew in from Iowa last Monday and will be leaving in the morning (tear). Their help has been soooo wonderful. It's honestly hard to describe in words how valuable their time here as been to both Alan and me.

Maybe Nora can help give you an idea of how thrilled we were to have their help this week. I think this pic illustrates our thoughts perfectly :)

We spent the week getting out (as much a possible) and resting. Lots of resting. I figure I won't be doing much of that starting tomorrow so I wanted to be sure to take advantage of the extra hands while I had the opportunity.

Here's Ma lovin' up on Elsie-belsie :)

And despite Elsie's funny face in this picture, the girls really do love their Papa.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Ma and Papa. You are such a blessing to us! We could never thank you enough for all of the kindness you've bestowed upon our little family this week.

Now I'm on my own! Ugh....wish me luck...I'll need it.

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Steph's Pick | Ebelskivers

Photo Credit: Jordan Reasy

Yes, yes, yes... I fully realize that this is the first Steph's Pick since May 6th!! I know... I'm just as surprised. But what can I say? The reason(s)...more than likely a lack of ideas and this new little baby we are lovin' on now :)

Now to Steph's Pick -

By now most of you probably know that I'm in a Cooking Club. It's pretty much one of my most favorite things of this year.

Well this past week we met for our May meeting with a theme of "Favorite Brunch Recipe." I for one and am a HUGE lover of brunch. So much so that even though the meeting landed just 5 days after Elsie's birth I couldn't help but go! And I'm so happy I did because I there were some delicious recipes shared.

One of the recipes was for Ebelskivers - a Danish Pancake. Aka: the most delicious thing on the planet!

I'd never actually heard of Ebelskivers but when I saw Jordan bringing them in last Wednesday I knew I was in love. And you will love them too...promise.

Here's her recipe:

Ebelskivers

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 eggs, separated

between 1.75 and 1.85 cups buttermilk

4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted (plus extra for cooking)

Directions.

1. Heat the Ebelskiver pan on med heat.

2. In a large bowl whisk the dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl whisk together the egg yolks, buttermilk and melted butter. In a third bowl beat the egg whites until they hold a 2 inch peak (do not over beat the whites).

3. Add the buttermilk mixture to the dry ingredients in a slow, steady stream while gently mixing with a rubber spatula (you should still have large patches of dry ingredients by the time you've finished mixing). Then fold in the egg whites very gently.

4. Place a small amount of butter into each of the pans hollows. Using a spoon, fill each hollow almost to the top with batter. If you're adding a filling, add it on top of each hollow filled with batter and add a little more batter to cover it.

5. When the edges are slightly dry and you see bubbles, use two wooden skewers to turn each Ebelskiver over to finish cooking. Remove Ebelskivers from the pan once they are set or a toothpick comes out clean. Roll in cinnamon & sugar. (See WilliamsSonoma.com for other suggestions for filling & serving)

Enjoy!

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Mommy SOS | Preparing for Baby #2 UPDATE

It's been nearly two weeks since our little Elsie's grand entrance into the world (missed Elsie's Birth Story? Click here.) Who knew that a little 7 lb baby could bring such change to our home?!

Although I'm certainly not going to say we have this "Preparing for Baby #2" thing down (yet or that we'll ever have it figure out for that matter), I did want to give ya'll a quick update on this Mommy SOS | Preparing for Baby #2 post I wrote a couple of months ago.

First of all I have to say a HUGE thank you to all of you who provided such great insight (in person and on the blog) into this transition time for our family. I LOVED so many of your suggestions and will be passing on your mommy-wisdom to other friends who will go through this same transition in the future.

So here is it...the good, the bad and the ugly. :) Because that's what life is all about, right?!

• Take out all of the baby stuff well in advance. Nora is a curious little girl....and busy. So at the beginning of May I decided to bring out the bassinet, the car seat and the bouncy seat. By doing so it gave Nora lots of opportunities to investigate (aka: jump on, climb in, etc) all of these "new" things. After a week or so she lost interest in them and has since stayed away from them (for the most part :)).
• Read the book I'm a Big Sister by Joanna Cole. We bought this for Nora in April and she LOVED it. It was a "must-read" before every nap time and bedtime (not because we wanted to read it to her but because she wanted to read it). I do think it helped prepare her little mind and heart for Elsie's arrival.
• Purchase a little something for the big sister/brother to receive as a gift from the new baby upon their arrival. I read a number of things about this “exchange” pre-Elsie but most noteworthy to me was that the gift didn't need to be expensive but something VERY exciting for your firstborn. In our case I actually buckled down and bought a 12″ Stuffed Barney. You see Nora LOVES the big purple guy. I had him wrapped up at the hospital for Nora and Elsie's first meeting. Let's just say Nora is just a tad obsessed with Barney...the thing goes everywhere with her...in her crib...to the store...to the park...in the bath (only joking - although she has attempted this).
• Pray for the baby with the big sister/brother. We are very intentional to pray as a family together before bedtime. For months before Elsie's arrival we prayed (with Nora) for her arrival - for her safety and for our family as we transition to being a family of 4.
• Plan on giving lots of extra grace to yourself, your hubby and your firstborn. Let's face it...bringing a baby home is a lot of work. And it's a HUGE change. I'll be honest...Nora hasn't been the most well-behaved child over the past two weeks. But that's to be expected, right?! First of all...she's two. 'Nough said. And second of all...she is no longer the center of everyone's attention (no one likes that). It's a major kick-in-the-pants-reality-check. But through it all it's been such a great blessing to be able to step aside and trust God's provision for our family in ALL things.
• Put together a Nursing Basket. ***Disclaimer: I have yet to actually take advantage of this because I'm waiting until my help with Nora has left.*** Christy suggested that I put together a nursing basket. For this basket you buy a number of new toys for the firstborn to play with while you're nursing the baby. I actually still had a number of Christmas toys left and so I'll be putting those in the basket along with a couple other things to keep Nora occupied while I'm nursing Elsie.
• Stay connected with your firstborn, even during the first couple weeks. This is easier said than done. One of the things I've been thankful for the most these first couple weeks is the help with Nora I've gotten from my husband and parents. I really wanted to be sure to have this time to connect with Elsie BUT I've also tried to be sure to maintain my mommy-daughter connection with Nora by changing her diaper, helping with her bath, being with her during bedtime and prayer time, etc.

Again, I'm the first to admit that we still have a TON to learn and we haven't done everything right. But that's the sweet thing about grace.

In everything our prayer is that through the successes and failures we would learn to trust our sweet Savior all the more and entrust the care and provision of our family to HIS care above all else.

Blessings to you all!

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Our Birth Story | Elsie

I'll be honest...it wasn't until a couple weeks before Elsie's birth that I had even considered the possibility that this little one could come before her due date. I know, I know... weird. But for some reason I had just expected that she'd come on her due date...not earlier...not later. It's probably just because that's how my brain operates I guess - on a calendar.

That is until a number of people mentioned that oftentimes 2nd (3rd, 4th...) babies come early. WHAT?!! Let's just say when I was faced with the reality of this possibility this mama kicked her "gotta-get-stuff-done" self into high gear. :)

Thankfully come last Wednesday night (5 days pre-due date) I was pretty much completely done with my to-do list and "ready" to have this little girl.

So here's her birth story (and all of the fun details)...

I had a OB appointment Wednesday afternoon at 3:30 pm. I had asked if there was anyway he'd be able to strip my membranes. Although there was no promise that would start labor, he agreed that if I was far enough along (3+ cm) that he'd do just that. Well thankfully I was 3 cm and 70% effaced. So strip the membranes he did!

Come 6:00 pm I was starting to have mild contractions - like the kind where you don't know if you're just having a menstrual cramp sort of thing or if you're actually having a contraction. They were at this time about 30 min apart so Alan and I were going back and forth about moving forward with our evening plans of meeting with our church small group. Thankfully we decided to stay home.

From 6:00 pm - 11:00 pm (when we went to the hospital) we did a variety of hilarious things. And by that I mean things that only I would probably do while in the middle of labor. Like for example...because I knew I needed to be on my feet to encourage labor along I decided that it would be the perfect time to make a couple sets of the DIY Monthly Development Onesies for some of my friends who are expecting later in the summer. I know... I know... I was totally ironing away in the middle of contractions. And I'm proud to say I completed two sets during this time!

And Alan was under our sink fixing a leaking faucet. Yes.. you read that right. It was probably about 9 pm and I noticed some water on the ground. I called Alan into the kitchen and asked him where it was coming from. The first thing he said... I kid you not was "Did your water break?" Hehe. And what's even funnier is that I actually checked my pants to see if it had broken. As if I wouldn't notice if my water had broken. ;)

Anyway... where was I? Ok - by 9:30 we called my sweet friend Laura to ask her to come over (as she was going to stay with Nora while we were in the hospital) and at 11:00 pm we were headed for the hospital as my contractions had gotten closer and closer together and were at that point roughly 5 min apart.

Upon check-in the triage nurse checked me and I was 4 cm. So progress...but not a lot. She suggested we walk the halls for an hour and see if things would progress. (sounds a lot like Nora's birth story, huh? Just in case you're interested you can read Our Birth Story | Nora here.) After an hour my contractions were roughly 1 min in duration and 2 minutes a part and I had progressed and was 5 cm! They were going to admit me and I could get my IV and epidural - yippee!

After getting the epidural (thank you Lordy) we rested for a couple hours. Rested = slept. It was WONDERFUL. Come 4 am the nurse checked me and I was 10 cm and ready to have little Elsie!

Dr. Dado arrived at 4:15 and got things set up. I pushed 2x and out she came - at 4:25 am - Thursday, May 19th, 2011 - all 7 lbs, 1 oz of her.

The only additional side note to this whole ordeal is that poor Alan was a little sleepy and hungry and decided that the minute Elsie was born would be a good time to pass out. Really... no joke. Thankfully he had sat down before he blacked out but the first few minutes of lil' Elsie's life are a blur to poor Alan (love you honey - you're the best daddy in the whole world).

And that's it! All 4 of us are doing well and loving our newest addition.

Here's our first family picture...

And lastly - a HUGE thank you to all of our friends and family who visited us in the hospital and have since stopped by to meet Elsie (or have sent well wishes through the phone, text, FB, mail, etc). We're all feeling very loved by the incredible people in our lives.

Here's just a little treat we had for the visitors who came to meet Elsie at the hospital.

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Introducing....Elsie Grace

We're so pleased to announce the arrival of our daughter (and Nora's lil' sis) -

Elsie Grace

Born May 19, 2011

4:25 am

7 lb, 1 oz

19.5 inches

Birth story to come...

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My Pregnancy #2 Tips

Nope... no baby yet! We're still patiently waiting for her arrival. :)

Rather than a baby announcement... are you interested in hearing a few things I've learned during this pregnancy?

Jump on over to Scottsdale Moms Blog today to read my "DOs and DON'Ts of Pregnancy #2" :)

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{heaven}

Yes, yes, yes... I AM one of "those moms."

Nora came home yesterday with her very first Sunday School art project. And believe it or not - THIS mama put it directly on the fridge. (thank you very much)

Isn't it beautiful? In a child-like-faith kind of way?

___________________

And another pic of Nora...because I can...and because I'm thinking there is a good chance Nora is really hoping there will be bubbles in heaven :)

What do you think?! ;)

Happy Monday!

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Start your own Local Moms Blog

Hey ladies! And actually more specifically this post is for all of you mamas and mamas-to-be out in cyber-space that read our blog.

Have you been checking out Scottsdale Moms Blog over the past year and have thought to yourself "I would LOVE to do something just like that in my town/city?!"

Well - now you can!! And we'll even help you do it.

We've (and by "we" I mean SMB co-founder, Joy and me) just recently launched the SMB Media Group. Through it we're committed to partnering with local mom bloggers around the United States. Our sister sites showcase information about what’s going on in the lives of moms who live in their respective communities. We know that it’s difficult to get out and meet other moms when naps, eating and potty-training are calling for a mom’s attention. These sites are our little attempt to make the world feel smaller and to encourage other moms that they AREN’T ALONE!

Our sister site bloggers are working moms, stay at home moms, city moms, suburban moms, and rural moms—but, most of all, they are local moms.

To see an example of what YOU could do in your area be sure to check out our very first sister site who has officially "launched" just last week - Dallas Moms Blog (so happy for you Lauren K!)

Now here’s where YOU come in!!!

If you're interested in the possibility of starting a SMB Sister site - visit our “Start a Sister Site” link. We’re currently putting together a wait list for our very first SMB Media Group Webinar (most likely early June). During this Webinar Joy and I will cover the logistics of setting up a SMB Sister Site, Content Management, Working with Local Businesses and Event Planning basics. At the end of the webinar attendee’s will have the opportunity to move forward with partnering with us as a SMB Media Group Sister Site.

Email info@scottsdalemomsblog.com for more details!

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Steph's Pick | Cooking Club

Some of you may remember me mentioning that at the beginning of the year a couple friends and I started the Scottsdale Cooking Club. (As if I need one more random thing to be organizing... but hey - that's what born-out-of-the-womb party planners do, right?!)

Well I'm pleased to report that things are going VERY well. I've even had a couple of you mention that you've either started your own cooking clubs already or are thinking about starting a cooking club in your area. Nealy & Liz - way to go girls!

Which is actually the reason for this post...

First of all, if you're wanting to start your own cooking club be sure to head over to my post - Scottsdale Moms Blog: How to Start a Cooking Club. This post highlights all of the things you'll need to consider in getting your own cooking club started (it's really easy ladies - don't be nervous).

Secondly, if you're not quite totally interested in started your own cooking club just yet... but are wanting to get your hands on some of the recipes that we share at the SCC ... SMB guest blogger, Mandi N, has given great updates on our first few meetings (a couple recipes/post included - woot woot!). Follow the below links for these updates:

Scottsdale Cooking Club | Husband's Favorite

Scottsdale Cooking Club | Favorite Dessert

Scottsdale Cooking Club | Favorite Cookbook Recipe

And lastly, I wanted to share a couple things I've learned from starting a cooking club. Consider it "Steph's Do's and Don'ts of Starting a Cooking Club" :)

I always have to remind my perfectionist self that with every new thing there is a bit of a learning curve. I'll admit, there are a few things I would change about what we're doing now... which is why I wanted to share them with you all so you don't make the same mistakes too :)

• Although we LOVE our group of 18 ladies I think we all have decided the ideal group size is 10-12 people. Simply b/c the amount of food to consume is manageable and in a group of 10-12 you are generally able to chat with everyone in attendance sometime throughout the evening. (there's nothing I hate more than leaving one of our meetings and feeling like I didn't even say hi to _____ and ______ ).
• Keep serving sizes very small. You want everyone to be able to taste everything throughout the evening and it's just too hard on the tummy when the serving sizes are too large.
• Encourage attendee's to think outside of the box and bring a full array of items. Like appetizers, main dishes, desserts and even drinks. We learned this the hard way. :) Our first meeting was "Husband's Favorite." Now ladies... it sounds like a GREAT idea to add a number of awesome recipes to your list of things to make your hubby... and in that regard it was. BUT... my tummy has never felt so terrible in my life as after this meeting. Why? Well...of course most everyone brought a main dish that contained anywhere from 1-2 lbs of MEAT (including me)! I love me some meat peeps but I literally felt like I had a 2 lb hamburger patty sitting in my belly when I left that evening. I couldn't even sleep that night because of what I now call my "SCC Hangover." All that to say, encourage participants to sign up to bring a number of different types of items. :)
• Hostess Note: Be sure to have plenty of serving utensils. Now we've decided to alternate who will be hosting our group each month. You could have your group at one house every time.... it's really up to you. BUT one thing I have learned from participating in 3 months of a cooking club is that the hostess needs to have a number of serving utensils. I'm talking at least 1/dish.
• Nametags. Although they aren't as necessary now, it was super helpful to have nametags for all in attendance during the first couple meetings. **When I get a chance I'll be sure to take a pic of our nametags and maybe even upload a downloadable file (if I'm feeling super ambitious)
• Facebook Groups are AWESOME. Like I mentioned in my "How to Start a Cooking Club" post, it's important to find some sort of communication that works best for your group. In our case starting a SCC Facebook Group has been perfect. We use the event wall to RSVP and post what everyone will be bringing. I'd totally suggest using this feature on FB! Five Stars for sure *****!!!!

And that's it!

As always, feel free to comment below with any questions you may have.

Oh - and for those interested - here's a pic of our group at our first meeting...

Happy Cooking (clubbing)!!!

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Flies Girls Update

Wow! We have had quite the past 2 weeks! All fun... but BUSY! Between a number of Scottsdale Moms Blog outings, celebrating Easter and the pending arrival of Baby Girl #2 we have had a very full schedule!

Because I'm sure you like knowing what's going on with Ms. Nora and Ms. Baby #2 here are a few highlights from the past few weeks...

Splash pad.

Nora LOVES the splash pad. What adventurous kid wouldn't, right?

The above pictures were taken of a specific trip just a couple weeks ago when we met Mrs. Cherrick and Reagan at the Scottsdale Quarter Splash pad. (Best splash pad in the area - for serious)

Just a couple thoughts from this trip:

First - Nora LOVES her girlfriends, Reagan and Reagan. Yes - you read that right. She has two BFF's who are both named Reagan. (I'm secretly wondering if she thinks every little girl is named Reagan - I guess we'll see in time). But because she really only says the first syllable of every word she calls them "Rae" - as in Ray - like my father-in-law. Hehe. Too funny.

Second - Nora LOVES drinking the splash pad water. I'm not talking standing up and sticking her tongue out sort of drinking. I mean laying on the ground slurping it up type drinking. Weird.

Next up....Sesame Street Live.

We were lucky enough to be given tickets to attend Sesame Street Live at the Comerica Theater this past weekend! We attended the 10:30 am showing just yesterday and were super anxious to see how Nora would do at a LIVE show :)

Oh how I wish I would have gotten video of Ms. Nora during the production! Our little girl a)would not sit in her seat...she was far more interested in standing up and dancing and singing for the entire 1.5 hrs - b)was a little obsessed with Big Bird. I'm talking she wouldn't pay attention to the show when the Big yellow Bird wasn't on stage. And c)despite loving everything about the show decided she was "all done" about 15 minutes before the end of the production. So "all done" was she that she started waving and saying "bye-bye" in the middle of the production. Alan and I just looked at each other and said "Ok - I guess we'll go!"

Oh this girl cracks me up!

Easter.

Now I'll admit - this certainly is not one of the most entertaining videos I've posted...but I figured I'd post it as I'm sure the grandparents will like it at least. :)

Nora had a great Easter. We went to church and spent the rest of the day poolside and eating yummy food at home. Oh I love April in Arizona!!

And lastly...Baby Girl #2

(I did title the post "Flies GirlS Update," right?)

Oh Baby, right?!

Here are just a couple of Baby Girl #2 thoughts....

- In case you're interested in seeing what I looked like with Nora around this time be sure to check out my Belly Project | 36 week update post to compare. Note: one thing that is funny to compare in these pictures is the amount of finger prints on the mirror behind me. Pre-Nora - not too many. Post-Nora - Holy Finger-print-mola! :)

- Mom-to-Mom advice: When packing your little one's clothing away be sure to pack the larger clothes on the bottom. I suggest this as I recently went to get out all of our 0-3 month girls clothes and had a terrible time as they were at the bottom of our 0-6 month bin! Ugh! I realize it's more work when you're putting the clothing away but believe me, that's when you'll want to put in the extra time. Not when you're getting ready for additional children :)

I'm just saying.

- Lastly - this very well may be my last Belly Project update. Honestly, I don't think I'll want any more pictures of this growing belly.

Next time you'll see a pic of me I'm hoping I'll be holding our sweet little girl :)

All for now!!!

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Steph's Pick | Whole Fruit Juice Tubes

I love finding great Costco finds! There's just nothing like going into Costco with my usual list of items to buy for the month and stumbling across a new snack, drink, outfit... you name it...Costco probably has had it at one time or another!

And like most things in life, I love sharing my finds with other people. :) That's what bloggers do, right?!

Specifically, I recently stumbled across a 24 pack box of Whole Fruit's Frozen Organic Juice Tubes at Costco. They come in 3 flavors - Apple-Strawberry, Apple-Cherry and Apple-Grape and are 90% juice. Mmmmm, Mmmmm, Mmmmm.

Now of course I'm having a terrible time finding a picture of them online but take my word for it... they're awesome!

Here are the 3 top reasons why I love these things...

1) They are mostly juice (90% is pretty good for something non-homemade)

2) Nora loves them as an afternoon snack. See below video :)

3) They aren't as messy as a popsicle simply b/c they are in a push-up/tube type container.

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