When I was given the chance to review the Minbie nipple (and bottle) I was thrilled. As a mom to a breastfeeding baby, I am exhausted. But as a mom to a breastfeeding baby who won't take a bottle, I am fried. I knew the second I saw the photos of the Minbie that this would be worth a shot!

When we opened it, I was so ecstatic to find that they mailed it to us all the way from Australia! How awesome is that?!

The day we received our sleepsuit in the mail, I was pretty excited. I won't lie - we had some giggles over the marshmallow-man effect it gave Palmer. It looks hilarious. First night down, I put her inside of it in just her diaper (the video is her first night) I carried her up and laid her in her crib right after the video. Let me warn you - I did not rehearse or practice, and I am apparently NOT the greatest at video reviews. But I know that I needed to get this blog posted before the info left my mind, so I am sharing the video anyway, in it's not-so-awesome, mumbling glory.

http://youtu.be/oJ2FpXWQ-PU


She slept awesome! No stirring around the normal 5:30 am timeframe like she usually does! She slept until just before my 7:30 am alarm went off! Amazing! She did wake up with chilly cheeks, hands, and feet, though. So I made a mental note to put socks on next time.

Night 2: I placed Palmer into the sleepsuit in just a onesie. My babies tend to sleep warm, and I didn't want to overheat her, so we tried it with a onesie this time. My only complaint from that night was her poor toes were so cold in the morning, again. I had forgotten to put her socks on after getting her into the suit! So the next night, we did a onesie and SOCKS. In the morning, around 5:30, she woke up to eat, and her legs had somehow gotten pulled up, into the sleepsuit. Bummer! I thought of how annoying that was going to be each night, to have to reach up into the tiny leg hole and pull her legs back down.

Night 3: Palmer went down in a onesie (and socks this time!) and slept 6 hours straight! Fantastic! She hasn't been feeling well, so I am not surprised she awoke after a mere 6 hours, but I honestly wonder if we would have even had THREE hours had she not been zipped up in the comfort of her new Baby Merlin's Magic Sleepsuit. Cheeks and toes were a bit chilly, so apparently I just need to learn to up my thermostat for our bedroom temp. Palmer sleeps in her crib, which is against our bedroom window.

Night 4: After the cold feet/cold cheeks night, I decided to go ahead and give her a try in the sleepsuit in a light sleeper. We followed the same routine we always do - feed her around 9:00pm, and by 9:30, she is drowsy and zipped up, ready to lay down. She slept amazing that night too, however, when she woke up around 7:00, she was a little sweaty. I do know my kids are warm sleepers, so I expected this, but wanted to have a good comparison of the different ways she went down in it, to help with this review. So I know for me personally, she runs a little cool in just a diaper, a little hot in footed sleepers, and just right in a onesie, provided she has socks to keep those toes warm!

I love the snugness and warmth it provides to my daughter, and honestly, I feel she does too. I know that's the reason she sleeps fantastic when in the sleepsuit, no matter what she's wearing. Many nights, when she wakes up for the first time, she is frantic and fussing. When I get to her crib, she has busted out of the comfort of her swaddle and has one arm out and the unraveled the blanket and it's sitting on her face! The Merlin's Magic Sleepsuit has eliminated that scared-to-death, pit-in-my-stomach feeling I've gotten several mornings (or middle of the nights) when I wake up to her with a blanket on her face, wriggling to get out from under it.

I can imagine the Merlin would have been a great addition to our family several weeks ago! It's been a lifesaver for a baby who is slowly learning how to break out of the swaddle, but not yet ready to sleep in her crib without something swaddling her.

Maureen is the brilliant mind behind the Baby Merlin's Magic Sleepsuit. She is a mother of 4, and a pediatric physical therapist. When her own son wasn't sleeping well in his crib at night, she created the Magic Sleepsuit to stimulate the calming, comforting environment of his car seat, where he slept soundly. The sleepsuit is designed to replace loose bedding a promote back sleeping, giving baby a wonderfully peaceful environment to sleep in. It reduces their reflexes, which in turn helps them stay sleeping longer periods of time. Made from a soft microfleece outer-layer and a soft cotton inner-layer, sandwiched between the two is a layer of poly-fil, the awesome combination makes a just-right sleep environment for baby. Best of all? As a mom of four, I can't imagine how difficult this product would be if it had one, centered zipper or wasn't machine washable. However, it IS machine washable (win!) and also has a DOUBLE zipper which not only makes getting Palmer into and out of the suit a breeze, but diaper changes are fantastically easy too!

It comes in several different color choices and is affordable at the price of $39.95.

There are so many reasons why the sleepsuit is a great addition to our home. The main one? Fantastic sleep! With sleep, everything else falls into place. When Palmer isn't sleeping, I am not sleeping, and when mama isn't sleeping? Well, chaos ensues. So thanks so much to the Baby Merlin's Magic Sleepsuit for eliminating the chaos!

When I was contacted by Fulcrum Gallery to review one of their art pieces, I was super excited! Our home has a few photos here and there, but I have been wanting to add something new for quite some time!

When browsing their website, I wasn't lost or overwhelmed in the slightest. In fact, the website is very clear and concise, making ordering a piece easy for someone such as my grandmother. The categories are defined, and there are beautiful thumbnail images available of each piece. FulcrumGallery has something for everybody - from Cappiello to Van Gogh, the art you'll find will make you happy, regardless of what you're looking for.

I was leaning towards a beautiful Mary Cassatt piece, like that ones I had hanging in my bedroom as a child. When I realized my dad may very well still have those Mary Cassatt prints, I decided to go with something different. We wanted a religious piece of artwork, and found something that fit our family as perfectly as the creme filling goes with an Oreo.


We decided on this one: "At The Helm" by Danny Hahlbohm.




When I ordered from the website, it was so easy and self-explanatory. There was no second-guessing or trying to make sure I was getting what I thought I was getting. It was CLEAR AS DAY that I ordered the print that I did, in a 23 by 19 inch, with a black frame and white mat. Simple as that. There are other options, of course. Silver frame. Gold frame. Even a canvas! The options are endless! I realized AFTER placing my order, that there are other options besides the "suggested" ones. Seriously - frame of almost any color or type. Black, brown, cherry, gold, silver, or natural. There are gallery wraps, unstretched canvas, and more! Go check out their website and see if something catches your eye!



Once I had ordered, I patiently waited and received the confirmation email shortly after placing my order. Then shortly after that, received the email that my piece had shipped! In seemingly no time at all, it was here. On my doorstep. I lugged it into the living room and sat it down, ever-so-gently against the couch.




I sat and stared at the large box, wondering if I had ordered a bigger size that I realized. It sat in my living room for a day, because I knew I needed help from hubby and with 4 kids - I knew once it was open, it had to go straight onto our wall. So there it sat. For almost 30 hours. Untouched. It was like Christmas - you can look at all your gifts under the tree. You can pick them up and shake them to try and guess what was inside. But you can't do anything else with them until Christmas morning. FINALLY hubby had time home and I had a free minute to sit down, sans kids, and open it up.





I barely touched on any other pieces available at FulcrumGallery, but there are SO many. I can't say it enough - you WILL find something you like at their website, simply because of the diversity of products they have available purchase. Some of the MANY things they have for purchase {the descriptions are on the website, I've shared them here} include:





Seasonal Art



Thanks so much to FulcrumGallery for the new addition to our home. It will be oohed and ahhhed over for many years to come. We have already had SO many compliments on it, and I love being able to share the website so they can get their own beautiful, affordable piece of art.