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Happy Birthday Braxton

Tuesday, December 30, 2014
I made the birthday cake this year!
Yesterday we celebrated Braxton's fourth birthday. I can't believe that I have a four year old! I was pretty young when I had him and many people doubted me when they found out I was pregnant but hey, look at us now! I was telling Brian the other night how amazed I was at just how much having Braxton changed us. Sure, back then I knew that having a baby would change stuff, but little did I know that it would be so life changing that I wouldn't even be able to relate to the person I was four years ago. 

Day to day my life has revolved around this little boy for 1,461 days. Granted, he now shares some space with his little sister Ava, but he's what started it all. I have to say that this past year, from age 3 to 4, has been my favorite of his. If you know us, you know that Braxton has a significant speech delay, and it's been rough. I have written about it on here, and you can search the tag "speech delay" if you would like to read more about our journey. 

This school year's picture
Back in May of this year, he finally got tubes put in his ears to see if his hearing was what was blocking his speech. Getting those tubes has been the best decision we have made yet. He went from saying a handful of words, only one word "sentences", to having well over 50-75 words now (if not more, I have lost count!) and he also can put 4, 5, 6 words into a sentence! For him to be able to communicate with us has made the world of difference to our whole family life. There are far fewer tantrums due to lack of communication, he can actively tell us what he wants so he feels more like a kid rather than a toddler, and he also has more of an understanding of what's going on which has helped him calm down quite a bit. 

Pretty much every day when I picked him up last year from nursery school, two days a week, the teacher would tell me how he wasn't listening, during story time he would roam around and disturb the other kids, that he was at times hitting and biting, etc. etc. I got to a point where I didn't want to even take him anymore, just because I knew it was exhausting for everyone. This year is a COMPLETELY different story, in such a good way! The teachers rave about him, how excellent he is doing, how well he gets along with the other children. He's now striking up conversations with his classmates, which is amazing for his development, and also he is showing such great imaginative play. I can't tell you how many times the teachers and I have both said "it's amazing what a year has done for him." As a mom, that makes me the happiest person in the world.

While he is doing so well, he still has a ways to go, to be where we want him. Last week he had a check up at the ENT and we were told that both tubes are still in place, and while the right ear looks perfect, the left one has some blockage and for some sounds he has a mild hearing loss in it. That was frustrating to hear, only because of the progress he has made because of the tubes, and how much more he needs to go to really be speaking like a "regular" four year old. They weren't too concerned however, and they said that we need to come back to see them in four months. We shall see...

Our new kitty friend, a rescue, that has taken to Braxton so well. They love each other so much. 
I'm really excited to see what this next year brings. If he's done this well in under 7 months, I think it'll only be getting better. Wish us luck! 

Salt dough Christmas ornaments

Wednesday, December 10, 2014
salt dough ornaments

The other day I wanted to do something fun with Braxton for the holidays so we attempted some salt dough ornaments. We went to AC Moore and picked up some cookie cutters and then to Wegmans for some flour and extra salt...and ice cream. I'm not the craftiest but who can mess up something that has only three ingredients? 

Here's what you'll need:

salt dough ornaments
  • 1 cup of flour (we used a little more, but I just eyed it) 
  • 1/2 cup of salt 
  • 1/2 cup of water 
  • Ground cinnamon if you want them to smell nice
  • Some extra flour so you can roll the dough 


  • Rolling pin
  • Cookie cutters 
  • Acrylic paint/paint brushes
  • Glitter, if you love glitter like me
  • Ribbon to hang the ornaments 

What you need to do:
  • Preheat the oven to 250
  • Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl, and the cinnamon if you choose to use it. 
  • Pour in the water and stir until it's doughy...like I said, I used a little extra flour because my dough was a too wet.
  • Sprinkle some flour on your rolling surface and then roll the dough until it's about 1/4" thick 
  • Use cookie cutters and then place on a baking sheet 
  • Use a straw to make a hole so you can hang them later
  • Bake for about 3 hours, flipping them once halfway through - flipping them is important!
  • Let them cool on the baking sheet when they're hardened 
  • Decorate! 


salt dough ornaments
The ones to the left are the first batch, I'm loving Braxton and Ava's handprints. 
salt dough ornaments
Martha Stewart glitter is my FAVORITE. These gingerbread men will be cute gifts but I can't decide if we should decorate them more...


salt dough ornaments


Braxton needs a haircut so bad haha


After awhile Braxton got bored of painting so he asked me to finish them but he LOVED doing the glitter...I don't blame him haha 

salt dough christmas ornaments


I plan on sending a couple ornaments to my mom, giving a couple to the in laws, and then also adding a couple to Braxton's teachers' Christmas basket as well as giving a couple to his speech teacher (speech therapy is still going, and going well!) and his teacher's assistant. Easy, super affordable gifts, as well as thoughtful! 






A BabyLit Christmas Eve

Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Today I wrapped up Braxton and Ava's Christmas Eve presents because I just couldn't wait. Anyone else antsy for it to just be Christmas already? Don't get me wrong, we still have loads to do before the big day, but there's 15 more days until Christmas and I'm overflowing with holiday spirit. 

Every Christmas Eve night, since I was little, I've been allowed to open one present and Brian and I agreed we wanted to carry on that tradition with our kids. It's pretty much always pajamas because I love seeing the munchkins in new Christmas pajamas. This year, thanks to BabyLit books, I got to add a fun little Christmas book for the two of them to open and we will get to read before bed. 

A Christmas Carol giveaway
Christmas pajamas are from Carter's (my Black Friday steal) Book from BabyLit, and the cutest headband from Little Miss Athena

We own a couple BabyLit books and love them. They're thick board books with fun pictures to some of your favorite classic books. Ava and Braxton both love flipping through them and I love that the stories are broken down so simply for them. I really can't wait to snuggle up in bed with them on Christmas Eve and read them A Christmas Carol!

Another awesome thing about BabyLit is that right now they're offering a free app that goes along with the Christmas Carol book. It's an interactive calendar that your kids are sure to love. Starting today, until Friday the twelfth, I will be hosting a giveaway on my Instagram (@crystalrosee) for ONE person to win the BabyLit book A Christmas Carol...and in the meantime, download the app and let the kids play! 



This is a sponsored post by BabyLit. All opinions are my own.

Double cash back with Ebates today for Cyber Monday

Monday, December 1, 2014

Today, for Cyber Monday, Ebates is offering double cash back at more than 500 stores! That means Kohl's went from 6% yesterday to 10% today, Groupon is 10%, Gap is 7%, Walmart is 5%,  Diapers.com is 4%, Magazines.com is 52%, Nordstrom is 10%...seriously, if you can think of the store it's there almost. Click here to see all stores that have double cash back. 

To sign up for Ebates, click here*



*contains an affiliate link

 
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