Still here...

We're still here. Even though we have been missing for quite some time. We are currently knee deep in birthday party preparation, freelance jobs and family functions! We will be back soon though. Promise. 

Bib’expresso by Béaba- Product Review

I was given the opportunity to review the Bib’expresso machine by Béaba, it's a new product to the US originally launched in France last year. I have many of their children's products, including the baby food processor, so I jumped at the chance. I was pretty excited to receive the machine because it does so many things. It heats and steralizes bottles, which at this point I am past the need for, but it also heats babyfood which is something I do have a current use for.

After using the Bib’expresso and thoroughly checking out all of it's features I would have to give it a 'B'. The product is most useful if you are a caregiver for a formula feeding child. Upon first opening the box the machine can be a bit intimidating, it certainly takes a lot of direction reading and playing around in order to properly understand how to use it. It does have a lot of features and you really have to read through the manual (sometimes twice) to know how to use all of them. 

I found the bottle preparation mode the most impressive. It really does a great job of warming the water quickly. You simply poor the measured amount into the top green portion, push the button then press down on the orange lever to fill the bottle. It's quick and easy. My only critique is that I thought the water was slightly warmer then what I would give a newborn. It certainly was not hot, but it was plenty above room temperature. 

The feature I was most disappointed with was the food and bottle warming mode. I found it to be very slow and inefficient in successfully warming the entire bottle/jar of food. I tired it several times, playing around with the machine, thinking maybe I was doing it incorrectly. The feature just seemed to be the weakest. Which is why my recommendation for this product would really only go to mother's who formula (powder) feed. For hygienic reasons Béaba does not suggest using breast-milk in the bottle preparation mode. If there was a way that you could flow breast-milk through that cycle this machine would receive an A, regardless of my opinion of the food warming feature. 

The last thing this machine does is sterilize bottles. The plastic piece on the back comes off and can store the bottles and sterilize them in the microwave. This is a really great feature, however it only works if your bottles happen to be the same size/shape of the ones they sell. Unfortunately neither of the brands I use worked with this. 

To sum it up I would say, yes this is a good product. I really like the design, it's sleek and clean and I don't mind having it sit on my counter. For babies who receive powder formula bottles this is a wonderful product. It gets an evenly heated bottle to them very fast, which is important. The other features could use some improvement but I would say it is worth a purchase if it fits your needs. 

Thank you to Béaba for providing me with a Bib’expresso to review free of charge.

Want to buy it? The Bib’expresso retails for $129.95 and you can find it at Amazon.com, PamperedTot.com, and at BeabaUSA.com.  More info, images, and web tutorial videos can be found on the Beaba site.

While Béaba provided me with a Bib'expresso to review, the opinions I've expressed here are solely my own and represent my honest viewpoint. Béaba,Clever Girls Collective and I promote Blog With Integrity.

life with an 11 month old

yes, i said it. 11 months old! that's only one month from him being a one year old. how did this happen so fast!? i look at him and really cannot believe who he has become, or that such a small person can have such a large distinct personality. 

i have to be on my toes at all times, he is into eeeeeverything. 

in a matter of two weeks he went from sorta walking to practically running. he is all over the place like a little drunk man, and so very proud of himself. it is amazing how smart this child is. he watches you do something a few times and boom, he's doing it to. this weekend he walked over to the back door, opened it, and let himself out into the backyard. i just sort of stood there stunned at the fact that a child who is not even one years old figured out how to escape like that! 

he has a temper like a mad hornet. he knows what he wants and he wants it when he wants it and how he wants it. if he doesn't get his way (which i don't always let him) he lets you know he is pissed. he knows right from wrong and that "no" means he better not. he will test you and wait for your reaction every time though. he's not allowed to play with certain things and he will go up to it, very slowly move his hand towards it, all the while watching you. he waits for a reaction and laughs. so bad. 

























.


pinching is his new favorite thing. he doesn't do it to hurt, he just thinks it's funny. he attacked poor mark the other day, he has the bruises to show it. this child is rough and wild, a total boy. i joke that i am going to be the mother always getting the phone calls "excuse me mrs. constantine, we had a bit of an incident with grayson today", but it just might be the truth. he has an endless amount of energy. 


he is also the sweetest little boy though. he adores animals. no one gets kissed as much as the dogs do. cherrio runs like a madman to avoid him but pancake (who up until recently was not at all a fan) will lay there and let him pull on her legs and "pet" her belly. 


he eats like a teenager. full adult size meals- all day long. baby food is a fight, he wants solid food that he can feed himself. he doesn't know how just yet to get the food onto the fork and into his mouth but he tries and one day in the not so far future he will get it. almost all of my meals are shared these days. sometimes i don't even get a meal because he eats all of it! poor boy also ended up with his mama's sweet-tooth. 


when he is tired he tucks him arms into you and rolls his body onto yours so that his face is burrowed into your chest. it's one of my favorite things. we finally seem to have a bit of a napping schedule. he is up by 6am most days but will sometimes lay in bed with me till 7. around 10 he will take a nap for me. a crib nap (as opposed to having to hold him like i did before)! i never know how long it will last so during that time i am like a woman on speed. i try and get as many things done as fast as i can because once he is up he probably won't nap again, unless it's a late afternoon car nap. 


i must say though, i kind of love who is turning into. he keeps me very busy and i cannot look away for even a moment (the other day i walked into the kitchen for a split second and when i came back he had climbed onto a pillow, onto the couch, onto the end table!) but most days that's okay. i enjoy watching him learn and discover things. it's so much more fun now that he is walking. everything is so much more fun for him now. 

beer, burgers & babies

for the last year mark has been pursuing his masters degree. he loaded up semesters and took classes non stop till he graduated. to celebrate we invited all of our favorite people over for a barbeque. 

when you have a baby your life changes drastically. priorities shift, free-time activities change (lets be serious- free-time disappears), and life is just never what it was before. i actually asked mark the other day what it was we did with all our time before grayson. i truly cannot remember. for some maybe they miss their pre-baby lives. for me i wouldn't got back to it for anything in the world. 

we may be getting less sleep and making less money. we don't always get to do the things we use to but we get so much more. kisses and laughs and smiles and pure joy (cheesy? absolutely. but it's also the total truth). it can be hard at times, no doubt about that, but at the end of the day when i go in and look over g's crib before i go to bed i cannot remember any of that. i just feel love, and lots of it. 

even more, we are so lucky to have such wonderful friends. we are the first in the group to have a child. no one can possibly know how different things are now then before but somehow they get it. they accommodate. they understand. they still make us part of their lives. best of all, they love grayson, and for that i love them all even more. 

i think grayson is the best thing in the whole world but it warms my heart so much to see how much he is loved by others as well. i think it's impossible not to love him. 

but back to the barbeque. 

grayson's new bib, meant for catching food, has proven to be the best waterice cup holder ever

 

a few new friends were made. although i am not sure they were wanted in some cases. 

  

i love these people

as for my dogs- lazy and enjoying all the extra food hanging around. not to mention the belly rubs. i love them too. 

grayson helped himself to the plate of brownies in-front of him. somehow when is auntie is around he gets very spoiled. 

thank you to all of our friends who came. lots of them somehow dodged the camera but we love them just the same. and please come back soon because we still have a fridge full of beer that needs drinking!

oh! and let's not forget the most important part of the evening. chris got a lesson in poop checking. a necessary life skill. 

beach buddies

hanging out at the beach with grayson is lots of fun, but hanging out at the beach with grayson and his best buddy is even more fun! it took an army to get all of the stuff these two small people needed to the beach but it kept us prepared for an entire day at the beach without any meltdowns. 

these two had an absolute ball and i loved the company. 

notice how it's the dads are hanging out with the babies? that's because the moms were sitting and relaxing in the sun for once! how nice. 

they love each other, but sometimes sharing can be an issue. notice the face grayson gives her when she tried to take his shovel. they will learn. 

i love all these photos! next time though i will bring the good camera, there is only so much you can do with a cell phone. we are hoping for lots more days like this. i have learned that a wagon and beach umbrella are a girls' best friend at the beach. (and that babies can eat a ridiculous amount of sand)

art

i say it's never too early to start with some sidewalk art. i was worried he would spend the whole time eating the chalk but he actually kept it out of his mouth! way to go baby g. 

sunset walks along the beach

before g the dogs got lots of trips to the beach. they love it. it's the one place they can run wild and be totally free. we usually take them a couple times in the spring but there just hasn't been the opportunity yet. monday night though we figured most of the beachgoers would be long gone and it would be the perfect time to take them for a nice long run before heading home. 

it's good to be back.

hey mind giving us a vote? we sure would love that. 

grandpa's boat

i've been riding on boats since...forever. last year grayson was way too tiny to take a ride but this year is a totally different story. i couldn't wait to get him out there and see what he thought of it. taking a nice cruise along the water has to be on my top 10 list of favorite things in the world. the winds, the rocking, what's not to love? 


the boat he thought was fantastic. he was fairly certain he was the captain. my dad showed him the wheel and in no time he thought it was king of the sea. making vroom vroom noises and all. i don't think he could be any more boyish if he tried. 


his life jacket, well that was another story. like any kid, he hated it. i don't blame him, they are so horribly uncomfortable. obviously though there is no way i am letting him take a ride without one though. he got over it. 

the noise of the boat and the motion of the waves made him sleepy every time. i am 100% okay with that. it's one of the few times i ever get snuggles anymore. 

he loved the water. all he wanted was to be dropped in. he splashed his legs and screamed with excitement every time. more more more he says. 

sunbathing in the "lake"

the smooth rocking of the boat was too much for them. they headed below and took a nap. bums.