PLACES: GARFIELD PARK CONSERVATORY

Hello again. It's me, Megan. Let's fast-forward, Maddie is 2. We're living

the adventurous life called "toddler life" and loving Chicago. 

We've been long fans of Garfield Park Conservatory. We first took Maddie 

when she was probably 2 or 3 months old. I love how warm and inviting it

is. When I enter, I instantly feel transported to another place.

 I mean, clearly we have a good time. The day we went, they had interactive 

 stations set up for kids. At one table, Maddie learned about composting and 

played with worms. In another, she got to see and smell cacao, which was

pretty perfect because the girl loves her some chocolate!

Review: Well Beginnings Baby Products

I love finding great new products for Maddie, so I was excited to try some from Walgreens' Well Beginnings brand line.  We've been using the hypoallergenic baby wash with positive results. It has a fresh clean baby scent that isn't over powering, and leaves Maddie's skin soft. The wash is also phthalate free, paraben free, dye free, and tear-free.

Most of the time we cloth diaper, but we use disposable diapers overnight. Because of this, it is especially important that our disposable diapers are leak proof and gentle against Maddie's skin. Well Beginnings diapers are soft and ultra absorbent. I like that the inner lining features natural botanicals including aloe and vitamin e. So far we haven't had any leaks!

I'm not super loyal to a specific brand when it comes to baby wipes, and tend to bounce between a few brands depending on what is on sale. Well Beginning sensitive wipes are fragrance free, hypoallergenic, and alcohol-free. They're quite durable and have been gentle on Maddie's skin. 

We haven't used the electrolyte solution yet, but will be keeping it on hand just in case Maddie gets sick in the future!

 *I received this product for free from the sponsor of the Moms MeetSM program, May Media Group LLC, who received it directly from the manufacturer. As a Moms MeetsSM blogger, I agreed to use this product and post my opinion on my blog. My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of May Media Group LLC or the manufacturer of the product.

A 1st Birthday Fiesta

Maddie had a fiesta themed 1st birthday party with her friends. We had a nacho bar with ground beef, nacho cheese, olives, salsa, cilantro, sour cream, and refried beans (somehow I forgot to take a photo of it) and these amazing cactus/succulent cupcakes by KBCakes. I was worried it was going to rain, but thank goodness it was all sunshine on party day! 

We set up the kiddie pool and water table so the kids could splash around and play, while guests hung out both inside and out on the terrace. The babes got cupcakes in pots with their name on it and a little goodie bag with a maraca (one of Maddie's favorite toys), crayons, pack of travel tissue, and a toddler snack to take home. 

Of course we all crashed and took a nice family nap post-party. That's always a sign of a good party, right?

Maddie attacked the fondant flower and leaf on her smash cake

Happy 1st Birthday Maddie!

It's picnic time

We love to picnic in the summer! City picnics were one of our favorite parts about Chicago summers before we had Maddie, and now it's super fun to share this family tradition with her. Last week we had a picnic dinner beneath the skyline. Maddie loved watching the cars zip by, people watching, and saying her oooh's and ahhh's at the water fountain. What can I say, the kiddo loves water! We packed up our picnic goods (stroller, PackIt picnic cooler, and picnic blanket), and met Rich after work. 

Enjoy your weekend!

* PackIt is offering 15% your order with the code "AmbassadorMegan" through July.

Breaking out the baby pool

We wanted to get a baby pool for Maddie to play in this Summer, but we started to get a bit overwhelmed by the options (inflatable pool, hard plastic pool, pool with a sunshade, pool that spits out water, etc.). I know, first time parent problems, right?  

The thought of having to inflate and deflate a pool all Summer wasn't too inviting. So we ended up getting a simple tried and true hard plastic baby pool that we could put in the shade. We found ours at Babies R' Us.

Maddie loves bath time, so it wasn't shocking that she was majorly into her pool as well. For water toys, we threw in some bath toys, a cup, and a little Hello Kitty beach ball Maddie picked out from Target's dollar spot. We opened up our picnic blanket next to the pool, turned on some music, and it was officially a family pool party!

First Painting

I came across Crayola's My First watercolor set while I was on one of those, "Oh I'll just pop into Target for bread runs." You know, those Target visits where you end up leaving with a cart full of things you never intending on getting, but couldn't resist buying. Oh Target, you get me every time!

The set came with special paper that is color activated by water and a neat easy grip brush for little hands. It's labeled for 24 months, but I thought I'd give it a try. I figured if it was too advanced, we could just save it for later. Props to Crayola for making it non-toxic and mess free!

I think Maddie's first painting was pretty successful. Don't get me wrong, she tried more than once to eat the paintbrush...but really, thats only to be expected, right? She loved seeing the outcome of her work, and I love seeing her beam with pride. 

*Art tip: Invest in a roll of painters tape to secure any paper you use for art projects. You'll be able to neatly peel off the tape from the paper without damaging the precious art work your babe just made!

When did you first let your babe try their hand at painting?

MAKE IT: Glitter Sensory Bottle

This a super simple sensory project you can whip up in a few minutes with materials you probably have laying around your house.

MATERIALS
+ empty water bottle (I used a smaller than average water bottle since Maddie's hands are still so tiny.)
+ glitter (I picked up a pack of glitter from the dollar section at Target.)
+ water


Step 1: Pour your glitter into your empty water bottle. I used about half of the vial.

Step 2: Fill your bottle with water & seal the cap back on. Voila!

Easy, right? I like to sing "shake, shake, shake the glitter. shake, shake, shake the glitter" as Maddie plays with it to encourage her.