One of the things I get asked about a lot is what to gift parents with littles in the NICU. I absolutely love being asked and I always hope my answers are helpful, but it’s important to keep in mind is that every baby’s {and therefore parents’} NICU journey is different and I can really own speak to my own. Our Sam was born very early (during the 27th week of my pregnancy), but not because of one of the usual pre-term labour suspects – because my appendix burst and my body knew it was no longer a safe place to grow a baby. He was quite big at birth for his gestational age (2 pounds 12 ounces) and compared to some of his NICU buds, Sam had it relatively easy… He was intubated for his first night only, none of his head ultrasounds detected a brain bleed, the little open valve in his heart was able to be solved medically and not require surgery, he passed all of his initial hearing and ROP tests, and his only big necessary medical intervention was surgery for a double inguinal hernias a short while after we left the NICU. We had it good.
What’s even better than learning about a new way to save money? Coupons.com is giving one lucky Mama.Papa.Bubba. reader the chance to stretch their purchasing power with a $50 e-gift card to The Children’s Place! Want to see how many cute items you can purchase for your little one with just $50? Here’s your chance!
If you haven’t already entered to win a Just: Be session of your own, and you live in the Greater Vancouver area, visit 
Amy’s Just: Be sessions are designed to capture the love between a parent and child while they are connecting, bonding, and ‘just being’ together… which I adore. Before the shoot, Amy sends out a questionnaire which helps her design a personalized session, just for you. From the colour that best represents Grae to why I’m most proud of her, the questions definitely made me think. In a good way. 
When we arrived to her studio, Amy had caffine-free cookie dough tea waiting for us, which immediately won over the little miss. Grae had been up extra early that morning and it was very near nap time, but Amy was incredibly patient and creative with the ways she engaged her. The shoot itself was laid-back and short, which is any toddler mama’s dream.
When I received our images from the session, I was blown away. They perfectly capture the simple, raw moments of being Gracen’s mama that I never want to forget. They’re soft, honest, and unposed, and truly allow our personalities to shine through. Without a doubt, these images will forever be cherished. 
Last month, Gracen and I were lucky enough to receive a discovery kit from 
Gracen was thrilled to receive a bright and beautiful package full of fun goodies and I was thrilled with how quickly it arrived and how professional the package looked.
Sparked discovery kits come with everything you need to complete several projects right there inside the box – markers, paper, pencils and instructions included! Our kit was pirate-themed and came with four easy activities… A folded paper pirate hat to make, a wooden treasure chest to decorate, a treasure map to create, and a popsicle stick parrot puppet to assemble.
Grae was super excited to get started and chose to make the paper pirate hat first (talk about taking me back to my childhood!)
Though the finished product wouldn’t quite stay on her head, for us, projects like these are all about the process. We spent time together, we worked as a team, and we had fun together, and that’s what’s important. If we wanted to, we could attach some sort of elastic easily enough and add the hat to her 
Next up, Gracen chose to decorate her treasure box. At first she began adding splashes of colour here and there and then she requested that I draw some shapes for her to colour in. She thought decorating a wooden box was a blast and I loved that Sparked had included high-quality crafting products for us to use.
While we haven’t had a chance to make our treasure map yet, there are already plenty of things I love about Sparked Kids Crafts…
After our recent 
What I just learned about Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company, and didn’t know before is that they do all kinds of fun special events. Some, like their family nights, date nights, and pizza making nights happen on a weekly basis, and others, like the 
Earlier this week, Miss G and I were invited to one of our neighbourhood grocery stores to find out more about a new online resource recently launched by 
During our tour, Melodie shared many of these useful tips with us, and though they weren’t completely new, they were great reminders. Here are some of my favourites: 
Melodie also introduced us to one of my favourite parts of 
While I found the whole event very interesting, I must admit this little monkey was slightly less enthused… I managed to keep her happy for most of the trip with a mini colouring pad, healthy snacks (avocado! clementines! tofu cubes! 
Today Gracen and I were lucky enough to be invited to check out Family Day at the 
Where we spent most of our time was in the Kid Zone, set up especially for Family Day. Gracen had a wonderful time roaming around visiting all of the booths and was thrilled to see her favourite ever photographer, 
One of the highlights was definitely having Miss G’s face painted by 
Congratulations, Caro! I’ll be sending you an email shortly with all of the details. To everyone else, thank you so much for entering! I truly wish I could give each of you the gift of a photo shoot with Bethany because I sincerely think she is that good. But because I can’t, please stay tuned to my 
I’ve seen 
This afternoon we took out our crate, opened it up, and found all of the materials needed to put together a window garden. Needless to say, my little gardening enthusiast was thrilled.
Included was a clearly laid out instruction card complete with diagrams, and a sweet little observation booklet for Miss G to draw in. 
We carefully set up the garden, referring back to the instruction card after each step. Gracen, Miss ‘Let’s Do a Project!’, loved it and took her work very seriously.
With the exception of really making sure the suction cups were stuck to the window and printing the words “mint” and “basil”, Grae was able to do everything on her own, which was lovely.
We now have a sweet little garden set up right in our living room and I can’t wait to help Grae water it each day and watch as our fresh herbs grow. ☺