Review: The First Years Close and Secure Sleeper

Nine years ago I had my first child, he started sleeping in his crib his first day home. Recently I gave birth to my third child and for some reason the thought of him sleeping in his room alone terrified me! Plus I'm breastfeeding and I knew every time he woke up I'd have to go get him and feed him. I also knew I didn't want him sleeping next to my husband and I in our bed. I tried the pack and play (also known as port a crib), but constantly getting in and out of bed to feed him and lay him back in the crib once I was done was exhausting!

After a few nights of me falling asleep with him in my arms while feeding him I decided I needed to look for something else! That's when I stumbled upon a bunch of co sleepers. They had a few different options but I went with The First Years Close and Secure Sleeper

I cannot even try to lie to you, the reason I picked this one was because it was the cheapest one. I kept going back and forth between this one and another one.. The other one was just a tiny bit more expensive, but both had good and bad reviews so ultimately it came down to price. I seriously went back and forth for a couple hours on multiple websites before I finally purchased the item. I am pretty sure I even paid for faster shipping because I knew I wanted it ASAP! 

My husband was away the first week I started using the co sleeper so Beau slept in it on his side of the bed and I pulled all the covers to my side of the bed. Once my husband got back we had to figure something out because my husband likes to sleep with the covers over his head sometimes and I didn't want to risk the covers going to high and covering Beau. At first I read online where some people used 2 different blankets but I thought to myself HEY!! I'm short why not just scoot down? So my husband sleeps up in his normal spot by Beau's head and I sleep down by Beau's feet at an angle kind of, that away the blanket never comes above his co sleeper. 

Here is why I love this co sleeper and would strongly recommended it to anyone! Not only is it a great price it's also a great size! My son is 3 months old and he still sleeps in it, he has never rolled or scooted out of it. I like that I don't HAVE to put him in his crib just yet because him sleeping in this makes breastfeeding so much easier in the middle of the night! THANKFULLY he only wakes up once a night! But I feel like this helps both of us with that middle of the night feed. Another way it helps with breastfeeding is it has a small nightlight on the head barrier, instead of reaching for my phone to check on the baby I can just turn the nightlight on real quick. It also travels well! It folds in half and fits perfectly in my suitcase. Plus it's waterproof!!!!!!!!! That's a big deal for us because Beau spits up a LOT! It has a sheet and we'd wash the sheet and just wipe down the mattress part of it.

Now here are a few of my concerns with this item.. The foot barrier for some reason doesn't stay in the upright position and bends down into the bed area but sometimes my son seems to like it and just props his feet up on it. 

Another concern is space if you don't have a big enough bed. We have a king size bed so I have no issue with how much space it takes up but I have read a few reviews where people in queen size beds or smaller don't like it because they don't have enough room in the bed once the co sleeper is in there. So that is something you'd need to consider. 

Even with those two concerns I would still give this item 5 stars!! I seriously LOVE it. This is one of my top 5 favorite baby items. I haven't been as sleep deprived as I expected to be and I fully believe it is because of this co sleeper. We are still able to practice safe sleeping but in the comfort of our own bed. 

*Disclaimer I was not paid to try this item.

My First VoxBox!!

A few days ago I signed into my influenster account just to see if anything had changed. Sure enough I had a surprise waiting for me! A VoxBox was on its way and in that box was Reese's spread. Funny thing is 2 days prior Brett saw a commercial about the Reese's spread and asked me if we could get some. So it was perfect! We had never tried this before and I didn't see it as something that could go on food too often.

So Monday rolled around and I was so excited to see if it was in the mail! Since it was like -4 degrees Fahrenheit out, I decided I'd wait until my husband came home for lunch and he could go out to see if it was in the mail. He walked in and I KNOW what he was thinking.... "What did she buy now?" Before he could even ask I blurted out "IT WAS FREE!!!" Then I grabbed my camera and started snapping away. Brynna was also my little taste tester.




My very first thought was this box is MUCH smaller than I expected but I have seen the product before at the store and its not that big of an item, so the box was a perfect size for the container inside it.

Then it was time for Brynna to figure out what was inside of this box. Once she realized what it was she was so excited to give it a try! We picked out a few different items to try with the Reese's Spread, but the main way Brynna wanted to eat it was on her finger right out of the container... Go big or go home..

Each one is a graham cracker with Reese's Spread.
The top left has marshmallows, top right plain,
bottom left has apples, bottom right has banana's.

We created a few of our very own masterpieces that were very tasty. Originally Brynna only wanted to lick the Reese's spread off her finger but then I pulled out the crackers and she was pretty pumped about eating it on crackers. She wasn't too pumped about trying the fruit with the reese's spread but I told her she had to take at least one bite. I looked away for a few seconds and she ate the WHOLE thing! I asked her which one was her favorite and I'm sure you already know... The one with the marshmallows was her favorite! I didn't put all the marshmallows back up and sure enough she ran off with all of them.

Even though my daughter helped me with the review my son came home from school that afternoon and when he saw the "Reese's stuff" he said, "YAY! You got it!" He had to have some and he loved it. I may surprise him with some in his lunch box every once in awhile. The Reese's spread wouldn't be something we will eat every day but every once in awhile is okay. It is very sweet, like a Reese's(DUH...) and it is kind of gritty so if you only like smooth peanut butter then this probably won't be for you. For our next big get together I may try and make a dessert with the Reese's spread. Personally it was very sweet for my husband and I but my daughter and son LOVED it.

This evening I decided to go ahead and make some no bake cookies with the Reese's spread. We had all the ingredients it called for so I gave it a go. Brett LOVED the cookies! When he comes to ask for another cookie he says, "Can I have another one of those delicious cookies?" It's hilarious. So they were a huge hit with the kids. To me I could taste more of the honey, so next time I will probably not add so much honey BUT with the recipe they weren't nearly as sweet as I expected them to be.

No bake Reese's Spread Cookies
- 1 cup oatmeal(I just used old fashioned oatmeal)
- 1/4 cup Reese's Spread
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

In a bowl mix all the ingredients together, roll into a bite size balls, refrigerate for about 10 minutes(honestly I ate one before I even put them in the fridge and it was fine haha). This recipe makes about 12 cookies. If I were to make these again, I'd probably do 1/3 cup of Reese's Spread

*I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes but all opinions are 100% my own.