*PRODUCT REVIEW* Under the Sea Baby Teether Collection ♥ Bebe by Me

♥ Under the Sea Baby Teether Collection ♥

Teething..Teething..Teething.. it pretty much sucks. Our poor babes suffer through so much pain and stress when their little teefers are about to pop through their gums. They need to chew on something all the time. For Daniella I never encountered any of the teething  symptoms it was actually shocking when one day boom she had teeth. Now with Addison its so different oh so different *cue in the sad depressing and horrifying music* she cries and she fusses and she cries and can't be without trying to shove something whatever it may be in her mouth to try an gnaw at it. We tried everything from Sofie la Girafe and the cooling freezing teethers and nothing worked. Then out of the blue I was asked to review this product and I thought ok, they look cute why not.

Thank God I got these bad boys! I truly don't regret my decision at all. First of all they are extremely ADORABLE. I mean just look at them how can you say no to those cute little eyes?

Now to get to the specs of it.

  ♥ Made from the safest and 100% FFA approved organic food grade silicone 

♥ The happy expressions of the incredibly cute octopus and seahorse 

♥ Machine washable and completely BPA, PVC, Phthalate free

♥ Soft enough for baby but also sturdy enough that you know it will last.

 ♥ Vibrant colors

 ♥ Soothes baby's pain when teething and lessens drooling

♥ UNISEX! I can't tell you how amazing this is for this frugal mama (hand-me-downs!)

♥

Here is Miss Adds sporting the new the chic the wonderful octopus!

Looks so innocent and harmless right? hahaha She truly has a short attention span with toys. Sofie la Girafe which set us back close to $30 lasted about a few days before she chucked it off the side of the stroller when we were shopping and hasn't been seen since that day. Mr. Octo here has been in her hands, in her mouth any change she has gotten.  It keeps her entertained and thankfully happy away from mommy's hands. This trio set can be purchased on AMAZON HERE for a fraction of Sofie's price and for much more cuteness plus really who wants to follow the crowd? Be unique and get this set for your babes

  

 Just look at the way she goes at Mr.Octo!

I truly couldn't decide which picture to post so here's another one of my Addy girl with Mr. Octo just because they're both equally Adorbs.

Although I was offered this product at a discounted rate in exchange for my honest and unbiased review it in no way aided in my opinions.

Lactation Cookies

OK so what is the first thing that most new moms  struggle with? Supply issues. Whether you are and experienced mom or its your first baby. You worry on and on about your supply and although I don't have much proof from this recipe other than my own experience with it I thought that I would share it with the world. It makes like a gazillion cookies so prepare to freeze the rest for those days you just want to tell hubby to make them for you. Frankly I love them frozen because you can just slice them into discs and just pop them in the oven. 

I make about a batch every 5 to 6 weeks and boy do they last. 

Not only have these cookies helped me with my supply issue and with what I like to call mosquito bites (size of my breastesssses lol) but they are soooo delicious it's unbelievable.  Any who,  once I started eating these my milk supply changed from 1.5-3 ounces to about 5-8 ounces depending on my hydration for that day.

Below you will find the recipe and also a link. To download the recipe for easier access. All I ask is that you subscribe to my blog for more recipes, updates on the girls, amazon reviews and giveaways!

Thank you for your support!

For a quick download of the recipe please click HERE.

 

Silpancho! yummmm

Silpancho

Ok you guys.
This is called Silpancho (syl-pahn-chow) its a very typical Bolivian dish. It is sooo good, very filling and so extra easy to make. Its ridiculous how easy it is to make.


Ingredients:

(Makes 2 servings)

1 Tomato

1 White Onion

1 Potato

1 Cup of brown or white rice

2 Fillets of steak (one that doesn't have too a                                 much fat or nerves.)

1 Cup of Italian Bread crumbs

1 Cup of oil

1 Tbs of vinegar

2 eggs

Recipe:

1. Make the Rice 2 cups of water boiled then pour the cup of rice lower the heat and wait until the rice has absorbed all the water 
2. Peel the potato and slice in discs put on top of paper towel so that all the moisture is absorbed.
3. Take the fillets of steaks and butterfly them as to have a thin and butterfly steak.
4. Pound it out with a cleaver.
5. Place the bread crumbs in a ziplock bag and then place one fillet at a time.
6. Shake it up so that the steak is covered with bread crumbs. Repeat for second steak.
7. Heat oil in a non-stick pan and then put the potato discs in until they are fried to a golden color
8. Take potatoes out and place on a paper towel to absorb all of the oil
9. Fry the steak in the same oil until it is cooked fully and also place on a paper towel to absorb all of the oil.
10. In a separate pan fry the eggs sunny over easy one by one. 
11. Cut the onion and the tomato into little cubes and pour 1 Tbs of vinegar on top add a pinch of salt for taste.
12. Set up place as pictured. First rice then steak on top then one egg on top and tomato/onion salad on top finally place a few discs of potato to the side and Voíla! 

Amazon Prime

I stumbled upon Amazon a few years ago. I would purchase once in a while but I somehow always preferred Ebay because it had free shipping on 90% of the items meanwhile with amazon you always had to have at least $35 worth of items to get the free shipping.

I remembered seeing the "PRIME" next to most prices but didn't pay attention until the day that I signed up for my first semester at York College that they gave me a flyer explaining prime.

Prime is basically the Elite or VIP of Amazon. If you are a student and you have an @ edu email address you start off with a 6 month free trial and then once it finishes you are charged $49 a year for your prime membership. Now if you aren't a student or you don't have an @ .edu email address then you get a 30 day free trial and are charged $99 per year. It is so worth it guys. You not only get free TWO day shipping which is ridiculous since even if you order at 11:59 pm on a tuesday night you will still get your item on thursday! How crazy is that?! You also get a boat load of other member only benefits which are listed on the amazon website, below I'll post links.

PRIME sign up $49 for student $99 for non-students

The beginning

 Us circa 2009. We look like babies. <3

Lui and I met on the day that I accepted the Lord. I remember after I accepted, the pastor had all of the Youth come up and shake my hand, well me being my crazy self and also coming from a very loving hispanic family I greeted everyone with a hug and a kiss hahaha and that day Lui happened to be one of the only guys that came to greet me and when I have him the hug and the kiss he hesitated as though it was the first hug he ever got from a girl. That day Roxana (his sister) offered to give me a ride to my house but she didn't have her car so we had to take Luis' car. Being in the car with them was fun and somehow when we got to my house Lui asked me "hey let me have your number so that if you ever need a ride to church you can call me" (what a line right?! hahaha) so I pulled out my phone to input his number and he did the same, but somehow he was a nervous wreck and couldn't figure out how to add a new contact to his phone so we decided that he would give me his number and when I would call him my number would register, poor baby was such a mess with his nerves.
Fast forward a few weeks it was a cold night mid November and I was trying to get to the 8pm church service and I was running late so I decided instead of taking the bus I would call Luis (you know, being as he had offered to give me a ride) I called him and he turned me down stating he was working late that night (can you say fail…) but the good part of me calling and asking for a ride was that now he had my number lol.
Now its Wednesday the day before Thanksgiving ( I remember this day as if it was yesterday) and I get this random text asking me how I was and what I was doing, of course I answered back (why? I don't know) so we started talking and then he goes and drops a bomb and texts me "can I ask you a question? but don't get mad" haha I of course said I wouldn't get mad then he asked the question "Do you have a boyfriend?" oh gosh did that question send all sorts of butterflies running through me but why? I had a "boyfriend" how could I get so excited and jittery all at once. We talked for hours and hours it was unbelievable, I never had that sort of connection in which I could talk to anyone about anything and everything, from school to work to family to church; we talked about past relationships and about our current ones because…you guessed it he was also in a relationship.
That night we talked for hours until way past midnight and the next day we had already volunteered to go hand out food to the homeless so we saw each other again on Thanksgiving day, that morning was so weird, I'm not the type of girl to ever get nervous, but this day I was so nervous, I couldn't even concentrate properly during the service because I kept focusing on if I looked good or if my hair looked fine  ( this is soooo not me) and then somehow we got paired up to go in the same church van.
So there I was in the church van talking to Erica and Jenny and out of nowhere Lui walked past me in the van and accidentally brushed his shoulder against my shoulder and we both turned beet red (what in the world?! who is this girl???!) The entire time we were giving out food we kept giving each other the flirty eye and kept bumping into each other by accident (serious accidents lol ). By the end of the day we were texting every chance we could, even throughout Thanksgiving dinner and until we fell asleep talking on the phone (something he promised he hated) but how could we be doing that? We both had relationships, so the next day ( friday in the afternoon) we talked and we came to a point that we could no longer talk to each other while still being in a relationship so we hung up and each broke up with our significant others. About an hour later he called me back again and told me that he didn't want to go that long again without talking to me again, I was still a little hesitant to jump in to a new relationship so fast. Then he started texting me:
"I want to marry you"
"Give me an opportunity and I will make you the happiest woman on earth"
"Let me show you the world and make you happier than you've ever been"
…well after all those texts I decided that I would comply to a date because lets face it I was falling in love really fast without even going out with him. I was really really into him. That Sunday morning he picked me up to go to church and get some coffee before the service. We talked about going to see a movie after the service and when it actually came down to going to go see that movie we never actually even get to go inside and watch it (we wanted to see 2012) because we stayed in the car the entire night just talking and laughing, until it was the end of the night and as you know that awkward silence began and this guy wasn't making the move. I was shouting in my head
"KISSSSS ME!"
but nothing until I told him to hand me his phone and I texted him saying
"you lost the opportunity to kiss me"
which I was going to hand back him when he dropped me off, at least that was my plan... until he started asking for his phone back and kept trying to snatch it away so I let him have it. The moment he read the text he went from ghost white to tomato red and sweat droplets started forming on his forehead (see when I say I am crazy) then after that we both leaned forward and kissed, it was the most magical sweet and intense kiss ever. It was like as though two magnets that were meant to always be together and that was the beginning of it all..

Dec. 2009

A love like no other..

It all goes back to the fall of 2009. I was 18 and going through a lot of emotional changes after meeting my biological father and starting college, and being in a toxic 4 year relationship. I was at a turning point in my life. I remember the day I first ended up at church, Casa De Oracion (AKA Casa or CDO) It was a Sunday morning and I was on my way to Jamaica Ave because I was determined to go get a tattoo I needed to do something crazy because I just felt like I was in a rut. I was on the bus from my school (I took weekend morning classes) to transfer to take another one to Jamaica, and then suddenly I found myself off of the bus and in front of Casa I looked at it like "what in the world am I doing here?!" but somehow I kept walking until I found myself inside and BOOM all I heard was loud…LOUD extremely loud singing of "La Niña de tus Ojos" by the Pastor, I sat down and just listened and I don't know why but my heart was racing, I felt a sensation that I never experienced before I felt like I wanted to cry, I wanted to laugh, I felt all sorts of emotions all at once. Afterwards I left the church confused but happy I being a "type A" type of person went home and did my research. I started going every Sunday class was over and after a few weeks I was hooked. I decided to give my heart to the Lord on October 25th 2009 and it was the best decision I ever made, I felt a love like no other and it was an amazing beginning to my life.

Its a Gamez thing..

Hey there, its us the Gamez family. G-A-M-E-Z not G-O-M-E-Z. Don't get it twisted or confused. We are beyond crazy. From Daddy to Mommy to Daniella (specially Daniella) to Addison and now our pup Milan.

Oh Lord Daddy Gamez AKA Luis is the epitome of an overly protective Daddy. He would kill for his girls, at the same time he won't baby anyone of us. 

Then there is Mommy Gamez AKA Nikki (me), energy coming out of my ears and always trying something new out.

Which leads us to Daniella, she's like a red bull spiked with a 5-hour energy shot and a shot or two of expresso.

Then there is Addison, sweet baby Addy; who is so attached to mommy her nickname is "garrapata" she's all smiles in mommy's hands but once you put her down she cries bloody murder. haha

& now our lovely Milan, cute lil pup we just got who is so mischievous.


We are a crazy fun and extremely outspoken family, but most important of all of our traits, We LOVE God. Church and God are at the center of our family and we owe everything we accomplish to Him.