Bright Starts Cluck and Learn Barn™

We were chosen to review the Bright Starts Cluck and Learn Barn™.

This adorable toy is part of Bright Starts' new collection of toys called, "Having a Ball."  This toy comes with four balls that can be popped into the top of the chicken or through the barn doors.  There are two modes of fun: "play" and "learn."  In the "play" mode, pushing buttons and dropping balls results in funny sounds and songs.  If you switch to the "learn" mode, pushing the buttons will teach the child the names and sounds of animals.  Dropping the balls into the top of the chicken teaches counting, up to the number 5.  It even teaches "open" and "close" using the lower barn door.  :)  The chicken can swivel to face either the doors or the buttons.

Since our daughter just learned to sit on her own, this toy is perfect to keep her entertained.

WHAT SHE LOVES:

*The bright colors

*The fun sounds

*The lights

She seriously loves this toy!  She will have to grow into some of the features.  She's a little small to be able to put the balls in the top, but she enjoyed watching me do it, and she loved the result.

She likes pushing the buttons and opening and closing the barn doors.  I think that was her favorite part.

Being seven months old, she was somewhat more interested in putting the balls in her mouth.  I appreciate that the balls are small enough for her to hold with one hand, but big enough that she can't get them all the way into her mouth.

WHAT I LOVE:

*The barn stores the balls, so I don't have to find a way to keep them together.

*The chicken and the little baby chick balls are SO CUTE!

*The barn is sturdy, since she wanted very much to tip it over.

Bright Starts makes some awesome stuff, and it's so affordable!  This toy is just another example of why I love the Bright Starts brand.  This toy is available exclusively at Toys R Us.

ALSO ... right now through September 16th, Bright Starts is giving away five of their Having a Ball Get Rollin' Activity Tables™!  All you have to do is "like" them on Facebook and fill out the entry form to be entered to win!  :)

*Disclaimer: We were given the product to test and review, but received no monetary compensation for this review.*

I Can Do It All By Myself!

Yay!

Green Thumb Update

For those of you who don't remember what our lime trees looked like, here's a little refresher:

And now here's what they look like:

Not a big difference, but the exciting thing is ... THEY'RE NOT DEAD!  I'm not very good at growing things indoors, so this is great progress for me.  :)

On the other hand, we have great success with our garden.  A little reminder of what it looked like at the beginning of the season:

And now, presenting ... our jungle:

These are our tomato plants.

So, we're gearing up for salsa and spaghetti sauce.  It'll be interesting to make it this year while taking care of a seven-month-old who only naps for half an hour at a time.  Yeah ...

Random Photos For Your Enjoyment

I just thought I'd post a few pictures we've taken recently.

I found her asleep on her stomach the other day.  So sweet!

Sophia liked the green beans better than Daddy.

Squeaky clean!

Mustachioed With Carrots

Sophia is almost seven months old!  Wow, time flies so fast!  It seems like we've only had her here for a couple of months.  But that's what happens when you're having fun!

We moved Sophia into her own room a few weeks ago.  She only really fought it for one or two nights.  She's doing much better with it now.  We finally got a table to go next to the crib, and we moved the baby monitor OUT of the crib.  Somehow she knew I could hear her through it, so when she woke up, she would roll over, grab it, and yell, "RARARARARA!!"  Then she would wait to see if I came to get her.  If I didn't, she'd yell again.

We went to the Hogle Zoo on Saturday.  Sophia couldn't have cared less, but Mama and Daddy had fun!  We got to see the baby elephant:

So cute!

And giraffes:

And DINOSAURS!

It was a really fun day.  :)

Sophia continues to do pretty good with her "solid" foods.  She has a bad habit of spitting and blowing raspberries right as I get a spoonful of food to her lips, which makes it end up all over me.  But she thinks it's hilarious!

But not too hilarious.

We enjoy life.  Every day.  It has its challenges, and its ups and downs, but it is so worth it.  Especially when we remember that this life is but a teeny moment in eternity.  So, we're trying to love every little thing that we get to experience here, and to build relationships to last forever.  :)

Mini Mozart

We're starting piano lessons a little early.  ;)

Sharing Laughter

This is what Sophia did the whole time I was feeding her sweet potatoes tonight.  (Including when I put the spoon in her mouth.)  I just thought I would share something to brighten everyone's day.  Hope you find this as amusing as I did!  (Plus, she definitely says, "mom" in the middle of the video.)  Sorry it's not the greatest quality - I just took it with my phone, which is the only thing I had handy at the time.

More Food Pics and a Little Independence

I finally had Tim load the pictures from our video camera.  So, here's the pictures of Sophia eating cereal for the first time.

Also, here's our pictures from the Fourth of July.

Conked out at the parade

Tim really gets into the parade, yelling for them to throw him candy, t-shirts and such.

Have a great day!