Favourite Baby Products + A Giveaway!

I don't know how it was done back in the day when all these cool baby products weren't around. A few have been lifesavers and others have just been really helpful. Navigating being a mom isn't easy, and it really takes a village, but when that village isn't available it can get overwhelming. I wanted to share just a few of my favourite products that have helped me along the way!

Bath time is definitely one of Abby's favourite activities, second to her Jolly Jumper. I came across Live Clean's baby body wash/shampoo and fell in love with it! It's infused with lavendar, jasmine, and vanilla. Abby smells SO good after her bath, and with the scents, she's already rubbing her eyes when I'm just drying her off. Baths are part of our bed time routine and I want to say that the body wash/shampoo has really helped with getting her to sleep.

After bath, I use Aveeno's baby eczema care lotion. Their regular baby lotion wasn't cutting it, and the eczema care is a lot more moisturizing. No more rough patches on Abby's skin! It's also been helping my hands, which have just gone downhill since about 2 weeks post partum. Steroid creams don't seem to be helping, but switching wipes and using this lotion has.

We had a few episodes of big belly bubbles that left me in a panic while Abby screamed, and I had no idea how to help her. Gripe water didn't do anything, except they do help her hiccups now. My sister in law mentioned that Ovol helped her a lot with her kids, so I gave it a shot and it really does help. Abby's getting better at burping on her own, but it definitely helped when I couldn't get all the bubbles out.

The green necklace in the photo is a teething necklace that's meant to be worn by me. It was gifted to us by Abby's Auntie Krystal! If I was nursing, it could be used as something for her to have in her hands while she ate, or it can just be used as a teether. I haven't really worn it but I attach it to her exersaucer so she has something to chew on. She popped her first tooth 2 nights ago so she's been going hard on this thing all week! I keep an eye on her with it and don't leave her unsupervised, even though I'm sure those beads are reinforced in there, I'd rather be safe than sorry. The oreo teether is from MilkBrain Baby!

A big thing that we both love are our MilkBrain Baby bandana bibs! They're so cute, stylish, and functional. The bibs are double layered and have two snap sizes so Abby can wear them for a while. Drooling has been nonstop since she was 2 months old, and now at 5 months that tooth finally popped out! They're also SO handy when she's in her exersaucer or Jolly Jumper because it catches her puke and drool. The dogs clean up whatever it doesn't catch ;)

and now for the exciting part! Sarah from MilkBrain Baby is giving away two bandana bibs to one of you! Below is the entry form. Contest goes from today to the 21st, and the winner will be randomly selected on Tuesday the 22nd. Good luck :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway
xo. Nicole

Sam Wish Store || Prizes

Oh my goodness, you guys. How excited was I to have won a giveaway on Sam's blog, My Latest Obsession?! She uses all natural, organic ingredients, and essential oils! I won an oatmeal bath soak, body lotion, and a sugar scrub. They smell heavenly.

I got to customize all the scents and ingredients in my prizes, which was a bonus. My mom uses essential oils, and aromatherapy, and knew all about the scents/what they do for you, etc.. For my oatmeal bath soak, I chose peppermint and green tea. The sugar scrub is lemon and lime, and the body lotion is wild orange, clove, and vetiver. My mom agreed that the body lotion scents would be good for me and my body. I immediately (after taking pictures) used the lotion on my legs, and whenever I get whiffs of it, I calm down and feel pretty relaxed.

I've been following My Latest Obsession for a while, and this is the second time that I've received product from her. The first one was from a "craft it forward" and I received home made lavender and oatmeal bath soak, and home made lip balms. I'm too nervous to use my prizes for fear of them running out, but that's why she has a shop!

I really hope you can swing by her shop and her blog. She recently posted about how she used essential oils to clear up a cold sore (it only took a day!).

xo. Nicole

Giveaway Winner!

I hosted a giveaway to announce my blog's name change from "A Broke Bride" or "a la Maxfield", and the winner is...

Congratulations! I will be emailing you today with all the details. I hope you enjoy your new little set of nail goodies. :) Thank you to everyone who entered!

*Pictures of Beth + her button are from Oak and Oats, which is Beth's blog!

An Update + A Giveaway!

As you've probably noticed around here, Allison from Crafted Love re-did my blog's design. She's always done my blog's layout designs, and always does such an amazing job! I'm loving the purple :)

Part of the design's update was to go along with my updated name change! It used to be called "A Broke Bride", but seeing as how I'm no longer planning a wedding, I wanted to keep my name up to date with what's going on in my life. My married name is Maxfield, so "a la Maxfield" it is! You'll now find fun outfit of the day posts, recipes, DIYs, and other posts that pertain to my every day life. 

I hope you follow along and enjoy our journey as Maxfields :) To get you even more excited about my blog's name change, I'm hosting a small giveaway! It will end on Saturday, June 21.

There's some press on nails from ImPress, a thin nail art brush, and some nail stickers! I hope you're the lucky winner. I love my ImPress manicures :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tomorrow, we're hosting a HUGE 28 people family BBQ to celebrate our first wedding anniversary (which is actually Monday)! My sister in law, who also photographed our wedding, is bringing her camera tomorrow. I'm excited for all the wonderful pictures that we'll get, and I can't wait to share them with you!

xo. Nicole

Giveaway Review!

I was the lucky winner again! I'm starting to like this whole "enter a giveaway and win" thing...maybe I'll keep it up. This one was was hosted by the lovely Clara from That Girl Magazine who I met through Blog Trends! 

The coolest thing about this iPhone Glow Skin is that it glows in the dark (duh!). Really, I had no idea it did until I shut off my lamp one night with my phone charging underneath the light. Not that the name of the product was a major hint or anything...

Also, Clara and I have somewhat matching Glow skins on our iPhones now. Jealous?

I had a hell of a time getting the side stickers on and you can clearly tell by the crap job I did. I also think the dimensions (er-measurements?) of the buttons were a bit off for my 4S. It hasn't bothered me since and I'm quite proud of how well I actually stuck the skin on, all even and stuff.

You should probably check out Clara's blog because her posts are pretty funny. She's in college and eating a lot of ramen, so it's fun to read about.

xo. Nicole

Outside Everywhere Giveaway Review!

Yup, that's right. I won another giveaway. It's an awesome prize too! This giveaway was hosted by Gentri from Gentri Lee! Allison from Outside Everywhere sent me this as my prize :)

I had my pick from the shop and I picked this lovely chevron necklace. I'm so excited to finally have a day off to wear it out and show it off. She even made a little card saying "Congratulations!" Allison was amazing and made sure I got exactly what I wanted. She put a longer chain on it because I prefer long necklaces over short ones. It's beautifully hand crafted :)

You can check out Allison's shop by clicking HERE!

xo. Nicole

A Giveaway Review!

A little while ago, I won a giveaway on Alex's blog, Second Thoughts, and I was so excited! I'm pretty sure it was the first giveaway that I won (where the prize actually got sent to me) and I couldn't wait to receive it :)

The amazing designer of this tote bag is Kim! I am so happy with it and it's been so durable :) I know it looks folded, but I had used it for a little while, folded it in my purse, and started using it again. It's an excellent shopping bag! 

You can check out Kim's blog, What Peggy Said and her beautiful shop here!

xo. Nicole

A Giveaway!

Are you guys excited for A Broke Bride's first EVER giveaway?

I mean, how could you not be? A Broke Bride has reached 30 GFC followers, 7 Bloglovin, and gets around 200 page views a day. I didn't really think this blog would get that many readers, so I (we) want to say Thank You! I requested that some of my sponsors be involved and they were super excited to be a part of it.

Prize #1

Nicole (hey, that's me!) is giving away a super stylin' dress! Never worn! Now that it's Fall, it can be worn with some tights and a cute sweater.

Prize #2

Adriana from Horses of Ares is excited to participate with a $10 gift card to Forever 21! I can just imagine all the accessories or tights you could buy to match the dress ;)

Prize #3

Megan from Mind Wide Open has a beautiful jewelry set that she wants to give to our followers :)

Prize #4

Jennifer from Sail The Ship will be giving the lucky winner a little box of British goodies! Yum! I wish I could enter now...

One person will win all 4 of these items!

All that needs to be done is that you follow each of the lovely sponsors and myself on their blogs and Twitter. A lovely tweet about the giveaway wouldn't hurt either ;)

The winner will be announced on Wednesday, October 17th! Good luck everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

xo. Nicole
Adriana
and Megan

[ps. This is my first time hosting a giveaway and using Rafflecopter! All feedback is helpful :)]