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Western Chief sent complimentary rain boots to get us ready for a Pacific Northwest Spring and to introduce themselves to A Well Crafted Party readers. All thoughts and opinions are my own. For more information on my posting guidelines please visit my policies page. This post contains affiliate links. Affiliate links help this blog without any additional cost to my readers. 

Yesterday was the first day of Spring. The weather here in Portland has been pretty typical… aka, rainy. All the rain is totally easy to deal with when you also get to appreciate how GREEN it is here these days. My back yard is currently heaven on Earth. The day we took these mommy and son style photos was a typical Portland grey. Which was GREAT because I’d been hoping for a good bout of rain so I could pull out my new rain boots and not look silly walking around town.

Spring Style for Mom and Son - A Well Crafted Party

Pacific Northwest Spring Style in Portland - A Well Crafted Party

Ideally I’d pair these classic mid rain boots with more fitted pants… but, these ARE my skinny jeans at the moment due to crazy after-baby body changes. And, thought my knees ended up being a little funny looking due to the tucking the not skinny-enough jeans I was overall fairly happy with my Spring in Portland attire. Getting dressed now days is difficult. Things don’t fit the way that they used to and I always have to dress in a way that I know I can feed the baby without having to completely disrobe. You can’t see it, but underneath my nice little rain coat is yet the millionth button up shirt that I own. It doesn’t even matter the color because they all look alike to me nowadays and are likely covered in some sort of bodily fluid.

I don’t know if I’ll lose some sort of PNW cred for admitting this but, even after living in Portland for nearly 9 years now, I’ve never owned a pair of rain boots until now. I was the crazy lady you’d see getting their feet soaking wet in flats. Yep, that lady, she was me. My shoes and feet have never been more dry! It took a little getting used to wearing rain boots, but after a day out in the rain with dry feet I was pretty much sold on them. I also liked that they were super easy to clean up after a day in the rain than other boots.

#spon Kiddo is ready for a Pacific Northwest Spring with his rain gear! - A Well Crafted Party #spon Kiddo is ready for a Pacific Northwest Spring with his rain gear! - A Well Crafted Party

My son got the batman rain boots and has never been happier about a pair of shoes. Though, I think what he loved most about his outfit was that I was encouraging jumping in puddles rather than making sure he avoided them. We styled his boots with his jeans, chambray button up shirt and heather grey t-shirt with a bright yellow rain jacket. I love the classic rain jacket paired with the unexpected pop of these rain boots.

WesternChiefRainBoots007

And, yep… they have capes!

Outfit Details:

Mommy: Lucky Brand Plus Size Ginger Skinny Jeans (Size 16) | Western Chief Classic Mid Rain Boot in Black | Black Anorak Rain Jacket from Target (Size XL) |Black and White Blanket Scarf – I got mine ages ago and couldn’t find a good link to it… so, here are two similar scarves (affiliate links) BB Gossip Large Tartan Blanket Scarf & Afibi Women’s Oversized Plaid Checkered Tartan Scarf

Son: Old Navy Jeans | Chambray Shirt via H&M (affiliate link – Similar here) | Western Chief Batman Rain Boot | Bumblebee Rain Coast Zinna Gold via Target | Heather Grey T-Shirt

Spring Style in Portland - A Well Crafted Party

Just dropping in to show you what I’ve been working on behind the scenes these days! This April I’ll be featuring a series on Working Moms— Their challenges and joys while working throughout motherhood. I’m so excited to share the stories of some amazing women!

But, of course, these 13 women are not representative of all women. I’d like to know your story as well! If you are a working mom and want to share why you work, the challenges of a working mom, the joys of a working mom or any story about working during motherhood then please share with the hashtag #wellcraftedworkingmoms

A huge thank you to the women who volunteered and participated in the interviews and photoshoot. Thank you to Momma Bear Magazine for coming and shooting some amazing images that we will be sharing this April and to Madeline Roosevelt from Up Close with Madi for hair and makeup!

Note: This is not a series saying that working motherhood is the way to do things. It is simply women sharing their stories about working in motherhood. I’m not here to add to the mommy wars. I am currently a working mom and wanted to hear the stories of others in the same situation.

I was sent a complimentary snu:mee to review in anticipation of the crowdfunding campaign to bring snu:mee to the United States. All opinions are my own. To learn more about my policies regarding reviews and sponsored posts please visit my policies page

 

I have a secret. I hate lullabies.

 

Lullabies are ridiculously weird, right? Seriously, the words in most of them make no sense or are things  don’t really want to sing to my sons. We’ve changed a few words around to make them work for our family but, I haven’t found any that I just love to play at night for the kiddos. We recently got a cool little projector for the boys room that came with three lullabies in that general music box sound. While I found it cute at first… about the tenth playing of “Rock-a-bye Baby” and I’m ready to pull my hair out. Of course, my oldest LOVES it and wants to play it all night long.

snu:mee review from A Well Crafted Party - Finally lullabies that I actually like! #spon

Enter snu:mee…

 

I found out that snu:mee— a music box, mp3 player and baby monitor all in one that has been popular in Europe— was coming to the states with a Indiegogo campaign I instantly said YES I want to be a part of THAT. The three-in-one wonder currently runs about $139, but can be snagged through the campaign for only $79.

The snu:mee comes with some pre-loaded songs and a store of more music. The songs are popular songs made into a music box lullaby. My son now drifts to sleep to lullaby versions of  “Nothing Else Matters” by Metallica and “Yellow” by Coldplay. (No words for these songs, because I’m pretty sure Nothing Else Matters as a lullaby might be just as bad as “When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall, And down will come baby, cradle and all.”) They do have the classics on there if you want them as well. You can also transfer your own music to the snu:mee or even record your voice for your baby.

You can control your music on the snu:mee itself or, using wifi, control it from your phone. Baby getting fussy and you aren’t able to go right away? Turn on the monitor portion or even talk to baby through the monitor to calm him while you get free.

snu:mee review from A Well Crafted Party #spon

snu:mee features:

  • Baby monitor with up to 300m signal range
  • Feature packed MP3 player
  • Free app for iOS and Android
  • 60 decibel volume limiter for babies’ sensitive hearing
  • Headphone connector
  • Sleep timer allowing you to decide how long the music plays
  • Wi-Fi music streaming
  • Secure connection
  • Variety of cuddly sleeves to choose from! (I chose the star and it is adorable!)
  • 4GB memory, enough for more than 500 songs

 

snu:mee review from A Well Crafted Party #spon

Aging with the snu:mee

 

What do you do with your old baby monitors and music boxes when your baby gets older? The snu:mee grows with your baby first turning into a cuddly toy for an older baby by using a snu:mee sleeve and then use it as a MP3 Player for your older kiddo.

I know that this post screams AD like crazy. But, after listening to my millionth music box version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star this little thing has been a very welcome new gadget in our household. We carry it around at night as we are getting ready for bed. The older kid loves it just as much as the younger one. And, I’m ready to get rid of the many other gadgets in our baby’s room that perform one function only. Consider this my very enthusiastic goodbye to my old baby monitor and music box.

If you think the snu:mee is right for you and your family then hop on over to support the crowdfunding campaign and snag your snu:mee for a huge discount. If you aren’t quite there yet, but are ready to listen to new music with your kiddos, check out their free app Baby Stars- rock2sleep on iPhone and Android.

What music solutions have you found for you and your family? Love the classics or have you changed things up?