Part of this post is sponsored by Gerber in association with Linqua. All opinions are my own. 

What a week! If you missed our ER adventure, you can catch it in yesterday’s post.

I’ve got a ton of things to tell you, but first I want to make sure you get a chance to enter the Gerber giveaway at the end of this post. One lucky winner will win a “Welcome to Toddlerhood Kit” with Gerber Toddler Drinks and extra goodies. Don’t forget to enter!

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If you want to learn more about Gerber Toddler Drinks, click here.

I woke up on Thursday feeling frantic because I knew we were out of milk and soy milk. Robert has pink eye, and Jackson and I have a cold. There was no way I was going to go to the store in our state. I attempted to figure out how to work the curbside pick up at Publix and Walmart but they didn’t have any time slots that worked for us.

Luckily, I found a box of shelf stable soy milk in the pantry for Robert and had just received a Gerber Toddler Drink for Jackson to try. I needed a win yesterday. This was it!

Jackson is about 95% weaned. He can do well with milk and milk alternatives when I’m not around, but when he sees me he wants the comfort of nursing. I can’t blame him! We started milk at a year. At 13 months he still doesn’t have a favorite. I feel like we are constantly trying new things for him.

I’m always afraid he isn’t getting all of his nutrients, which is why I was overjoyed to try out the non-GMO Gerber Toddler Drink. It’s nice to have something else in rotation, especially something that is shelf stable.

I’m going to make sure we have a couple of packages of this in my hurricane kit! I don’t know what we would do for the kids to drink if we didn’t have power. Even Robert, at 3 years old, could benefit from the Gerber Toddler Drink.

It hasn’t just been hectic this week, the weekend was exhausting too. It was fun, but jam-packed with birthday celebrations.

We started out at the Grape Celebration to benefit the Naples Children’s Education Fund. This was a great way to get involved with a charitable organization without breaking our budget. Two tickets would roughly be the amount you’d spend for a swanky night out of the town. We had too much fun, drank amazing wines, and ate delicious food.

On Saturday  we had two parties! We started at a friend’s house for a summer kick off party, then we headed to Marco Island for an InstaMeet at Marco Island Marriott hosted by Share a Little Sunshine (#LoveFL).

Tom and I enjoyed delicious rum drinks, Polynesian food, and even got to watch someone roll cigars!

I met several amazing photographers who kill it on Instagram. You have to follow @travlinmad and @sabbypal. If you check out their feeds you’ll see that I was obviously the worst photographer in attendance. You should have seen me asking all the photographers to share their tips and tricks!

The best part of the night was finding out that it actually is affordable to visit the Marco Island Marriott, especially if you live in SWFL. They love for locals to stop by, eat at their restaurants, and take advantage of all the free fun events they have going on. For example, the night we went they were supposed to have a fire dancer and an astronomer on the beach.

The food was actually decently priced. I was shocked! Most of the items on Kane’s menu are under $14. And I can attest t0 the fact that the food is delectable. Tom and I are going to try to head that way more often for beach dinners. Doesn’t the pickled strawberry below intrigue you? It did me. It tasted just like a pickle. My mind was blown.

It’s a good thing we lived the high life last weekend because we are officially on a tight budget after an ER visit and a new van. Luckily, I know how to live life fabulously on a budget.

I was able to spend only $200 on all expenses this week, including a girls dinner out with a friend, a birthday present for Tom, and groceries. I’m feeling pretty accomplished right now.

As for food waste, it was the usual over here. Nothing special to report. A lot went into the compost bin, but I was able to save a loaf of bread by making French toast using this recipe. It was an attempt to double-check that the recipe still works. Good news: it does. And I’m going to bring you a new spin on it on Monday! Yum!

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway for a Gerber Introduction to Toddlerhood Kit. It’s well worth it to have on hand.