Beachy and Clean; Nursery Wall Art

by on ·Babies and Kids, Home Decor, Uncategorized

I couldn’t help but write a quick blog post about the beautifully, adorable prints I recently purchased on Minted.com to hang above my son’s crib in his room.  There are literally thousands of gorgeous, fun, silly, dark, colorful, you-name-it pieces of art on the site from artists all over the country; from photography, typography, drawings to beautiful, foil-pressed art pieces, there are so many amazing things to choose from.

beach-themed-nursery-elegant-clean-the-mommy-promotion-minted-prints-baby-and-kids

My style is relatively simple as it relates to my son’s room:  it’s beachy with a focus on being clean, elegant AND fun all at once.  Elegance in a little boy’s nursery?  Because isn’t your infant’s room or nursery really for you, anyway?  Come on.  I’ve focused on using grey and white backgrounds, with different hues of blue and driftwood-resembling elements, so when I sought after art to hang above his crib, I knew it needed to be all those colors mixed into one (or three different) piece(s).  

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Halloween Felt Board - A Simple Halloween Craft for Kids

by on ·Babies and Kids, Home Decor, Lifestyle, Uncategorized

We love Autumn in our house.  It’s definitely a memorable time of year with so many holidays in que, and that overwhelming feeling of childish emotions constantly being rushed back into your mind from your own past experiences.  Halloween has always been a fun time in my sister and I’s family home growing up.  My mom is the queen of small, yet BOUNTIFUL, holiday décor, and Halloween was no different than Christmas when it came to garnishing every door, wall, shelf and vessel in our house.  My siblings and I were all very lucky to have a talented mother who alone sewed and crafted each and every one of our Halloween costumes Every. Single. Year. 

Being a mother myself to a very rambunctious and happy 18 month old, I wanted to take some of that craftiness my own mom always showed us growing up, and incorporate a fun, hands-on Halloween experience for my own child – one that didn’t simply require finger-painting a poor, beautiful pumpkin plucked from a pumpkin patch thinking it’d be carved into something marvelous (albeit, that’ll probably be added to the list as the 31st of October rolls closer).  I have seen many people create the infamous felt Christmas trees for their toddlers to embellish during the holiday season, and thought I would take a page from that book and rework the idea to give it more of a ghoulish feel.

Thus, the Halloween felt board was created!

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Why I Stopped Judging What People Name their Kids… A rose by any other name….

by on ·Babies and Kids, Lifestyle, Uncategorized

We have all been there. The moment when you ask, “What are you naming the baby?”

We are excited for our expecting friend and aside from what sex the baby will be, we curiously need to know the name. The moment the name slips out of the parent’s mouths, we know a decision will be made to either ‘Like’, ‘Not Like’, ‘Need time to get used to’, ‘Love’, or ‘Hate’ the name.

Heaven forbid we totally dislike the name.

“Did you hear what so and so is naming their baby…”

“I really don’t like that name…”

“That kid has to grow up with that name… poor guy…”

I have done it. Guilty as charged. Somehow your decision to name your child “that” has personally offended me…  Yes, that is a tad dramatic, but I have made my decision to dislike the name YOU chose for YOUR child.

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Antioxidant, Immune-Boosting, Super Food Smoothie for Toddlers (and Adults!)

by on ·Babies and Kids, Recipes

As a mom who swears by her child’s probiotics, I am going to blame my son’s most recent illness on the fact that we went a few days while on vacation without giving said probiotics to said child.  Of course, it could be coincidental, but as I watched my niece, then my sister, my husband, then my nephew all develop the same awful, wet cough and snotty noses, I was sure my son’s built up immune system was crushing that virus and that we were totally missing the bullet… that is, until that same bullet hit him three weeks later after arriving home from holiday, and I needed something to put blame to.  Clearly, the infected populous that we typically surround ourselves with is an obvious answer (not to mention disgusting germs on a crowded airplane), but I can’t go without blaming myself for being lazy whilst vacationing in Hawaii.

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How to Survive Long-Distance Plane Travel with a 1 Year old (or small child)

by on ·Babies and Kids, Lifestyle, Uncategorized

As somewhat of an initial disclaimer:  I truthfully wasn’t even sure if I should write this blog post.  I’ve flown with my son twice now.  Once TO our vacation spot, and once FROM our vacation spot.  And although we did fly quite a distance for the first plane trip, and we did cross three different time zones (for a total of 6 hours gained… and lost), I still cannot be considered any sort of an expert in this field.

On top of all that obviousness, these types of “How To’s” are totally circumstantial.  I mean, think about it:  the age of your child and how their personality type is absolutely factors into the question of how your baby will do on a big metal tube in the sky:

Is your child colicky?  Guarantee that’s going to be something that factors in, and usually not something anyone else writing posts like this tends to consider.

Does your kid hate being stationary for more than 20 minutes at a time like mine? They’re going to be in for quite a surprise when you get aboard your flight.

Is your flight early in the morning?  Is it at nap time or bedtime?

These are all important thoughts to consider. 

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Baby Food Timeline Part 1

by on ·Babies and Kids, Recipes, Uncategorized

When my son turned 4 months old, I knew he was ready for solid (super mashed, pureed) baby food; he had 2 teeth, he was confidently crawling without his belly touching the ground, he was showing interest in the food I was eating and he was almost able to truly sit up on his own without help.  Plus… he was super active, and hungry every two hours - food needed to be added to his diet.  Many forums do suggest that you wait until your child is at least 6 months of age before introducing solid foods to deter any possibility of food allergy, and to ensure that baby is able to swallow and digest the food appropriately.  With my pediatrician’s input, however, we decided that Kaden was ready before that point.

The following infographic visually shows which foods are okay for baby to have, and at what ages.  We have always recommended all organic foods for your child, especially as their tiny little bellies are still developing (nasty pesticides and such aren’t a good mix for all that), but go with your gut and do what you feel is best for your child - we promise, we’re not telling you how to raise your kids.  Remember that all fruits and vegetables should be washed thoroughly (try Honest Company Fruit & Veggie Wash) before introducing to baby.

We do want to remind all mommies and daddies out there that once a new food is introduced, to continue feeding your little ones that food ONLY for a minimum of four days - this way, if your child does have an allergic reaction, you will know exactly what triggered it.

All of these suggestions have been approved by our Pediatrician, but always be sure to talk to your child’s doctor before introducing any kind of food and get their opinion.  You know your child better than anyone else, so also keep in mind the textures, size, and chewiness of certain foods, and how you feel your child will be able to chew or gum these items.  Let Kaytee or I know in the comments if you have any questions at all regarding our food timeline, or about any questions you may have on the introduction of foods for your baby in general!

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Bleeding, Clots and Cramping in Early Pregnancy - Is this a Miscarriage? My Story of Hope

by on ·Babies and Kids

One morning, when I was around 5 and a half weeks pregnant or so, I woke up to use the restroom before work and noticed a couple droplets of thick blood hit the water in the toilet below.  There was a light smear of blood on the tissue paper, and an even smaller amount in the underwear I wore to bed the night before.  I had gone to bed with severe cramping, thinking that it was due to the insanely salty seaweed crisps I had eaten the night before.  I swore to myself as I laid in bed that night that I wouldn’t be eating those again.  The cramping was still persistent that morning, and the blood I was seeing made my head spin and my face go white.  My husband had already left for work that morning, and a million and one thoughts were racing through my brain;  “Is there something wrong with my baby?”  “This can’t be implantation bleeding – I’ve already seen an ultrasound of the baby on my cervix, right?”  “Was I having a miscarriage?”

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Organizing Old Baby Clothes - Free Label Download!

by on ·Babies and Kids, Uncategorized

For the past 9 or so months, I have slowly been stashing all of Kaden’s old clothes into old diaper boxes in the deepest corners of my walk-in closet.  I’ve kept all of them because I plan to have more kids, and if I am lucky enough to have a second, and that second is also a darling baby boy, well, I wouldn’t mind using most of Kaden’s hand-me-downs - given baby boy number 2 happens within the next decade where said hand me downs are still cute.

I recently began organizing a lot of our items as we get ready to move into a new house, and those diaper boxes overflowing with baby clothes reminded me that I really needed to work my way through all those tiny onesies, layettes, and little newborn socks and hats - as well as all the memories.  It’s amazing how quickly your little ones grow up, and it’s even more amazing how much stuff is accumulated in less than 10 months during the first year of your tiny human’s life.

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Last Minute Valentines

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If it was not for my daughter’s school calling today and asking what I planned on bringing for the Valentines Day Party, I would have failed… on an epic scale. Valentines day is NEXT week, right? Yeah… Sunday or something. Why wouldn’t we celebrate it Monday then? Wait…… Didn’t I see this on my daughter’s school calendar?….. WHERE IS THE CALENDAR? Next, just visualize me running around the house, pulling papers out from every nook and cranny, opening drawers, cabinets, going through my daughter’s back pack. Do you want to know where mommy dearest left it? The car. 45 minutes later I am looking at her calendar and VALENTINE’S DAY PARTY is in bold red caps under tomorrow’s date.

Didn’t I plan on being super mom for the momentous occasion of my first child’s school Valentines day party? I know that I saved a ton of links on Facebook and Pinterst… well the reality was that I was out of time to make cutesy heart shaped doo-dahs. Oh… and I need to bring some sort of snack. So fast forward to around 5:00pm and after a ton of more pressing matters, I entered the pearly gates of Target. I have to add in that once I entered Target I did not go straight to my pink and red destination. I meandered through the lovely aisles and filled my cart with everything but valentines for my daughter’s classroom. Once I finally reached the reason I was in the store, I could not believe the slim pickings. May I point out that Valentines day is NEXT WEEK.

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My Guilty Sleep Tactic

by on ·Babies and Kids, Uncategorized

I will start off by admitting that my children are on the WORST sleep routine ever and my husband reminds me of it every time he is off (work that is). I know he is right. I know he is as frustrated as am I. I need my mommy time, too. I have stuff to clean, clothes to fold, blogs to write, and I know deep down in my heart this would all be easier if my children went to sleep at a normal time. Sometimes I am so tired, I am just angry and irritable. I say to them “WHY?! WHY?! Can’t you just go to bed!?” and “Ugh, Please Lord let them go to sleep!” Sometimes tears form when I try the sleep tactics that don’t work for me, and I know that this is my fault.

I should be more consistent.

I am with dinner. I sit down with them every night at 6pm even if I haven’t made myself food and just talk to them.

I am with bath time. We get those bubbles going and start playing around 6:30pm. We always make time for a splash party.

I am with jammies. We usually chase each other around the house and laugh a lot.

I am with turning down the lights to set the bedtime mood around 7:20.

I am with books. I always give in with “one more, Mommy.”

I am with prayers. We always pray together.

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