Little P is approaching his 9 month birthday. I can't even believe we're a few months shy of his first birthday. I feel like it was just yesterday I held him in my arms at the hospital! 2011 has been a great year so far. My dad is doing so much better, and soon after he got out of the hospital, little P was born. My sister had her baby, so my parents got to call themselves grandparents not once, but twice in one year. More recently, my brother got engaged to his awesome long time girlfriend. We got to celebrate many first holidays with our son, and we're now looking forward to Christmas. I'm sure he'll be more impressed with the wrapping paper on his gifts or even the boxes that they're wrapped in. And as he opens, or tries to open - his presents, I know that I will be looking at him in awe that he is all mine (well, and D's).
So, speaking of the holidays, this year was the first year that I did 100% of my Christmas shopping online. We purchased for all little ones this year, which is super exciting. I'm a little bummed that we were late in picking "angels" from our church's tree, but glad that my thoughtful brother in-law is holding a toy drive so we could boost some spirits for more little ones this year.
I haven't written a post in several months, but if you have time to comment and post what was on your kid's wishlist this year or your favorite gift purchased, I'd love to hear about it. My Amazon wishlist keeps getting bigger and I'm planning for P's future as he outgrows his toys :)
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
What's in a complaint?
http://www.mamapedia.com/voices/stop-putting-down-your-kids-2645
Hey everyone! I haven't written in a while. My SAHM status has been changed to a SAHM while Working status as of 3 weeks ago, so I've been busy creating a schedule for myself that will allow me to be a successful working mommy and wifey. Anyway, I ran across this blog from mamapedia that I thought I'd share with all of you. I thought it was interesting and the comments on the article were from a variety of perspectives. It's fun to read the different views people have on one blog post. The article is entitled, "Stop Putting Down Your Kids". As most of you know, my little one is about 4 months old. There is nothing that I could "complain" about. I waited and prayed for him, and now that I have him, I will embrace his cries, poopy diapers, crazy feeding schedule and most of all the smiles that he gives early early in the morning! I don't know what it's like yet to have a teenager, but I know if he turns out to be anything like me, then I'll have some obstacles to overcome as a mommy! Read the blog and tell me your thoughts. These were my thoughts:
1. Complaining about your kids is totally different than asking for suggestions and recommendations on how to overcome some of life's biggest (or smallest) challenges with children.
2. Nobody listens to someone who complains.We hear the person complaining because they are our friend and we want them to vent and let out their frustrations. Again, complaining is different than someone letting you know of a serious health problem or something like that... hope you get my point here. Action is important. If something is truly bothering you, fix it. Say something. Do something about it. Don't complain day in and day out.
3. To piggyback off the blog's message, you would not want your child posting complaints about you on facebook or publicly, so why do that to them? There are tons of support sites that allow one to be anonymous. Again, if you need to gain suggestions from other parents (or therapists), then visit those anonymous sites. Everyone needs a venue to voice their concerns and gain suggestions from others. Personally, I've gone to certain sites such as 'inspire.com' when I had my own obstacles to overcome, and it helped me.
4. Take this message and have it pertain to your significant other. Not sure about you, but I could careless if your husband leaves the toilet seat up. Totally none of my business. Again, take action on it and tell him to "put the damn seat down".
Hope you enjoy the article!
http://www.mamapedia.com/voices/stop-putting-down-your-kids-2645
Hey everyone! I haven't written in a while. My SAHM status has been changed to a SAHM while Working status as of 3 weeks ago, so I've been busy creating a schedule for myself that will allow me to be a successful working mommy and wifey. Anyway, I ran across this blog from mamapedia that I thought I'd share with all of you. I thought it was interesting and the comments on the article were from a variety of perspectives. It's fun to read the different views people have on one blog post. The article is entitled, "Stop Putting Down Your Kids". As most of you know, my little one is about 4 months old. There is nothing that I could "complain" about. I waited and prayed for him, and now that I have him, I will embrace his cries, poopy diapers, crazy feeding schedule and most of all the smiles that he gives early early in the morning! I don't know what it's like yet to have a teenager, but I know if he turns out to be anything like me, then I'll have some obstacles to overcome as a mommy! Read the blog and tell me your thoughts. These were my thoughts:
1. Complaining about your kids is totally different than asking for suggestions and recommendations on how to overcome some of life's biggest (or smallest) challenges with children.
2. Nobody listens to someone who complains.We hear the person complaining because they are our friend and we want them to vent and let out their frustrations. Again, complaining is different than someone letting you know of a serious health problem or something like that... hope you get my point here. Action is important. If something is truly bothering you, fix it. Say something. Do something about it. Don't complain day in and day out.
3. To piggyback off the blog's message, you would not want your child posting complaints about you on facebook or publicly, so why do that to them? There are tons of support sites that allow one to be anonymous. Again, if you need to gain suggestions from other parents (or therapists), then visit those anonymous sites. Everyone needs a venue to voice their concerns and gain suggestions from others. Personally, I've gone to certain sites such as 'inspire.com' when I had my own obstacles to overcome, and it helped me.
4. Take this message and have it pertain to your significant other. Not sure about you, but I could careless if your husband leaves the toilet seat up. Totally none of my business. Again, take action on it and tell him to "put the damn seat down".
Hope you enjoy the article!
http://www.mamapedia.com/voices/stop-putting-down-your-kids-2645
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
My Pal Scout - Someone Please Help Me!
As I mentioned in a previous post, I had a shower last weekend. One of the gifts included My Pal Scout, the talking dog. I will admit, this dog is really cute and I think P is really going to like it. He talks, and even more beneficial, you could plug it into your computer to program your baby's name and some other information so that he says more meaningful phrases :)
Well, the past two days my husband has gone into P's room before work to grab some of his clothes (husband's closet is in P's room). As early as 5-5:30am, I have heard "Ruff Ruff Ruff, take me home and I'll learn your name". The reason I'm asking for help is because I have a feeling my husband will be playing with all of the talking toys and I will go crazy... just kidding! It's funny to see a 30 somethin' year old guy find these types of toys amusing, especially bright and early in the morning before I've had my first cup of coffee. These are the types of things I will endure for love.
Well, the past two days my husband has gone into P's room before work to grab some of his clothes (husband's closet is in P's room). As early as 5-5:30am, I have heard "Ruff Ruff Ruff, take me home and I'll learn your name". The reason I'm asking for help is because I have a feeling my husband will be playing with all of the talking toys and I will go crazy... just kidding! It's funny to see a 30 somethin' year old guy find these types of toys amusing, especially bright and early in the morning before I've had my first cup of coffee. These are the types of things I will endure for love.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
How a White Noise CD Changed My Life
I thought I've seen it all in terms of baby gadgets and items that claim to calm your baby or put them to sleep, but I never ran across a CD that includes tracks of vacuum cleaner, dishwasher, hair dryer, running water, clothes dryer and electric fan noises. These sounds are called "white noise" and the CD claims that "your baby and you will love baby white noise..." Well, I don't particularly "love" listening to a hair dryer. I'd much rather listen to whatever I have on the TV, but I love that my baby loves it. It's like a miracle CD. I tried it for the first time the night of my shower. He fell asleep instantly. So then, I thought to myself, "Self, it was a coincidence". He must have just been really tired from all the commotion at the shower, so I tried it again the next night. Once again, he fell asleep right away with track 3, which was the hair dryer (I skipped to track 3 the first night, and since it worked, I didn't want to try the other tracks).
Now comes nap time.... would it work or wouldn't it? That was the question. Weeeeelllll.... IT DID! Instantly - 1 second later and he was out! No bouncing, rocking or rapping "twinkle twinkle little star" on my part necessary. Amazing!
The CD is "Baby White Noise Sampler CD".
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
What Did I Just Say??
I catch myself doing and saying things that may be abnormal (well, for those of you who really know me, I guess you'd picture me saying some things I'll mention). I catch myself forgetting a lot of things. For example, I was out and about the other day and had a taste for Taco Bell, which I normally don't eat. I called my husband, asked him what he wanted and placed the order. 1) I forgot to hangup my phone after he gave me the order and I said "OK, see you soon" and 2) I forgot half of his order. Luckily, he was still on the phone and screamed out the rest of his order as I was driving to the '2nd window'. That's minor, though, because I have a slight feeling you all forget a lot as well.
Today alone, I caught myself saying (singing) certain things to baby P...
1) After his bottle, I was rocking and bouncing him in an attempt to make him nap. I'll preface the following with "I don't know very many baby songs". Well, okay, I don't know any other song except for 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star', and I'm not even sure I sing the words to that correctly. I must have sung TTLS about 99 times before he finally fell asleep. Apparently, I was bored with the original tone of this song because towards the end I found myself rapping the words of the song and actually bouncing as if I was dancing to a rap. I believe I may have a slight problem!
2) The past couple days, he's been drinking his 6 oz of formula super slow. It takes an hour to drink his bottle where several days ago, it took about half hour. He screams for his food, but then 2 oz into it he takes a 5 min nap. Today, I needed to get a few things done around the house so I kind of wanted him to not take an hour. I found myself chanting "CHUG CHUG CHUG' to a 7-week old. I hope this doesn't have long term effects.
What have you been known to do or say that will make me feel better about my situation?
Today alone, I caught myself saying (singing) certain things to baby P...
1) After his bottle, I was rocking and bouncing him in an attempt to make him nap. I'll preface the following with "I don't know very many baby songs". Well, okay, I don't know any other song except for 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star', and I'm not even sure I sing the words to that correctly. I must have sung TTLS about 99 times before he finally fell asleep. Apparently, I was bored with the original tone of this song because towards the end I found myself rapping the words of the song and actually bouncing as if I was dancing to a rap. I believe I may have a slight problem!
2) The past couple days, he's been drinking his 6 oz of formula super slow. It takes an hour to drink his bottle where several days ago, it took about half hour. He screams for his food, but then 2 oz into it he takes a 5 min nap. Today, I needed to get a few things done around the house so I kind of wanted him to not take an hour. I found myself chanting "CHUG CHUG CHUG' to a 7-week old. I hope this doesn't have long term effects.
What have you been known to do or say that will make me feel better about my situation?
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Facials + Workouts = Clean House
When I thought of taking a leave of absence to care for my son, I knew I'd love every second of it - even his crying fits and figuring out what soothes and calms him. I had heard from other moms that the 12 weeks would go by fast. Well, it's definitely going by way too fast. Although I work from home, I will miss caring for him throughout the day when I start my workdays back up. The days seem to go by super fast, which I'll admit, I'm a little surprised about. I thought that my house would be spotless and that I'd spend a lot of time watching TV in between his naps. Boy, was I wrong! I feel busier than ever between the laundry (I can't believe how fast the washing machine fills up with his little clothes), feeding him, putting him to sleep, cleaning, cooking (although seldom now) and of course, catching up on Facebook and Blogging :)
So, you may be wondering why the title of this blog is "Facials + Workouts = Clean House"? It's because I recently bought a Shark Portable Steamer. I was actually dying to try it out on my shower grout as well as my bathroom and kitchen tiles. After giving my son a bath the other day, I had a good 2 hours (surprisingly) to try it out on my kitchen tiles. As I hunched over on my knees, with raggedy clothes cleaning my tiles like Cinderella, I realized that I was being very efficient. The steam from the Shark gadget was opening my pores, the constant bending was helping me slim my thighs, the back and forth movement of my arms was helping build my biceps & triceps, and by the end of the 2 hour session with Shark, I got a good workout. So good, in fact, that my thighs and arms were actually a bit sore the next day. That's what I call being efficient. Now if I could figure out a way to get a 6-pack without doing crunches, that would be awesome!
Do any of you have stories to share or tips on how to be as efficient as possible?
So, you may be wondering why the title of this blog is "Facials + Workouts = Clean House"? It's because I recently bought a Shark Portable Steamer. I was actually dying to try it out on my shower grout as well as my bathroom and kitchen tiles. After giving my son a bath the other day, I had a good 2 hours (surprisingly) to try it out on my kitchen tiles. As I hunched over on my knees, with raggedy clothes cleaning my tiles like Cinderella, I realized that I was being very efficient. The steam from the Shark gadget was opening my pores, the constant bending was helping me slim my thighs, the back and forth movement of my arms was helping build my biceps & triceps, and by the end of the 2 hour session with Shark, I got a good workout. So good, in fact, that my thighs and arms were actually a bit sore the next day. That's what I call being efficient. Now if I could figure out a way to get a 6-pack without doing crunches, that would be awesome!
Do any of you have stories to share or tips on how to be as efficient as possible?
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Savings! Savings! Savings!
I took a trip to Babies R Us yesterday and saved $85 on 6 containers of formula. So, that got me wondering, what do the rest of you do to save $$$ on everyday items like diapers, formula, baby food, etc.?
At BRU, I was able to combine the 6 manufacture coupons I had for formula and the 7 "check like" coupons I had from Similac. They were each worth $5, plus I used the BRU coupon that provided me with a $20 gift card to use on my next purchase. As a bonus, the formula was on sale, so needless to say, I was a proud lady walking out of BRU!
One thing I do often, besides shop on Amazon, is use the Amazon app on my iPhone. It allows you to scan barcodes to see if you could purchase the item cheaper on the Amazon website. If you don't shop on Amazon, I recommend that you do (they should pay me for free advertisement). If you don't have the Amazon app, I recommend that you get it ASAP. I use the barcode scanning functionality often and did this for the Huggies refill wipes I purchased at BRU and found that with the sale they were having and coupons I had, I could get them for cheaper at BRU. I love Amazon for the convenience of free delivery that I get, but since I was at BRU, why not buy refills at a cheaper price?
Some helpful websites that I suggest are:
* https://similac.com/signup-similac - - If you use Similac, I totally recommend signing up so that you get free samples and coupons.
* https://www.amazon.com/gp/mom/signup/welcome - - Subscribe to Amazon mom. I order my diapers from Amazon for the discount, convenience and automatic subscription which sends me diapers once a month automatically. You could manage your subscription for various "mom" related items.
What websites and/or subscriptions can you recommend to start saving?
At BRU, I was able to combine the 6 manufacture coupons I had for formula and the 7 "check like" coupons I had from Similac. They were each worth $5, plus I used the BRU coupon that provided me with a $20 gift card to use on my next purchase. As a bonus, the formula was on sale, so needless to say, I was a proud lady walking out of BRU!
One thing I do often, besides shop on Amazon, is use the Amazon app on my iPhone. It allows you to scan barcodes to see if you could purchase the item cheaper on the Amazon website. If you don't shop on Amazon, I recommend that you do (they should pay me for free advertisement). If you don't have the Amazon app, I recommend that you get it ASAP. I use the barcode scanning functionality often and did this for the Huggies refill wipes I purchased at BRU and found that with the sale they were having and coupons I had, I could get them for cheaper at BRU. I love Amazon for the convenience of free delivery that I get, but since I was at BRU, why not buy refills at a cheaper price?
Some helpful websites that I suggest are:
* https://similac.com/signup-similac - - If you use Similac, I totally recommend signing up so that you get free samples and coupons.
* https://www.amazon.com/gp/mom/signup/welcome - - Subscribe to Amazon mom. I order my diapers from Amazon for the discount, convenience and automatic subscription which sends me diapers once a month automatically. You could manage your subscription for various "mom" related items.
What websites and/or subscriptions can you recommend to start saving?
Friday, April 29, 2011
Help! I need sleep!
So, your baby won't sleep at 12AM, 1AM, 2AM... or past 5AM. Now what? You've tried everything: the swing, the bouncy seat and even your bed. What are some techniques to try so that you're baby sleeps past 5am?
P has been known to skip a feeding at 1am and sleep until 4:30am/5am, but he's only 5 weeks old. Anyone have suggestions for babies who are 8, 9, 10+ months old?
P has been known to skip a feeding at 1am and sleep until 4:30am/5am, but he's only 5 weeks old. Anyone have suggestions for babies who are 8, 9, 10+ months old?
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Mommies Talk Book Talk!
I started collecting books for baby P long before I knew of baby P. He's only 5 weeks old, so I haven't read every book to him so far.
Finally, I place this soft book in his crib and he constantly reaches for the floppy pictures, mostly of the dog... I think because the dog is black and white and he could more clearly see the dog. It unfolds and can go across one side of the crib. It's called Baby Love (Messages From The Heart) by Sandra Magsamen.
What books do you recommend?
He loves his bath book, even though we don't read it in the bath tub yet. It's a floating book and really cute. He likes to hit it at his current age, and that's okay since it's foamy and soft. It's Bath Time by Sandra Boynton (http://www.amazon.com/Bath-Time-Sandra-Boynton/dp/076114708X/ref=pd_sim_b_1).
I just got done reading (well, pretty much singing) Snuggle Puppy a little love song by Sandra Boynton. I love her books and own many of them.
What books do you recommend?
So, now what do we blog about?
I thought this blog would be a good one-stop-shop to talk about mommy things. Between 6 girlfriends who all have baby boys (so far, 8 in total), I'm sure we could learn from one another as well as from other mommies out there. Let's share tips on caring for our little ones as well as sale and coupon on things like diapers, formula and other useful necessities.
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