Toss it in back challenge

"Toss it in the back..." 

Had this idea today after hearing a radio add about checking your back seat to prevent leaving kids in the car by accident

When you get in the car get in the habit of always putting your phone and/or purse in the back seat! 

(We all know we can't function without our cell phones but imagine life w/o your lil ones) 

You will be forced to check the back seat when you grab your phone/purse...

This will save even more lives if people without kids do it too - it prevents you from texting and driving or using your phone at all while driving!

So share with your friends and family and the next time you go somewhere, just toss it in the back!

Better yet, challenge your friends and family - it's working great for the ALS foundation - challenge your friends to do the ice bucket and toss it in back at the same time! If they don't do the challenges in time, they have to donate more to ALS or donate to a children's hospital too. 

So now our facebook walls will be bombarded with more videos of ice buckets and selfies of people tossing phones in the back seat... 

Pin the Tail on Daniel Tiger

Step one... Be over obsessed with planning a small party for a one year old... including pin the tail on Daniel tiger for the 3 kids that will be in attendance - it's largely an adult party...
Step two... find a way on your computer to print out Daniel Tiger turned around (I did this using Corel Draw free trial version - making my page size huge and stitching 4 pages together)

I used yellow paper because I have an abundance of it and no purpose for it...

Step three... tape it all together - make sure it lines up - if it does not this will be difficult!

Step four... turn it over and shade the back with pencil to make a carbon copy

Back of paper shaded with pencil

Step five... place it on top of the half sheet of poster board that I forgot to tell you to buy
Step six... draw over the ink with a pen to make a carbon copy - if you look closely at my printed out copy you can see that I took my picture after I already did this step as there are pen lines everywhere
Step seven... remove tape and see your carbon copy pencil Daniel on your poster board! like magic!

Step eight... clean it up get it perfect (or close enough with erasing and drawing in pencil lightly)

Step nine... outline your pencil lines in sharpie CAREFULLY

I still have to add in his leg stripes...

Step ten... color it in with whichever medium you prefer - crayons, paint, chalk... you get the idea...

Done (just don't forget to make tails!)

Tails you have two options - make some tails in the same manner - on paper (I'm using card stock) or use fabric tails for fun... or whatever other great idea you have come up with...

Now enjoy your Daniel Tiger Event with this party favorite!

Crawl Around Review

This was my son's first Christmas - and I can absolutley say that the Fisher Price Crawl Around car was -his favorite gift! The moment I saw this car on the internet, I wanted to get it for our son. He turned 10 months just days before Christmas and this toy can hold his attention longer than any toy I've seen.

By the way I have no ties to anyone or anything as far as FisherPrice or baby toys goes. That being said... I'll try to organize this a little it for you.

Aesthetically the thing is adorable - easy to build and keeps his attention - (still now that he's one)

A "good mom"

Please tell me what those words mean... While reading another blog today (adding link here when I find it again) I found myself really feeling for the mother writing. Summary - she feels guilty sometimes about doing things she never thought she would with her kids like giving them chicken nuggets because she doesn't have it in her to make dinner or working and missing out on many things with the little ones. I agree I feel guilty about many things ...not breast feeding as long as I wanted to ...having to go back to work before baby was even 6 months ...every little bump that I think I could have prevented ...letting him see a tv screen before 2... The list goes on. 

Does any of this mean that I am not a good mom? No. Moms, Dads and most people in general can be overly critical of ourselves at times. We do the best we can with what we have and that's all anyone can ask for. 

As long as you are doing your best you can do with what you have to work with  for your child then you are doing a good job - end of story. 

Let them eat... food!

Well our little one is 3 months old now... and we have decided to start a little rice cereal a couple times/day. 

I have been patiently waiting for this moment - to start giving my son real food. Now I'm not really sure if you can consider rice cereal "real food" but it's close. So today, for lunch, I tried a little runny rice cereal off a spoon - he was quite intrigued and did very well with the spoon! Later on, I got a new Avent nipple for thicker liquids and put some rice cereal in his dinner bottle. He loved it! 

I was so excited that I boiled some potatoes and threw them in the food processor to freeze for later! I'm going to wait until he gets used to the rice cereal and take things slow... But now I'm reading that I can add some spices and things to his first foods too! So, now I'm off to look up baby friendly spices/flavoring options... :) so excited...

From Mom, To Mom

Warning: do not read this blog as if it were some kind of how to, manual, bible, or any of the like! I have a habit of doing just that with things I read!

Let's recap what I read and took too seriously (not including all the pregnancy stuff)...
Follow this guide to get your baby to sleep through the night... Reasons your baby cries... How to start baby off with good sleep habits.. Best ways to feed/breast feed baby... Don't ever do (insert just about anything here)
But guess what... I had to stop breast feeding before baby was 1 month old, I had to move baby from his crib in his room to an in-bed bassinet in our room to sleep, I let the baby sleep on his boppy (while I'm awake watching), I have no idea why he's crying half of the time and I just guess!
What I'm trying to say is that you are the Mom. Just like I had to figure out what would work for me, you will do the same. If by some off chance this blog can help, give you an idea, let you know what not to do, or just give you a laugh... Great! Just don't take me too seriously ...because I rarely know what I'm talking about ;)

You're going to spoil that baby!

How many times have we all heard this? New moms just love to get advice, don't we? Well one of the most common things I've heard is that if I keep picking up my baby whenever he cries, I'm going to spoil him. Or if I go to him, every time to check on him, that he'll be spoiled...
Now here's what I actually do...
Baby starts crying... I give it a few minutes to see if he's actually waking up or if he's just between sleep cycles (which means he'll fall right back asleep). I also check the clock to see what he may want - has it been a while since I last changed or fed the baby? He eats 4oz every three hours pretty consistently. If everything (basic needs) is done and the baby just wants a little attention we move on to step 2. So now I might give him his pacifier or I might just rub his back a little. I could distract him with a game of funny faces, peek-a-boo, or sing a song. Of course, I check to see if he feels too warm or too cold. Now if none of that works, then I'm going to pick up my baby! I don't think that makes him spoiled or me a bad mom... I think it lets him know that if he needs something he can always turn to family. It lets him know that he can trust people. Now all that being said, he's not even 2 months old yet. When he's older I may change this philosophy, especially when he gets older and he can start to communicate his needs. (I'm thinking about trying baby signing so he can communicate earlier)
I know that advice givers mean well, but they're usually the same people who also picked my husband and me up every time we cried (or did the same with their children). I know they're trying to save us from having to carry him around for the next 10 months, but hey, I think it will be good for my upper body strength!