Toddler Times
He's practicing for the new baby
I’m 37 weeks pregnant, and we are ready for this baby to make her arrival at any time! As much as I don’t want to dwell too much on her impending arrival, because I know it could still be several more weeks, it’s pretty hard to think of much else when you’re belly is bulging, your back is aching, your stomach is cramping and contracting (even though nothing is really happening), and your brain is in ‘preparing for baby’ overdrive.
This is our third baby, and I’ve realized that I don’t really nest the way some women do. I don’t get these overwhelming urges to clean my house (although I kinda wish I did). But I do get the strong urge to get everything ready, and prepared, for when the baby arrives.
I’ve been sorting through baby clothes, washing them and getting them ready for her. I’ve been building up my newborn cloth diaper stash, and nagging my hubs about getting the bassinet and car seat out of the basement so they can be cleaned and ready for her.
I’ve been ‘window’ shopping for baby clothes and gear around the internet like a crazy woman, even though we don’t really need anything new at this point, at all! And I’ve been making lists. Oh, how I love my lists!
One of the main things I’ve been working on before the baby comes, is getting my toddler ready for a new baby to join the family.
And I don’t mean talking to him about how mommy is going to be busy giving lots of attention to the baby, how I’ll have to be sitting and nursing, and not up and playing (not that I do that all that much anyway, especially when I’m nine months pregnant).
What I’ve been working on is trying to break some bad habits, and establish some good ones in their place, that will make life easier on us, and for my son, once this new baby arrives. Continue reading »
My son experienced a rite of passage into summer last night.
It’s Memorial Day weekend, the kick-off of summer, and it’s supposed to be 97 degrees here on Sunday. 97!?! My pregnant body is not happy.
But I digress, back to the boy.
I guess this is something that happens for most boys around this time of year, but we’ve yet to do it with our son. And since I grew up will all sisters, it wasn’t something that happened in our home when I was growing up.
Having kids is such a sobering experience sometimes. Do you ever look at your child and think, “Oh no, they are EXACTLY like me!”? This has been happening to me more and more with my daughter recently.
Whether it’s the way that she likes to put on singing and dancing shows for the rest of the family, just like I used to do when I was her age. Or it’s the tone of voice she uses when bossing her brother around, and then I say to her, in the exact same tone, “Kaelyn, don’t talk to your brother like that!” (Yes, admitting that makes me cringe.)
Or it’s a characteristic that suddenly appears, and I don’t know if she picked up from me, or if she just innately has it because she is my daughter. Continue reading »
There are some products out there that just make life easier, especially life with a toddler. Yesterday, I talked about my top non-essential items for a toddler, and today I wanted to share my list of ten items that I absolutely love during the toddler stage.
Now, it’s true, most of these things are necessary or essential, you could easily do without, or find alternatives for most of them. But for us, these items make living with, and raising, a toddler just a little bit easier (as if raising a toddler could ever be labeled easy!).
Here is my list of My Ten Favorite Toddler Products:
I’m sure you remember when you were pregnant with your first baby and you made the trip to the baby store to register. They give you a list of things to register for, and there ends up being a whole lot of stuff that you think you just have to have. And then you get all that stuff and never end up using half of it.
You realize the things you thought were so essential, weren’t really necessary after all.
I have found the same thing to be true for toddler gear. There are a lot of things you might think you need for your toddler, whether because someone told you that you do, or they’re on some “Most Popular Toddler Products” list, or you’ve just gotten in the habit of using them for your baby, and now that your baby is a toddler, you’re not sure how you can stop using them.
Now that we’re on our second toddler, we’ve figured out those things that are helpful and essential for us, and those things that just aren’t. This list will probably look different for every family, because, of course, every kid and every family is different. But, I’m going to argue that these things are just really non-essentials, and in fact, often more annoying than they are helpful, in raising a toddler.
Here are eight things we’ve decided we really don’t need for our toddler:
Brenden helping in the garden
Spring is in full swing, and summer is just around the corner with the official kick-off of Memorial Day this weekend. If you’ve been thinking about making some eco-friendly changes to your lifestyle, or around your home, I think that spring and summer is a great time to start.
I don’t know about you, but I feel much more motivated to try new things, and work on projects around the house, when the weather is beautiful, the sun is shining, and the days are longer.
Although our family has made lots of changes over the past five years of our journey toward more green and natural living, I still have a running “Changes To Make” list I am constantly adding things to that I want to try, or make into a habit, in our lifestyle.
If you’re looking for some ideas to start with for moving your family toward a more eco-friendly lifestyle, here are nine great changes to make, or things to try, over the next few months.
It’s finally garage sale season, and it makes me so happy! I love to find great stuff at garage sales for my kiddos and my home. I used to be a frequent mall shopper, but since my frugal and crunchy nature has taken over, garage sales, second hand stores and thrift shops are my new shopping destinations of choice.
This weekend I got the chance to hit up some garage sales for the first time this spring, and I was really happy to find some great classic toys for my kids. Continue reading »
Mary L Weimer 
Beth Anne Ballance 
Ilana Wiles 
Natalie Holbrook 
Monica Bielanko 
Emily McClements 
Danielle Elwood 
Naomi Odes Aytur 
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