Happy 6 months, baby!

So, as many things go, time has FLOWN by. I cannot believe my little baby has gone from the tiny little thing above to a strapping, young, husky, super smiley baby! It's exciting, sad, and stressful all at the same time. Let's be real, all new mommies can attest to the fact that babies are not easy to take care of. Every day is not a sit down, play with my baby, every minute is precious kind of day. There's crying, teething, colds, hold me/rock me or else I'll cry, screaming and I can't tell you why- I could go on. Don't get me wrong the precious moments are there. Smiling and laughing, saying mama for the first time, first reactions to food, baby playing with big brother...
Overall, the roller coaster of it all, it's a fun and special time. As a parent, mother, and wife, every part of that roller coaster reminds me how strong I am, how vulnerable I can be, and how I need to go through all of this to appreciate my life.

I know I'm lucky. It just takes some living to realize it.

Happy 6 months little one!

It's that time of year! Easy Holiday Shopping and Making Holidays Memorable

When I think of Christmas, I think of getting together with friends and family, holiday music, the smell of Douglas Firs, opening presents, hot apple cider, and YUMMY food. For my family, this is the time of year for reconnecting and expressing thanks for all that we’ve been blessed with during the year.

Then, since I had kids, I think of opening presents on Christmas day and seeing the kids get so excited at all the presents- big, small, and everything in between. I love shopping for the kids and giving great gifts that suit their tastes. I don’t like getting them the same thing every year, so sometimes we end up spending more than we want or we end up getting some mediocre gift (oh no, we’re the boring Auntie and Uncle!). But if you’re thinking of what to get the kids this year, check out the KRE-O Transformers line. This is one of those go-to gifts that all the kids will like if you’re buying for kids you don’t know well or when you don’t know what to get. What little boy doesn’t like building blocks and robots? But really, any kid can enjoy these. This is why:

- The KRE-O line is great because they are affordable, WAY within reason for a tight Christmas budget.

- Kids get to build them. This means they are a functional learning toy – they have to think in order to put it together correctly.

- The whole family can play with them. We actually saw the KRE-O Transformers at the store when shopping for a birthday present. My husband and I got excited at the fact that there were Transformer products that you can actually build with your kids (since my oldest is only 3) and he could enjoy playing with the whole family.

- And to top it all off, they are Transformers! Me and my husband used to play Transformers with our friends in elementary school! To see my kids play with my old childhood toys makes me feel a bit old, but really does warm my heart. It’s like life is coming full circle.

It makes Christmas shopping so much less stressful to have a go-to list of toys to buy the kids. This is one of those toys. It’s COOL, it’s FUN, and I won’t be boring Auntie!!! Hooray! Christmas shopping just got that much easier- thank goodness!

Keeping Christmas shopping easy is key to a good holiday. The most frustrating part about Christmas is getting through the gridlock to actually buy the gifts! But easy shopping leaves so much more room for putting care and meaning into the things we do for the holidays. For me, Christmas and New Year festivities are all about traditions, meaningful moments, and quality time. I try my best to put thought into everything that we have during the holidays. MAKE EVERYTHING A MEMORABLE MOMENT!

It all starts with the tree and home decorations. Use decorations that mean something to you! We have ornaments that commemorate when we bought our home, the birth of our kids, and those with the names of our family. Decorate with music and yummies! While putting up ornaments, lights, Santas, Reindeers, and garland, play music. Make up a platter of Christmas decorated cookies and little snacks so the family can have some treats while they spread Christmas cheer in your home. That will automatically make decorating a fun Christmas memory for all.

Anything that has been traditional in my family, we try to incorporate during the Christmas meal. It’s also important to bring in new dishes and create new dishes for my blossoming family. I want them to have their own traditions to carry with them until they have kids of their own. The food seems to taste better when it has a story behind it. Most especially, let the kids help with the meal! It will keep them keep busy, let them feel like they are helping, and give them something that makes Christmas their own. The funny things they do while trying to help make food are often all the entertainment you need on a busy cooking day!

A final tip, before and during the holidays, eat a candy cane, play some holiday tunes at work, stop to enjoy a holiday display, donate or volunteer at a food bank/toy drive. Do something every day that you can’t do any other day of the year. This is a special time of year if you take the time to make it memorable. Look at everything with innocent eyes and just ENJOY the holiday treats and festivities. The holidays will be that much better if you take the time to make things memorable and really enjoy every moment.

“I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Hasbro blogging program, for 8,000 My SocialMoms Rewards Points and a KRE-O gift. The opinions expressed in this post are mine and don’t necessarily reflect the opinions of SocialMoms or Hasbro. For more information on how you can participate, click here.”

My October Holiday

So I decided that this year, my birthday would really be a day about me. And I think I did a great job! I decided this day was going to be my October Holiday amongst all the activities geared toward the kids in October.

Started the day off with breakfast with the hubby at Stacks- always a winner. Triple berry pancakes and some of hubby's veggie omelet and I was set! Breakfast turned into brunch as we kept talking and let our meal extend a bit further toward afternoon. Time with the hubby these days is a present in itself :).

Then it was off for some retail therapy. I went shopping for the first time in LONG time with NO kids-- not needing to hurry home to feed or care for kids-- and all by myself. I set my own schedule and went to the stores I wanted!!! For all you mamas out there, you know what I mean when I claim Mental Liberation!! The freedom to shop for oneself is a beautiful thing and taken highly for granted these days. Needless to say I came out with many clothes, some shoes, and the feeling of being just me again. But I won't lie and say I didn't think of my family. I also came out with a jumper for baby, lunchbox for toddler, and 2 pairs of shoes for the woman who gave me life (when you're mom is a size 4 1/2 and you actually find a 4 1/2, you buy).

I promised myself I would include some true pampering on my October Holiday. I found myself getting a mani/pedi complete with parrafin wax to soften my achy feet and a gel manicure to look girly for the first time since baby was born. I must say I enjoyed every girly, selfish, all about me, relaxing minute!! It was wonderful while it lasted and I am seriously making this a monthly routine. Now if only I could cut out eating lunch for one week in the month, maybe I can afford it... Hey, 2 kids are expensive!!

I went to pick up the toddler and spend quality time with baby who were both somewhat sniffly-sneezy. I enjoyed the rest of the night with my lil guys. And that completed, what I realize now is, the perfect "new me day. Time with hubby, time for myself, relax/refresh/recharge, and time with my lil guys. That is my idea of a great holiday. Would it had been more perfect if I had the same day,say, in Hawaii? Maybe...but I'll take an October Holiday In the Bay any day :)

My life as Mommy

Oh how life has changed with two little ones...

Free time = the 30 minute train ride to work (If I'm not dead tired from the night before. Then it's nap time)

Time with the hubby = on the phone with Hubs while pumping at work

Normal day at work = Emails, meeting, PUMP, meeting, process paperwork, PUMP and Lunch, phone call, more emails, PUMP, run to catch train to pick up son before 6 ~ repeat tomorrow

Weekday evening = pick up kids, eat/make dinner, one bath (me, toddler, or infant - usually not me), infant to sleep, toddler to bed, wash pump and bottle stuff, eat snack to replenish energy ~ repeat tomorrow

Dinner = whatever is available (frozen or at Mom's), in between making Mac n Cheese or grill cheese or meat and rice for toddler

Exciting evening = Grey's Anatomy (only the part that's left after kids are asleep)- oooh drama!

Glass of wine after long day = glass of water (with a side of Fenugreek and a prenatal vitamin)

Good night's rest = a 3 hr block of sleep between feedings

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger...and probably adds more stress wrinkles to my aging face.

Oh, last one:

Smiling, toothless infant
Loving, funny, smart toddler
=
Worth every minute

Le sigh.

It's Play-Doh Sunday!

It's a great day to have a play date with my 3-year-old Andrew. With his new baby brother in the house, me and my older son don't get much play time together. So I'm really glad I had the opportunity to share a fun Sunday afternoon with him.

Thank goodness for resources like the Play-Doh play dates website! There were all these ideas for a complete play time. There are ideas for Play-Doh pieces to make, print-outs for paper goods to create to supplement the theme, and even an easy-to-make snack related to what we were making with Play-Doh. Go to http://www.hasbro.com/playdoh/en_US/Play-Dates.cfm to check it out!


We started with the pizza shop theme. Andrew loves pizza and was happy to get started making "Andrew's pizza" as he called it. The Play-Doh case of colors we bought didn't have the light brown color so we improvised with an orange crust. He helped make and put on the olives. Then as we were putting on the green peppers, he decided to make and place his own green "parts" onto the pizza. And the portions of Play-Doh we rolled and set aside to make our toppings- Andrew decides he wants to put the big pieces on the pizza. "It's so big!" he told me.

We then moved on to the ice cream cone with sprinkles. Again no light brown, thus an orange cone with mint and strawberry ice cream scoops along with multi-colored sprinkles. Andrew enjoyed adding the sprinkles most of all.

After the ice cream, we decided to make other favorite foods in Play-Doh. I asked him what his favorite food was and he immediately replied- Mac n Cheese! So I made him some. He didn't quite get it, but instead told me he was making me a lollipop. It was an interesting looking lollipop, but he had fun playing with the different colors and attempting to make shapes.

After cleaning up the Play-Doh, it was time for some food. I prepared the ingredients for the pizza. We laid out the English muffins and poured the sauce on together. Then I told him to put on the cheese- as much as he wanted.
He looked really excited to see pizzas his size. These were so easy to make!! We popped them in the oven for 10 minutes and he gobbled them up!

Overall, this is the kind of site that gives great ideas for kid-friendly activities for my tired mommy brain. The snacks are perfect to really make sense of the things we've created with our Play-Doh. Most of all, it gives my 3-year-old a starting point for creative play. After we tried the pizza and ice cream activities, he decided to keep making things related to his favorites. It was also a great way to review and reinforce shapes and colors. I also liked the idea of a themed play event. It helps my son recognize concepts related to one another which is very important for things like understanding stories.

Above all, it was so much fun engaging with my son with such little time and preparation. I would definitely come to this site again the next time me and Andrew have play time!


Disclosure: This post is part of a SocialMoms product evaluation, for which I’ve been selected. I’ve been compensated for my time with 8,000 My SocialMoms Rewards Points. The opinions expressed in this post are mine and don’t necessarily reflect the opinions of SocialMoms or Play-Doh.

Brotherly Love

This will be an interesting thing to watch as these two get older. My Andrew, age 3, is a great big brother. Very loving and kind to his lil bro. But he still demands attention just like any normal toddler with a new sibling. All aside, when I see big brother loving little brother, it makes my heart sigh to know they're going to love each other. Even if loving means hitting, yelling, and sometimes stealing each other's fruit snacks in the coming years. There's nothing like some good brotherly lovin'.

Mommylove Monday

Most days I am bogged down with breastfeeding, toddler potty training, work- 'nuff said, washing bottles, feeding the picky toddler, feeding myself and husband, bathing the children, then sleep- very little sleep. No, it's not all negative. A baby's smile can brighten any weary parent's darkest hour. And today, my toddler did something similar.

I left my two sleeping darlings as I went to work this morning. I don't like leaving the toddler without telling him where I'm going because he seems to feel abandoned. But he was so tired this morning, I had to let him sleep. I closed the front door and as I was walking to the car, I hear a tiny voice come from the house. "Mommyyyy!" sob-sob-sob. I saw my tiny little man standing in the doorway calling me. I usually just wave and let my mom explain where I'm going. But I felt like he needed to know how much I cared to tell him myself. I walked back to the house and opened the door. He had tears streaming down is cheeks sobbing, "You need to go to work?" I told him that yes I was going to work and would be home soon. In the meantime he would play with his Auntie and Grandma until me and his Dad got home. As he calmed down and I reassured him I was coming back, he told me, "OK you go to work. Have a good day." So sweet. I told him I loved him and walked to the car. As I'm reaching the car, I hear that precious little voice yell, "I love you SOOO much!"

My heart melted.

My evening of little sleep and a busy, tiring morning didn't matter. All the typical toddler horrors of potty accidents, yelling fits, and emotional outbursts that occur daily didn't matter. Kids aren't special because of the frustrations they give us. It's all about the unconditional love they show us in the little moments. I was given mommylove this Monday morning and all of a sudden I've forgotten everything negative- just focused on seeing my little man when I come home.