Freebies for Beechnut, Bath and Body Works, Centrum, and More!

Everybody loves a good freebie! What could be nicer than a little something that you can try for free? It’s a great way to see if you like a particular product before you invest any money into it. Freebies are fun. This time, I found freebies for baby food, a mousepad, a photo with Santa, and more! Beechnut is giving away a free Beech-Net Stage 4/Stage 5 Toddler Welcome Kit. To get this freebie, you need to sign up for their free monthly eNewsletter. Fill out the form on their website. This is being offered “while supplies last”. Nature’s Formula … Continue reading

Three Simple Rules for Anyone Attending a Birth

 This post is dedicated to all of the fathers, partners, husbands, and others who will be attending births in the near future. While we, the pregnant women, appreciate your willingness and desire to be present at the births of our children, we do respectfully request that you follow a few ground rules during your participation in this important event. Here are a few suggestions to keep in mind when the time comes. Rule number one. Everything changes once those contractions start coming. It does not matter what I said last month, last week, yesterday, or even this morning. It does … Continue reading

Life Goes On With Toddler And Baby

I am not sure what I expected life with a baby and a toddler would be like. In fact, I am pretty sure that I did not have any expectations. For some reason, I simply did not think about what it would be like until Blake came along. In hindsight it is probably best that I did not have any preexisting expectations because they may have been completely different than what has actually transpired during the past seven months. The first couple of months were a blur, as things normally are after the arrival of a new baby. Time passed, … Continue reading

Easy Tasty Healthy Toddler Snacks

Sometimes it can be hard to get toddlers to eat anything, let alone things that are good for their growing minds and bodies. They are busy little people who often prefer to remain engrossed in whatever activity they happen to be engrossed in at the time instead of sitting down and clearing a plate of whatever nutritious meal you have just lovingly prepared for them. Fortunately, hunger does eventually overcome the excitement of play and your little one is likely to rush to your side and demand to be fed. Right. Now. With a little advance planning, you can make … Continue reading

Every Day Is Different

Sometimes it can be very difficult to try to figure out what contributes to whether it is going to be a good day or a challenging day around here. We have both good and tough days when we stay home most, if not all of the day. We also have both excellent days when we are on the go all day long and very difficult times when we are out and about. It is entirely possible that there is no rhyme or reason to it, so perhaps I should just stop trying to figure it out and simply let the … Continue reading

Feeding Your Toddler – What We’re Eating Now

One common dilemma faced by the parents of toddlers is getting them to stop playing and exploring for long enough to refuel their bodies with nutritious foods. Exactly how to do that is up to you. What we eat at our house and how we eat it may be different than in your home. What is most important is that we as parents offer our toddlers plenty of opportunities to eat nutritious foods throughout their day. In the morning, Dylan wakes up hungry. We all wake up at about the same time, so we head out to the kitchen. He … Continue reading

Do You Allow Your Kids to Watch TV News?

After reporting and anchoring local TV news for more than decade, I never considered tuning out the events of the day after giving birth. I’ve watched the evening news religiously since I was in high school and never dreamed there would come a day when I would be forced to wean myself from my 6 o’clock fix. However, that day has come. A few weeks ago, I was in the kitchen making dinner with the TV news on in the background when my 7-year-old came waltzing in. Typically, she’ll sit on a stool at the counter and try to snag … Continue reading

Anniversaries and Date Nights Part II

My husband and I are really horrible at taking the time to spend time together as a couple. The predominant rationalization that we make is that the cost involved with going on dates is too prohibitive. Getting a sitter, going to a moving, or going to a restaurant seem to be very cost prohibitive for our budget. It is especially hard for me to justifying eating out when we can make much higher quality and healthier foods (that in my opinion tastes much better) for a fraction of the cost than we can get at any of our local dining … Continue reading

Taking Time To Connect

When you are the parent of an infant and a toddler, you may sometimes feel like your toddler does not get enough one on one time with you. For that matter, you may also wonder whether your infant notices that he does not get much one on one time with you and how he might feel about that. I know that I have struggled with these feelings since Blake was born a couple of months ago. Over the past couple of weeks, I have developed a strategy for spending some “alone” time with each of the boys while I am … Continue reading

Understanding Morning Sickness

If you are experiencing morning sickness (or afternoon sickness, evening sickness, or even all day sickness) as part of your pregnancy you may be wondering why. You may also be wondering who it happens to, when it will end, and whether there is anything you can do about it. Here are a few basics to help you understand and cope with the mystery that is morning sickness. Why do pregnant women get morning sickness? There is no definitive answer to this question, but it has been studied and a number of possible causes have been identified. The hormonal changes of … Continue reading