Parenting Children

Our kids miss our dog. She had to be put down last year when she was got so sick there was nothing we could do to help her. My daughter took her death very hard, she still will talk about her and cry.

That is why when she asks for various stuffed dogs or dog toys it doesn’t come as a surprise. What did come as a surprise is what she is asking for now. She would just love this Barbie with Tanner the dog. What could be wrong with that you ask? Well, this dog can be fed by Barbie and then when you lift up his tail he poops.
Poops.

Have no fear, though, because Barbie cleans up with her special magnetic scooper and trashcan!
How Fun!

Seriously, who pitched this at a Mattel meeting?
Who was the one who said “Hey, you know what kids love to do? Walk their dogs and pick up their feces! Let’s make a Barbie with a dog that poops! Kids will LOVE it.”

I guess there is a market for this stupid toy, at least according to my four year old daughter.

Barbie, toys, barbie dolls, stupid toys for kids, girls

Today it is going to be 66 degrees here. It may not sound like much to many of you, but to a NJ girl even with a mild winter, it sounds like heaven to me. It means no heavy coats, no mittens or hats to keep on two kids and it means we can go visit our dear old friend, the park.

What that means is that spring is right around the corner,(hopefully!) and we may get a chance to go away on vacation. In the past all of our vacations have taken us to Florida where E’s parents and one of his sisters live. Florida is great for kids because, well, you all know why.
NJ has terrific beaches and we always frequent those every summer, they have family friendly things to do for kids of all ages.

I am looking for something new, a new destination and a new adventure.
Somewhere that is great for adults as well as my two four year old children.

I am going to have to ask Jill at family trip deals, she has amazing ways to save money on any vacation and the pictures she posts make you want to pack your bags right away!

Where do you go for family vacations? Are there any places you just love for family friendly getaways or events?

vacations, family travel, traveling with kids, vacation with kids, kids, parents, family getaways

This is a simple tip or it may just be common sense. When I go to a park with my kids alone or any public place that will be crowded, I dress my kids in the same color shirts. That way I know I have to scan for “green” or “red” in the crowd and find my kids easily.

moms, parents, kids, children, mom tips

Thank you for all your comments and suggestions on the breast and bottle post. You can see in the comments that she tried a lower flow nipple and now the baby will take the bottle! Yay!

Now she is having another problem very familiar to me, hair loss.

I started losing my hair about 4-5 months after I had the babies. It seemed like the primary goal of my body was to rid itself of every little hair on my head. I had bald spots, like a receding hairline. My hairdresser said if I didn’t have so much hair, I would have been in worse shape then I was in.
I was like a snake shedding its skin. It was everywhere and it was grossing me and my husband out.

We would find it on the kitchen floor, in the shower, on our pillowcases, in the babies cribs, everywhere but my head.

Why couldn’t we lose our underarm hair instead? Or our leg hair?

That would so rock, not only do we have a new baby at home but also, now we freed up some time because we don’t have to shave our legs anymore!
Oh, What I would have done with that free time.

I would have slept.

hair loss, pregnancy, women, mothers, moms, life after baby

I have had the chance to review new cds for my children. Kiddio sent me two adventures of Billy Brown, Billy Brown and the Mystery Package and Billy Brown Goes Hiking.

Originally I thought these stories of Billy and his friend Emma would be great in the car for our frequent long trips, but my kids love listening to them in their play room as they play and listen along. Each episode in the life of Billy Brown is 30 -45 minutes long. Long enough to get dinner ready without interruption! (more…)

My friend has a daughter who is a little over five months old. She has exclusively breast fed her for this entire time. It wasn’t always easy but she stuck it out and I am proud of her for that.

The problem is now, that she cannot leave the baby for more then 2 hours because she is breast fed. Obviously it is not always convenient to take a baby everywhere you go, so she pumps. The baby will not take the bottle. She will cry herself to sleep refusing that bottle and my friend will have to cut her outings short to come home and feed her.

I assume the baby is so used to her breast that she doesn’t want the bottle, and I suggested she try a different nipple or bottle or even a bigger nipple on the bottle so it flows more like her breast. Trial and error are what motherhood is all about anyway right?

What do you think all wise mothers out ther, what do you suggest my friend does to get her daughter to take a bottle?

parenting, breastfeeding, bottlefeeding, weaning, infants, babies, nipple refusal, bottle refusal, mothers, moms

One of my kid’s favorite things to do is go to our children’s museum. We have an annual membership and we like to go at least twice a month. No sooner do we enter and they are off to one of their favorite spots where they have a table set up with plastic rice type substance and sand toys. I decided to do something like that for them at home.
I purchased a low plastic storage bin and put a 5 pound bag of rice in it. Then I filled it with shovels, little buckets and rakes.

They have so much fun and it is like playing with a miniature sandbox when it is too cold to play in the real sandbox outside.

Another activity we like to do is make structures or shapes using raisins and toothpicks. We even make our letters with them. This is a great rainy day activity and will keep them occupied for at least an hour while I am cooking dinner or cleaning up.
Then we eat all of our raisins for easy cleanup!

rainy day activities, activities for kids, kids, preschoolers, SAHM, moms, ideas for kids, toddlers, kid fun

I understand that all labels are not created equal, especially women’s. I know that some retailers have a bigger cut of pants with a smaller size on the label to inflate our ego. I like to see a smaller then usualy number onmy label, but my kids can’t read yet.
So then why are all 2T kids clothes not all the same size?
Why do one brand of 2T pants look like capris on him and another like extra long bell bottoms?

You need to have a good memory when you shop for kids clothes, does this look to small for her? Is she really this long? How old is he again?
The age, weight and even height doesn’t cut it anymore, some things just run so small while others run huge.

The only pants I can buy for my son are from Gymboree or Baby Gap because they have adjustable waists that he needs because he is so thin. Some Old Navy pants have adjustable waists now and I see that they also have a “husky” section.
Target brand(Cherokee) t-shirts run a tiny bit small in our case but for the small price tag, the shirts do last a long, hot summer.
Gymboree to me fits true to size, maybe even a little big. I love gymboree and their clothing is made very well, some have lasted three or four kids in my extended family!
Old Navy pants run small to size for me, especially the girls pants which never seem long enough.
Carters runs true to a little small for size. Although they usually have height and weight chart on their tags so it is easier to find a good fit.
I also love baby gap, they have stylish clothing and their little dresses for girls are always so cute! They seem to run pretty true to size, but I do always buy one size up in t-shirts.

Girls bathing suits also never run true to size for me, I have had to buy at least one size bigger since she was 18 months. What is that about?

What do you think? Why are all kids clothes not created equal? What are the best brands to stay true to size?

children, babies, infants, kids, clothing, kids clothes, kids sizing, childrens clothing, moms, Gap, Old Navy, Gymboree, Target

About 12 percent of women (7.3 million) in the United States aged 15-44 had difficulty getting pregnant or carrying a baby to term in 2002, according to the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Infertility is defined as not being able to get pregnant after at least one year of trying or who are able to get pregnant but have multiple miscarriages.
Some of the things that increase a couples chances of infertility are:
age
smoking
STDs
stress
over or underweight

Ovulatory infertility which is the inability to produce viable eggs, is a common cause of infertility in women. But a new study shows that iron supplements can help.

Researchers followed 18,000 registered nurses, ages 24 to 42, who never had a history of infertility. Their findings showed that nearly 4 percent of women who try to conceive will experience some form of ovulatory infertility. Taking iron supplements prior to and during attempts to conceive can reduce that risk by 40 to 60 percent.
They found that women who took larger doses of iron (more than 41 milligrams a day) were 62 percent less likely to have difficulty with ovulation.

I was told to take a regular women’s vitamin when I decided to try to have a baby but I know many of my friend’s doctors have put them on prenatal vitamins. You would assume a prenatal vitaman would have enough of everything that your body needs to carry a baby but they do vary quite a bit so check the label and if you are concerned you are not getting enough iron, check with your doctor.

infertility, iron supplements, prenatal vitamins, pregnancy, conceiving, trying to conceive, prenatal care

One of the best things about being pregnant is the ultrasound. A tiny glimpse into the miracle that is your baby. Growing every day and changing, little buds that turn into feet and hands, sucking their little thumbs, floating in their protective sacks.

Since I had twins, I had more ultrasounds then the singleton pregnancy and for that I was happy. When I was pregnant the ultrasound “boutiques” started to become popular. You know, where you go in and for $300 you can have some 3D ultrasounds of your baby?
Of course I can understand wanting to see your baby’s development and growth and who he looks like but to me ultrasounds were always for medical diagnosis and not to be done for fun.

How do you feel about souvenir videos or photographs of your unborn baby? Do you think it is safe enough to do?

ultrasounds, sonograms, 3d ultrasounds, pregnancy, babies, pregnant