MOVING?? Already?!

Yes. I was advised by a good friend that Wordpress may be the better home for my blog. So before I get to hot and heavy here.... I jumped ship. Not to worry, everything has already been moved over.... so follow me here:

http://mommyneurotic.wordpress.com/

Toddler Eating: How kids should REALLY eat Mac N Cheese

If a kid has always eaten Mac N' Cheese this way, then how would they ever know the difference? That means, when we go out and about and they have the regular ol' plain Mac, then THAT is what's out of the norm - not how we eat it at home.

At home, I add organic: tofu, spinach and broccoli.  This is how my kids eat Mac N Cheese and chow it down. Honestly, I don't care how you like to prep your Mac (whether it be from scratch or from the box), but I think by just simply adding a few extra ingredients, you can make what really isn't the best toddler meal, turn into a much healthier entree. For the veggies, I heat up from frozen chopped spinach and cut up broccoli florets.

Sometimes, when I have time, I'll add organic shredded cheese and bread crumbs on top and pop it in the oven to get it nice and crispy. hmmmmm yummy breaded bake! 

 When I reach for the box, I'm usually reaching for Annie's Homegrown. Original, shells, shapes - my kids eat it all.

I love the Organic Sprouted Tofu from Trader Joes, especially because it comes in a smaller packaging. I usually just dice them into meals for the kids, so the typical larger packaging of Tofu seems like a waste. I just slice them and then put them into a tupperware container with fresh water. Then just dice slices as I need them throughout the week. Just be sure to change the water every 1-2 days!

Preparing the Baby Chef hat

So the baby is 5 months old... time to switch over to babyfood mode! On the first round of each fruit or vegetable, I did use store-bought food (Earth's Best brand mostly). Once they got an initial taste of all the basics, then I started to incorporate some homemade babyfood by yours truly.

              

I headed to Costco and got myself a Magic Bullet. Don't be fooled by all those other fancy contraptions with names that include the word "baby". It's basically a magic bullet with a higher price tag. In my opinon, any food processor would do. I also already had a small rice cooker that had a steamer basket part to it, so that's what I used to steam prior to pureeing.

I had picked up a cookbook on babyfood once, but with all the resources online, I never really did anything out of it. My favorite web source came from Momtastic's Wholesome Babyfood.  I loved clicking on the individual fruits and veggies to read up on how to best cook them and at the bottom of each page was a list of other food items that would blend well together. This was key to creating new blends of multiple foods and giving the baby some variety.

They say its cheaper to make your own babyfood. I never really kept track of the money spent/saved, but I did like the thought of knowing exactly what was going into my baby's belly. Not only that, homemade babyfood tastes like real food. Haven't you ever tasted that stuff that comes from the jar? I mean, how many pink bananas do you know of?

On another note, prior to the babyfood "pouches" such as the ones from Plum Organics, there was no way you were going to find zucchini or beets in a babyfood jar! Nor are you still going to be able to find avocado on the shelf. The only way to expose your kiddo on that one is to give it to them fresh! Yum!

I did weekly trips to buy organic food items, steam, puree, and store (some in fridge to eat and some in freezer for back-up meals). I reused the little jars from the store-bought food (which I still used when I had to feed the baby outside of the house when we are out). To make it all orderly, you can make chalkboard lids and easily keep the jars labeled! I totally didn't know of this idea until after Pinterest was born, but this would have been perfect back in my babyfood making days:

On a final note, I must be honest about one thing: I don't cook. It is not my thing. You know how you can just watch some people cook, and you can see the enjoyment and passion in in what they are doing? Yeah... that's not me. Cooking actually makes me angry almost. Like a chore. Baking I like. But general cooking, not so much. Although Pinterest has certainly sparked more enjoyment in it these days, don't go signing me up for Top Chef. 

The Play Area - Containing the Kiddie Tornado

Anyone who is a parent knows that once you have children... the little people slowly take over the household. So in preparation of my daughter getting mobile, we needed to set up a play area. Unfortunately, we don't have the luxury of a separate entire playroom, so a designated play area would have to do.

So many to pick from! After hours of research, I went for the one from www.onestepahead.com
This one had the most reviews at the time (211 reviews at 4 1/2 stars). It was also the thickest on the market: 5/8" thick. The tiles are 12x12.... so I got the 26 letters, 10 numbers and the borders. (Note, I ended up never even using the borders and corners so in my opinion, you can totally do without.) When the mats arrived, I was definitely impressed with the quality of them. They were definitely thick and not cheap feeling. They didn't feel like plastic either. It was quality foam. 
It was interesting because I had a cousin to went and got a similar type of mat at Walmart and she said it wasn't even a year before it started falling apart and she had wished she went for the one I suggested from the get-go. Sometimes, when I'm at other houses with playmats, I scope them out and I still haven't found anything that compares to the quality of the One Step Ahead ones.

Update: I'm still in love with these mats. 4 years later, and they have held up really well. I did end up buying another set last year (after 3 years of use - but only because the Red mats started to peel a little. Probably because it was cleaned regularly? And oddly, it was only the red ones.) In any case, since it had already been 3 years, It wasn't a big deal for me to buy another set of letters and kind of freshen up the play area anyways. I ended up tossing the old red ones and using the remaining of the old set at my mom's house for when my kids were playing over there. 

For the surrounding gate, we went for the NorthStates Metal Superyard. Best price we found was on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/North-States-Superyard-Metal-Gate/dp/B000U5FOT2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374686074&sr=8-1&keywords=northgate+superyard 

We had to get two sets in order to make the play area size that we wanted. But it does give access via two doors. There is a plastic version as well from same company, but I wanted something more sturdy. When the kids were younger, I just tied two crib bumpers around the bottom of the play area. Yes, the kids have bumped into the gate before, but never a crazy injury with the fact that it was metal.

TA-DA! Here it is. Our 6x6ft play area. Don't mind the iMac box along the back. We have a bookshelf there, and wanted to keep the kids from messing with things back there. I do miss seeing my things on the bookshelf, but I'd rather have my kids and all their toys contained.

 

For the most part, the kid toys have always been housed in the play area and we started them playing in there starting around 6-8 months when they are starting to crawl around. I believe that because they have always had that area and spent time playing in there (both with people and independently), there has no been problem as they got older with them still playing in there. To this day, on the mornings when I am home with them, they are able to play together in there for a good hour while I get some work done on the computer. I expect that since K just turned 2, that this play area will still be around for another 1-2 years before we transition to school-aged study area (which I can't wait to design the look of - I better start Pinning!)

My nanny and my mom typically tidy up the play area, but of course the tornado hits and its a mess all over the place. However - the good news is that its contained IN THE PLAY AREA. Whew. The mess sometimes overspills outside when they throw things, but we always have clean up time (having the kids toss the toys back into the play area) when they are ready to play outside that area. 

 BEFORE (all nice and tidy)                                      AFTER (the kiddie tornado)

The kid "stuff" has definitely expanded into the living room over the past couple years, but the majority of the toys and the designated play area is still as pictured above. I feel that it still keeps the house as manageable as possible considering the circumstances, while most importantly maintaining my sanity.

For those restless teething nights....

I can only imagine what it must feel like to have beautiful empty gums... and then BAM! - Teeth start sprouting up. Yikes. The thought of something sharp emerging through the gums, breaking through and then the even wider part pushing up.... how painful is that?!

So I guess we shouldn't blame our little ones for keeping us up at night during those teething pains... However, we can try to best arm ourselves to maintain our own sanity and rest right?

I was fortunate with V, she went through teething like a champ up until her bigger molars came in at 2yrs old. Back then, I used Orajel teething gel with her... which honestly, I don't think did much compared to the products I used during round 2 with baby K.

Fast forward a couple years, and add a baby that had a harder time with teething. I was definitely on the hunt for something that worked! This time I used Hyland's Teething Tablets. Worked great and I loved that it was natural. Fortunately, by time I needed them, new ones were out on the shelf (they had a short recall). I also went browsing online and came across something that I liked even better!! Natrabio Teething Drops! Godsend! Everytime K woke up at all in the middle of the night, it was so easy to reach for the bottle and put a drop in his mouth. I swear that most of the time, he just laid back down and went to sleep. There were times that he might not have even been teething, when I gave him a drop and he just laid right back down again! I don't know... but it had this amazing instant soothing effect.

My first choice was to reach for the drops, but there were some nights tougher than others, and I would alternate between the tablets and the drops. 

Both the Hylands and Natrabio I purchased mostly from www.drugstore.com When they had a "green & natural" sale - it was 30% off, so I stocked up... plus accessed the site through www.ebates.com first to get an additional 5-12% cashback. whoooohoooo. 

During the daytime, it was much more tolerable and I'd keep my kids busy chomping on teething toys. Both my kids loved the ones that were ice cold (particularly the Munchkin one shaped like a hand - probably because the fingers were small to chomp on).

My lil' man turns TWO!

*sniff* Where has the time gone? Oh, wait. I know. It was spent the last two years pumping, logging, training, diaper changing... the list goes on.

But... today - yes! Today! My lil' man turns TWO! And I can't help but feel a huge sigh of relief. Like I have reached the light at the end of a looooong infant-stage tunnel. It feels spectacular. *pats self on back* At 2 years old, my son is already potty trained and stringing some pretty impressive sentences together. Yeeehawww. Since this is my last "baby".... I'm ready to conquer the next chapter of parenthood and no looking back this time!

I couldn't help but wonder why I was in such a rush and felt such a huge relief to get to this milestone? Perhaps its because I went through it with my daughter first... so having to do a complete repeat again wasn't the most appealing thing in the world. I'm not saying that I didn't enjoy any of it! I'm just saying that I knew it was something I had to go through again, and in all honesty, I probably tried to get through it as quickly as possible. If you are not the first time mom, then you can probably relate to some of these feelings. I wonder how much these feelings range depending on the age gap between kids? Nonetheless, the feelings are valid and most likely normal for any mom of 2+ kids.

At every age of the child, there are certainly challenges for the parent. But I gotta say, the first year is the hardest. Followed by the second year.

I'm very much looking forward now to this next year with my lil' man. My daughter will be in preschool in the mornings all week, so I'll have tons of one-on-one time with him. Now that he is talking and asking so many questions about things (and we got the potty training down), its going to be fun taking him out more to hang out and run errands or do whatever. I have the opportunity to work more, but decided to keep the hours low so that I have this full year of extra time with him before he starts a little bit of preschool himself next year. I feel like a load has been lifted off my shoulders as we reached this milestone, so time is going to start to fly by a little bit faster now.

Hullaba-who?

Am I the only person who didn't know what Hullabaloo was? Oops. Yes. I am THAT parent. And yes. I only play EDM from SiriusXM in the car. Whoops.

Turns out Hullabaloo is a nice twist on all the timeless children's songs we remember. Steve Denyes was performing today at a local library that we were at this morning. Talented musician and yes, I would have to say that the songs were entertaining for the parent as well. The last song of the performance was "You are my sunshine", which was great because it is my lil' man's favorite. I only had the lil guy with me and he was kind of half into it - more so observing everything that was going on rather than clapping his hands and singing or dancing along. I think had my 4-yr-old been there, she would have thoroughly enjoyed it because she knows more of the songs and loves to sing. Fortunately, we were there early and got some front row seats because man it was PACKED by the time it started!


Hullabaloo performs all around town all the time, so perhaps I'll take my daughter to catch a showing sometime.

http://www.hullabalooband.com/calendar/

Sample Feeding Schedules

I remember when I was a new mom, I was combing the Internet just for sample daily schedules and to see what other moms were doing. What's the norm? IS there a norm? Ok, then what times does the average kid nap and eat? I had stumbled across a forum once where a bunch of moms had shared what their child's daily feeding and napping looked like. It was a huge help for me to gauge how I wanted my kids' days to be. So for anyone in search of just an idea for your own planning... here it is:  (this might be helpful to view along with the sample daily spreadsheets that I will post at a later time). *Note: This was originally the feeding schedule my daughter was on - whom I had frozen less BM for so you will see an introduction of formula at 6 months. For my son, it was generally the same schedule, but formula was introduced much later. For both kids, I did use the formula to mix with the cereal every morning.

First 2 weeks: pure boob every 3 hours.

1 month old: 1 boob feeding + 7 bottles BM (3 oz each)

6 weeks old: 7 bottles BM (4 oz each = 28 daily) about every 3 hours after full nights sleep

8 weeks old: 6 bottles BM (4.5x2 and 4oz x4) = 25oz

3 months old: 5 bottles BM (5 oz each) = 25oz at 7am, 1p, 4p, 7p, 10p

4 months old: 4 bottles BM (6oz each = 24 oz daily) at 8am, 1pm, 430p, 830p

5 months old: 4 bottles BM – introduce solids … start with one feeding of cereal at feeding #3… then after 3 weeks, start 2 feedings a day (Feeding #1 and #3) 
8am 2tbs cereal mixed with Formula + 4oz bottle BM 
12pm 6 oz bottle BM 
4pm 2.5 oz jar of Stage 1 (new food every 3-4 days) + 6oz bottle of BM
8pm 6 oz bottle BM.   
Note: order of introducing food {rice cereal, oatmeal, carrots, squash, sweet potato, peas, green beans}

6 months old: 4 bottles (Introduce more Formula) Start eating solids 3 times a day.  Introduce Sippy cup and water. 
8am 2tbs cereal (alternated between rice and oatmeal) mixed with Formula + 4oz bottle BM
12pm 3oz New food item + 4 oz bottle BM
4pm 4oz bottle of BM+ 2oz of Formula separately
6:30pm 3oz Veggie + some Water in cup
8pm 4 oz bottle BM+ 2oz of Formula separately.
{continued with apples, pears, bananas, zucchini, avocado, different kinds of squash, peaches}

7 month old: 4 bottles (total daily 16 BM + 6 formula to supplement – we used Enfamil) Started Baby Mum-mums rice rusks and shortly after that the little puffs (preferably Plum Organics). Try to drink at least 2oz water a day. 
8am 2tbs cereal mixed with Formula – mixed further with 1oz fruit + 4oz bottle BM
12pm 4oz mixed fruit/sometimes with veggie + 4 oz bottle BM
4pm 4oz bottle of BM+ 2oz of Formula separately
6:30pm 3.5oz Veggie + some Water in cup
8pm 4 oz bottle BM+ 2oz of Formula separately.
{New foods included Strawberry (mixed in store-bought), more kinds of squash, spaghetti squash, broccoli, edamame, granola (in store-bought)}

8 month old: 4 bottles (total daily 16 BM + 6 formula to supplement) Starting finger foods at the table (Butternut Squash, banana, ). 
8am 2tbs cereal mixed with Formula – mixed further with 1oz fruit + 4oz bottle BM
12pm 4oz mixed fruit/sometimes with veggie + 4 oz bottle BM
4pm 4oz bottle of BM+ 2oz of Formula separately 
6:30pm 3.5oz Veggie + some Water in cup
8pm 4 oz bottle BM+ 2oz of Formula separately.   
{New foods included: Cherry, Blueberry, Apricot (mixed in store-bought), eggplant, orca,   
**My daughter finished Frozen boob juice reserves right at 9 months. *sniff* My son took it to 11months.

9 months: 4 Bottles (Total Daily 22oz Formula Enfamil). Continue with Finger foods. Start Meats, Yogurt, Cheese. Increase food intake. 
8am 2tbs cereal mixed with Formula – mixed further with 2oz fruit + 4oz bottle Formula
12pm 4oz Food + 4 oz bottle Formula
4pm 6oz bottle of Formula 
6:00pm 4.5oz – 6oz Food + some Water in cup
8pm 6 oz bottle Formula.   
{New foods included: Chicken, Ground Turkey, Yogurt, Pineapple (store-bought), broccoli, cauliflower , firm tofu, white potato, corn (store-bought), kiwi, cheddar cheese - Good Finger foods: boiled carrots/potatoes,  Firm tofu,

**tried to give her a spoon a couple of times but it got very messy and we are a little lazy as well. hehe

10 months: 4 Bottles (Total Daily 22oz Formula Enfamil). Continue with Finger foods. Trying to give her larger finger food pieces so that she can learn to take appropriate sized bites.  Increase to chunkier solids. 8am 2tbs cereal mixed with Formula – mixed further with 2oz fruit + 4oz bottle Formula 
12pm 4oz Food + 4 oz bottle Formula
**frequently given a 2pm snack: 4oz YoBaby or some fruit and cheese
4pm 6oz bottle of Formula 
6:00pm 4.5oz – 6oz Food + some Water in cup
8pm 6 oz bottle Formula.   
{New foods included: Fish,  egg yolk, quinoa, wheat pasta, pastini, papaya, mozzarella cheese, Tomato  – Good finger foods: scrambled egg yolk, small pieces of cheese, shredded cheese, small pieces of tofu veggie burger pattie, Very thin slices of fresh apple.

**allowed her to take her own bites fresh from a banana… still stuffing her mouth but chewing real well.

11 and 12 months: 4 Bottles (Total Daily 22oz Formula Enfamil). Continue with Finger foods.  Increase to semi-chunkier solids. Start to introduce in Whole milk 
8am 2tbs cereal mixed with milk – mixed further with 2oz fruit + 4oz bottle Formula 
12pm 4oz Food + 4 oz bottle Formula
2pm snack: 4oz YoBaby or some fruit and cheese+Water
4pm 6oz bottle of Formula 
6:00pm 4.5oz – 6oz Food + some Milk in cup
8pm 6 oz bottle Formula.  

12.5 & 13 months: 4 Bottles (Total Daily 20 oz Formula Enfamil and Organic Whole Milk). Continue with Finger foods.  Chunky solids. Try to use more table foods.  Start to wean in Whole milk (bottles mixed with ¼ whole milk…then the next week increase to ½ whole milk… ) 
8am 3tbs cereal mixed with Milk – mixed further with 2.5oz fruit + 4oz bottle 
12pm 6oz Food + 4 oz bottle 
2pm snack: 4oz YoBaby or some fruit and cheese, etc + Water
4pm 4oz bottle 
6:00pm 6oz Food + some Milk or Water in cup
8pm 6 oz bottle. 
{New Foods: Fresh grapes cut into quarters, fresh apricot, Corn, more seasoning in her food, 

At this time... the routine was pretty set and stayed the same for most of the next year.... until:

For my daughter - 21 months – transition to ONLY table foods and reduced milk to two cups a day of 8oz each (9am and 3pm- after nap).She took a long time to take to all table foods. She continued to eat the super chunky baby food (almost like what would be a Stage 4 or 5 baby food) and I didn't mind making it for her because I was buying all organic and I knew what was going into her food. Plus it assured she was getting her veggies in! 

For my son - 15 months - he was an eating machine, so he was on to table foods much sooner. He still ate the baby food I made him here and there when I was too lazy to think of a toddler meal, but for the most part, this guy ate everything. I didn't transition him to the two 8oz cups of milk  until he was 22 months - which at that point, I was getting ready to potty train him anyways, so needed to keep that milk away from  nap and bed time. 

Now... here we are... my son 2 yrs old this week, and my daughter 4... we've come a looooong ways!
8am - Breakfast - usually oatmeal type breakfast mixed w/ fruit (puree or diced) and sometimes organic granola mix. This is followed by 8oz cup of milk (Organic Horizon DHA 2%)
11am - Lunch - 
4pm - 8oz cup of milk
5pm - Yogurt (sometimes cheese or other snack) My son eats YoBaby and my daughter eats Activia
6:30pm - Dinner
8pm - My kids think those Babyfood puree pouches are a "snack/treat" - so if they are still hungry... they eat one of these. I like them because I buy the organic ones that always have some sort of veggie mixed in.

Gear & Registry: The stuff you REALLY need

Things we absolutely needed and used during the first couple months: (NOTE: Both my kids were practically summer babies - so this would vary for a winter one....)

~ Originally written in 2010. I've added some updates below as well.

Diapers & Wipes

See Post on Diapers here: http://mommyneurotic.blogspot.com/2013/07/here-it-is-infamous-diaper-count.html

Clothes *note that we opted to not take the baby out a whole lot during the first three months... so we didn't have a huge need for clothes - they grow out of clothes fast anyways)

*I LOVED the gowns. We had 6 pairs of gowns (they have the built in mittens) - we opted to use the gowns because they had the built in fold over mittens which were easier to use....and it was easy to access her diaper for changes. and when her legs were cold, we would just pull the gown down over her feet. its pretty much ALL she wore at home for 2 months. When it was cold, we either put socks on her… or kept her in her swaddler.

*in all honesty, I only used One onesie... like once! and that was just to go to a doctor appt that first month, by her 2 month appt, she was wearing more of a romper outfit, but as you can see… she really didn’t have much use for clothes.

* we did have one sleeper that we used to bring her home in... and also wore out once...

*after two months... all she has been wearing at home is her diaper and the Carters side-snap t-shirts (comes in a five-pack). LOVE the side snap T-shirts!!!  Carters also sells these three-piece set things that include a short sleep side snap shirt+long sleeve side snap shirt+footed pants for like $10

*you will probably need just one pack of little bootie/socks (especially for a winter baby)

*3 pairs of mittens to keep from scratching

*3 beanies

Toiletry type stuff

*Shampoo and Bath wash (I preferred the Mustela Newborn Foam Shampoo and 2-in1 hair and body wash…. Aveeno Baby is also highly recommended)

*Lotion: Aveeno Baby Daily moisture lotion… And Aquaphor!

*Powder: Johnson’s CORN STARCH powder…. We didn’t use it the first 3 months, but then it started to get really hot because of summer, so we were using it to keep her dry in her body creases (armpit, behind knees, etc)… I also started to use it in her nighttime diaper since she was sleeping longer hours.

*Swisspers Supreme Cotton Pads are great for wiping baby’s face. Very soft, I liked it better than ever using a towel.

*2 hooded towels

*8 Washcloths at least

*the Johnson's baby cotton swabs… I did use, but only to clean the outer part of her ear lobe… never actually stuck it in her ear.

*when you are at the hospital – Ask them for a nasal Aspirator! Then just take it home with you. You can also ask for a thermometer. Hehehe.

*one bath tub of your preference (I got the First Years Infant to Toddler tub on craigslist for like $5)

*bath thermometer (if you feel you need one)… I got the Aquatopia one on Amazon.com $14 – shaped like a turtle… love it!

*Grooming kit (with nail clippers, nail file) - honestly, you can probably find this at Ross or Marshalls for better prices.

*Destitin Diaper Rash Cream

*Diaper Genie – we got the Diaper Genie II Elite. Love it. Ended up getting a second one on Craigslist to have downstairs as well ($15). One of our friends really likes the Diaper Champ… but I guess its all down to preference…. Whatever one you want, you can definitely find on Craigslist. I’d get the diaper thing on Craigslist and just register for the refill bags!

Feeding

*3 bottles. I only rotated out between 3 bottles throughout the day. But if you don’t want to keep washing throughout the day and want to wait until the end of day to wash everything… then you’d probably need about 8 bottles. The main bottle we used in the first 6-9  months was the First Years BREASTFLOW. Love it. Shaped like a boob and my kids took to it well. I did buy 6 of these bottles, but I wash regularly, so I only use 3. BUT… I have gone through an extra set of nipples on them… so get extra nipples… stage 1 (0-3 months) and stage 2 (3+ months). In the latter months and up until getting off the bottle, I switched to the Playtex Drop-ins... mostly for convenience.

*Lots of bottle brushes to stock up – because you will probably want to change it out every month or other month. I use the First Years double scrubber. I found that the brush part of the head wasn't as stiff so it didn't feel like I was scratching the inside of the nipple.

*Babyganics Foaming dishwashing soap – its not as concentrated as what we use on our own stuff. This is more for preference.

*Burp cloths – At home we just used the Gerber Cloth Diapers (they are just the plain white ones that come in a 12 pack… they work great)… but I did buy a set of some nice ones for when we are out. hehehe… but at home, those plain white ones work just fine!

*Bibs - any of the regular cloth ones work find for milk, etc... but once on table foods, I was all about the Bumkins!!

*Drying Rack – I got the First Years Spinning drying rack. Cheapest at Target ($12.99) unless you find one on Craigslist.

*Bottle Warmer – I just got it on Craigslist because its cheaper and I hear they don’t last very long to begin with.. often breaking down. Right now I’m using the Avent Express bottle warmer (found it for $10 on Craigslist). Works just fine, but then again, we only put the bottle in there just to bring the milk to cool temperature (from being cold)…  My kids never had fully “warm” milk unless its freshly pumped stuff at body temperature. If you keep the baby used to cool milk, it will probably make life easier when you start taking baby out and about.

Gear

*Car seat – This is where it gets tricky because you will need to decide if you want the whole Graco type travel system (the one with the carrying seat) or not. We personally opted to NOT get that type of seat because we knew that the baby was not really going to go anywhere the first couple of months, and once she did start going out.. she would be TOO HEAVY to carry in that thing! Imagine the 10lb seat plus 15lb baby carried by a small mother?!? Anyhow… so we went for the Convertible car seat. We got the First Years True Fit Convertible Car Seat (Update: We still have this seat 4 years later.... used it for my daughter and then once I switched her over to the Britax Frontier 85, then my son was using it. Car seats have about a 5 year lifespan so I got my money's worth!)

*Stroller – Since we did not get a travel system, we got a stroller that was able to suit 5lbs-55lbs. we opted for a 3-wheeled jogger type stroller for better maneuvering. The one we got was the Baby Jogger City Mini. LOVE IT! (Update: Still have the same Baby Jogger City Mini and STILL LOVE IT!) Have since also gotten the Maclaren umbrella for travel and I found the Zooper Double stroller on Craigslist for $65 which I am quite happy with when I lug the kids to amusement parks, etc. My biggest concerns when shopping for strollers: full recline of seats for napping, large coverage of the canopy shade, and ease for collapsing and opening.

*Pack and Play – love it… we used the changing table feature all the time and she used to nap in the bassinet area…

*Ring-Sling … a sling is great for carrying the baby and we used it to take her to her dr’s appts since we didn’t get a baby carrier car seat)… LOVE IT! She loved being cradled in it the first couple of months… and as they get older, there are other ways to carry them in it.

*Baby Carrier – We just started using this now that she is older. Whatever you pick… just make sure the shoulder area is well padded! Best to go try them on at the store. We ended up getting the Chicco Deluxe You & Me…

*Crib – we got a hand-me-down… but haven’t quite used it yet because She sleeps in our room in a co-sleeper. I LOVE THE CO-SLEEPER! Check it out… Arm’s Reach Co-sleeper. Keeps them right next to you, yet in their own sleeping area. Got ours on Craigslist for $100 near brand new. Just buy an extra sheet! (Update: We still have the Co-sleeper and I still LOVE it. My daughter slept in it in our room for 2 years... and now my son has been in it for 2 years as well.)

*Changing pad - used once baby was too big for the changing area on the Pack N Play

*High-Chair  -  Fisher-Price Space Saver. Still using it with our oldest - going on 4 years. Bought a second for my son! If you get one on Craigstlist... then just buy a new cover. 

Toys *Whatever you get in this area is of course optional… not truly a necessity… however, I do have some recommendations on things that we are glad we got!

*Play mat – this is great because its colorful, gives baby a place to lay down and look at things above her… most flip down so they can enjoy tummy time too. The one we got was Tiny Love Monkey Island… But it seems they don’t really enjoy it until around 3 months when they start to focus more on things visually.

*Swing – LOVE the swing! She totally loved rocking in it and would keep her entertained. We got both the large one and the travel one on Craigslist! Both under $45! We got the Fisher Price Aquarium ones… seems like for the large swing, they are all good.. but for the travel one… the best one is the Aquarium (or similar build) because of the way the swing arms are. The other models are not good because babies get caught in it. Remember to sell it back on Craigslist when you are done! I basically got a $5 rental out of mine for two kids!

*Bouncer chair – I liked having this just to switch things up for her and give her different scenery for entertainment. Anyone of them will do.

*Bumbo chair – We just started to put her in this… because they have to be able to hold up their head… got mine on Craigslist for $10!! (Update - This one didn't last long, probably because my daughter was too chunky to sit in it... ended up selling it back on Craigslist quickly. Didn't bother getting one for my son)

*Jumperoo- Got the Rainforest one on Craigslist for $40!! Used them through both kids and sold it back for $35. whoooo. Let me just say.. the kids LOVE the jumper. Definitely need one of these.

*Mobile – is great once baby can focus on stuff. Keeps them entertained for quite some time! We got the Tiny Love Symphony-in-motion….. love the colors and the classic music on it. BUT if you are not putting the baby in a regular crib… then it will NOT have anything to hook on to… so what we did was we rigged it – attached it to the swinging doggy gate we have at home since it has the same type of bars and leaned it up against the couch or pack N Play… so now the mobile hangs over her area as normal.

Other stuff:

*Dreft – we got 3 of them from our baby shower… so my plan is to use all three up.. and then after that start washing all the household laundry in a Free and Clear detergent so that we can start washing baby stuff with everyone else’s. My friend recommended Purex Free and Clear…. But these days, all brands have a free and clear version.

*Kiddapotamus Swaddleme Blankets. We had two of them and used it a LOT during the first 3 months. Helped her sleep well and keep her arms in. Felt like she was in the womb I guess. I had 2 in size small… and later got 2 more in size large. The reason for the doubles is for washing purposes… so I’m not doing laundry all the time!

*Sleep Sacks:  HALO sack. Loved these better than using blankets with the baby - safer for them too. Got one fleece one and one cotton. The fleece one is nice and keeps her pretty warm as it gets chilly at night. (Update: as the kids got older, I transitioned them to the Halo Toddler sized ones where feet can stick out for walkers. Loved them all!)

*Kiddapotamus Snuzzler – we had two of them… one in the car seat and one in the stroller. Didn’t use the one in the car seat very long… couple months before they get bigger and fit better in the car seat. The one we used in stroller got more use.

My mini ball & chain

Ever try to get stuff done, and then you look down only to have your kid clinging to your leg like a ball and chain? Or is it more like the static cling on your skirt that you can't get rid of?

Yup. That was me yesterday. I don't know what it is... but when mommy gets home... some sort of switch gets flipped and all of the sudden, the clingy, whiney, cry babies come out. My nanny says they are never like that with her in the afternoons. But I got home from work at 4pm, just as they were both getting up from nap and BAM! - cue the ball and chain.

Slowly you see my nanny and my mom make a run for the front door. Leaving me to sit there as the two kids are tugging on both sides of me. Seriously, they were fighting with each other about who could lay on mommy's chest.... and for some reason couldn't manage to both take a half and call it a day. Instead they bickered at who was in a more comfortable position. Really?

I found myself just laying there, staring off into the room.... kinda lifeless.... turning myself in a human beanbag for them to fight over cuddling with. *sigh*

Not sure why they were so clingy yesterday. Shorted nap? Missed me from being at work for my oh-so-long 4 hour shift? I don't know. Maybe they were used to hanging out with me all day every day over the recent 4-day holiday weekend. Whatever it was... it was annoying. Yup. Annoying. I said it. I love my kids, but really - loosen up the chain. Work seemed like a more appealing place to be at that moment.

I had to create a label for entries like this because as any mother... well, any human in fact, will have their moments where they just need to gripe. I only hope that the entries in this area are few and the amazingly wonderful parenting entries are plenty.

Here it is! The infamous DIAPER COUNT!

Outside of the breast pumping stuff, this is probably my second most requested info: The Diaper Count.

Now of course, this totally varies with every child... but it still serves as a nice ballpark for stocking. You can always re-gift or sell any unused new boxes later anyways.

When buying diapers this second time around, I really liked purchasing from Target! Many times they were on clearance for 15% off. Or they had deals where you can get gift cards with purchase. Target.com also sometimes has "Target" coupons that can stack with "Manufacturer" coupons. Add on the 5% Target RedCard discount... and its a pretty good deal. I also did some of that subscribe & save with Amazon.com... but it was much nicer when it was no-tax. *sigh*




Ok, so here are the numbers:

Newborn = 40
Size 1 = 612 (used in Month 1+2)
Size 2 = 688 (used in Month 3+4)
Size 2-3 = 144 (used in Month 5 - Note: this was when I had my daughter and I was using Pampers 
                         Swaddlers at the time and they had a size 2-3)
Size 3 = 1462 (used in Months 5-10)
Size 4 = A TON!!!! This size was used from Month 11 up until I potty trained at Month 22!

Note: The numbers above were from my daughter - born 7lbs4oz... but definitely a chunky baby. She had huge thunder thighs.

For my son - who was born 7lbs5oz, his body shape was different....he was solid meat but not so chunky in the waste/thigh area.... But you can see that the total number of diapers used in that first three sizes were very close. His initial numbers were:

Newborn = 280
Size 1 = 505
Size 2 = 512

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tip for getting more diapers? - Hold a DIAPER RAFFLE at your Baby Shower! Make it a worthwhile prize (one that men and women would appreciate).... I must have gotten like 1000 count worth of diapers at ours. whooooo!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You may have noticed that I'm a Huggies mom. Well, I wasn't always. With #1, I was all Pampers! All the way! In loved with Pampers Swaddlers Sensitive, then progressed to the Pampers Cruisers. BUT!!!! Sometime around the beginning of 2010, there was apparently some sort of "switch" in the design. Unfortunately, that was the end of my Pampers loyalty. I won't go into tons of detail about it here, but you can check the Facebook group page that I was following at the time:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/230956705705/?fref=ts

I switched to Huggies after that and been with them ever since. Preferably Snugglers and then Little Movers, Overnights, and Pull-ups.

Pumping the Boob Juice: Pump, Freeze, Thaw

<---Check out my lil' future milk machine aka pumping assistant.

Fresh BM is good at room temperature for about 6-8 hours. So usually, when I pump, I leave it out on the counter ready for the next feeding. The way I do stuff to start is that I pump at 7am, 11am, 3pm 7pm and 11pm. Baby feeds at 8am, 1pm, 4pm, 7pm, and 10pm. so you can see most of my pumping coorelates with one of the feeds. Since I have so much frozen, I give one bottle from the frozen stuff each day (the 7pm feed)... this is so that baby is continually used to the frozen BM taste AND I can slowly funnel out the older stuff as I freeze more recent BM (more plug in on this at the bottom). My daughter was feeding 8 times a day for a while... then by the end of the first month, she was at 7 feedings (once she dropped her middle of the night one).... at 2 months she was 6 feeds... and just recently, I increased the amount in her bottle and only feed her 5 times now. whew! what a process right? Check back - I will post the daily feeding schedules at a later time.

When I do need to heat up BM, I just pop it in a bottle warmer for a few mins to bring the milk from cold to COOL temp. I never gave my kids fully warm milk because I didnt want them to get used to it and make it complicated later on when we would need to feed them while out and about (trust me - don't start that habit with your kids. It will bite you in the ass later!). I bought a bottle warmer on craigslist for like $10. it works just fine for me since I never need the BM to get really warm.

But if you are warming up BM that was frozen first... then you gotta thaw it first. I usually take out a frozen bottle the night before and move it to the fridge. they say it takes 12 hrs to thaw and then from that point, its good for 24 hours so you gotta plan to use it. Once you have a routine for using a frozen bottle a day, it won't be a big issue.

If you are gonna pump and leave milk out for someone to feed baby while you are at work... then milk is good in the fridge for about 7 days (if your temp is at 32 degrees).

Here are some links to check out:
http://www.justmommies.com/articles/breast-milk-storage.shtml

http://www.breastfeed-essentials.com/storagehandling.html

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/milkcalc.html

http://messageboards.ivillage.com/iv-ppexcluspump

Being the neurotic that I am, I love to log things. So I HAD to log my milk production. heehee. You'll see me mention this site/app a lot because it was definitely useful for me during the first 18 months: www.babybix.com  I used it to keep track of my breastfeeding when I was in the hospital, but once I got home, it was great for logging my pumping  data. Check me out! On a good day, I was seriously pushing out like 46oz. Holla!

To track my frozen supply, I printed out a monthly calendar page and basically just tally marked for each 4oz bottle I froze per day. That's what you see here. Each circle represents one 4oz frozen bottle. This made it easy for me to calculate how much frozen reserves I had stored. And as I pulled one out each day to thaw, then I would "X" out a circle. I know... no one else in their right mind would do this... but I just HAD to do it and I loved seeing my logs full!

A word about starting baby on Frozen early:

DO IT.... the reason why I suggest this is so that the baby is used to the taste of it from the get go... you dont want to try to give it to the baby later and NOT like it. ugh. Here is what I did... so adjust it accordingly as you wish: to start, thaw out something that was previously frozen.. like an ounce or so, and mix it with the fresh stuff. Baby should take that just fine. then the next day, increase it to where its like 50/50 frozen/fresh... then the next day 75/25.... until you try giving him one whole bottle from frozen stuff. at that point, what you will want to do is use ONE feeding a day from the frozen stuff. The rest can be fresh. doesn't really matter which feeding, just pick whatever is convenient for you to be home at the time, since its coming from the fridge and needs to be warmed up appropriately, etc.

So each day, take out one from the freezer and move to the fridge to thaw - since it takes 24 hours to thaw.... and take the one from the fridge to warm up and give him. Like I said, I like doing this so that the baby will continue to be used to frozen and it won't be weird to them later. This also allows you to slowly funnel out the oldest stuff and store more of new boob juice.

When you warm it up... it doesn't have to be super warm even... try to just get it to right above room temp. if you can train baby to be comfortable with room temp milk, it will make your life THAT much easier in the long run. When you warm it up, you will see that all the chunks are gone - no lumps, spotty areas in the milk.

Pumping the Boob Juice: Supplies

This blurb below is one of my most requested "notes" from fellow mommy friends. So of course, I needed to republish here for others to reference. I will try to keep the links updated, but this was originally written in 2009 as I was performing my milk machine duties to my daughter. Looking back on the experience, and having to do it twice - It's definitely what worked best for me. I'm too neurotic to deal with the initially unpredictable feeding needs of a newborn. Structured and scheduled pumping times was right up my alley. It allowed me to be consistent and I always had fresh stock on hand for when the feeding time came. :-)


I did not personally enjoy the breastfeeding experience and anticipated that I wouldn't anyways.. however, I knew that I wanted to give her breastmilk because I feel that it would be best for her. I wanted her to at least get 6 months worth. So, after talking to one of my other friends who did the bottle thing... I decided that I would only put her on the boob the first two weeks, and then switch her purely to bottle fed breast milk. It actually worked out really well for me since I dont mind the pumping as much. The pumping experience has been good! It doesn't hurt or anything and I like that I can pretty much pump anywhere. For me, it worked out well because I liked to pump at certain times that worked for my schedule and then the milk would just be there and ready for her. Versus waiting to nurse Vy at unpredictable and inconsistent times. Towards the end, when I was only nursing Vy on the boob once a day (at 4am because it was easier and quicker when you are half awake), I was using the Medela contact nipple shield... it feel much better because I wasn't liking how she was latching. hehehe

I got the Medela Pump In Style Advanced. There are other higher end models, but this one worked just fine for me. I only pump for 10 mins each session. I opted not to rent because I figure I'd get my money's woroth with baby #2. The pump comes with one set of the connectors, etc... when you are at the hospital: ask them to bring in a pump for you to use. When they do,they will crack open a brand new set of connectors/shields etc for you... so then you can take that home later and have a second set for free. hehehhe.

You will definitely need nursing pads. Those are the little pads that you put in your bra so that you don't go leaking all over the place! There are some that are more comfortable than others, but I was just fine with the basic Lansinoh ones. So far, I've only needed to change it once (sometimes twice) a day...

The bottle that I use with Vy is the First years BREASTFLOW bottles (http://thefirstyears.com/breastflow). Love them. the nipple is shaped like a boob. Vy took to it just fine and even when she was on the bottle all day but boob at 4am... she switched between the two fine and had no nipple confusion. Best place I found those bottles at was on Amazon. If you are dilegent, you can find the extra nipples for those bottles on the Kohls website for pretty good pricing using coupon codes and Ebates (New to Ebates? use my referral link: http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=d1WP3PcGkOO6zQmkJBydXg%3D%3D )

If you plan on freezing any breastmilk... I think the storage bottles are better than the bags. The ones I used for my milk factory are like the ones they give you in the hospital. I found a bulk supplier for CHEAP: www.abbottstore.com search keyword ROSS BOTTLES
Coupon code: 10NEW  to get 10% off your order
You can buy them in bulk of 144 bottles: http://abbottstore.com/infant-and-child/similac-breast-milk-storage-bottles-caps-combo-4-fl-oz-case-of-144-51950
Let's just say... I ended up buying THREE of those bulk cases for my milk factory.

Milk factory Part 1: 7x12 bottles, double stacked, 4oz each = 672oz frozen boob juice.









The best website to buy extra pump supplies, nursing bra, etc is:
www.Breakoutbras.com 10% off coupon code BBSAVE10

The most comfortable nursing bra that helps keep them heavy boobs lifted is the Bravado Seamless nursing bra.... but to sleep I wear the Medela sleep bra because its more comfortable. I actually started to wear that in my second trimester to sleep because it was more comfortable since I had to sleep on my side and wasn't used to the bigger boobs. The Medela sleep bra provides minimal support though, so I wouldn't venture with it outside of the house.

I tried both the Lansinoh nipple cream and the Medela one and I liked the Medela one better. You can get it on that breakoutbras site. the lansinoh one was really thick in consistency so it was not as appealing putting on.


After I had filled up most of my own freezer in the house, I had to invest in a deep chest for more storage space. I bought a deep chest freezer on Craigslist for $100.

Milk Factory Part 2: 17 bins holding 68oz each = 1156oz in the deep chest alone.

 

Update: After I used the pump, deep chest freezer and Ross bottles... It all went into storage for 2 years (knowing that I was planning on baby #2 later on). Once I finished my second round as milk factory.... it ALL went onto Craigslist. I was able to resell the deep chest freezer for the same $100 that I bought it for (ahem... free rental!). I sold the breast pump for $150 (I included a brand new box of parts for it that were manufacturer sealed - remember to ask for one at the hospital!). And those hundreds of little Ross bottles? - I sold them all to another dedicated milk factory for 25 cents a piece!

Potty Training in 5 days... what?!?

Two kids. Both potty trained at 22 months old. One girl. One boy. Done. Do I miss changing diapers? That would be a negative baby!!!

Ok... so how did I even manage to do that? Well. A friend of mine had used this manual for a 3-Day Potty training and she had successful trained her son in 3 days, as did her sister and a friend. I told her to send it my way because 3 days sounds quite appealing to me.

This is the method we followed: 3-Day Potty Training by Lora Jenson. www.3DayPottyTraining.com

I say in my blog title "5 days", because for me, it really took me 5 full days to feel like the kids had gotten it down. The first 3 days were definitely the core of it all, but the additional 2 days sealed the deal for me. Be sure to check out Lora's book for details on her method!

Back to what I personally did.... I used Lora's book as the foundation for my potty training week. I used almost all of her suggestions (except that I wasn't brave enough to let go of pull-ups at  naptime and overnight - I know, I was weak). Here is another biggie: I TOOK ONE WEEK OFF FROM WORK. Now, if that's not commitment, I don't know what is! Now for your SAHM's, you have an advantage here if you can give up doing nothing else but potty training for one week. But it really is commitment beyond the time dedicted to potty training, because you basically have to give up focus on anything else except that. That meant, I couldn't sit at my desk, play on the computer, play on my phone, read a magazine... nada. We didn't leave the house... actually, we barely even left the living room (because I didn't want accidents on carpet). All I did for 5 days straight was stare at my child's crotch... patiently waiting for these pee accidents (aka learning moments) so that I can promptly get to them to the potty in hopes that a drop or two will end up in there.

When I first potty trained my daughter, I was pregnant at the time (no double diaper duty here!), so you can imagine the range of emotions I was experiencing with this. I literally was ready to quit on Day 3 and cry in frustration that I failed. But low and behold! The very LAST pee on the 3rd day - she "got" it! She actually got it (the concept)! When I woke up on Day 4, I was rejuvenated enough to stick with it a few more days and hone in on her practicing and practicing. *sigh* memories.....

(Check out the outfit my daughter had to sport back then when potty training in the spring time weather: warm layers of shirts, elmo undies so mommy can see accidents, and leggings cuz its chilly!)

I was told that boys were harder to train, so I was apprehensive about tackling this one last week. Let alone, I had my now 4-year-old daughter with me so it gave me less one-on-one time with him. I honestly, couldn't believe how much easier he was to train!!! It just goes to show, its all dependent on the kid. I don't really think that its a matter of a girl or boy being ready... its the kid. But I do have to say, that Lora's recommendation of potty training at 22 months old, did not fail me at all. I was skeptical at first that a 22mo would understand (especially since my daughter was not really talking much at the time)... but both kids picked it up. Perhaps we underestimate the 22mo too much? My son picked up potty training by Day 2. Regressed on Day 4 a bit, but shortly after that... we were home free. Now, me saying home free doesn't mean there aren't accidents! And we haven't fully mastered the pooing. BUT - we are in a good place. There is no turning back to diapers as we only move forward from here! He's pretty much been off diapers for over 2 weeks now and its been good!

After going through this experience twice... I'd have to say what I took from it was:

• It was worth it to take a whole week off and dedicate it to potty training.
• Cheering on even the smallest drip in the potty is incredibly exciting to a child.
• You are their biggest cheerleader and its important to keep cheering - even when he pees onto your feet because it shoots over the potty seat.
• Empowering a child to learn to read their own body signals can go a much further way.
• Solid colored undies are easier to see small drip accidents on boys.
• Girls drop major puddle accidents.
• Accept that there will be accidents - even after the week is finished. They are still learning!
• Try to have a fellow mommy you can call and vent to! You will need the support and your own cheerleader!
• Make sure you reward YOURSELF with a "me" day the week after! You deserve it!

Spontaneity gives me anxiety.

So we've already established that I'm a neurotic "planner". I function on schedules and predictability. Well. that all changed this past weekend.

I've been working my butt off, and after a long 10 hour shift... I came home and had the craziest idea to go to Vegas for ONE DAY and catch one of my all-time favorite music festivals. Ohhhh you can imagine the thoughts that ran through my head in contemplating on this gesture. I had no place to stay, no tickets to the event, NO childcare lined up yet... what was I thinking?

Guess things were meant to be, because in the blink of an eye, the stars were aligning tickets, my cousin's hotel room to crash in, and three last-minute babysitters willing to help out. It was crazy. I pulled the trigger and agreed to go through with it. EEEEEEEK. Let me tell you though... seriously like 20 mins later - I was like "What am I doing? Is it too late to back out?" It was seriously giving me anxiety just thinking about what I had just agreed to proceed with and then furthermore... now I have to carry out.

Fortunately, due to the neurotic nature of my parenting skills, its not hard to watch my kids (even for a last-minute baby sitter that has never watched them for a full 24 hours by themself before - gulp!). But I had faith that the kids would be fine.... How could anyone mess up on watching my kids when there a clearly color-coded daily schedule right up on the fridge? Its a no fail gig!

Ok, so all the pieces have been laid out and away I went. In a span of less than 48 hours... I managed to drive myself to Vegas, dance until the sun came up, then get back home and into mommy-mode. whew. Took me probably another two days after that to fully recover....

Was it worth it? I'd say so. Would I do it again? Well... maybe I wouldn't wait until the day before to decide on things.... but I guess I can't always plan evvvvvverrrything. All I know is that this past weekend is still sort of a blur. I really pushed through a lot of the anxiety that was creeping in the back of my head during that time.. and I survived. Perhaps neuroticism can have an off button?

Mood: Excited. Thoughts: Where to start?

I'm actually feeling pretty excited about my new blogging venture. Gosh I feel that so much goes on in my tiny big brain, that this may just be the perfect outlet for my ramblings.

Where do I even start? I will need to go home and sort through my various notes stashed away on my harddrive. There's my suggested registry list, my whole email on pumping breastmilk, color-coded excel spreadsheets of the kids daily schedules (and how they evolved over the course of 18 months), my method for organizing frozen breastmilk, oh - and let's not forget my suggested diaper count! I'm going to have to spread it out somehow, otherwise my neurotic self will stay up all night getting all this onto my blog in 24 hours (and I totally would do it!)

Since I just spent ALL of last week potty training K. I think that's where I will start, since it was the most current thing happening in my neurotic parenting life. Yes. That's what I will start at. Everyone's favorite thing to do: Potty Train. And if you are anything like me, you will want to get it done as quickly and painlessly as possible.

If there is ever a topic that you have come across and wonder what experience or input I may have on it... leave a comment. I'm always open to topics to ramble about! I could talk/type foreverrrrrr.

A place to feed my soul ey?

Well, today is a day of firsts! I've never blogged before in my entire life ("entire" makes me swear like I'm old or something). It never really dawned on me to do it surprisingly - even though I love to write and am constantly in thought about something or another anyways. But I guess there is no better time to start something than NOW.

So here I am. What brings me here? Well... my therapist (yes, I see a therapist and recommend that everyone try it at least once in their lives - it doesn't mean you are crazy, although we all have a little crazy in us) has recently suggested to me that I should find something to do that "feeds my soul".  It started when I found myself so deeply entrenched in a robotic, yet fast-paced moving life - that if I were to stop for a second, I'd realize that its basically passing me by. What was I doing for myself? What was I personally getting from anything anymore? I'm basically in a rut, surrounded by the so many obligations that life asks of me.  So I dwelled on the concept of "filling my cup" with something that could be somewhat therapeutic for me. But for a person who doesn't like to exercise, doesn't like to cook, isn't musical, and already super busy as it is... what could I possibly do. I took to the masses of my Facebook peoples and asked people for suggestions..... and someone suggested a mom blog (Thanks Norma!)

Anyhow... there are a gazillion mom blogs out there! And it was nice to see a good number of blogs related to neurotic, analytical, overthinking mom's like me. But I just couldn't find anything that was MY kind of neurotic. So what will make this different? Well, anyone who knows me well enough... knows that I am a neurotic planner. I plan, log, color-code, and take diligent notes. Why? Because that's how I function and its actually what keeps me sane.

I've gotten multiple requests from friends and colleagues who inquire about my methods for various parenting issues. I've consulted with others on sleep training because I am so very rigid about scheduling. So it dawned on me to perhaps put this all in one place for all to access and hopefully I can lighten up some of the underlying neurotic mommisms in others.

At this time, my daughter (V) is 4 and my lil' man (K) is soon to be 2! I think this will be a nice outlet for me as I have just passed the "infant" hump of parenting and moving into the next stage. I DO (of course I do because I keep diligent notes of everything) still have lots of my notes related to items that take place in the first 2 years... so I will be posting them as I go along. I'll probably do them sooner than later because I have some people who are knocked up right now and want to get their reading and research on!

I hope that those who stumble across this blog will find something of use for their own neurotic parenting lives.