FIRST TIME MOM

Christmas Gift Idea's for Five Year Old Boy

It's that time of year when everyone starts seeking advice from blog's, Google, Face-book, friend's, etc looking for gift idea's.  It is for that reason that I like to share what my kid's like to play with, in hopes of helping some other deranged shopper.  Whether shopping in the $10, $20, or $50 and above range, there is always something for everyone.

Gifts in the $10 range that my five year old boy loves are art supplies, lego's, card game's, wallet, flash-light's, and books, especially The Magic Tree House set.  I plan to turn his old toddler table into a lego table and get him a few lego sets this year.  As for card games, he loves Old Maid, Crazy 8's, and Memory.  They are usually found in the dollar section at Wal-Mart or Target and make for great stocking stuffer's.  A wallet makes a great gift for a five year old, whether it be a boy or a girl.  My son tends to carry it around and counts his money all day.  He likes to ask for jobs to do to earn more.  Flash-light's have always been a big hit for my kids.  These also make great stocking stuffer's.  My five year old son loves books about space, animals, bugs etc.  I've also read him a few of the chapter books from The Magic Tree House.  These books can be found anywhere, but I'm a busy Mom and love to shop on Amazon.  Here is the starter set:  

http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Tree-House-Boxed-Books/dp/0375813659

Gifts in the $20 range that my five year old boy loves are puppets, board games, binoculars, magnifying glass, Transformer's, toy gun's etc.  My five year old boy is very creative and artsy, and loves puppets of all sorts.  You can find a great selection of puppets at www.fatbraintoys.com.  Board games are a lot of fun and teach so many lessons, including how to be patient and take turns.  Some of the board games that my five year old loves are: Monopoly Junior, Candy Land, Hissss and Let's Go Fishin.  I'd probably try Amazon and/or Target for these.  Cheap binoculars or a magnifying glass are fun for kids to use to go exploring out in the back-yard.  My little's like to take these in the car too.  As for Transformer's, there are several good one's, but my boys tend to like the popular ones like Bumble Bee, Heat Wave, Chase, Optimus Prime and Boulder.  Last in this price range are toy gun's.  My son just sort of suddenly got into nerf gun's.  Big, small, whatever.  He loves them all!

 

Last, but not least, are gift ideas for a five year old boy in the $50 and above price range.  Bike and/or scooter, iPad or tablet of some kind, tv/dvd, play-set, sled, art projector, talking globe, etc. My son has a bike, but if he didn't have one, that'd be on the list for him.  We have an iPad and both of my boys love it.  They watch videos on Utube, watch shows when we travel, play games, and use sites like www.abcmouse.com.  Having a tablet cuts out the need for many other toys for hand-writing, etc because there are apps and games that can help with those skills.  My child has a tv/dvd in his room, which is handy because at this age he likes to watch a show before bed-time.  We also sometimes watch a movie together in his room, which he loves.  This year we got a nice Rainbow play-set.  We got this sturdy brand because I wanted it to last for many years, plus they put it together, which is nice.  My five year old is just now starting to ask about sledding, so sleds make great gifts for five year old boys, and girls too of course.  This year, my five year old asked for an art projector that puts his drawings on the wall.  He is also into talking about Earth and would love a talking globe.

As we all know, not all five year old boy's are the same.  These are things my boy would love and so I'm sharing them with you as gift ideas for your five year old boy.  I hope that you have found this helpful! If you have additional suggestions to share, please comment with them.

 

 

The Juggle of Working From Home

Everyone wants to do it!  Like everything else in life, there are pro's and con's.  I have two young boy's, which means my house can be destroyed in millisecond's.  Kids screaming, dog barking, and phone ringing are just a few of the sounds of the day.  To top it off, because you are physically in your house people think that you are staying home all day, every day, and fully available.

Some may be ok working amongst total chaos, while other's may need a well lit room and a tidy work-space.  Well, I am one of those.  I have two tornado-like boy's who can destroy a house in record time.  I do well with keeping them out of my office, but before I had my space it was a tad stressful.  Finding contracts mixed in with lego's and/or fruit-snacks is never a good thing.  This tiny space is mine, and the rest is yours to wreck as you wish.  So be it and now get out of my office you little rug-rat's.  :)

So, let's re-visit this noise situation.  I have a 5 lb Yorkie who will alert you to every leaf that falls from every tree.  I live in suburbia and therefore everything is delivered.  So, from the trash to the dry-cleaning, to the lawn company etc etc my dog always has something to say.  Some work-from-home jobs do not require phone-calls  or any interaction beyond email, but if it requires calls and/or face-to-face, the noise can be bothersome, i.e.: super irritating.

Last on the list, for today, is the fact that because you are physically present in your home, people will think you are available every second of every day.  So, prepare to live with disappointment.  You will be the horrible person who has to cancel the play-date or attend the activity while pausing here and there for texts and email's.  You are available to the eye, while squeezing in a job every other second.  You will disappoint yourself and you will disappoint other's with the fact that you look like you are a stay-at-home Mom, while in fact you actually have an 80 hour a week job.  Nothing is as it seem's.

So, those are the con's for staying home and they are only a few.  Yes, there are more.  To add to that, there are many pro's, or crazy people like me wouldn't do it.  To keep this short(er) I'll save the pro's for another post.  Carry on.  :)

 

 

Amount Of Shoes Needed For Boys

As a Mom of two boys, ages 2 1/2 and 4 1/2, I'm currently still in control of what they wear, and it's great.  I know that I will only hold these reigns for so long, as opinions are bound to be formed.  My 4 year old tried to have an opinion about the "scratchiness" of jeans when he was 3 years old, but I nipped that in the butt quickly.  :)  I am a proud Mom of boys.  I enjoy dressing them cute and shopping for fashionable items, but sadly these items are super limited.  Shoes are one of the things that I love to indulge in.  I feel that it's very important to wear good shoes.  I'm all about a yard-sale t-shiart, but I want quality when it comes to what is on my kid's feet.  So, the question is, how many pairs of shoes does one small child "need?"

If said child were a girl, the amount of "need" would be much greater.  There needs to be a pair of shoes for every out-fit.  Duh!  Don't get me wrong, I'm not the overly-dolled up person who is decked out from 8-8.  I personally love my comfort clothes, but I also like a few items that are somewhat fashionable.  They sort of make a person feel younger and more "with-it."  I tend to do the same with my boys.  When at home they are usually in sweats, pajamas or something of the sort.  At the park they could very well be in sweats or jeans and a t-shirt of some sort.  I like to mix it up though and toss out something hip and cute, especially when seen on a mini-man, aka: tiny tot.  One of my top favorite item's to buy are Tom's shoes.

So, it's out there.  I'm a Tom's shoe fanatic/freak.  I sometimes check their site multiple times a day looking for the newest print and/or style.  I'm often clicking out of the site saddened and ready to write them a letter demanding more color's, texture's, etc.  I'm about ready to send them ideas.  I'm not the most creative person, so I doubt that would go very far.  Anyway, yes I love Tom's.  As a perk, I have two boys and they grow out of shoes fairly quickly, so I get to purchase a lot of Tom's.  Yay!  

Today was the start of Spring and I decided to check closet's and see what my boys "needed."  They of course need shorts, swim-suits etc for Summer, but next came the subject of shoes.  I decided to search the Tom's site and what do you know.  There is a super cute new style.  The dilemma is which boy to get them for and also which one "needs" them?  So, I came to the question of how many shoes does a boy need?  Hmmm.

My eldest boy is now able to wear shoes all year long, which is good and bad.  The good part is that he gets more wear out of a pair of shoes, making it more worth the purchase of nice shoes.  The bad is that I get to shop less because he does not "need" them.  As it stands, my 4 year old is set for Spring/Summer with his remaining tennis shoes, some Sperry boat shoes, and he will most likely have some Keen sandal's.  He will probably wear the sandal's on most days, but certain camp's and other type's of activities are best with a closed toed shoe.  He will have tennis shoes, so sadly I'm not sure that he "needs" any Tom's.  I'm saddened.  My two year old will also have some Keen sandal's, as they are the most durable sandal that I have yet to find.  He also has some Sperry shoes, but not sure  how long they will be fitting him.  He is the most likely candidate for the Tom's.  Maybe I'm crazy to even write about this, but  seriously, how many pairs of shoes does a small boy "need?"  Comments are welcomed and appreciated.  Thank you.

Preparing to List Your Home

Spring and Summer are near and many home owner's are preparing to put their home on the market.  Showing your home can be stressful, so it's best to have it "show ready" so that it sells quickly and for top dollar.  It's very important to meet with a Realtor and get suggestions, but if you want some quick tips then read on.  My top four areas that I will advise on are: curb appeal, clutter, cleanliness, and ease of showing.  If you follow these, you will be well on your way toward getting your home listed and sold.

Curb appeal is so important when trying to sell your home.  If the home doesn't draw people inside from the curb then the traffic will be much lighter.  When selling your home you want to do everything that you can to attract as many buyer's as possible.  Painting the front door can be an easy and inexpensive way to add curb appeal.  Many people think that this means the door has to be red.  Red is a great color, but there are many others that work just as well.  The most important thing is to make it POP.  If your home is dark in color you  might choose a bright yellow or an aqua color, for example.  Add a beautiful burlap wreath or maybe a some other type of eye catching sign to the door and you should definitely increase the amount of tours.  Brightening the paint around the door is another great way to add to the appeal.  Flowers and nice landscaping will also help spruce things up and grab more buyers.

The next best thing you can do to prep your home for sale is to clear it out.  When you put your sign in the yard to sell it, you should be ready to move.  Clear out as many things as possible prior to the sign going into the yard and your home will appear much cleaner and larger, which is more appealing to most buyer's.  Remove any furniture that you can live without for a couple of months.  Clear closets to less than half full.  Clear out kitchens, bedrooms, and literally every room in the house and only leave the bare minimum.  Remove as many personal items as possible so that the new buyer's can envision themselves in this space.  Move it out now because you are moving anyway.  You may as well get it out first so that it helps you sell your home quicker and for more money.

Once the home is cleared, clean, clean, and clean again.  Deep clean every square inch from the deepest and darkest corners of the floor to the ceiling.  Make it shine!  If it looks sparkly it will smell fresh too, which everyone  seems to love.  The cleaner it is, the more appealing it will be to buyer's.

Last, I want to mention the ease of showing.  The easier you can make your  home to show, the faster it will sell.  The less notice, the better.  Every stipulation you put on it to make it  harder to see may decrease the showings.  Since you want to sell it fast, make it as easy as you possibly can.  If you can make it a GO or a one hour notice, that will probably get you more showings.

So, if you want to sell your home quickly and get the most money out of it, without spending a lot of money, then bump up your curb appeal, use the clean and clear method, and make showing super easy.  Contact a Realtor for additional advice.  If in the Kansas City metro area, you can contact me, Tricia Wegner with Remax Premier Realty, for assistance.  

www.myniftynest.com

 

 

Treadmill Fear

It's me again, Tricia.  :)  I'm here today to announce a fear of mine.  I am fully afraid to run on a tread-mill.  First of all, running isn't exactly my fortay.  I was involved in sports in school, but I hated to be forced to run.  I didn't like being told when to run, how fast and when I could stop etc.  I feel like being forced to do those things made me hate it.  It also kept me from certain sports.  I would have been ok to run, but I hated to run in practice and be timed and forced to do it whether I wanted to or not.  It kind of ruined running for me.

So, now that we have a foundation, I will talk about my fear involved with running.  Todays way of working out seems to be at the gym.  I have a membership and am pretty good about going three times a week, with some breaks here and there due to work etc.  Anyway, I tend to stick to weight machines or I warm up by "walking" on the treadmill.  I'm seriously afraid to death of actually picking up my feet and running on the treadmill.

I'm so scared that I will trip while running on the treadmil and go flying into the next row of people, causing a domino affect and then being on the news.  I know that is a tad dramatic, but I'm that girl who trips over a pebble on the side-walk.  I was literally covered in bruises as a child because I couldn't clear a doorway without running into something.  Let's just say I'm clumsy and accident prone.  Due to my fear of running on the treadmil, my feel literally feel like they way 100 lbs each.  I hold onto the rails for dear life and try to pick up speed, only to be walking so fast on that treadmil that it seems that the soles of my shoes may melt.  lol  I'm going so fast that I may as well be running, but I just cannot seem to pick up my legs and feet to make it an official run.  

Picking up my feet is only one struggle when thinking about going for that first run on the treadmill.  I'm also in fear of what I will look like.  I'm pretty sure I'd go to all of that work just to run for two minutes, making myself look ridiculous.  If only I could run on a treadmill in a private room at a gym.  lol  I happen to have an elyptical at home, instead of a treadmill, or I'd do it there.  I have no issues with the elyptical as my feet stay planted.  It's the picking up my feet while running on the belt that scares me.  Letting go of the hand-rails will be pretty difficult too.

One might say, just forget it then.  Well, it seems that running a 5k is somehow in my future.  They are becoming more and more popular these days.  I normally wouldn't care about that, but I'd love to be able to run them with family or friends.  I guess I have a huge goal for the new year and that is to be able to run on a treadmill.  If I lived in FL I'd just run outside, but the temperature controlled environment with day-care for my two toddlers is a big plus when it comes to the gym.  So, I have officially challenged myself and will be back here with future updates.  Wish me luck!

Contemplating a Real Estate Career

Good morning fellow people of the world.  If you are reading this, I'm assuming you are considering a career in Real Estate.  Many people think about getting into this career for many different reasons.  Most people that I run across usually say they think it'd be great because you can work from home, you can work for yourself, you can make a ton of money, and that it'd be a great career for staying at home with kids.  

If you want to work from home, yes Real Estate may be a good route to go.  Money isn't exactly made sitting in an office, but you will need a place to go to make copies, faxes, or to meet clients.  You can have a nice home-office, but I personally choose not to meet clients there for a couple of reasons.  I do not want people forming opinions about my career based off of their thoughts on my home, it's location, my family, my things, etc.  I want my business relationships to be purely business, unless we already have another relationship in place.  Most of the computer work, calls, paperwork, etc can definitely de done at home though.  

Real Estate is a great career for those that want to work for themselves.  You can be your own boss and come and go as you please, however, with that being said, some companies/brokers can be pushier than others.  So, you might want to consider the level of pressure or requirements required by a company before you join.  If you plan to stay home with kiddos, you might want to find a very relaxed and low pressure company and office.  If you are ready to hit the ground running and be the top agent in your area, then you may want to look for a competitive office with lots of educational opportunities available.

Many people say they want to get into a real estate career so that they can make a ton of money.  In my experience, a small percentage of agents make a "ton" of money.  One must keep in mind the cost that one must spend to make money.  The more you have to invest, the more you will make.  The phrase, "it costs money to make money" rings very true in real estate.  A lot of money can definitely be made in this field, but the more tools a person has to do that, the better chance for success.  Real Estate is a business and any business that is to be successful requires time, money, and lots of effort.

Lastly, I will cover what many, many Mommy's say to me and that is that it would be a great career to have while staying home with kids.  I will say yes and no to this.  There are up-sides and down-sides to everything in life, and every job and so it's really up to the individual as to which way it leans.  In my experience, it's been very hard to do this career with young kids because one could easily be in the middle of having kids nap or cooking dinner only to get calls for someone needing to see houses.  In the beginning a person might jump through hoops to make that happen.  You would end up rushing to make yourself presentable, wake kiddos from naps, haul to a sitter that was arranged last minute, and and you may even have the husband unhappily cut out from work early to pick up dinner and watch the kids.  Do this often and the hubby will for sure re-consider the wife and real-estate.  So, there is a lot of pressure to please the clients, care for the kids and make the hubby happy.  Once I figured out that my family comes first and that the chaos of last minute scheduling didn't work I was able to tell people that I could meet them on such and such days, but that I was busy at this very moment.  So, if staying home with kids and working real estate you definitely have to set up some rules/guide-lines and follow them. I do not do last minute appointments.  Another thing that does make it hard to stay home with kids and work in real-estate is when you get very important calls for things that need taken care of and you are stuck home with screaming kids.  It's a little hard to have serious conversations crying babies in the back-ground.  You may think, have a sitter.  Well, if you are working full time you can have a full time sitter, which will cause you to need to work a whole lot more to cover that cost.  I personally have on-call sitters, so I have to deal with kids in the back-ground as I only have sitters when doing office work or meeting clients.  Now for the upsides to real-estate while staying home with kids.  I love that I do not have to have my kids in day-care 40 plus hours a week.  I like that I do not have that cost and the fact that I get to be home with them for most of the time.  When working my kids are usually only with a sitter for 4-5 hours max.  I also like that I can be busy for a few months, which gives me a break from the kids, but then after a few months I may take a work break for a while and spend more time with the kids.  So, I may do 2 busy months of work and then 2 slow months to focus on outings with the family.  Another nice thing is that when I get paid I get big chunks of money all at once, which makes it easier to use toward big purchases like home remodels or vacations.

I could really go on and on about real-estate and why it's a good or a bad career to work in.  Do your research and you should be fine.  Visit my site www.myniftynest.com and private message me if you would like more information and opinions.  

Thanks for reading.  :)

Christmas Gifts For 14 Month Old And 3 1/2 Year Old Boy

Well, it's almost Christmas and I am happy to say that we finally have our shopping done.  Our family did the typical modern thing of buying pretty much everything online.  I'm from a small town and understand the idea of supporting local businesses, however it's very hard to shop when you have young babies attached to your hip.  So, the easy way for us to shop was to put ideas on our wish-list on www.amazon.com all through-out the year.  At the beginning of the month my husband and I sat down to go through it to decide on a decent amount of gifts for our 1 year old and our 3 year old boy.  

Our 3 1/2 year old boy is pretty easy to shop for because if it's something that we do not have, he will most likely want it.  He requested a "big stepping robot" and a "big choo choo with train tracks" from Santa, but otherwise it was up to us.  We haven't done anything about the robot request and are hoping he forgets about it.  lol  As for the train request, we got him a Lionel Express Train.  As for we, that was my husbands doing and it was a fine job.  For other gifts we chose to get him a new Dr. kit because he had lost and broke some pieces to his old one.  ($8 from Babies R Us)  We also got him a little tool kit with carrying case because he loves tools and his old case had broken.  ($11 at www.amazon.com)  I'm a huge coffee lover and he very well knows it, so I got him a little coffee pot from Amazon for $25ish.  I also got him a nice set of toy pots, pans, and pot-holders because he is really into his kitchen and all sorts of imagination play at this stage.  ($30ish)  We got him a little V-tech train so that he'd be ok when we put the Lionel one away when we took down the tree.  ($50 from Babies R Us, but sold cheaper at www.Amazon.com)  Super hero shirts and pajamas, plus some slippers will also be coming from Santa this year.  His wonderful Grandparents got him a sled and his uncle will be getting him a pillow on wheels.  (Babies R Us but also sold at www.amazon.com for approx. $30-$40)  More smaller gifts that we decided on included a floor puzzle for around $10 and the Leap Frog Scribble and Write, $18, from Amazon.  We decided to pass on Walkie Talkies and a tent because he has a birthday coming up in the Summer.  I don't think it's a ton, but I do think these are some nice Christmas gifts for a 3 year old boy.

Now, for my 14 month old boy.  Christmas gift ideas were a little harder because we already seem to own everything.  For a big gift I did decide on the mini trike made my Radio Flyer.  ($50 from Amazon) It doesn't have pedals and is really low to the ground.  He loves to play on his brother's trike, but I'm afraid he will get hurt on it, plus my 3 year old doesn't always love to share.  So, that will be his big gift from Santa.  The other big gift that we got him was the Vtech garage that will hook together with the train one that we got his older brother.  We thought if we did this that they would better understand that the set was "theirs" and that they'd share.  This little garage was only $15ish on Amazon.  For other gifts we decided on 4-5 nice board books and a fun light up flash-light, all from Amazon.  My one year old boy will also be getting an Elmo train and a big talking Elmo from his Grandparents, plus a pillow on wheels from his Uncle.  Again, this doesn't seem like an insane amount of Christmas gifts, but I think he will be very happy.

All in all, I think my boys will have a lovely Christmas and we didn't have to break the bank to do it.  I wish we would have been able to shop local, but online made it more doable with young kids.  I will try to shop more local as they get older.  If you need more gift ideas, please read my past posts as I have written different ones based on their ages and wants/needs.  Have a Merry Christmas and thanks for reading.  :)

 

Christmas Gift Ideas for Mommy or Wife

Less than two weeks until Christmas and still no gift for that special Mommy and/or Wife.  If this is you, then read on my friend.  I happen to be a Mommy and a Wife, so I will share my opinion.  I realize that everyone is different, but this will hopefully help some lost spouse out there.  :)

It's normal to get in the routine of just buying things for our kids and skipping out on luxuries for ourselves.  I skip out on some, but I'm not going to lie, I do pamper myself a little.  I get the occasional pedicure, especially in the Summer.  I get my hair done.  It may  not be every six weeks like I did before kiddos, but I do try to go every 8ish.  I keep myself in clothes that fit and makeup to cover the dark circles.  I'm also known to frequent the drive-through at Starbucks.  If your wife is one to not buy herself anything at all, then you may start with those luxuries such as pedicures, spa gift certificates, make-over or cosmetics, new clothes or shoes, or maybe even a gift certificate to Starbucks so that she can have her specialty drinks guilt-free.  

If you are interested in the above information, read this paragraph, and if not then skip to the next paragraph.  I just want to elaborate on the items mentioned above for further ideas.  If you are wanting to buy your wife anything spa related, I'd say the number one item would be a pedicure and number two would be a massage.  Massages are great, but sometimes it's hard to get away and get them done.  I think they often expire before many Mommy's can go get them done.  Pedicures are easy to get to and you can get a gift certificate for almost any nail salon.  

As for make-up, if you just want to get her a few stocking stuffers I'd get her a nice lip gloss or lipstick or perhaps a mascarra.  If you need an idea where to get these I'd go to a beauty counter at Dillards or Sephoria.  You could even shop online.  If my hubby were to buy me those items I'd want a Mac lipstick and a Lancome Hypnose mascara.  I'd Googe for price-checks, but beware of getting expired products online.  As for Starbucks, you can get a stocking stuffer for $20 or if she is a major coffee junky like me, then go all out and get one for $50 or even $100.  Any and all of the above will make most women smile.  If she is your wife, you should know which of these will most likely do the trick.

As mentioned previously, if your wife already treats herself to the items mentioned above, then you may need some fresh ideas.  One of the best gifts for Christmas, in my opinion, is a really nice bottle of perfume.  I am a 33 year old super cool Mom, lol, and I like Marc Jacobs.  My favorites are Daisy or Red Dot.  Both are a bit pricey, so I never bite the bullet and get them, which makes them great gift ideas.  You can get these from Dillards or any other department store.  If you buy them online, make sure it's a reputable store as there are places out there that sell fake perfume in real bottles.  Just a word of warning!  :)  

Pricier gifts would be diamond or pearl earrings.  I'm not a huge jewelry fan, but I consider those two items to be staples.  I don't want expensive jewelry that I will never wear, so I am for things like these because they are timeless and go with everything from casual wear to formal wear. In fact, I got diamond studs a few years ago and very rarely take them out, making them a great gift.  

If buying clothes for a woman, you might get her a really amazing name brand pair of jeans.  As a word of warning for this, make sure you get the right size.  If my hubby were shopping for me I'd want Joe's, Seven for All Mankind or True Religion.  It really does depend on the woman and the budget.  Another clothing item would be a cardigan.  Most women love cardigans because they can be worn with jeans or a dress.  I'd stick with something neutral in color.  You can find something very affordable at Old Navy or something a little nicer at Gap.  Watch for sales and you can snag one at a great price.

Bath and Body Lotions make great smaller gifts, but don't go overboard because a woman can only use so much. In fact, I rarely use up the products that I get each year and end up tossing some of it.  Don't be afraid to throw in some nail files or nail polish to spice it up a bit.  ;)

Bigger gift ideas would be cell phones, computers and especially cameras of all sorts.  Mommy's love cameras to video and take still shots of their prized possessions, aka: offspring.  :)  I got a Flip video recorder a few years ago as a gift and still love it to this day.  I think it was around $100, making it very affordable to most.  It's been a few years, so it's probably even cheaper.  

If your woman is a health nut or work-out freak you may get her some cool/hip gear.  I work out when I can and am definitely not an over-achiever, but I wouldn't cry if my hubby got me some sweet yoga or running pants from Athleta.  I also own some from Gap and they are great too.  My Athleta ones seem to be better quality, but the ones from Gap can be bought on sale at a more than affordable price. As another word to the wise, I'd stay away from the Gfast ones as they tend to sag.  If getting pants, I'd go all out and get her a cute little work-out jacket to go with.  I personally think the jacket is an excellent gift because they can be a little pricey, which will sometimes turn off a Mommy due to the constant nag and guilt of the children's needs/wants.  Also, you may get a colored jacket because sometimes it's hard to match up black jackets with black pants, since there are so many shades.  Other work-out gifts would be ear buds, cool water bottles, socks for stocking stuffers, or maybe a watch with the GPS tracker.  Just some ideas.

So, I re-read this and I agree with myself that I have definitely went overboard.  Oh well.  I will quit, but I really hope this helps someone out.  If you read this and need further assistance with gifts, just send me a message.  I'm always happy to help someone shop for their better half.  :)

Thanks for reading!  :)

Toddler With Stomach Problems, i.e. Diarrhea

Hello readers.  I could not possibly write about all of the issues with parent-hood or toddlers, but I will try to write about a few major ones that might be of help to someone else.  I have a 3 1/2 year old boy who has had lots of diarrhea in his life.  He's had these particular stomach issues for what seems like months at a time.  He will be fine for a few days and then have "issues" for a few days again.  I mentioned this to the Dr. many times and even had stool samples and testing done, with nothing worriesome coming back.  My Dr. never really seemed concerned, but he never had to deal with poo running down the legs of a child at a dinner table either.  Sometimes you just have to be there to realize how bad something is.

Not long ago we were at the Pediatrician's office about something totally unrelated when I mentioned this stomach issue again.  This time around my Dr. said he would bet that it was food related.  He told me to pay close attention to his food and that I'd probably find something that was upsetting his stomach.  My first thought was, he's not had anything new or weird that would be upsetting to someone's tummy.  So, I started taking notes, even if it was just the normal cereal bars, fruits, vegi's and meats that we ate on a daily basis.

After a few weeks of monitoring I had three things on the list, which did not seem like culprits.  Those items were avacados, juice, and peanut butter.  I thought, how could any of these be the issue?  He's been eating them for what seems like forever.  So, I now tried to give him these items individually to see if there were any reactions.  

I didn't see how the item could be avacados or juice because honestly, he rarely had those.  I never even let him have juice until he was two and the only time we give it is if there are left-over's from school snack days.  I figured that couldn't be the issue because he has diarrhea way more than he ever gets juice.  Juice can be a cause for diarrhea, but my Dr. says that is due to having too much.  I know that is not the issue with our son, since we rarely give it.

Moving on to avacado's and peanut butter.  Before I tried both I just sort of thought about it.  It suddenly hit me that he had diarrhea "a-lot" and out of these two items the only thing that he ate "a-lot" of was peanut butter.  With so many stomach issues we seemed to use pb&j's as the back-up meal.  It seemed like a safe thing to give for an upset stomach, not realizing that it was actually causing the upset tummy.  Looking at it closer, we had been giving him chunky peanut butter because that is the preferance of my husband.  Rather than buying two kinds I just always bought and used the chunky for everyone.  Upon doing some research and discussing with my friend, peanuts are very hard to digest.  We sometimes give mixed nuts or peanuts as a snack too, so that was not helping the issue either.

My next move was to try some home-made peanut butter from The Fresh Market.  We tried it and had no negative response.  After trying this with our grape jelly I also tried it with honey to rule out an issue with either of those.  No diarrhea or stomach complaints.  (my son complained of tummy pain almost every day of last year or so)  Moving on, we tried creamy peanut butter from Price Chopper.  Again, no stomach issues.  

It's now been four weeks and we've only had one day where my son complained of a tummy ache.  I've researched avacado reactions and have found that due to the fat content it can also cause diarrhea and stomach pain.  For now I am just steering clear of it because there is no real reason for him to have it.  He isn't a huge fan of the texture anymore anyway.  As for the pb&j's, we are back to eating those.  He gets them less often due to the peanut allergies at school, but he does eat a couple a week with no issues what-so-ever.  I'm very thankful that we do not have a peanut allergy and instead just issues with digesting whole peanuts.  So, if you or  your toddler has consistent diarrhea, you may look at some of the foods that you consider normal because they just may be the issue.  Another route would be to find out what foods are hard for the body to digest so that you pay extra attention to those.  We are now diarrhea free, which makes this Momma much happier.  If you are reading this then you too must have a similar issue, or know someone else that does.  I hope this is the answer for you as well.  

Thanks for reading.  :)

Juggling Schedules With Children Of Multiple Ages

Thinking back, I realize I was one lucky Momma.  My first born son was an amazing sleeper and actually still is.  I was one of those that read on the internet, read bits out of books/magazines, and took advice from lots of family and friends.  I tried very hard to have a consistent sleeping schedule, to include a night-time routine of bath, lotion, jammies, books, and bed.  My son slept all of the time, making me think being a Mommy was pretty easy.  I was able to play with him when he was awake and then I'd shower, clean, or cook during his naps.  It all seemed to work quite well, until around the age of two.

When my son turned two we moved him into a big boy bed because we had another baby due three months later.  We wanted him to get used to his new room and bed before the baby came.  Not long after his birthday we decided to buy a new house and move across town.  We literally packed our stuff up that very next week, bought a house and was moved in two months.  Pretty impressive for a toddler toting pregnant Momma, not to mention that I also played the Realtor role.  (www.myniftynest.com)  Well, the new room and the moving caused some sleeping issues for my toddler.  He went through a long phase of staying up and playing in his room for hours.  He didn't take his nap for a few months or more and he would sometimes be up in his room until midnight.  After speaking with our Parent As Teacher, which you can Google if you do not know what that is, we decided to just stay consistent with our schedule and after a while he started sleeping again.  

So, we got the then two year old back to his normal afternoon nap and sleeping well at night, with somc hiccups here and there.  We just stay consistent and he seems to revert back to normal fairly quickly.  Soooooo add in another child, and house-hold schedules literally get tossed up into the air.  It was nearly impossible for me to balance all of the feeding times, snacks, naps, play-times, and any other things that came into our schedule.  We sort of became a fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants kind of family.

To follow the recommended schedule for the age of each child would mean that we would never do anything else.  As a newborn, most babies are only up for an hour or two at a time.  When my second child was born I'd use that wake time to have alone time with my toddler so that we didn't have any jealousy issues.  This honestly worked like a charm and we had no problems what-so-ever.  As the baby got older and his windows of wake time stretched to longer periods we were able to leave the house.  With all of the packing and loading of two kids, plus meals, diaper changes etc if we left the house it usually meant that a nap or two for the baby would be in the car.  It sort of made everything a little off for the day.  If we wanted to go anywhere we had to just make it work.  Being a second time Mommy I was a-ok with this.  Sticking to a schedule has it's benefits, but enjoying time out of the house has benefits too.  Sometimes getting out and about is healthier for the mind, or it is for mine anyway.

So, that was how the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants got started in our house-hold.  As my children grow I try to adjust their schedules so that they are getting closer and closer to being on similar schedules, but at 1 and 3 we are still far apart on that.  So, we tend to stick to a "sort-of" schedule one day and then do something fun the next.  We are totally flexible, especially with the babies' schedule.  My 14 month old should be taking a morning and an afternoon nap and my 3 1/2 year old should take an afternoon nap.  The younger one will gladly take a morning nap, but then he won't want to take his afternoon one.  When that happens I tend to put him to bed earlier because he's so tired.  So, this schedule would end up being my 1 year old sleeping from 10-12:30 and my toddler sleeping from 1-3:30.  That would have us home all day because I would be cooking once they awoke.  It would also leave me pretty much zero time to shower, cook, clean.  

Now you see why I had it so good with the first one.  He would literally be awake for an hour in the morning only to sleep an hour afterward, which was perfect for me to shower.  He was pretty much never awake more than three hours, which always gave me time to do whatever.  With two, there is never time for anything else.  If I want to clean or cook it has to be while entertaining at-least one child or while at night.  So, I try to clean like a mad woman during a 24 minute show off of Netflix.  :)  As a parent, you just have to make it work.  Balancing sleeping, eating, and play schedules of two or more children can be difficult.  My advice is to learn to be flexible or you will be stressed with trying to make it work.  Just go with the flow and fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants.  Skip a nap and hit the park.  Make up for it by an early bed-time and then Mommy and Daddy can have a movie night or clean or whatever.  As a parent, life is much easier if you are a little flexible.  Schedules are necessary and great, but an open mind will help with less stress from juggling a house-hold of multiple aged children.  Good luck and thanks for reading!  :)