Why pay so much for baby food when you can make your own?

Having a baby can be quite challenging to new parents, not just with the 3am feedings and diaper changes but also financially. Diapers, Dr. visits, clothing, specialty soaps & lotions, and a array of "equipment" (strollers, cradles, cribs, bottles, silverware, containers, bathtubs, bottle warmers, swings, bouncers, etc.) can all add up. Then when your baby hits the stage when they can start eating solids many family's  are faced with the added cost of purchasing specialty jars of food. 

What many people don't realize (probably because they are tired from all that parenthood dishes out) is that most of this food can be made right in your kitchen while your cooking for everyone else! Take for instance your baby has finally moved on to solids and your making baked chicken with pasta and peas for dinner. Simply steam the peas and before you butter them for the rest of your family take a scoop out and mash with a fork in a separate dish for the baby. If you need them really pureed you can use an inexpensive food processor and a little water. They come out the consistency of the jar food except fresher, healthier, and cheaper.  You can even use this technique for when they move from fruits and vegetables to meat just remember that baby food does not need additives like butter or seasonings. Their sensitive pallet & digestive tract will find the food delicious in it's natural state even if you don't :).

5 Things That Will Keep Your Child Busy No Matter Where You Are

1. A retractable sewing tape measure. Most any measuring device will do but a retractable sewing measure is the absolute best. They are like the kind you use for building but smaller and not made of metal :) . I found my kids LOVE these and will play with them for at least 20 min if not longer.

Photo Courtesy of About.com

2. A small note pad and pen. Who can resist drawing? If your kids are of school age you can use it to practice words by playing hangman.

3. A zip lock bag of assorted lego pieces (including at least 1 lego man). All kids like legos and having a small bag of them for when your waiting at the Dr. or for your table at a restaurant can be a real sanity saver.

4. A container of silly putty (as long as your kids are not to little). These little containers of putty are really fun to play with and only contain enough to keep in your hand.

5. A deck of cards. Even if your kids don't know how to play any real card games they enjoy playing with just the cards in general.

Long Car Rides + Young Kids = Cranky "How To Be Prepared"

As I mentioned in earlier posts I have 2 young kids (3 & 6) that love to go places but often hate the car ride. Now don't get me wrong short rides are no problem: going to the store, over to the gas station, & stopping by to see grandma and papa are always enjoyed. It's the other ones, the long ones, that they despise! Take for instance our 6 hour car ride every year to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The moment the word Vacation slips out of mommy or daddy's mouth they are ecstatic! When are we going? What can I bring? they could go on and on for hours.Then after weeks of preparations & packing the day finally arrives when we all pile in the car to leave and before we can even get out of the county it begins......."When will we get there?"........"How long does it take?"......and always..."I gotta go potty!". After many years of taking this trip I think we have succeeded in finding the best way to occupy young kids on long rides. You will still get the occasional "How close are we now?" question but for the most part you will have a very good ride.

1. First and foremost if you ever have the opportunity to drive in the evening TAKE IT! Often we will leave before the sun comes up or as it starts to set. This time of day is prime time for kids to sleep and the more they sleep the less they are bored.

2. Portable CD players or MP3 players, if you can afford them and your kids are big enough to use them. Our youngest was finally able to use one this year and it was a real treat for her. We found head phones that were comfortable on their ears and when they were not sleeping they mostly listened to music and looked out the window at the scenery.

3. A clipboard with paper, pencil, and colored pencils. Notice how color crayons didn't make the list here. It is up to you but we found in the past that crayon can not only rub off on seats easily but also melt in the sun. Fair warning for all long trip takers! :)

4. A hand full of easy to read story books or picture books. Although you may want to make sure your child is not easily affected my motion sickness.

5. Lastly, hand held video games or a portable dvd player. These we haven't utilized yet. The girls are still a bit young for hand held games and we have been trying to instill upon them that TV is not always the answer to boredom.

So there is our sanity saving list to all those in need. I hope it will be of use to many! What ever you do don't leave unprepared.

The Bathtime Helper That Saved Our Sanity!

Everyone knows how sensitive kids can be, especially when it comes to rinsing out soapy hair in the bath tub. Our bath times use to be a battle when it came time to wash hair. Everything we tried was not good enough and ultimately led to tears. Then one day when I was in the store I came across something called a Kids Shampoo Rinse Cup. I immediately ran to check it out, anything that might help me from loosing all my hair during bath time was well worth checking out to me!, and it was PERFECT! I paid about $8 for it 2 years ago and it has been worth every penny. It was a little tricky at first convincing my youngest to let me try it on her but after watching me test it out on big sis she was ready to give it a try. The soft rubber front is what really makes it great, it allows you to hug their forehead so there is no drips into their sensitive eyes. I don't know what I would do without this. We never have trouble in the bath anymore and since using this cup we have adapted a new bath time routine: First wash hair & body then they can play as long as they like. It has really worked wonders for us. THANK YOU RINSE CUP!

Whoever Made Up The Phrase Terrible 2's Must Have Been Confused!

I have been blessed with two very beautiful little girls. They are the light of my life and like many other kids they go through stages, some a bit tougher than others. As they have grown I heard the same old things from everyone. "The time goes so fast enjoy it while their young", "They'll be walking before you know it", "Just wait till she hits terrible 2's". Except that this last one has not been entirely true in our case. For our family the age of 2 was not to exciting, actually it was pretty regular (except for some small potty training mishaps). For us the terrible age seems to be 3! This is the age that they really seem to be testing the rules & finding their personality. Once our older daughter hit 3 our lives were filled with melt downs, tantrums, incessant whining, and stubbornness. Since then she has grown into a very fine, sweet & smart 6yr old that we are very proud of. However her little sister seems to now be struggling with the same "Terrible 3's" we previously encountered. It was so bad last weekend that after a bit of discipline for not holding on to her sisters hand while we were crossing the parking lot she informed me that "IF YOU WEREN'T MY MOM I WOULD HAVE A DIFFERENT MOM!". Ahh, the joys of parenthood....makes me wonder if anyone else has encountered these "Terrible 3's" instead of "Terrible 2's". All we can really do is continue to stand a firm ground and pray that this "stage" will be over soon.