Check out how to create a bound planner to be sold on Amazon using free tools.
Creating low and no content books is a great way for busy moms to earn a passive income on the side. Find out how.
Check out these ideas for everything from decor to treats to food and favors for a fun mermaid birthday party.
If you have not yet heard of Lula Roe, consider this your wake up call. Leggings and mom life go together like peanut butter and jelly, Abbott and Costello, Batman and Robin. Lula Roe has some of the most comfortable leggings I have ever worn. They are so buttery soft, it's like a second skin! Plus, the designs are so fun and unique. Don't worry,Lula is about way more than leggings! Lula can take you from casual holiday get togethers to fancy holiday parties!
You may or may not have realized this, but men and women are built differently, and I don't just mean physically. By nature, we are innately wired to think and interpret situations differently. We react differently in a given situation and we prioritize differently. Today, in light of the never ending to do list that comes with the holiday season, I thought we'd discuss how the difference between men and women relates to nagging: i.e. repeatedly bring up what needs to be done and the fact that it hasn't been done yet.
As you know, Hailey was diagnosed with hypothyroidism when she was only 6 days old. While every mom worries about the growth and development of their babies, this condition caused me to be even more on alert. I made it my mission in incorporate tools for healthy brain development in our everyday life. This includes breast feeding and iron-fortified Gerber Cereal.
Today, I wanted to talk about birthing classes. These classes are a very important part of pregnancy, if not for what to actually do in the birthing room, at least to provide new parents more peace of mind. Since the hubs and I have opposing work schedules and don't have a lot of time home together, the last thing we wanted to do was to use that time to go to prenatal classes. On the other hand, we could definitely use a brush up on what to expect and techniques to use, and just newborn information in general. It had been a while since our 3 year old was a baby. We decided to take to the internet to find a resource that was informative, but didn't take us out of the house.
Guess what! Tomorrow my husband and I celebrate 5 wonderful years of marriage. Yup, 5 years ago today I was anxiously anticipating marrying my soulmate. So much has changed in the last 5 years, mostly to do with the arrival of our two wonderful kids. Since we're all friends here, I thought I would share a little story about how me and the hubs got together all those years ago in honor of this momentous occasion.
So on April 11 of this year I turned 31 and around that time I created a post about the things I'd like to do before my next birthday. This list consisted of a wide range of goals including trips with the family, school goals, and friends goals. You can find that post here. Back in July I posted my first update at a quarter of the way through the year. It's hard to believe that I am now 31.5 and 6 months have gone by!
Now that it's been about 3 months since my last update, I thought I'd update you on the progress through my list.
1.Make 5 recipes from Pinterest - OK, so I haven't started this one yet. My excuse is still the baby, lol. I get home from work at 5:15 and my hubby leave for work around 5:30-5:40. This doesn't leave much time for experimentation especially when the baby wants to be fed. I hope to try some new things for the holidays or maybe a weekend brunch recipe!
2. Go to the zoo at least 3 times - We have gone to the zoo twice so far since I made my list. I don't think this one will be an issue. Since we will be attending their Halloween event, Boo at the Zoo, on the 22nd of this month. Our membership makes this a lot easier. you can read my tips for zoo trips. here.
3. Go on a real vacation - This one is still up in the air. We had wanted to take a family vacation in the fall. However, with all of the medical expenses from Hailey's diagnosis not to mention her constant doctor's appointments I don't think it's in the cards. We can revisit that in the spring and see if things have changed.
4. Read 2 inspiring books - So far I read Eat That Frog which I talked about in this earlier post. I recently attend the online Mom Conference and was utterly inspired. So many good presentations. My favorite was the presentation by Ramona Zabriskie. Based on this I picked up her book Wife for Life and am devouring it. The Mom Conference was free, but can now be purchased for $97. Not only do you get access to all of the presentations of the conference, but you also get a ton of freebies. Ramona included one of her courses in the package which alone is worth $50. Definitely go check it out!! I will be writing a review of the conference later this month!!
5. Rent or sell my house - The house is currently on the market and we have had several showings. My mom also may be moving which would change things. If that happened we would move into her house and rent our house. At this point it's not definite though, so that house remains on the market.
6. Move to new home - We #5 above.
7. Get back in shape after baby - I am doing really well with this. I am not yet back to my pre-pregnancy weight/size but I am definitely getting there and starting to feel good about where I'm at.
8. Perform in 2 dance productions - It's funny how our priorities change. After T I was so gung ho about getting back to performing. This time, not so much. I am still dancing and teaching, but I'm in no rush.
9. Finish writing my book - In all honesty, I still haven't worked on this in a while. There's just so much to do and other priorities. Maybe over winter break from school
10. Start creating vertical images for blog - Only 19 imaged left!!
11. Do 3 DIY projects from Pinterest - This one is actually going well. Our Patriotic Wreath project was inspired by this craft on Pinterest. T and I also made lollipop ghosts and spiders based on a Pinterest post. This project will be up on the blog next week!
12. Declutter - We are doing really well with this one. We organized Tyler's room, the living room, the downstairs closet, and have made progress with the basement. The next major room will be our bedroom!
13. Plan a T and mommy date at least once a month after Hailey is born - Having a newborn that breastfeeds has made this difficult. The boys had one on one time out of the house, but Tyler and I didn't. I'm looking to have a lunch date with him soon. We have had some one on one time at home but I really want to take him out without Hails.
14. Complete 27 credits of grad school - I have now completed 21 credits. I am currently taking 2 courses which will bring me to the 27 credits before Christmas. Then just a few more classes and requirements and I will be a Math Master!!
15. Have consistent date nights with the hubs - As I said, this is super hard for us because I work days and my husband works nights. We fell off the wagon in August but we were back on track for September. This month we had an at home date last week and on the 29th we will be seeing a Broadway show for our 5 year anniversary.
16. Complete cookbook for my nonprofit - Before I had Hailey, I presented the idea of doing a cookbook to my board. I had explained that with a newborn I would not be able to take the lead on this project. However, a cookbook would be a lot easier than organizing and holding photo shoots for the calendar. My board however has not gotten this project going....
17. Have a couples game night - We had a Cards Against Humanity Game Night with some of my in laws!! So fun! I can't wait to do it again
18. Plan and have a girls brunch - This still hasn't happened yet... Everyone has super busy schedules and everyone is popping out babies... Hopefully, soon!
19. Participate in 2-3 charity walks - We just completed the diabetes walk on October 9. That one is close to my heart. I'm looking into other walks and hope to find one that falls on a Sunday, so it doesn't conflict with T's dance class.
20. Run a donation drive - I'm looking to do this closer to the holidays. I will possibly be doing a book and pajama drive again.
So that's my progress so far on my list on things to do my 32nd birthday. I've made pretty good progress on most of the items, there are just a few more to start working on. Mainly the ones involving Pinterest. Hopefully I can make some headway there for next time!
Do you have big birthday goals? Tell me about them in the comments.
Have a great weekend!!
Cheers,
Emily
Let me send you a whole list of tips to help you make more time for yourself and your goals! Plus you will get weekly emails with more tips and advice.
You have successfully joined our subscriber list.
Guys, my birthday is just 2 weeks away! I'm excited! Is that weird? Am I too old to be excited about birthdays? Eh, oh well. My husband tells me that I am the worst person to shop for. He thinks my picks are far too practical and often ends up opting for things that don't really get much use. The thing is I hate clutter and I value presents that make my life easier/better. So I put together my busy mom birthday wishlist for everyone to see. Hopefully, he'll read this post too (wink, wink)!!
This past weekend was Tyler's 4th birthday and the theme was Willy Wonka. This was Tyler's first party where he had school friends to invite. This meant a little more planning as far as food and activities, but overall it was so fun to put together. Best of all, the kids had a blast!
Tyler's first big boy birthday party is coming up. He is in preschool this year, so he actually has friends his own age to invite to his party and play games with. In order to make sure this event goes off without a hitch, I created my own party planner. Let me walk you through it!
So on April 11 of 2016 I turned 31 and around that time I created a post about the things I'd like to do before my next birthday. This list consisted of a wide range of goals including trips with the family, school goals, and friends goals. You can find that post here. Back in July I posted my first update at a quarter of the way through the year and in October I posted my progress at the halfway point. Now here we are closing in on the last 3 months before 32.
With Halloween coming up, we have decided to intersperse our favorite Halloween story books into the mix of our bedtime stories. We have accumulated several of them over the years and I'm sure we will continue to add to the list. As of today, the following 6 books are our favorites. They include entertaining stories, interactivity, and of course Halloween fun.
Tyler loves Daniel Tiger and we love the positive messages presented in the show, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. Daniel Tiger actually was a big help in getting Tyler ready for his baby sister. We can talk about that another time. In this book, Daniel and his friends are getting ready for Halloween. The book takes you through each character’s costume and you use clues to guess what they are going to be. The flaps make this a fun book to read with toddlers.
If you like Goodnight Moon, then you will thoroughly enjoy this Halloween parody. In similar style to the original, this book takes you through the things in the little monster's room at bedtime. The difference is these items include goo, a witch, a werewolf, a black hat, and more. The pictures are cute, not scary, so it's enjoyable for the kids.
This story is actually one of my favorites. Probably because I am a BIG Edgar Allen Poe fan. I just love the rhythm of his poetry. This book is written with the same rhythm as Poe's The Raven. This makes it as fun for me to read as it is for Tyler to hear. The story describes the Count waiting as guests arrive for his Halloween party. There is definitely some knocking at Count's castle door. The story features your favorite Sesame Street characters dressed in their Halloween best. In the end, you are invited to the party too!
This book is of the classic Charlie Brown story. We all know this story, or at least we should. If you don't know it, do yourself a favor and watch the movie. Let your kids see it too. It's just one of those things that everyone should do. Anyway, the best part of this book is that it comes with reusable stickers. I don't know about you, but my toddler loves stickers. This book has places to put stickers on every page in order to fully illustrate the story. This has been a hit with Tyler night after night.
This book is an abridged version of the cartoon "Curious George's Boo Fest". Its a cute story where George gets spooked after hearing the story of No Noggin about a monster that steals hats. The best part is that it is an unscary scary story. As in your child will feel like he/she is enjoying the scary story experience without actually being scared. This is really an early reader book, but T liked it a lot. It is a great length book for toddler bedtime, too.
This was Tyler's first Halloween book and we are keeping it in the mix mainly for Hailey's benefit. However, Tyler does request it himself every once in a while. Like most baby's first books, this book contains photos of various Halloween related things with the name of the item below the picture. I believe that T like that some of the pictures are of kids dressed up in costume. For example, the monster picture is a baby boy dressed up as a monster. It's a cute book for little ones.
For more Halloween fun, check this Halloween Handprint Craft. We will also be posting a new Halloween Craft project later this month so stay tuned.
Cheers,
Emily
Let me send you a whole list of tips to help you make more time for yourself and your goals! Plus you will get weekly emails with more tips and advice.
You have successfully joined our subscriber list.
Ideas to ensure your kiddos have a healthier Halloween without ruining the fun!
With Halloween coming up, I thought it would be helpful to put together a list of fun DIY costumes. But, unlike many other lists, this list makes sure you get the most bang for your time. This means least complicated but with great outcomes.
Last week, T and I decided to create our Halloween craft project. This year we made ghosts and spiders out of lollipops and a few basic crafting supplies. This is a fun craft for toddlers and great for Halloween parties or for bringing treats to school.
I know, I know, it's not even Halloween and I'm talking holiday shopping. I'm the first to complain when I see Christmas decorations up before Thanksgiving. I am all about giving each holiday it's due. Plus now that I have a child that can actually anticipate holidays, I don't need him pestering about presents so far in advance.
On the other hand, there is no logic to cramming all that shopping into the month of December. I mean with so many other holiday things to do like holiday parties and visiting Santa, who can possibly do all that and not stress?! Not I. For me, slow and steady wins the race. So, here are some tips on how I keep holiday shopping stress free.
If you haven’t started yet, start now. There are two big benefits to this; time and money. Starting early means you have months to get your shopping done instead of weeks. No pushing your way through over crowded stores. No running around on Christmas Eve. No rushing from store to store because what you want is sold out. Expense wise, you get to spread the cost of the holidays over multiple months prior to the holidays. Unlike spreading the cost over multiple months after holidays, this method does not involve paying interest.
Make a list but only be super specific when you have to be. For example, Tyler is at an age where he wants specific things. He wants to complete his collection of Ghostbusters mystery minis, and he wants certain Lego sets. Items for him are very specific. Hailey on the other hand is unable to voice her opinions. Therefore, her list might look more like: clothes, stuffed animal, educational toy. For my brother I might write model train equipment. Then anytime I find model train equipment on sale, I can buy him something and check him off my list. The less specific you can be for people, the better. Then you have a broader range of options and can find better deals. Of course, you want it to still be something they would want/need and like.
Make a spreadsheet listing each person or group of people you need to buy gifts for in the first column. For example, individuals I need to buy gifts for include, my hubs, Tyler and Hails, my nephews, my mom, my brother, etc.. Groups might be my aunt and uncle, Tyler’s teachers, etc. In the next column list what you plan on purchasing them. If they are getting more than one item, make a new row for each item. The next 3 columns are as follows: bought, wrapped, delivered/shipped. You could of course do this by hand, but I love the clean look of spreadsheets! Print out your completed list and bring it with you wherever you go. If you are not sure what to get someone, leave their line blank. You can fill it in when you get inspired. Now anytime you find something that someone on your list would like, you can check it off your list. No more over buying because you forgot you already got something. This also keeps track of your wrapping so you won’t get behind on that either. Check out my sample spreadsheet below. Note that this is not my actual list incase these people are reading my blog…
If you have been through any gift giving occasion with kids before, you know you will be bombarded with questions from relatives of what to get your kids. Be prepared. Once you make the list of things that you will be getting your kids yourself, make a second list of things that they want or need. Keep this second list with you as well or give it to your husband, but not both. You need to have a designated go to person for this list. You don’t want both parents giving items out because the whole purpose here is to avoid multiples of the same gift. Now when someone asks what to get your kids, your go to person can give them items from your list. Be aware that these people may not necessarily get the item you suggest to them, but you can hopefully prevent multiples of the same gift. You also avoid the texts back and forth “did you get so and so this?”, “No, OK then I’m getting it”, “OK so then what should I get them now?”…. You can always hold onto the list and if your kids didn’t get the item for Christmas, now you already have a list for their birthday!
I hope you find this list helpful! Do you have tips to reduce holiday shopping stress?? If so leave your tips in the comments!
Cheers,
Emily
Let me send you a whole list of tips to help you make more time for yourself and your goals! Plus you will get weekly emails with more tips and advice.
You have successfully joined our subscriber list.
Here are 5 ways you can save time during the holidays and still get stuff done. It's all about prioritizing what needs to get done by you versus what just needs to get done.
Between Holiday parties, meal prep, visiting Santa, buying presents, sending cards, the holiday season packs in a lot to do in just a short amount of time. This FREE guide will take the overwhelm out of the holidays.
Check out these tips for having a relaxed fun filled holiday season without the stress.
Check out the key elements to a perfect holiday night in with the family and how you can create the experience.
Check out this list of holiday gifts with everything you need for the entire family plus friends.
It is time to prep for the holidays! There's so much to do in the coming months between holiday get togethers, Christmas shopping, decorating, baking, card sending, etc.. It really can be a daunting time of year. To help you (and me) out, I put together a little planning guide to take us from Thanksgiving to Christmas.
There are so many ways to celebrate the holiday season. Here are the traditions that we hold near and dear.
With all the information out there on the harmful effects of sugar, I don’t want to be another person adding sugar to the mix. So here are some recipes for sweet treats that you can enjoy over the holidays with no sugar added!
Are you ready for the flood of toys and books and games that your kids will receive this Christmas? Here's how you can prepare!
I have scoured the inter-webs for videos of holiday DIY projects that are easy and elegant all at the same time. Things you are totally capable of doing and would be proud to show off in your home.
Some toddlers are great eaters. You put food in front of them and they immediately lift their plastic fork and dig in. Others who were great eaters as babies become the pickiest of eaters in toddlerhood. My toddler falls into the second category. In order to ensure that T actually gets some quality food into his belly, the hubs and I have a few tricks we employ. Here are some things that work best with our toddler and may even work for you.
Toddlers always want things that they can't have. Actually that might go for adults too, but in this case we just care that it works for toddlers. My husband is the best at this game. If T doesn't show interest in eating his meal, the hubs will say, "Mom, don't let Tyler eat that (insert food item here). It's mine!" T will of course respond, "No it's mine." So with a little back and forth of "I'm going to eat it", "No, I'm going to eat it", it eventually gets eaten, by Tyler.
My toddler likes to win. Maybe yours does too. In the mornings, sometimes we race to eat our cereal. By we, I mean that I eat my food at my normal pace and occasionally throw out phrases like "I think I'm going to finish first". T actually likes cereal and would eventually eat his whole serving anyway, but this makes sure that it happens in say 20 minutes instead of like an hour. My son happens to be very careful in his eating, I wouldn't recommend this one if your kid is likely to scarf down his food too quickly. As I said, I don't increase my speed I just throw out a little taunt if he is becoming distracted.
Fact: Toddlers love finger foods and they love snacks. Stock up on a variety of healthy snacks that you can put together to make a meal. You can stock up on whole grain crackers, veggies, hummus, fruit, nut butters, and tons of other healthy snack items. Put these together and you have a great lunch for a toddler! It's both healthy and fun to eat. The key to this one is to only have healthy options. Then no matter what snack food they pick you can be happy giving it to them.
A fun way to get toddlers to try new healthy snacks is to make it into a game. Recently, T and I headed to Walmart to pick up the Gerber Lil’ Beanies snacks. They have 2 flavors, original and white cheddar broccoli, so it's perfect for the game we wanted to play. How does this fit with getting toddlers to eat healthy? Gerber Lil’ Beanies is made from the goodness of navy beans to deliver 2 grams of protein (9% Daily Value), 1 gram of fiber, and 10% Daily Value of Vitamin E per serving. Plus it's baked, not made with genetically engineered (GM) ingredients, and is naturally flavored!
What was our game? We decided to be taste testers and we got the whole family involved. I served the snacks in two bowls and Mom, Dad, and Tyler had to guess which snack was which flavor. We also each picked our favorite flavor. Hails was the referee. She also volunteered one of her headbands as our blindfold. Here are some shots of the action:
And here are the results:
Tyler: prefers original
Mom: prefers original
Dad: prefers original
Hailey: to be determined (once she starts eating real food)
You can try this snack yourself by heading over to Walmart and picking up a container. You can try one at a time or try our game and see if your toddler can pick out the flavors! Be sure to register your purchase with iBotta to get 50 cents back! Remember this was one of my favorite money making apps I told you about a while back!
I hope you enjoyed these tips! Tune in Friday when I will be doing my 20 week postpartum update including tips on how to stay motivated to exercise!
Cheers,
Emily
Let me send you a whole list of tips to help you make more time for yourself and your goals! Plus you will get weekly emails with more tips and advice.
You have successfully joined our subscriber list.
How to take care of yourself while you are taking care of others.
Setting goals and maintaining a family do not have to be mutually exclusive. Learn how to create work life balance between your family and your personal goals.
When your energy is dragging, there are healthy things you can do to pick yourself back up.
Sometimes the shows you love portray things in a way that is wrong. It’s hard not to react.
Times are crazy. People are stressed and fearful. People have gotten sick, or died or lost their jobs. We need to come together, not fall apart.
Holidays this year are going to be a little different but they don’t have to be stressful. We can still feel the holiday season amidst the new circumstances.
How to create a fun, festive virtual birthday party with a Harry Potter theme.
Feelings can stop us in our tracks and prevent us from getting things done and making progress in our lives.
When we are spending so much time at home, our relationship with our spouse can suffer. Here are things you can do to improve your marriage while at home.
Let me share a little story. When I was pregnant with my son, I purchased my first iPad. I loved it. I loved doing work on it and watching videos. Eventually when T came, I liked to play games with him on it. One day we had been playing the shapes game in T's bedroom before bed. When we were done, I placed the iPad on his dresser. While he was sitting on my lap, he inadvertently kicked the iPad off the dresser and the screen shattered onto the floor.
Luckily the iPad was still under the warrantee. But it taught me to be a lot more careful about my electronics. The next day I went to apple, replaced the iPad and purchased a super heavy duty protective case. It's ugly, and bulky, but my iPad has had a scratch since.
One of the sad truths about parenthood is that we sometimes have to sacrifice form for function. You can no longer get the cute sparkly but cheap plastic phone case. You need it to be secure in case your toddler knocks it off the table or purposefully chucks it across the room... For a while I was stuck getting lame phone cases. Boring ones, utilitarian ones, while all my childless friends (read: all of my friends at the time) had cute fun ones.
Then one day I was flipping through my Instagram feed and I saw someone talking about there cute but protective phone case. I was intrigued. So I checked them out.
Boutique Me is a place to get personalized and monogrammed phone and electronics cases and so much more. The best part is these cases are from top brands for protective cases including Otterbox, Life Proof and Case Mate. I purchased my case in the beginning of March and it has been dropped several times since then with no damage to the phone. The case is holding up well even though I am constantly just tossing it in my purse. Check it out!
I chose to have a picture from T's 3rd birthday on my case. You are to choose colors patterns, design, and add monograms as well. I will have to get a new case soon though since in this picture Hails is still on the inside....
Aside from electronics cases, boutique me also sells a variety of other monogrammed items including products for the car, office, kitchen, and beach. They're items are perfect as a wedding or housewarming gift. Also good for college students. Know someone starting a new job? Get them a monogrammed business card case.
Because I love them so much and want you to check them out, I contacted the company and was able to get my readers a discount. If you use the code Emily10, you can get 10% off your order!! If you have the new iPhone 7, don't worry, they already have cases for you. If not they probably have a case for you too. If not, you probably need a new phone anyway!
Definitely head over to Boutique Me and check them out!!
Have a great weekend!
Cheers,
Emily
Let me send you a whole list of tips to help you make more time for yourself and your goals! Plus you will get weekly emails with more tips and advice.
You have successfully joined our subscriber list.
How to take care of yourself while you are taking care of others.
Setting goals and maintaining a family do not have to be mutually exclusive. Learn how to create work life balance between your family and your personal goals.
When your energy is dragging, there are healthy things you can do to pick yourself back up.
Sometimes the shows you love portray things in a way that is wrong. It’s hard not to react.
Times are crazy. People are stressed and fearful. People have gotten sick, or died or lost their jobs. We need to come together, not fall apart.
Holidays this year are going to be a little different but they don’t have to be stressful. We can still feel the holiday season amidst the new circumstances.
How to create a fun, festive virtual birthday party with a Harry Potter theme.
Feelings can stop us in our tracks and prevent us from getting things done and making progress in our lives.
When we are spending so much time at home, our relationship with our spouse can suffer. Here are things you can do to improve your marriage while at home.
I don't know about you, but I already feel it. The mad rush that begins in October and doesn't end until the new year. Halloween is huge in my house. It's my husband's favorite holiday and it has rubbed off on me as well. October is a crazy month for us fill with events and activities for the season. There's Apple/Pumpkin Picking, Harvest Fest at the New York Botanical Garden, Boo at the Zoo, The Count's Halloween Spooktacular at Sesame Place, and of course Halloween itself. We also host a marshmallow roast every year around Halloween. On top of that, our 5 year wedding anniversary is October 29th. Are you feeling overwhelmed yet?
Then the holidays start with Thanksgiving and Christmas shopping, holiday lights shows, Christmas parties, visiting Santa, and Christmas itself. Add to that my sister in laws wedding in early November, and Hailey's baptism in December, and the next few months are packed. And of course there's still grad school and work and family and life. For these last two weeks of September I will be enjoying the calm.
Altering costumes: T's Halloween is in so, in the next few weeks I will slowly be taking it in. The character he wanted to be didn't have a costume in toddler size, so there is a lot to take in... I ordered a plain dress for my costume and once it arrives, I will need to add a few extra touches for my character. Hailey's costume is ordered and some pieces have arrived. Luckily, her's doesn't need much work. As for the hubs, he likes to take his costume into his own hands... Note: I am being purposefully vague here. I want you to really enjoy the big Halloween costume reveal!
Planning our weekends: There are a lot of activities that we want to pack in to a short period of time. This is especially true in October. In the next 2 weeks I will be prioritizing the activities we want to do most and try to schedule times to do them. Since my husband works weekends, this may be difficult. We may recruit grandma to join us for the more minor activities and make sure the hubs is there for Sesame Place and Pumpkin/Apple Picking. My husband already took the day off for Halloween; it's that important.
Start Holiday Shopping: Holiday shopping starts now. If we see something that T seems to like in the store, we make a note for his Christmas list. Hails is a lot easier seeing as how a 4 month old doesn't really make demands regarding toys. Also, presents for friends and relatives starts now. If we see something someone would like we just pick it up and save it for the holidays. This also goes for holiday outfits. If we see something now, we just pick it up and save it.
Plan for Hailey's Baptism: We are not having a huge get-together, but we will have a little reception for family and close friends after Hailey's baptism. So nothing crazy, but there will be invitations, food, and some decor. Oh, and of course, cake. Definitely something DIY which I of course will share here!! So, the planning for that will start now!
That's it. I mean it would be silly if this was a long list. It wouldn't be calm, it would be just as stressful as the coming months. These four things however can really help us to enjoy the experiences of the holidays instead of being bogged down by the stresses. I always get my holiday shopping done by the latest, Black Friday. This way in December I can enjoy the holidays and just have to do some wrapping. I like to have our October events planned so we are not stressing about fitting everything in, but instead enjoying the events. As far as November, I am lucky to have 5 sister in laws and a wonderful mother in law, so Thanksgiving is never stressful for me. I bring my always requested dessert which you can find here, and maybe a side or two. Everyone chips in, so it's not so overwhelming.
So, are you enjoying the calm before the holidays? What are you doing to make the holidays less stressful? Share in the comments and let's help each other out!
Cheers,
Emily
Let me send you a whole list of tips to help you make more time for yourself and your goals! Plus you will get weekly emails with more tips and advice.
You have successfully joined our subscriber list.
Tips to increase your energy and organization to get through a busy day.
It can be hard to balance kids and work, when you are working from home. Here are some tips that can help.
Check out this collection of tasks to help you stay on top of your home and your work.
Tips for getting the important stuff done when the kids are around all day every day!
It can be hard to manage life as a busy mom and it’s easy to be overwhelmed. Check out these ideas to make better use of your time.
Check out my favorite solution for clearing up your inbox and avoiding all those email notifications!
Here are 5 ways you can save time during the holidays and still get stuff done. It's all about prioritizing what needs to get done by you versus what just needs to get done.
Find out why 90 days is the best time frame for achieving goals and why you need a 90 day planner.
Creating a weekly schedule involves putting in time up front, but it saves you so much time in the long run.
Check out the simple process to make and effective schedule that you can actually stick to. Includes daily schedule examples.
If you have been following along on Facebook, you know that both my kids started their new session of swim classes this week. T was returning and Hails took her first class the day she turned 4 months. It may or may not surprise you to know that there are several things you will need if your baby is starting swim class. Instead of just listing it all out, I decided to make a video to explain what you will need and why. Below the video are links to all of the things I mention.
Here are all the items mentioned in the video:
Hailey's Swim Suit from Love Buns
Captain America Swim Trunks (Similar to Tyler's)
Reusable Swim Diaper from I Love Bub
So what did you think? Did you like the video? Would you like for me to continue to include video every once in a while? Let me know in the comments!
Happy Weekend!!
Cheers,
Emily
Let me send you a whole list of tips to help you make more time for yourself and your goals! Plus you will get weekly emails with more tips and advice.
You have successfully joined our subscriber list.
How to take care of yourself while you are taking care of others.
Setting goals and maintaining a family do not have to be mutually exclusive. Learn how to create work life balance between your family and your personal goals.
When your energy is dragging, there are healthy things you can do to pick yourself back up.
Sometimes the shows you love portray things in a way that is wrong. It’s hard not to react.
Times are crazy. People are stressed and fearful. People have gotten sick, or died or lost their jobs. We need to come together, not fall apart.
Holidays this year are going to be a little different but they don’t have to be stressful. We can still feel the holiday season amidst the new circumstances.
How to create a fun, festive virtual birthday party with a Harry Potter theme.
Feelings can stop us in our tracks and prevent us from getting things done and making progress in our lives.
When we are spending so much time at home, our relationship with our spouse can suffer. Here are things you can do to improve your marriage while at home.
Recently I was contacted my Kim Marino, the mama behind www.thespeechmama.com. For the past 18 years, she has been working doing home based speech and language therapy-with the little ones that just came home from the hospital and are on feeding tubes to school aged children working on cognitive rehabilitation. Kim has put together various resources for kids and babies to develop their language and cognitive skills.
Kim asked me to try out one of her products, the MY FIRST SOUNDS AND WORDS FLASHCARDS with my little ones. This is a set of 40 flashcards which target early sounds and words which your baby can say. As parents, we are always looking for tools to help our children learn and develop. For me, especially with Hailey's hypothyroidism, we are continually looking for fun ways to develop her brain. You can read a bit about Hailey's diagnosis here.
The flashcards were sent in a digital file which I printed and laminated. They include images of everyday items as well as 2 blank ones for you to insert pictures of you and your baby. The images are photo quality and the names are printed below the picture.
At first I was a little skeptical at how much Hails would get out of these based on her age. I mean she just turned 4 months yesterday. But, I was pleasantly surprised by her reaction. First off, she loved looking at the pictures on each card. Then she would giggle at me as I over articulated and emphasized the sound/word on each card. After a few times playing with these, she is now starting to try to mimic the sounds. Totally impressive for a 4 month old.
In addition to developing language in my newborn, I also love working on the cards with my 3 year old. With him, he will name the picture or make the sound and we will talk about the letters that we are pronouncing. He loves to help when showing the cards to Hailey, which makes this a fun learning activity that we can do all together. For example if I pick out the owl card, Tyler will name the animal. Then I ask him what sound the owl makes. Once he responds we will hoo back and forth with Hailey. Finally I will talk with Tyler about what letter starts the Hoo sound and point it out on the card.
I love that this helps in the learning and development of both my kids even though they are at different stages. Both kids are entertained and help each other make it a fun activity. Although Tyler likes to point out to me that Hailey can't talk, he does get pleasantly surprised when she tries to copy our sounds. There is also a bingo game using the same words and images, but we haven't gone too far with that yet. We have been having far too much fun with the flash cards.
You can go check out the flashcards here. Feel free to poke around the site and explore the other resources as well. We give them 2 thumbs up!!
Cheers,
Emily
Let me send you a whole list of tips to help you make more time for yourself and your goals! Plus you will get weekly emails with more tips and advice.
You have successfully joined our subscriber list.
How to take care of yourself while you are taking care of others.
Setting goals and maintaining a family do not have to be mutually exclusive. Learn how to create work life balance between your family and your personal goals.
When your energy is dragging, there are healthy things you can do to pick yourself back up.
Sometimes the shows you love portray things in a way that is wrong. It’s hard not to react.
Times are crazy. People are stressed and fearful. People have gotten sick, or died or lost their jobs. We need to come together, not fall apart.
Holidays this year are going to be a little different but they don’t have to be stressful. We can still feel the holiday season amidst the new circumstances.
How to create a fun, festive virtual birthday party with a Harry Potter theme.
Feelings can stop us in our tracks and prevent us from getting things done and making progress in our lives.
When we are spending so much time at home, our relationship with our spouse can suffer. Here are things you can do to improve your marriage while at home.
Today I thought I'd bring back a style of post that I published all the way back in February 2016. This past Tuesday's post got very real and necessarily so. But today is not that kind of day. So, we are are back for round 2 of things my toddler said. If you want to see the original post, click here. At 3.5, these things just get better and better. I really love this age!
So, as you all know it's back to school time. For me back to school means back to dance school. Yesterday evening was the teacher's meeting for the start of the dance year. I brought Hails with me, but T stayed with his Uncle Tom. After the meeting I went to pick up T. The following is an excerpt from our conversation on the drive home. On our way home, T commented that it was dark. I said "yeah, because it's almost bedtime." He said for me to turn the light back on. I told him I can't, that the sun went to sleep. He said he likes it better when the sun is out. So I said me too, but if he goes to sleep soon the sun will be back when he wakes up. He seemed satisfied by this and responded, oh, OK.... I really do love this age!!
This past weekend, my aunt came to visit and hang out with the kiddos. Whilst playing she brought up to Tyler that he would be starting school soon. She asked if he was excited. Eh. Then she explained that he was going to have such a good time. That he was going to make new friends and play with toys. He responds oh, like Pop Vinyls? I say well not exactly, seeing as how I assume most early childhood centers don't carry toys that are labeled for ages 14 and up. So then my aunt says that he is going to get to sing songs too. So T says, oh, like Joanna? As in the song from Sweeney Todd when all the murders occur. He of course has never seen Sweeney Todd, but he has memorized this song from the soundtrack. Again, I have to explain that this song and many of his other favorites (Send Me Someone - Young Frankenstein, Puttin on the Ritz - Young Frankenstein, Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles, Back in Time - Back to the Future, What's This - Nightmare Before Christmas, etc..) would probably not be in the preschool repertoire.
Much like his father, my son is an avid toy collector. He loves to watch YouTube unboxing videos and has even recorded a few of his own. You can find his videos at Tyler's Toy Time. Once he starts collecting a set of toys, he will continually talk about the ones he is missing from the set. One day I had enough of hearing how he needed Mr. Krabs, and Gary, and the barnacle boys (this is what he calls Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy) and Plankton and the Chum Bucket to complete his collection. I informed him of this and excused myself to use the restroom. He was left in the living room with Baby Hailey in the bouncer. Upon my return, I find T sitting on the floor in front of Hails showing her the SpongeBob toys he has so far and telling her which ones he still needed. She seemed delighted by this conversation.
Hailey and tyler
Just this morning, T was opening his collection of Mashems and lining them up on the table. He picked one up and I asked him who they were. He said he didn't know. I told him I didn't know either. So he told me to leave it in the comments below. Then when he was done lining them up he said thanks for watching, please subscribe, give me thumbs up if you like it, bye bye. Then he waved. This is only funny if you have ever watched a toy unboxing video....
I hope you enjoyed these little anecdotes. There are so many things that T says that cause me to giggle, snicker, or sometimes downright laugh out loud. Do you have any silly anecdotes of your kids from the past week or so? Share them in the comments. Let's laugh our way into the weekend!
Next week we will be back with some more reviews and tips!
Have a great weekend!
Cheers,
Emily
Let me send you a whole list of tips to help you make more time for yourself and your goals! Plus you will get weekly emails with more tips and advice.
You have successfully joined our subscriber list.
How to take care of yourself while you are taking care of others.
Setting goals and maintaining a family do not have to be mutually exclusive. Learn how to create work life balance between your family and your personal goals.
When your energy is dragging, there are healthy things you can do to pick yourself back up.
Sometimes the shows you love portray things in a way that is wrong. It’s hard not to react.
Times are crazy. People are stressed and fearful. People have gotten sick, or died or lost their jobs. We need to come together, not fall apart.
Holidays this year are going to be a little different but they don’t have to be stressful. We can still feel the holiday season amidst the new circumstances.
How to create a fun, festive virtual birthday party with a Harry Potter theme.
Feelings can stop us in our tracks and prevent us from getting things done and making progress in our lives.
When we are spending so much time at home, our relationship with our spouse can suffer. Here are things you can do to improve your marriage while at home.
I hope everyone had a nice Labor Day weekend and if you don't celebrate, I hope you had a nice weekend anyway!! We had a nice time. I had a 4 day weekend and the hubs was actually off 2 days so we had a lot of family time. We went to church, to the park, watched movies, and just played together. It was glorious.
Speaking of family, today I wanted to talk about the upcoming Step Out Walk to Stop Diabetes. If you have been reading a while, you may know that my brother is diabetic. To be specific he has type 1 diabetes. He was diagnosed during the week of my birth back in April of 1985. He was not yet 2 years old. Growing up he would often blame me for the diabetes seeing as how we both arrived around the same time. I knew he was kidding, sort of.
Growing up, my brother wasn't always the best patient. As a child mom took care of all the finger pricks and needles, but as he got older he definitely resented the diagnosis. Especially in his teen years when he was able to administer the insulin to himself he would not always be conscientious about it. He had several episodes where he neglected to take his insulin and ended up in the emergency room with ridiculously high blood sugar levels.
Since then however, he has been good at monitoring and caring for himself. A year or two ago he was in a good place. He was living upstate, pursuing education, and enjoying a social life. Recently, however, the side effects of this disease and other complications have hit him hard.
It started out with more minor ailments, Crohn's disease, a bout of Bell's palsy, loosing the arch in his foot. Then he started going blind. He suffered kidney failure and currently has dialysis 3 days a week. He lost feeling in several fingertips, which then became gangrenous, and eventually had to be amputated. More recently he began to loose toes and has now had his foot amputated.
At this point, he is in an assisted living home because his leg has yet to heal so he cannot yet use a prosthetic. Since he is wheelchair bound and our family's homes cannot accommodate the chair, he is there until he heals.
At only 33 years old, my brother is in a hard place. He is super smart and well spoken. He is a lover of the outdoors and enjoyed camping and other outdoor pursuits. I can only imagine his mental state at this point. I know he looks forward to seeing my kiddos and he is motivated to heal to spend more time with them.
This is why I walk. Because a vibrant 33 year old shouldn't have this laundry list of ailments. Because we need to find a cure and I will do what I can to help that happen.
If you would like to contribute to the cause and donate, you can follow this link to my page on the American Diabetes Association Website. Any support whether it be monetary, kind words, or prayers is greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Emily
Let me send you a whole list of tips to help you make more time for yourself and your goals! Plus you will get weekly emails with more tips and advice.
You have successfully joined our subscriber list.
How to take care of yourself while you are taking care of others.
Setting goals and maintaining a family do not have to be mutually exclusive. Learn how to create work life balance between your family and your personal goals.
When your energy is dragging, there are healthy things you can do to pick yourself back up.
Sometimes the shows you love portray things in a way that is wrong. It’s hard not to react.
Times are crazy. People are stressed and fearful. People have gotten sick, or died or lost their jobs. We need to come together, not fall apart.
Holidays this year are going to be a little different but they don’t have to be stressful. We can still feel the holiday season amidst the new circumstances.
How to create a fun, festive virtual birthday party with a Harry Potter theme.
Feelings can stop us in our tracks and prevent us from getting things done and making progress in our lives.
When we are spending so much time at home, our relationship with our spouse can suffer. Here are things you can do to improve your marriage while at home.
Grocery shopping is a hassle, especially with kids. Either they don't want to be there, they don't want to sit in the cart, or they want you to buy things that you don't want. Or their carrier takes up so much room in the cart, there's hardly any room for food. No shopping trip highlights this more than when you try to shop in bulk. How can your child pass by a bulk sized box of cookies?! On the other hand, there are many great benefits to shopping in bulk. You can get a better price and you can shop less often. I have found an app that allows you to get the bulk prices you love without ever leaving the house and no membership fee! Let me tell you about it.
Boxed Wholesale - Boxed is an app for people who like wholesale prices without the hassle of going to a wholesale store. Through this app you can purchase non-perishable bulk items that will be delivered right to your door. Shipping is free on your first order as well as on any order over $50. Believe me, it's easy to get an order over $50; I have yet to pay shipping.
Boxed is great for bulky items like paper towels and toilet paper, as well as cleaning supplies, k-cups for your keurig, cereal, and snack items. I get T his chocolate milk boxes, Annie's Mac and cheese, and Belvita breakfast biscuits. There are tons of items to shop for on a regular basis as well as seasonal items. For example right now they have a bunch of back to school items. The prices are comparable to Costco, but no membership fee.
This app definitely saves you time: you don’t have to drive to a store, shop, wait on line, checkout, load up your car, and drive home; gas: you don’t have to go anywhere - your order comes to you, money: you are getting wholesale prices, and sanity: you avoid the hassle of going to a wholesale store with your kids! There are no membership fees and the delivery is fast.
The customer service at Boxed is great. I once had an item inadvertently missing from my order. I emailed customer service who got back to me quickly and allowed me to reorder the item for free. The reps were very nice and accommodating. I also love the hand written notes in each package thanking me for my order. So personal!!
Another great feature is the Boxed rewards program. For every dollar you spend on an order, you get 1 boxed rewards point. 500 points = $5.00 off an order. This allows you to get an even better deal! Boxed is always coming up with new freebies and discounts to add to your order. With one order I got a free selfie stick with my order and with another order, I got a free flag. On my latest order I got a free can of juice and a free roll of toilet paper. This free app is available in the Apple Store as well as on Google Play, so whether you're Android or Apple, you can get it.
Bottom line, it's a free app that allows you to get bulk prices and free shipping on the items you need. There is no reason not to get it!
Click this link to get $15 off your first order of $60 or more on boxed!
Have a great Labor Day Weekend!!
Cheers,
Emily
Let me send you a whole list of tips to help you make more time for yourself and your goals! Plus you will get weekly emails with more tips and advice.
You have successfully joined our subscriber list.
As busy moms, we put pressure on ourselves to do it all. There is so much on our plate and not enough time to do it in. We have jobs to do, kids to nurture, husbands to support, houses to clean, not to mention meeting our own needs. Having the kids around constantly can make some of these tasks near impossible. The problem is, often times we don't have people we trust or the resources to pay for someone to watch our kids. I recently came across a new app that solves this problem in a really smart way. Komae to the rescue!
Two easy to use apps that you can use to help make money doing things that you already do.
In case you didn't know, the only thing more difficult and awkward than dressing a pregnant body, is dressing a postpartum body. Especially if you are breastfeeding. There are just so many things to consider. You are likely not back at your pre-pregnancy size yet. You have to consider fit, whether it's appropriate for where you are going, can you access your boobs for feeding or pumping, etc.. You can no longer just throw something on.
Then you discover nursing clothes and you think you are saved only to discover that many nursing tops are made to serve both through pregnancy and beyond. While this may be economical, in many cases it's not flattering. If you want to discourage people from asking if you are still pregnant, this is not the way to do it.
The following are some tips for dressing that post baby, breastfeeding body.
1. Tank tops and Camisoles: These tops are generally stretchy and can be pulled down allowing you access to your boob out of the neck hole. It's appropriate for summer and, paired with a light cardigan, it can be worn to work. Whilst this doesn't conceal your belly per se, it also doesn't make it look any bigger. Another plus is they are comfortable to wear under a baby carrier.
2. Old Navy Nursing Tops: These can be hit or miss. Old Navy has some inexpensive options, but I definitely recommend going and trying them on. I found a cute tank top which you may have seen in my postpartum update on Friday. You can see it again below. I also found a dress that made me look more pregnant than when I was pregnant. I didn't get that one.... So try things on!!
3. Button Downs: Button down shirts are great while breastfeeding. You may have to go up a size though depending on how much your boobs have grown. I picked up the top below at H & M and I love it for the office. It's cute and I just have to open one or two buttons to feed the peanut.
4. Bearsland: This is a brand that I recently found following my second pregnancy. This is a brand created by a mom who wanted cute breastfeeding tops that also covered the belly that she was still working on. The tops are both comfortable and cute. They cover what they need to cover while still providing easy access. I have purchased several of their tops. You can see one below. You can find the one I'm wearing here.
Do you have a favorite brand or type of nursing top? I really dislike having to do the whole lift up your shirt thing to feed the baby. I also still want to look cute. And I don't want to have to pump when I'm actually going to be with my daughter. Therefore, I'm always looking for new nursing options. So if you have any good ones, help a mother out. I hope I have returned the favor!
See you Friday!
Cheers,
Emily
Let me send you a whole list of tips to help you make more time for yourself and your goals! Plus you will get weekly emails with more tips and advice.
You have successfully joined our subscriber list.
How to take care of yourself while you are taking care of others.
Setting goals and maintaining a family do not have to be mutually exclusive. Learn how to create work life balance between your family and your personal goals.
When your energy is dragging, there are healthy things you can do to pick yourself back up.
Sometimes the shows you love portray things in a way that is wrong. It’s hard not to react.
Times are crazy. People are stressed and fearful. People have gotten sick, or died or lost their jobs. We need to come together, not fall apart.
Holidays this year are going to be a little different but they don’t have to be stressful. We can still feel the holiday season amidst the new circumstances.
How to create a fun, festive virtual birthday party with a Harry Potter theme.
Feelings can stop us in our tracks and prevent us from getting things done and making progress in our lives.
When we are spending so much time at home, our relationship with our spouse can suffer. Here are things you can do to improve your marriage while at home.
Last week we talked about creating an evening routine in order to have a smoother morning. You can read about that and get the free printable here. With school starting in a few weeks, many of us will be changing up our morning routine. This year T will be enrolling in an early learning program for the first time so there will be new things to add to our routine. The following are the steps to follow when transitioning to a new routine.
1. Perform a brain dump of everything that needs to get done in the morning. This should include absolutely everything including what you already do now.
2. Once you see everything listed out, dole out the tasks to who will accomplish them. Maybe mom dresses the baby and dad helps dress the toddler. Maybe mom puts lunch in the bag while dad puts the baby in the car seat. Everyone shock have jobs to do and they should know what they are. This will help mornings run much more smoothly. There will be far less confusion.
3. Put together a schedule. With more things to do in the morning it's good to put together a time table of when things should get done. This way you know if you are on time or not. Everyone should have their own schedule. You don't want to have to look through a bunch of items to figure out what you need to do. Have a toddler who can't read? Use pictures to create his or her morning routine. For example toucan have a picture of toothpaste and a toothbrush followed by a picture of clothes and then a picture of breakfast.
4. At least a week before school, have a trial run of your routine. See if anything needs to be changed or times tweaked. Practice until you think it's just right.
5. Build an extra few minutes into your routine for the inevitable mishap. Things happen. The baby has a blowout just as you're leaving the house or the toddler spills juice on his school clothes. It's best to have a few minutes built in to accommodate these types of events.
Are you ready for back to school or are you dreading it? I just registered T yesterday and it got very real. While I'm excited for T to make new friends and have stories to tell of what he did, I still can't believe how fast he's growing up.
In the meantime, we will enjoy whats left of summer.
Cheers,
Emily
Let me send you a whole list of tips to help you make more time for yourself and your goals! Plus you will get weekly emails with more tips and advice.
You have successfully joined our subscriber list.
Tips to increase your energy and organization to get through a busy day.
It can be hard to balance kids and work, when you are working from home. Here are some tips that can help.
Check out this collection of tasks to help you stay on top of your home and your work.
Tips for getting the important stuff done when the kids are around all day every day!
It can be hard to manage life as a busy mom and it’s easy to be overwhelmed. Check out these ideas to make better use of your time.
Check out my favorite solution for clearing up your inbox and avoiding all those email notifications!
Here are 5 ways you can save time during the holidays and still get stuff done. It's all about prioritizing what needs to get done by you versus what just needs to get done.
Find out why 90 days is the best time frame for achieving goals and why you need a 90 day planner.
Creating a weekly schedule involves putting in time up front, but it saves you so much time in the long run.
Check out the simple process to make and effective schedule that you can actually stick to. Includes daily schedule examples.
So today is my birthday!!! On April 11 of 2016 I turned 31 and around that time I created a post about the things I’d like to do before my next birthday. This list consisted of a wide range of goals including trips with the family, school goals, and friends goals. You can find that post here. Back in July, I posted my first update at a quarter of the way through the year and in October I posted my progress at the halfway point. January marked the 3 quarters point. Now here we are a full year later.