BabyGanics Pure Mineral Sunscreen Review!

By now most of you know how much I LOVE Babyganics. They are a fantastic company, and I look to them for so many of my baby, toddler and household needs. I love knowing that I can feel good about using their products on my children because they are all completely non-toxic and free of any "yucky" stuff. (PABAs, Parabens, Sulfates, Phthalates, Nano-Particles and fragrances.)

I was thrilled when I was sent a bottle of their Cover Up Baby Pure Mineral Moisturizing lotion, SPF 30. This mineral lotion is awesome because, not only does it provide broad-spectrum UVA/UVB protection, but it moisturizes at the same time! This is a huge selling point for me because we all have dry, sensitive skin that typically gets worse with sunscreen use. This one left our skin smooth and hydrated. I love that it's water resistant, maintains it's SPF for up to 80 minutes, and the active ingredients are Titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. (I always prefer our sunscreens to have those as the main ingredients, as opposed to the various chemical combinations out there.)

I loved the feel of this sunscreen (I used it on myself as well as my kids) and loved that once it was blended in you didn't feel like you were wearing a thick layer of goop. It took a little extra time to blend in, but I feel like that is a small sacrifice for all the other great qualities that this sunscreen has.

It's also worth mentioning that it boasts a "Tear Free!" claim on the bottle. I can attest to the fact that this is true because my daughter loves to help apply her sunscreen and she got in on her eyelids and never once whined or complained that it stung. That's a major win in my book!

If you're looking for a safe, natural, and most of all effective sunscreen for your kids this summer, than I highly recommend BabyGanics Cover-Up Baby Pure Mineral Sunscreen. You can find it at Babies R Us, Buy Buy Baby, babiesrus.com and Diapers.com. It retails for 10.99 and is available in a 4oz tube. Definitely check it out!

*Disclaimer: I was provided product for this review. All opinions expressed are mine and mine alone. 

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BabyGanics' Fine & Handy Hand & Face Wipes: Review

I know I've written before about how much I love Babyganics products. This line of safe, non-toxic, and most importantly effective baby products are a hit in our house. We use everything from their sunscreen to their toothpaste, and have been thrilled with it all.

One of the items I use frequently as a mom of two messy toddlers is baby wipes. I find myself using wipes for so much more than just diaper changing. I grab them to wipe down little hands that have been playing outside or with messy crafts, faces that clearly show how much my child loved his or her meal, and much more. I've always just used regular wipes, but when I learned that BabyGanics had created a wipe specifically for hands and faces, I couldn't wait to give them a try!

BabyGanics' Fine and Handy Hand and Face wipes are fantastic! I have been using them for so much, both around the house and when we're out and about. Joseph is very messy when he eats, so when we're out at a restaurant I will grab one of the BabyGanics wipes for his face and hands. I also wipe down his hands with one every time we leave a store. (I never remember to wipe down the shopping cart handle until he's already held onto it for most of our trip. I figure wiping his hands at the end is just as good!) I love the compact packaging of these wipes, because it's easy to toss them right into my purse as we're heading out. They are also useful around the house. Stephanie is very into crafting, particularly with messy things like glitter glue. She hates when it gets on her hands though, so I leave one of the BabyGanics wipes with her at her little table, and she'll use it to wipe her own hands whenever they get messy.

My favorite part about BabyGanics' Fine and Handy Hand and Face wipes is the fact that they don't contain any of the icky things that many other wipes do. They have no chlorine, parabens, bleach, sulfates, or phthalates. They're made with natural, plant-based ingredients and are non-toxic and gluten-free. Not only do they work great at cleaning up messy little hands and faces, but they also moisturize and hydrate with special skin conditioners. This is great for my kids because, like their mama, they suffer from awful dry skin almost all year long. And finally, I love the fact that they are biodegradable. I always feel guilty when I reach for a wipe to clean up my kids instead of a cloth, but this eliminates that guilt because they are environmentally friendly. 

You can find BabyGanics' Fine and Handy Hand and Face wipes at Babies R Us, Buy Buy Baby, Amazon.com, Diapers.com and Vine.com. They retail for $4.99 for a pack of 30 wipes. I highly recommend these wipes...and with a face that often looks like this...

...we use a lot of wipes!

*I was provided with products for the purpose of this review. All opinions are my own.

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Tasty Tuesday: Sugar Cookies!

My mom is a fabulous baker. She bakes all year long, but she truly shines at Christmas time. Each year she makes all of her friends and family members huge trays, loaded with a wide variety of different types of cookies. I will never have the patience or the love of baking to create the same kind of cookie masterpieces that she does, and I've accepted that that's just the way I am. (Even though I would love to bake like her.) However, one of her simplest and easiest recipes is, in my book, also one of the best tasting. I used to love helping her make them when I was a kid, and the recipe was one of the first I asked for when I moved out. To this day, for any occasion, I make her sugar cookie recipe.

Thanks to different cookie cutter shapes I've made sugar cookies for holidays, for my sister's baby shower, as gifts for people, and sometimes just because I feel like having them. Pretty soon I'll be making them for Valentine's Day, and I'm excited to get Stephanie in on the action this year! (They are a great cookie to make with little kids.)

Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:
~6 Tbsp butter
~6 Tbsp shortening
1 C sugar
2 eggs
1 teas vanilla
2.5 C flour
1 teas baking powder
1 teas salt

*Mix shortening, butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla
*Blend in flour, baking powder & salt. Cover and chill 1 hr (I have made the dough and chilled overnight also. It comes out fine.)

~Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
~Roll the dough and cut out shapes.
~Decorate with sprinkles (optional)
~place shapes on un-greased baking sheet (I use parchment paper. Clean-up is much easier that way!)
~Bake 6-8 minutes at or until very light brown.

My favorite part as a kid was decorating with the sprinkles. Now for some reason I find that part tiresome, but I know Stephanie will have a blast with it. You can also add food coloring to the dough to make it different colors. (My mom always made orange at Halloween and I swear for some reason they tasted better than any other time she made them!)

Enjoy!

Linking up with The New Modern Mom today for Tasty Tuesday! 

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Christmas Toy Favorites!

*Hi Everyone! I took an unintentional blogging break this week, spending a lot of time with family and friends and enjoying every bit of this holiday season. I will return with my regular 3-4 posts a week in the New Year. For today, I've written a quick little post about my children's favorite gifts this Christmas!

I hope that all of you who celebrate had a very Merry Christmas! I know we did. Christmas morning was full of magic as the anticipation of the season finally culminated in Santa's arrival. Stephanie was thrilled as she ran into the living room and delighted in the stuffed stockings and piles of brightly wrapped gifts under the tree. She shrieked with excitement over each gift and took each one out to play with as she opened it.

Joseph was a little more subdued, often getting overwhelmed by his sister's enthusiasm. But he too enjoyed ripping off the wrapping paper and playing with his new toys. We spent the day in our own home, welcoming my parents, grandparents and sister in the afternoon for Christmas dinner.

It was a day full of good food, conversation, and holiday spirit.

As the kids have continued to play with their new toys these past few days, a few clear favorites have emerged.

Joseph is particularly enjoying his Fisher- Price Laugh and Learn: Learning Piggy Bank

And his Fisher-Price Little People Zoo Talkers Animal Sounds Zoo

(The zoo is actually a big hit with Stephanie too!)

Of the toys Stephanie received, her favorite by far is the Crayola Magnetic Double Easel

She's also loving Bell, the interactive storybook buddy, who is the companion to her beloved Jingle. 

Did your kids love their gifts? Did you? What were their (and your) favorites this year?

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Christmas Crafting

I love crafting with Stephanie, especially now that she's at an age where she really enjoys it. I had a bunch of ideas from Pinterest that I wrote about here, but I haven't actually done any of them with her yet. We have done some crafts though, and she's had so much fun making them.

So far we've done:

Door Hangings (Bought at Target for $1, markers included. Can't beat that.)

Foam Stockings (I found the stockings at the Dollar Store. They came in a package of 8. Foam stickers also came from the Dollar Store.)

Torn Paper Christmas Trees. (I cut out the Christmas tree shape, we tore up a piece of green paper, and Stephanie glued the pieces to the tree.)

We've also done a lot of coloring in Christmas coloring books, decorating cards and paper with Christmas stickers, and a few surprise projects that I don't want to write about yet because they will be Christmas gifts.

I've love to hear what holiday crafts you and your little ones have been up to, so please feel free to share!

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Christmas Children's Books

Last month I wrote about our favorite Thanksgiving children's books, and today i'm excited to be doing the same thing with Christmas books!

We actually own a lot more Christmas books than we do Thanksgiving ones, which is nice because we can read them all season without having to return them to the library. There have been a few that we've borrowed from the library though, and some of them will eventually become part of our home collection since they are so well-loved!

Here are five of our favorites this year:

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg. This is one of our books, and even though I put it out after Thanksgiving I didn't expect to read it to her. It's a classic and beautifully illustrated but I assumed there were just too many words. That just goes to show that I shouldn't assume anything when it comes to my kids. This is Stephanie's absolute favorite Christmas book and we read it almost every day.

Olive the Other Reindeer by J. Otto Seibold and Vivian Walsh. This is a cute little tale about a dog named Olive who hears her name on the radio and assumes it means Santa is calling her to come be his reindeer. (She misinterprets the song lyric "all of the other reindeer" as "Olive the other reindeer.") Santa takes pity on her and lets her join his team on Christmas night. I had watched the movie that's based on this book a long time ago, and I feel like the book is much cuter! Stephanie requests it often, and will be pretty disappointed when it has to go back to the library.

Fancy Nancy: Splendiferous Christmas by Jane O'Connor. We adore Fancy Nancy, and this book about Nancy's extra fancy Christmas doesn't disappoint. Full of colorful pictures and "fancy" words, Nancy's Christmas book is one that we will definitely need to buy at some point.

The Berenstain Bears Meet Santa Bear by Stan and Jan Berenstain. This is the original Berenstain Bears Christmas book (there have been other modern ones that have come out since.) I read this one growing up, and love sharing it with Stephanie now. In fact, the copy I'm reading to her is the one I owned when I was little. It tells the story of how Sister Bear writes a huge list to Santa, but eventually learns that it isn't good to be greedy, and that there is much more to Christmas than receiving gifts. Definitely a good one!

Franklin's Christmas Gift by Paulette Bourgeois. This is a sweet story about Franklin the turtle and his class's Christmas toy drive for needy children. When Franklin goes home to choose a toy, he discovers that all of his toys are too special for him to donate. But then at school the next day he hears about the generous donations his friends are making and feels like none of his toys are good enough to donate. He eventually figures out just the right toy to give and feels filled with the Christmas spirit. Franklin books are perfect for preschoolers. They are sweet and simple, with concepts that are easy for little ones to grasp. If you can get your hands on a copy of this (Franklin books are hard to find!) I highly recommend it.

Since I love children's literature, especially holiday-related books, I would love to hear some of your suggestions! Please share your favorites, either in the comments or on my Facebook page.

I shared my favorite Christmas books because that's the holiday we celebrate in our house. If you celebrate Hannukah or Kwanzaa, feel free to share any children's books about those holidays that you love too!

*I was not compensated in any way to write about these books. I either own them or have borrowed them from the library. 

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Christmas Crafting With Pinterest

Thanksgiving weekend is almost over, which means it's time to focus on Christmas! My mind is whirling in a million different directions, thinking of all the fun things I want to do to celebrate the season.

I have a lot of ideas and plans, and I can't wait to share them with you over the course of the month.

One of things I'm most excited about is Christmas crafting. I've taken a few trips to the craft stores and stocked up on Christmas stickers, foam shapes and wooden decorations to paint or color. I've also started pinning some craft ideas from Pinterest.

I am famous for pinning things and then never doing anything with them, so I'm making it my goal this holiday season to make at least three of the crafts that I have pinned to my Christmas board. Below are three of my favorites that I think I have a good chance of making with Stephanie!

Source: preschoolcrafts101.blogspot.com via Megan on Pinterest

Source: easy-christmas-crafts.com via Megan on Pinterest

Source: funhandprintart.blogspot.com via Megan on Pinterest

What crafts do you have planned for this holiday season?

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Thanksgiving Children's Books

We have been spending the whole month of November reading Thanksgiving books. We borrowed them from the library and have read each of them at least 5 times. (Stephanie is in a big reading phase right now. One morning we read every book in the library bag...that was 17 books.)

Here are some of our favorites for Thanksgiving:

Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson

The Littlest Pilgrim by Brandi Dougherty

Fancy Nancy: Our Thanksgiving Banquet by Jane O'Connor

Thank You For Thanksgiving by Julie Markes

Thanksgiving is for Giving Thanks by Margaret Sutherland

Over the River: A Turkey's Tale by Derek Anderson

These books are all the perfect length for 2, 3 and 4 year olds. They held Stephanie's attention, they talk about Thanksgiving and giving thanks in language that a little one can comprehend, and they are all very sweet.

(Sadly, one of the books I remember from growing up didn't go over well. A Cranberry Thanksgiving by Wende Devlin was too lengthy and old for her this year.)

Have you read any books on Thanksgiving and giving thanks to your children? I'd love to hear your recommendations!

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Getting Through "The Witching Hour"

Please tell me we aren't the only family who deals with "The Witching Hour." Don't know what i'm talking about? It's that time of day when your kids just won't stop. They are whiny, fussy, hungry, antsy and just under foot constantly. All while you're trying to set the table and cook dinner. It starts around 4:30 in our house and lasts through dinner, sometimes all the way to bedtime.

Luckily Stephanie is pretty much over this phase, so I'm just dealing with it from one child. But oh my goodness, this boy is giving me a run for my money. He flings himself to the ground when his whining and fussing don't lead to me picking him up, then cries hysterically. Then pulls on my leg (which is extra fun when i'm wearing my stay-at-home mom staple of yoga pants that are now a size too big because I've lost some weight. I love having my pants pulled down as i'm standing in front of a window that is right next to the entrance of our building...) He also gets under foot and i'm constantly tripping over him as I try to move between the stove and counter-top.

Anyway, after dealing with this night after night I realized I needed to figure out a way to deal with it. I was miserable and when Dan came home I was snappish at him, and it just wasn't a fun way to wind down the day. I developed a few tips and tricks that don't 100% solve the problem, but they help a little!

Prepare Ahead Of Time
I use my crock-pot as much as possible during the week. I also plan meals that I can prepare at nap-time and just throw in the oven when they need to start cooking. (Meatloaf, pot-pie, meatballs, etc.) I'll also make sauce while they're napping, and cut up vegetables and toss them back in the fridge until it's time to cook them. It's much easier to cook at night when the prep is done while the kids aren't around.

Snacks
I always cringe a little at myself when I give my children snacks at 5:00. I know that every "expert" tells you it's a big no-no because it ruins their appetite for dinner. But you know what? My kids are awesome eaters, and if I give them healthy snacks, then I don't care too much if they are too full to eat a complete dinner. (We'll do fruits, veggies, black beans, etc.) And yes sometimes I throw some goldfish in a bowl too. Whatever works. It keeps them occupied long enough for me to get some cooking done. (Stephanie loves to feed Joseph...she operates under the "one for Joseph, 12 for me" philosophy.)

Television
Again, I know this is frowned upon by so many, but on a really rough evening, that TV goes on. I pop in a DVD and Stephanie will watch while she plays. If it's Baby Einstein or Elmo, it will even capture Joseph's attention for 5 minutes or so. Enough of a distraction for him to forget for a few minutes that he was whining and fussing.

Distraction
If I can get Joseph to stop whining and play with a toy, I can sneak back into the kitchen to keep working for a few minutes. It doesn't last long, since he's still young and has a short attention span, but at least it's something.

And? That's all I have. This time of day is just such so stressful for me. Although I've found that these four tactics have helped me cope, I still hate feeling so fed-up every evening. Please share some of your solutions for this (or any) time of day that you find to be a challenge with your little ones!

*I can't help but think that there is no sure-fire way to end the witching hour except for simply growing out of it. Thirteen months is a really tough age for kids to entertain themselves, and I do recognize that. But it's still frustrating!*

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Wordless-ish Wednesday: 13 Month Edition

Yesterday my baby turned 13 months old. (I know, I know, most people stop keeping track of the months after 1 year, but after 12 months of acknowledging the 13th of every month it's hard to stop.)

I didn't remember to snap a picture of him until right after dinner. Afterwards I was looking at the picture and didn't really see any resemblance to Stephanie at that age. (I used to really think they looked alike, especially in  their six-month pictures.) The more I look at these pictures though, the more I see some similarities. What do you think...do they look alike?

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Kids Art Activities: Toddler Style!

Thanks to the stormy weather, we've had a lot of indoor time lately.

We are typically on the go constantly, so I do love those rare home days where we have no plans and can just hang around the house. But when we're forced to stay home, I find myself climbing the walls by 9 am. To try and keep some sanity, I always have an arsenal of art activities that I can pull out for Stephanie when the boredom hits.

These things are perfect for two year olds. Pinterest is loaded with fun crafts to do with kids but a lot of them are just too complicated for her age group or are things that I need to help her with. And while those types of activities are wonderful and  can be very fun, our reality is that i'm often busy chasing after Joseph while Stephanie is trying to do art. Therefore, I need to have things available that she can do all by herself.

I've put together a box of supplies that I have readily available to pull out at a moments notice. And Stephanie has access to it, so she can get to work on an art project whenever the mood strikes.

The things I keep in the box include:

~Construction paper

~Glitter Glue

~Markers

~Crayons

~Stickers

~Glue sticks

~Torn paper (I take the leftover pieces of paper from projects and tear them into pieces. Hand Stephanie a bowl of them, along with a glue stick and a big piece of paper and she will make a masterpiece. We call it Torn Paper Art and it keeps her busy for a long time!) *Letting your child tear the paper him or herself can be a fun project too!

~Coloring Books

~Paintbrushes (she uses them with her glitter glue. After she squeezes globs of it onto her paper, she uses the paintbrush to swirl it around.)

~Foam shapes (she decorates them with stickers and markers. Craft stores have seasonal ones. Right now we have pumpkins, ghosts, witches hats, etc.)

~Toy catalogs and pens (she circles things that she wants to ask Santa for. That's the idea anyway. She tends to just circle everything, but she has a blast doing it!)

I find it best to pull out one or two things at a time for Stephanie to work on. If she is presented with the whole box at once she can get overwhelmed. But it's nice to have everything together and ready whenever we need something to do to help cure our "stuck in the house" blues.

Over the next several months, as Stephanie gets a little older, i'll be ready to leave her alone with things like elmers glue, pom-poms, googly eyes, etc. I'll be looking for ideas for new things, so I'd love to hear what art supplies you keep on hand for your little ones!

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Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone!

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, this holiday feels more subdued than usual. But I'm still excited to take my kiddos out Trick-or-Treating and let them experience all the joys that come along with this special day. They are what it's all about and I love seeing their little faces light up on special, treat-filled days. Their excitement is contagious and I love being able to experience holidays with them. Stephanie is at a fun age, and understands what Trick-or-Treating means and that she will knock on people's doors and they will give her candy. We've been practicing saying "Trick-or-Treat" and then saying "thank you." She's so excited that she's been asking whether it's time to go since she woke up this morning!

(Of course, the whole day seems special and magical right now, before the candy-fueled, off-the wall bouncing around sets in. And before the post-sugar temper tantrums. But right now I can pretend that this year those things won't happen. Nobody burst my bubble...)

I hope everyone stays safe and takes precautions, especially if you go out in areas that have suffered downed trees and power lines!

Cinderella and the cutest little Pumpkin say HAPPY HALLOWEEN to all my wonderful A Baby Makes Four readers.

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Wordless Wednesday: Back to School Edition

My little girl started school yesterday! She's attending a toddler nursery school program two mornings a week. She had a fantastic first day, with minimal tears. I'm so proud of her! Enjoy these pictures of her first day.

*For those of you who are my friend on Facebook, you've seen these. Sorry for the repeat, but she was just so cute I couldn't resist posting them on the blog as well!

Dressed up in her new Back-to-School outfit!

Posing with Joseph

Posing with Daddy

Posing with Mommy!

Walking into School with Daddy

Playing in her classroom before we left

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Sibling Love

*I'm linking up over at Two in Diapers today! Come on over and check out all the stories of Motherhood in this week's edition of the Mommy-Brain Mixer! 

My eyes didn't want to open but I forced them to. I could see the early morning light shining behind the closed blinds. The fan was whirring, and the white noise from the kids' room was coming through the monitor. I didn't hear crying though. What woke me up?

Then I heard it again. A soft whisper, barely audible through the baby monitor. 

"Joseph! Wake up Joseph!"

Then again, a little louder this time. Next was rustling, and a quiet baby squeal. Then bouncing crib springs, and full on baby giggles followed by toddler squeals.

I laid in bed and just listened to them. They laughed and jumped and chatted. Nobody cried, nobody called out for me. They entertained each other. 

As I stretched out and woke up gradually, I found myself smiling from ear to ear. The love that the two of them have for each other is sweet, simple and beautiful. She is his hero, he is her baby. They share an unbreakable bond, and as Joseph grows it gets stronger and stronger. 

I see it throughout the day too, in the little moments. The times she cheers for him as he takes steps. The hugs and kisses she bestows on him for no reason. The way he follows her around, crawling as fast as he can to try and catch up. The way his face lights up and he grins ear-to-ear when she enters the room. 

They are my babies, but they have a relationship separate from me. This relationship will grow and alter as the years go on. They might not always worship each other the way they do now, but for as long as it lasts, I will relish it.

Some people told me I didn't know what I was getting into by having the two of them so close together. They warned me about the challeneges two under two and two in diapers would bring. But nobody mentioned the amazing and positive aspects of having them so close. The fact that they'll never know a life without each other in it. They will grow up together, protecting each other and always having someone to play with and argue with.

I get to watch them as their relationship changes and grows, and that warms my heart and makes me feel like the luckiest mommy in the world. Are they close in age? Yes. Are the day-to-day aspects of that a challenge? Often, yes. Would I change their age difference if I could? Not in a million years! 

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Saturday's Top 5 Laughs...on Sunday

I'm a little late with my laughs this week. OK, i'm late by a few weeks. It's been awhile since I've linked up with  Melissa from the Mommyhood Chronicles, but i'm excited to be back there this week! (Better late than never, right??)

1. A few weeks ago I was tweeting my friend Kameron from My Wrinkle In Time. Stephanie asked me who I was talking to, and when I told her it was Kameron, she started laughing hysterically. When I finally asked her what was so funny she said "Mommy, you can't talk to your camera!"

2. At breakfast one morning, I gave Stephanie a breakfast bar, and walked into the kitchen. A minute later, Dan walked into the dining room and asked her where her bar was. She gave him a withering look and said, somewhat condescendingly, "It's in my tummy Daddy." Total "duh" attitude. We both cracked up. Apparently she's 2 going on 15.

3. Now that Joseph is on the move, he crawls everywhere. He also wakes up at the crack of dawn, way before Stephanie. After his bottle and diaper change, I put him down to play. He immediately crawls to Stephanie's room. If her door is open a crack, he'll push it open and crawl in, giggling when he sees her sleeping in her bed. If the door is shut all the way, he sits right outside waiting for her. He loves his big sister so much!

4. Whenever I ask Stephanie how old Joseph is, she says 3 months. I tell her he's 9 months now, and she says "No Mommy. He 3 months." There's no changing her mind. She even told a woman in Kohls yesterday that her brother is 3 months. I wonder what she's going to do when it's his birthday...

5. Tonight I was putting Stephanie's pajamas on and said "Come on, put your pants on." She laughed at me and said "They not pants mommy, they pajama bottoms! Silly Mommy." I'm so lucky to have her around to correct me...it turns out i'm wrong quite a bit. ;)

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Enjoy your upcoming week. And if you have time, check out the other funny posts in the link-up, and link up your own if you have one!

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Successful Grocery Shopping With A Toddler And Baby

A few weeks ago a friend of mine asked how I manage two little ones in the grocery store. After I talked her ear off for awhile, I realized this was something worth blogging about. Because taking two kids (especially a toddler and a baby) to the store is not easy!

When Joseph was a newborn, I never took both kids with me when I needed to shop. Dan was home for 6 weeks, so I either went by myself, sent him, or just took Stephanie. Even when he went back to work, it was another few weeks before I ventured out with both little ones. (One of us would grocery shop at night or we would all go together on the weekends.)

Once I decided it was time to bite the bullet and take them both out by myself, I found the Ergo Carrier to be a lifesaver. I plopped Joseph in that thing, put Stephanie in the front of the cart, and was able to shop no problem.

If Joseph was sleeping, I kept him in his car-seat and put it in the back of the cart, with Stephanie up front. (This method doesn't leave a lot of room for groceries, but I can't bring myself to put the car-seat up front. It just doesn't seem safe, and our Combi Car-seat doesn't have the right ridges to fit correctly up there anyway.) On trips where I did this, I would shop several times a week and only buy a few things at a time. I was able to squeeze some things next to the car-seat in back, and put others up front with Stephanie.

Now that Joseph is older, he sits up front and Stephanie sits in the back. (Dan lectured me for this, saying the carts say right on them "Do not let children ride in the back." But you know what? It's the easiest way to shop, and she is super well behaved back there. It works for us for now!) This allows me to do a big shopping at one time, which is so nice because I don't have to run to the store 3 or 4 times a week.

I'm lucky that my kids are both typically well behaved in the store. Some of the things I do to stave off tantrums include:

-Timing it right. I go in the morning when everyone is rested from the night and has a belly-full of breakfast. (Joseph typically snoozes on the way, so he's extra rested when we get there. That's the one benefit of living at least 15 minutes from the nearest grocery store.) If we don't make it there in the morning, we go after naps. The same rested principle applies.

-Snacks. When Stephanie was younger, she always had a snack-trap during grocery trips. Now, she enjoys getting a piece of cheese and/or turkey at the deli. I don't typically bring a snack from home in for her anymore, since she doesn't really need it. But I plan to bring one for Joseph as he gets older and isn't quite as amazed by the lights and people as he is now. (I firmly believe that Stephanie is well-behaved because I exposed her to stores when she was little. She's always been in that environment, and has learned how to behave while I shop. I'm hoping the same principle will apply to Joseph as he gets older.)

-As I mentioned above, Joseph has so many things to look at that he doesn't get bored. I also chat with him as I shop, which keeps him entertained.

-Stephanie loves to be my helper. I hand her items and she stacks them, groups them together, and sorts them. She also helps me put things on the conveyor belt when we're finished. She always chats with the cashiers and baggers, and often charms them so much that they give her a sticker.

-Once in awhile we use the big cars for Stephanie at the store. (The "beep-beep" cars as she calls them.) She does great staying in them, but they are SO difficult to maneuver! I'm always glad when there isn't one available for our use.

-On the occasions that Stephanie (or Joseph) does get cranky, I use distraction as a technique. I hand Joseph something from my purse to hold, or use his pacifier as a last resort. With Stephanie, I can typically just talk her out of it, by reminding her that if she has a tantrum she doesn't get to help me load the groceries onto the belt. She loves doing this job, so that reminder is usually enough to curb the crankies.

-Lastly, I make sure to praise both kids for a job well done. On the way home we talk about what a nice pleasant trip it was because everybody was happy and nobody had a tantrum. I know Joseph doesn't understand what I'm saying yet, but it's never to early to talk things through with them!

If you take two or more kids grocery shopping with you, feel free to share some tips and tricks that you find useful!

This picture is from Joseph's first time in the front of the shopping cart. I thought this double seater cart at BJs was a great option, until Joseph pulled Stephanie's hair, grabbed her hand and just generally annoyed her the entire time. We haven't repeated this option since ;) 

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Saturday's Top 5 Laughs

Linking up with Melissa of The Mommyhood Chronicles again today! Enjoy my top five laughs from the past week. :)

1. Stephanie is a pro at going potty, she's been trained for over 3 months now and has never had a problem. She doesn't even use her potty seat topper anymore, preferring to go on the big toilet. However, the other day after she went, I started to flush while she was still sitting. She jumped up with a panicked shriek and exclaimed "NO Mommy! Don't flush me!" I tried not to laugh, since she was so distraught, but I found it highly amusing. I kept it together though, and assured her that she is way to big to go down the toilet, but that if it makes her feel better I won't flush until she's safely standing on the floor. (Better yet, I make her flush most of the time now.)

2. One morning a few days ago, Stephanie was up way too early for me so I told her it wasn't time to be up, and she needed to go back to bed. She looked up at with wide eyes and said "But Mommy, I awake now!" So I gave her pile of books and told her to read quietly in bed, which she did. The next morning she knocked on the bedroom door at a much more reasonable time, so when I opened it I greeted her with a big smile and an offering of milk. She looked at me for a minute and said "No Mom. It's too early. I going to read." She grabbed herself some books, hopped back in bed, and proceeded to stay there for another half an hour.

3. Joseph is officially on the move now, but he doesn't crawl on all fours, preferring to scoot on his belly. It's so funny to watch him pull himself forward, using only his arm muscles.

4. A few times lately my order at Dunkin hasn't been right, so I've gotten in the habit of checking it before we pull out of the parking lot. The other day I paid, pulled forward, and stopped to check. Stephanie asked what I was doing and I said "I'm making sure they put caramel swirl in my coffee." She paused for a moment, and then said in a shocked voice "Oh mommy...you eating caramel squirrels???" I practically spit my coffee all over the car as I broke out laughing, and assured my daughter that I was most certainly NOT eating squirrels.

5. I adore everything about Joseph's stage of infancy right now. He makes me laugh all day long, just by doing the simple baby things he does. Examples:
 1. Eating any paper he can get his hands on (I call him my little goat, because he sits there chomping away contentedly whenever he happens to find a piece.)
2. Playing with wires. He will crawl (scoot?) all over our apartment just to try and find a computer or cell phone charger wire that someone has forgotten to put away. He then sits up proudly and shakes the wire with a big grin on his face.
3. Emptying the toy baskets. He particularly enjoys doing this right after I've cleaned everything up.
4. Grabbing my legs when I walk by him. He will lunge at me, and wrap my legs in his arms, giggling as he hugs me.
5. Eating. He LOVES chunks of real people food and will giggle hysterically while eating it because he's so thrilled.

I hope everyone has a wonderful, safe, and fun-filled weekend! xoxo

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Tantrums, Tantrums

Stephanie is two. And with that comes temper tantrums. We went through an awful phase with them a few weeks ago, right around Easter time. At one point Dan suggested we stop letting her have a piece of Easter candy after every meal. His thinking was that she was having too much refined sugar and it was affecting her badly. Lo and behold, his solution worked. With no candy in her system, the temper tantrums dropped down to almost none.

However, this week we have all been a little off. We're tired from Joseph's lack of sleep, and everyone seems to be coming down with a slight spring cold. When we stayed home on Monday and Tuesday, Stephanie spent both days watching TV, cuddling in bed, and reading books, trying to fight her cold.

On Wednesday we finally left the house to go to Storytime. The first few minutes were great. Stephanie loves Miss T. the librarian, she loves the songs and she loves the crafts. But when it was time to sit and listen to the book, she ran off and crawled under one of the tables. I let her go, figuring it was fine, she wasn't bothering anyone and was just sitting there quietly. But then she started slamming the metal bar that attaches the table legs together and it made a loud, echoing sound throughout the whole room. I pulled her out, told her she was being too loud and that she needed to stay out from under the table. She threw a massive tantrum. Instead of trying to diffuse it while Miss T. was reading, I took her by the hand, and we walked out.

And I felt horrible. I felt like every other mom was looking at my as if I were so mean. (Also as if I couldn't control my child. But I didn't care as much about that because I've come to realize that Stephanie is strong-willed and although I can do many things to help prevent or diffuse tantrums, there are times when they are going to occur no matter what.)

As soon as we got in the car I posted on Twitter about how horrible I felt. I received responses immediately from other moms saying that I had done the right thing, and that it was what they too would have done in a similar situation. That made me feel better, and reminded me again why I love social media. The support you receive from other moms is unparalleled, and it's nice to know that there are others out there who won't judge you and who will validate the decisions you make as a mom. We went out to lunch with my parents and sister later that day, and they too agreed that I had done the right thing.

I have definitely learned that there are specific triggers that cause Stephanie's tantrums. Things like too much sugar, being tired, not feeling just right, etc. But the biggest one is being told she can't have what she wants when she wants it or being told she can't do exactly what she wants when she wants to do it. (This is because she's two.)  I've also learned that those are the times when it's important to stand my ground. To teach her that she can't have/do everything she wants immediately, and that it's not ok to respond to that by throwing tantrums.

I didn't yell at her, and when we got in the car she calmed down and we talked about how her behavior was inappropriate and caused her to miss the rest of Storytime. She seemed to understand, and we also discussed why I had pulled her out from under the table in the first place. We talked about how that made her feel, and ways she could have expressed those feelings without throwing a tantrum. When she calms down, she's always able to talk about the situation with me, and although it's a slow process I really believe that she is learning appropriate ways to deal with her feelings of frustration.

Toddlers don't throw tantrums to be manipulative, although it might seem like it at the time. They are exercising their autonomy, trying to learn about their world, and working on understanding why they feel the way they do. If any of you are dealing with tantrums, Katie recently wrote this article for Yahoo! Voices, which contains a lot of valuable tips for dealing with them. I highly recommend it!

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Top 5 Laughs

I took last week off from the Saturday Top 5 Laughs Bloghop, and I missed writing and remembering the funny things that happened during our week. So today I'm linking up again with Melissa from The Mommyhood Chronicles. Here are my laughs for the week:


1. I brought home a big bucket of pretzels from BJs last weekend. Dan was in the kitchen getting something when Stephanie wondered in and caught a glimpse of the bucket. She shrieked with delight and said "Daddy! Stephanie eat pretzels! And watch football! Yay!" The last time we had eaten one of these giant pretzel buckets was during the Super Bowl, which she remembered. So in her mind, pretzels will forevermore be associated with football. We got a laugh out of that, and Dan was pretty proud that his girl wanted to watch football.

2. On Monday I went out to dinner with my blogger friends. We met at Baby Gators Den's house, which was so nice because we didn't have to deal with trying to find a restaurant, ordering, splitting the bill, etc. So she was awesome enough to offer up her house. There were only 5 of us this time, and we all sat around the table laughing and talking. I don't really remember the specific things we talked about, but I do know I spent pretty much the whole night laughing. I love having this awesome group of blog friends!

3. On Wednesday I put Stephanie in for her nap. We did our usual routine of books, cuddles, kisses and I Love Yous. I left her room, shut the door and started washing lunch dishes. Two minutes later I heard her crying her little heart out. Not a tantrum cry, but a sad cry. I ran in and asked her what was wrong. She said "Mommy, you love me a million billion." I had told her I loved her, but not that I loved her a million billion, which is our tradition. I melted, scooped her up, covered her in kisses and told her I loved her a million billion.

4. Stephanie loves to kiss and hug Joseph. He's incredibly grabby lately, so he's been wrapping his little fingers around her hair every time she moves in for the hug. She has been working on scooting away before he can get her hair, or I put it in a pony so it's harder for him to get. (Believe me, I know how much it hurts when he pulls my hair!) Yesterday when he was in exersaucer, instead of her hair he grabbed her shirt and wouldn't let go. She sighed exasperatedly and said "Mommy. Now he has my shirt." And sighed again. I love how she perfectly emulates my fed-up tone.

5. Now that she's potty-trained, Stephanie gets up much earlier than she used to. Instead of 7:30-8 it's more like 6-6:30. The other day I tried to convince her to go back to bed because it was still night. She looked at me and said "But Mommy, it's not night-night because the lights are on!" She then proceeded to go over to the window, lift the blind and show me that the light (the sun) was on. Ok kid, you win.

I hope you enjoyed this week's laughs! If you blog and want to write about your funny week, head on over to Melissa's page and link up!

Have a wonderful weekend!

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Our Potty Training TIps & Tricks

*Every child is different, and every child reaches milestones at a different time and rate. The tips and tricks that worked for us might not necessarily apply to other parents who are ready to potty train. But if you're ready to start the process, here are some of the things that we found useful:

-Once you make the decision to train, run with it. Using the potty some days and not others can get confusing to a child. The process definitely requires readiness from the parent as well as the child. If it's a busy time at work, if you have a new baby coming soon, or if you have a lot of travelling coming up, it might not be the best time to train.

-Listen to your child. One of the biggest frustrations I've seen in parents is trying to train a child who just isn't ready. But if your child is showing interest in the potty, embrace that. Let him/her go with you when you go, and talk about the fact that you are using the potty.

-If your child asks to put a diaper back on, let her. The more you battle, the harder the whole process is going to be.

-Keep a potty seat in the bathroom and let your child sit, even if he/she doesn't go. It's important that they get used to the idea. (We use the kind of seat that sits on top of the toilet. We did this because of space reasons, but it also eliminates the need for another transition when it's time to use the big toilet instead of the little one. However, some children have a fear of the big toilet, and in that case the little seat is a perfect compromise.)

-Celebrate any successes. Stephanie loves to run out and tell Joseph whenever she has gone.

-When you're at home, let your child go without pants. Pulling down underwear is a lot easier than unbuckling jeans. Many times children know they have to go, but say it too late, and have accidents while in the process of getting their pants off. They then get upset and frustrated.

-Along the same lines, invest in some knit pants that pull off without buckles, buttons and zippers. (Or use dresses/skirts for girls.) This is good for when you're not home, and it probably isn't appropriate for your child to go without pants...

-Bring your child in whenever he/she tells you she has to go. This gets annoying quickly, especially if your child is like mine and says she has to go every 5 minutes. (I find that this happens when we're home, and she isn't overly involved in an activity. If we're out, or eating meals, or she's playing with something very involved, she only tells me she has to go if she really needs to.) But as frustrating as it is when your child says she has to go all the time, but doesn't, it's important to still bring her in. It lets her know you're listening to her, and you never know when she really does need to go.

-Use Pull-Ups at nap, nighttime, and in the car. I for one am not thrilled with the idea of having to wash the car seat if she has an accident in it. I know some parents who don't use Pull-Ups, preferring just to put a diaper back on for sleep/car rides. I prefer the Pull-Ups, because often Stephanie will need to potty right when she wakes up, or right when we arrive somewhere. Pulling the Pull-Up off and on is a lot easier than trying to put a diaper back on while your child is standing in a public restroom.

We are so excited that the process has been successful for our little one so far. I hope others find these tips useful, and good luck to any of you who are or are about to enter the Potty Training process! 

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