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Holiday Traditions

12/21/2020

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There's nothing more magical for a growing child than quietly playing Christmas music, a warm fire crackling, twinkling lights on the evergreen smelling tree, and a pile of neatly wrapped presents. Of course, this isn't real life. BUT the traditions can be!

I have so many memories from my childhood of waiting eagerly with my brother at the top of the stairs before going downstairs, waiting for our parents to wake up so that we can go down and get our stockings. I remember the smell of bacon on the stove and eggnog mustaches on all of our faces. 
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These sort of memories and smells and feelings are engrained in me from holiday traditions. Now that I have my own family, I want them to have these sort of memories as well. I find that merging my own traditions with my husband's has created a really fun season for us. With Lincoln being 2 and Layla being 1, this year is finally a year that he gets it and can join in on many of our traditions. ​

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National Cookie Day

12/4/2020

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It's NATIONAL COOKIE DAY!

I'm not a baker, but my mom sure is :) These are the entire family's favorite cookies EVER! Check out the recipe, try it, and let us know what you think in the comments! We've subbed in cherries instead of cranberries, but to be honest, it wasn't the same. We've also tried without a dried fruit and again, not the same. So much experimentation with this recipe, but the original is definitely the best! 

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Gondola Toothbrush Review

11/15/2020

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We were gifted these toothbrushes and I am so glad because they are wonderful. The brand's mission alone, to reduce plastic waste, is enough to switch over to a more eco-friendly brand. Here are some facts:

🌱Over 5 Billion plastic toothbrushes that will never biodegrade are dumped into landfill and oceans every year worldwide!

🌱It is critical for our society to take an action. Purchasing an alternative like @gondolabamboo toothbrush is a vote for non-toxic sustainable, natural and degradable materials. 
🌱The packaging is fully recyclable and comes with 4 toothbrushes. It was really fun to unbox them and see how each brush is individually wrapped. It was like a little gift that keeps on giving. The child sized brushes feature different animals on them (Lincoln loves the panda and elephant) and the adult are extra long! They are easy to grip and just fit really nicely in your hand and your mouth. 
One of the things I really liked about these is the bristles. My fear when getting them was that they wouldn't really work, or that my teeth wouldn't feel clean after using them. But my teeth actually feel smoother and look whiter than when I was using a dentist-recommended brush! 

For the kids brushes, they are smaller in size and feature cute creatures. They are perfect sized for my 2 year old's little hands. He was instantly excited to see them and now he picks a different one each night. I know that when I brush his teeth after he "tries" to that his teeth are getting the best clean that we can do. Plus it's fun to brush brush brush!!
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Use promo code 'savetheplanet' for 10% off your @gondolabamboo toothbrush 🦷
Gondola Bamboo
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Top 5 Lift the Flap Books

11/10/2020

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Our favorite lift-the-flap books for babies and toddlers

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1. Count with Me
I love this one because it ages with the child. It has different textures as well so you can feel the edges of the page when you trace a number. It's larger with thick pages which makes it super durable to tag along. There's also a matching book for letters!
2. Peek-a-Flap series
This is one dirt and as you can see from the cover, it's all about tractors and moving dirt. Instant favorite! These flaps are super thick and are more like pages in themselves. The story in each is also very informative and uses great vocabulary to build knowledge!
3. Chug Chug Tractor
This one is a double whammy because not only does it have dozens of cool flaps but one flap per page has a sound effect, too! It's full of animal sounds, foods, and the text is accurate and informative. Perfect for a tractor-loving kid!

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Toy Guide 2020 | Toys 1-2 yrs

10/23/2020

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Fun toys my 10 month old and 2 year old have loved to play with!

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1. Motion Bubblers
This is our favorite, but there are so many different sensory bottles you can get and so many you can make too! This is similar to a lava lamp. When you tip it over, the bubbles are created by different colors. It looks so cool! Both kids will play with it and, now at 2, Lincoln loves to count the bubbles and name the patterns the colors create.
2. All-natural crayons
So, toddlers put things in their mouth constantly. These are all natural and made from beeswax. Aside from that, they're chunky and easy to hold. They resemble chalk sticks in size. The colors are vibrant and unique. The kids love to take out the box of these when doing art projects. They have quite a few bite marks, but don't have paper to peel or snap easily.
3. Cleaning set
This is actually one of my favorite purchases ever! A common phrase in toddlerhood is "me do" or "me help" and this set makes it not turn into a battle. Whenever there's a mess, Lincoln will go straight to his broom and dustpan and "help" me clean. We added a small swiffer to it so he feels included when doing that task as well! Such a fun item to have!
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toy guide 2020 | toys 2+

10/22/2020

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Fun toys picked out by my 2 year old boy that he loves at home!

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1. Duplo set
Okay, these are the best for 2 year olds. They still are large enough to handle for small hands, but fit together better than the megablocks. They have cute sets with cars or trucks or people and animals. The directors to make big projects are easy to follow for both of us. Perfect intro to building and creating. 
2. Magnet tiles
Again, these are a perfect set to start STEM projects. At this stage, Lincoln struggles with understanding how to balance them without a base, but we talk through it and I find he doesn't get too frustrated. He likes making things like garages and houses and barns out of the tiles. The shape recognition is also really awesome to see!
3. Water coloring mat
I got this during quarantine and at that time Link was too little to really get it. Now, he loves to play with this mat. He shakes the water marker and it makes really awesome rainbow designs. Ours features animals and letters around it and I find his tracing and trying to make straight or curved lines has really begun to show!

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FridaBaby Humidifier Review

9/6/2020

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Week two of daycare and of course, both kids have a full-on runny nose. Lincoln uses the crane humidifier that I love, but I thought I would try the FRIDABABY humidifier because I really loved their recent Fridamom campaign and their company mission. So...here we are!

First thoughts were that it has a lot of great features. It lets you use an essential oil if you choose, nightlight if wanted, and an easy to empty and clean base (which is beyond hard to find!). 

I bought the vapor oil from their brand line and am in LOVE. It smells soooo good, but it's not overwhelming or too strong. It was easy to add into the water as well.
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Daycare Tips and Tricks

8/26/2020

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I'm sure a lot of families are making the very difficult decision of whether or not you're going back to work and whether or not your children will be attending school (and how they are!). I made the decision to go back to work in early childhood education and bring my children in with me. I can go more into details on my decision at another time, but for now..here are some tips and tricks for returning or starting daycare.
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My biggest suggestion is to invest is waterproof dishwasher safe labels. And then label every single thing you send into school. I'm talking each shoe, pacifiers, clothes, pouches, lunchbox...EVERYTHING. The days get busy and especially now, teachers have so much cleaning and preparing added to their plates. So make it easy on yourself and them by labeling everything and it will 100% ensure that your items make it home to you each night. I've linked the labels I created for my kids below.
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My next tip is foods. Pack items that you know your kids will eat. Try things at dinner time or on the weekend and pack them things they like, will eat, and can fill them up. The last thing you want is your child to be not eating at school. I really love the Bentgo boxes that help create small serving sizes. It makes meal planning so much easier because you see how much of each item. 

Personally I like to throw in a large portion of the "meal", think pasta salad, sandwich, casserole, etc. I do at least one fruit, a snack item, some veggies if they aren't in the meal, and the little circle in the middle I'll add a treat. 
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A few more tips

  • If you have more than one child, make sure each has their own bag to bring to their room. Infants typically need a larger bag because you're bringing bottles, food, extra clothes, etc and just generally need more "stuff" throughout the day.
  • If you know your older child is going to struggle, send a favorite lovey or item from home for the first week or so to help them adjust and give them something "safe".
  • Send a water bottle (if allowed). My son struggles to ask for water throughout the day but if he has a bottle, he'll stop in and drink periodically.
  • Bring extras from day one so you aren't playing catch up. Massive diaper box, 3 packs of wipes, 5 extra pairs of clothes (tops and bottoms), socks for infant, an extra bottle a day just in case, extra paci, etc. The more the better. These places are set up to store items. 

This is ALL of our things on day one

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My Favorite Pouches

7/15/2020

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Yes, you read that right. Pouches are such an easy, on-the-go way to feed your little ones. I feel like pouches get a bad rep but they can be so handy! And of course, some are gross (broccoli and carrot, BLECH!) but some are yummy for when mom or dad get hungry on the go, too! Here's my top 5 pouches to pack for YOURSELF (in case the need should arise!). Or to pack "for the kids" and you can steal later. 

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Slumberkins

7/14/2020

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My son turned 22 months old and a MAJOR sleep regression hit. I genuinely thought that this child was done with any sleep training at 6 months, with the occasional teething night where a dose of Motrin was enough to soothe him. To say sleep is important to this child is an understatement. So when he woke up at 3 am, screaming, crying for us to come get him, I was shocked. 
That night, I went in to soothe him since it was so out of character and ended up spending the entire night soothing him, putting him in his crib, listening to him scream, going back in, repeat. It was exhausting. I wrote it off as a one time thing and began our day at 6 and hoped that was it. But the next night, same problem. 

To make a long story short, I was able to rule out pain and fears and came to the conclusion that this was some form of separation anxiety or fear of missing out. I did some research for ways to reassure him that I'd be back and that he wasn't alone. My cousin sent me a link to Slumberkins and here we are...
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