We're Parents

#TestDriveParenthood – Britax newest innovations

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When you get pregnant, you’re mind is in overdrive. You are constantly thinking of all the things that you need to buy. I know with my first, I had a list a mile long, maybe two miles if we’re being honest. Luckily, I became a little more practical with my second, and my list was only about 10 things that I needed.  A car seat was at the top of my list. Before clothes or anything else, I knew that a quality car seat was of utmost importance.

What’s the BIG deal!?

September is Child Safety Month. More specifically though, September 17-23, 2017, is Child Passenger Safety Week.  A week dedicated to learning the importance of how to keep your child safe will a passenger in a vehicle. A car seat is the one device that you purchase that literally can save your child’s life.  No one wants to believe that they will in an accident. However, the truth is that every 33 seconds, one child under the age of 13 is involved in a crash, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Twenty-six percent of children who died in vehicle crashes in 2014, under the age of 8, were not restrained in an age-appropriate device.  That is why this is such a big deal.  These tragic accidents are preventable. Simply learning how to properly install and use your child’s seat could save their life.

Britax raises the bar with the NEW Endeavours Infant Car Seat

The Britax Endeavours Infant Car Seat includes a steel Anti-Rebound Bar and a European Belt Guide, which provides easy installation without the base in case you are using Lyft or other similar transportation methods.  The car seat is designed, engineered, tested and built int he United States at the Britax headquarters in Fort Mill, S.C.  You can currently find the seat at buybuy BABY and speciality retailers for $299.99 and Britax will release on-line and to mass retailers later this fall. Learn more at us.Britax.com

Britax invites YOU to #TestDriveParenthood

Britax, known to be a pioneer in car seat innovation, is here to help. They are a leader in the industry for both safety and quality.  Their drive is to give customers the best quality products to keep your littles safe and secure, in turn giving you peace of mind. In collaboration with Lexus, Britax will be hosting car seat installation demonstrations across the US next week for Child Passenger Safety Week.

#TestDriveParenthood is a program intended for families that are growing and making several new purchases, such as a premium infant car seat and a family-friendly vehicle.  At each event, brand representatives will be on hand to walk attendees through proper car seat installations, discuss key car seat and vehicle features and provide helpful child passenger safety tips. Kelly Thomas, Britax brand manager, recently said, “by hosting these events with Lexus, another brand known for safety and innovation, we hope to educate new parents in a way that is convenient and supportive to them.” Currently, three out of four children are in car seats that are either installed or used incorrectly. That’s a huge number. Britax and Lexus hope to help parents and caregivers have the information they need for proper installation in an appropriate vehicle.

 #TestDriveParenthood Event Locations

Tuesday, September 19 @ 11 A.M. – 2 P.M.

  • New York Metro: Lexus of Mt Kisco
  • Chicago, IL: Woodfield Lexus

Wednesday, September 20 @ 11 A.M. – 2 P.M.

  • Dallas, TX: Park Place Lexus Grapevine
  • Cincinnati, OH: Performance Lexus RiverCenter
  • Philadelphia, PA: Thompson Lexus Willow Grove
  • Orange County, CA: Newport Lexus

Thursday, September 21 @ 11 A.M. – 2 P.M.

  • Los Angeles, CA: South Bay Lexus

Follow the conversation by using hashtag #TestDriveParenthood

 ***G*I*V*E*A*W*A*Y    T*I*M*E ***

We’re giving away one Britax Endeavours Infant Car Seat.

No purchase necessary to win, prize value is approximately $299, prizes are NOT exchangeable for cash or other prizes, there are no prize substitutions, prizes will be shipped to US addresses only. Giveaway ends 11:59pm on 9/29/17. Void where prohibited.  Must fill out Giveaway Tools form. 

 ***G*I*V*E*A*W*A*Y    T*I*M*E x7!!! ***

Want to win one of seven (7) Britax Endeavours infant car seats? We’re partnering to give you even more chances to win with She Buys Cars. They are running their own contest and giving away seven more. *Please note we are hosting this giveaway on our site, but We’re Parents is not responsible for the fulfillment and information collection on this giveaway below. Must be 18 or older to enter, US addresses only. No purchase is necessary to win. Void where prohibited. Must fill out Rafflecopter form.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Free Daily To Do List Printable

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Disclosure: This “Free Daily To Do List Printable” shop has been compensated by CollectiveBias, Inc. on behalf of its advertiser, ZonePerfect. #MyLittleWins #CollectiveBias

I never imagined how hard parenting life would be. Every stage has it’s own obstacles and just when I think I am getting my life together, something else comes crashing in, throwing a wrench in our plans. After our second was born, I decided that I needed to create systems. These systems didn’t need to be complicated. They just needed to be able to work for us and be able to change through the seasons of parenting. I mean I’m constantly cleaning up, while they are constantly pulling stuff off. It’s a never ending cycle.  I needed help!

Get Your FREE Daily To Do List Printable at the bottom of this post. 

Daily to do lists became how I would survive, especially in the beginning of having two kids. I would wake up and grab a piece of paper and write down what I could think needs done for the day. It’s Little Wins™ like this that helped me get through each day of parenting. The needs of moms are never ceasing and we typically are always interrupted. I didn’t want to forget what needed to be done.

But, I needed more. 

The daily sheets of paper were great for a while. However, I was feeling guilt about wasting paper. I had gotten a laminator recently, and naturally, I decided to just create a printable that I was able to laminate and then reuse over and over.  It was perfect. I have it hanging in our kitchen with velcro and I’m able to fill it out at the beginning of the week and get everything done as needed.  It’s perfect.

Know what else is perfect for busy moms? ZonePerfect® bars.  I mean, literally, the word perfect is right there. I constantly forget to feed myself and having these bars around help. Hover over the image below to grab them at Walmart.com. I personally love the  ZonePerfect® Cinnamon Roll and ZonePerfect® Fudge Graham. They help me make smarter choices in eating throughout the day!

Sign up for Ibotta and earn $1.00 with the purchase of ZonePerfect® Nutrition Bars at Walmart.

Grab your FREE Daily To Do List printable HERE!

You can win big with Little Wins too! Enter the sweepstakes below to win up to a $1,000 Giftcard

#MyLittleWinsSweepstakes (8/4 to 9/12)

I Didn’t Realize How Much I Still Want Another Baby

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We’re never having another baby.

I’ll never celebrate a 1st birthday again.

My baby will never be a big sister.

Motherhood has this weird effect on you. It’s literally a roller coaster of highs and lows. And the scary part is, you never really realize how the hormonal changes are going to hit you, or even when, until you’re knee deep in uncontrollable sobbing.

Today, we celebrated our baby’s 2nd birthday. Even though she’s 2 now, she will forever and always be my baby. We happily gave her whatever she wanted to do the whole day. She got to pick her meal options the whole day (oatmeal, cream cheese toast, and Chick-fil-a for those enquiring minds). We let her go to Target and pick out candy (she choose gummy bears) after she said that’s what she wanted to do. She got to make all the choices. It was such a simple and carefree day.

But that doesn’t mean there wasn’t low moments either.

Seeing her newborn picture pop up in my newsfeed instantly brought me back to those first moments of having her in our life. Seeing the first picture of her and her older sister bonding immediately hit me that she will never get to play the big sister role. I know that our nursing relationship may be coming to an end sooner than later. She’s running out of “firsts” to celebrate.

I didn’t realize how much I still want another baby.

I want to feel life growing inside of me again. Little hiccups and legs stretching.

I want to see Andrew’s giddy face as he feels the baby move for the first time.

Part of me wishes we could argue again about what we are going to name our baby.

I want to feel the rush of naturally giving birth and holding a squishy human for the very first time.

I want to feel the instant bond of euphoria as I nourish my baby into their first milk drink coma.

Desperately, I yearn to watch as my girls bond with a new baby. Loving and kissing and snuggling with their sibling.

I want to watch as this person that I helped to create grow into their own unique personality.

And as much as I love my girls with all of my heart, part of me will always want to have given Andrew a son.

I didn’t realize how much I still want another baby, but I’m trying to accept this is our reality.

What Kids Teach Us About Parties

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Today, I’m sharing about what kids teach us about parties. This is a sponsored post on behalf of Disney. Thoughts and opinions are our own.     

For some reason, we continue as a society to think that our kids need these elaborate things. Mostly, in my opinion, because we, however subconsciously, are trying to prove ourselves to others. Prove we can do big parties, or pay for all the extracurriculars, or afford all the toys. Yet, if you pay attention to your children, you realize they want none of that. Dance with them, push them on a swing, run around in a circle. The “what you do” doesn’t matter, it’s the how. The quality of time spend is what they are looking for everyday.

I was reminded of this recently when we were asked to host a Disney preschool party. I had big plans for our party. We were going to do crafts, have a bounce house, and Mickey inspired games. I was planning to make Mickey shaped craft projects and cookies, Disney inspired drinks and more. All the while, my mom friends would be snapping away pictures and then we could print off our HP Snapshots while the kid’s finished playing.

It didn’t happen. Literally, zero of what I originally planned happened.

The week before our party, both of our girls got really sick. After weeks of rescheduling and landing on a date that worked for my friends, I knew I couldn’t bail again. The girls had to get better. And luckily, they did. Unfortunately, I didn’t really have time to do much in terms of getting a big party together.

I went out and bought some bagged snacks, salad mix, a pizza, and a bag of frozen chicken nuggets. We made cupcakes in the Disney inspired cupcake wrappers were went sent. I hung up the decorations we received.  For whatever reason, the printer was not connecting to wifi the day of the party so I had to scrap all of that. I was running behind the morning of the party and still trying to get things set up once our friends arrived. 

NOTHING WAS GOING RIGHT.

All the food eventually got done and everyone sat down to eat. The kids were excited about the pizza and nuggets. One by one the kids got up from the table after eating and ran off to play. Before we realized it, the kids hadn’t been in the room for awhile. They were contently playing in the other room with each other. It was amazing. We let them play and didn’t even offer outdoor time like planned because we were stunned at how well they were getting along.

Serenity was reminded that I had coloring sheets printed and she asked her friends if they wanted to color. Briefly, a few of them did, but they were more excited to play together and ran back.

You see, the kids didn’t care.

They didn’t care that my elaborate plans didn’t get done. None of them cared they didn’t have Mickey Mouse sandwiches or a Mickey shaped lollipop wreath. They didn’t care that they weren’t going home with pictures of their time at my house. Not one of them said they needed more. However, they loved their experience. We can all learn from the appreciation and joy that kids have in the moment of just loving quality time with their friends without any other expectation. One day, hopefully, we will learn that our expectations of what something needs to be, isn’t what it has to be. Kids don’t need elaborate parties, but they do need quality time with family and friends.

Preparing for a Summer of Swimming

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This post was sponsored by SwimWays as part of an Ambassador Program for Influence Central. I received products to facilitate my review.

swimways baby pool float

We are so stinkin’ excited for this summer. It’s the first year that our toddler can actually express that she wants to go to the pool or beach and know what those things means and naturally, she’s been begging to go often. I keep telling her that it isn’t warm enough yet, but she’s not having it.  She keeps telling me, “It is Mama! It is warm.” I feel so bad that we can’t go right away, because as a water lover myself, I know the excitement that she has over this.

The baby on the other hand, really has no clue what in the world her sister is talking about, but what I know is that her love of the water is going to have her extremely excited once the time is here. Luckily, we only have about 2 more weeks (weather pending) because we can get to the pool!

getting ready for summer

As the same time, I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I’m also a bit nervous.  Because Andrew works hectic hours, it means that I’m going to be alone some of the with both girls around the water. I’m gearing up though to have all my ducks in a row to make sure that this summer with two littles goes super smooth.

Some of the things I’m doing is:

  • Always try invite a friend. Two adults are always better than one and friends’ kids can play with my helping them to stay close.
  • Make sure that our pool/beach bag is well organized. Doing this allows me to make sure that I can quickly grab what I need and less likely that the girls (Skibbles) can run off while I’m searching for something.
  • Explain the importance of safety to our toddler so she’s able to listen.

swimways baby float

swimways summer baby float

One way I can ensure safety is my using the SwimWays Baby Spring Float. This is what we will keep the baby in, at least while at the pool. It’s a great introduction product for babies and water. Apparently it also makes a great toddler toy to run around in while in the yard. At least I know she’ll be occupied.

SwimWays wants you to know that as the leader in promoting water safety, they are responsible for the 5th annual National Learn to Swim Day on May 21, 2016. They also have a National Learn to Swim Day to help educate parents about things like water safety and the benefits you get when learning to swim.

baby pool float by swimways

We hope you’ll join us as we head to the pool see!  See you then 🙂

Co-Sleeping WAHM Mom Struggle

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mom struggle

It’s 11pm.  I’m just crawling into bed after trying to work a few hours after putting the girls to bed. I’ve been up since 5am with both girls after intermittent sleep all night. Both girls waking up every hour or two back and forth. My to-do list for both home and work growing instead of shrinking. There’s simply not enough time or energy for that matter to get through some days.

The day was long. It was a struggle.

A struggle that only a mom truly understands. The Mom Struggle.

mom life

I know I yelled too many times, got upset, and didn’t breathe and reboot enough. I didn’t take the time to bask in the beautiful moments that were happening. I may have been counting down the hours until bedtime. Between the baby screaming because her gums hurt from teething, to the threeanger’s attitude and incessant need to say “mom” over and over and over again. Trying to get my work done both for the business and to keep the home in order. I’m…just…so…tired. I need a break.

But then….

Here…

I find myself. Crawling into bed and the wave of hormones rush over me like I’m drowning in their love.

I kiss the baby on her head. Rub her soft, baby hair and rub my nose against her cheek. Something so smooth and innocent about her sleeping makes me realize how precious life is every day.

I look at my toddler. Your sweet, peaceful, sleeping face.  I take in the scent of your hair.  I notice that you no longer have sweet baby’s breath.  I tenderly rub your cheek,  stroke your hair, reach in to kiss your cheek.  You start moving and I pray that you don’t wake up, but just let me take this moment in for a bit longer.  For I know that tomorrow you are going to be just a little bit older.

cosleeping mom

So, please, stay sleeping, and let me have this moment.

cosleeping wahm mom struggle

If you enjoyed this post, please share it on your favorite social media channel!  Leave a comment below and let us know how you get through the day!

Dear Dad – A Mom’s Tired Plea

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dear dad

Dear Dad….

The baby is crying again.

He just won’t sleep. We are tired and getting cranky ourselves. Dreaming of hitting the sheets and our comfy down pillow. Isn’t that funny? We are dreaming of dreaming. These tired eyes are getting darker circles by the minute, while the babies cries are getting louder. I have been rocking the baby for almost two hours, and each time I set him down his eyes burst open and the tears stream down his face. Back to square one.

And then you come up and ask, “Why is he crying? Why won’t he sleep?”

Please don’t! Asking this does not help, in fact it makes things worse. If I knew what was wrong, I would fix it. This comment can fill my insides with steam, as I am already frazzled and tired.

Dear Dad…

Please just keep this silly comment to yourself. Leave me to the cries, or you take the reigns. But please don’t ask me why the baby is crying. We are both so tired, but neither of us will be sleeping like this.

I take the baby back to our bed, I can feel your eyes rolling from across the room. I’m tired, he’s tired. We need sleep.

You ask, “will he be in our bed until college?”

Not helping dad.

I, too, dream of days of uninterrupted sleep without a baby’s foot in my ribs and a pillow to myself. In fact, it all seems like a distant memory that I barely remember. So please don’t tell me you are tired in the morning, I am tired too. I don’t think I’ve hit a full REM cycle since the baby was born.  So for now, I am off to bed, with baby in tow. So please don’t ask me when the baby will sleep on his own. In his crib. All night.

Right now I just choose sleep. Any tiny glimpse of it. I will do whatever allows me to lay my head on a pillow with my eyes closed tight.

Dear Dad…

We love you. But please don’t say those words.

Maybe I am just cranky and maybe I just need some sleep. But those are two comments that are enough to drive this mommy mad. We get enough backhanded comments from outsiders. Let’s keep these two comments out of the house. We will all be a lot happier. If you want to help, grab the baby and let me take a nap. Or make us another pot of coffee. Even better,  Mothers Day is coming up… I envision a nice spa day. We know you don’t mean it, you may not even know that it frustrates us. Like I said, I might just be tried and cranky.

With Love,

Mommy

signature melanie

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to Time for Mom!

Welcome to the final Time for Mom link up!  Yes, you read that correctly, this week will be the last week for Time for Mom.  The four of us co-hostesses discussed this recently and decided that while we had a good run, Time for Mom has run it’s course.  We will all continue to write about parenting and “kid stuff” on our blogs, so please follow along on each of our pages for many more posts to come!  Melissa will continue her parenting/preemie Tuesday posts, Brie will continue writing her fantastic parenting posts, Larisha will continue sharing her natural parenting tips and Rachel will keep writing about kids activities and toddler friendly recipes.

Thanks for the wonderful years of Time for Mom everyone!  If you wish to keep sharing your post with us weekly, please feel free to request to join our group Pinterest board, Time for Mom Superstars!

Don’t forget to link up today for our last hurrah!

Time for Mom is a place for mom bloggers to link up and connect with other mom bloggers!  You do not have to link up a post about parenting only, your post can be about anything as long as you’re a mom!  We only ask that it is today’s post or a recent one, and that you don’t link up the same post each week.  Please remember to check out a few others in the hop!  It’s no fun to link and run!  We are here to build a community of mom bloggers and get to know each other!
Please be sure to take a moment to follow your host and co-hosts in some way!
Larisha @ We’re Parents
Melissa @ Two Miracles

Every week each of the co-hosts picks a blogger to feature from the week before! Check out our picks from last week’s link up!

Thanks for linking up! It’s a fun time doing this link up and we will miss everyone sharing weekly!  You can still share with us by joining our group Pinterest board called “Time for Mom Superstars”
Be sure to say “hi” if it’s your first time linking up!


Parenting Isn’t Easy – A Reflection of Love

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Photo Credit: Adapted from MorgueFile

Photo Credit: Adapted from MorgueFile

Parenting isn’t Easy at All. 

 

It’s 9:30pm.

You’re washing your face and trying to keep your eyes open. The day is done, until the baby wakes for his 1am feeding, you can’t help but feel run down. Your hair is a mess, there are several unexplainable stains on your shirt. The bags under your eyes have replaced the ones that used to be in your closet. You can’t help but wonder where you have gone. The girl who was spontaneous, carefree and well put together.
You run a warm bath hoping to get a few moments to yourself. You head downstairs to pour a glass of wine and grab a book that you bought last year and still haven’t opened. Before you head back upstairs hubby asks if his jeans are clean for tomorrow. You shrug and head back down to the laundry, you knew you forgot something.

But don’t you always?

The clothes are sitting sopping wet in the washer. You give them a quick sniff and throw them in the dryer with a few extra dryer sheets. You take a deep breath and head back upstairs and fall onto the couch. You hit the cushions and feel your eyes starting to close. Suddenly you remember the bath water is running. You get to the bathroom just in time to see the water pour over onto the floor.

Perfect.

Another mess to clean. Your relaxing bath turned into yet another chore. You soak up the water and then sink into the tub. You take a sip of your wine, and slowly lower your head under the water.

“Mommy, mommy”

Did you just hear someone calling you? No, the children are asleep.

“Mommy, mommy”

There it is again, your oldest is awake. Great!

You pull yourself out of the water and open the door.

“Mommy” he says with a smile on his face. And then wraps his arms around you. “I love you”

You breath. The frown on your face turns into a smile. Your short lived bath, and tired eyes are no longer on your mind.

This is what makes you realize that none of that matters. True love, the perfect ending to your night. Those tiny arms around your waist.

“I love you too little man, I love you too”

Parenting isn’t easy, but it’s the little moments that make you realize it’s all worth it.

 

This post was originally part of Time for Mom, a mom blogger link up. Check out other posts from our co-hosts on their sites:

What Semi-Crunchy Natural Parenting Means To Us

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semi crunchy natural parenting

I get asked all the time …what is natural parenting? what do you mean semi-crunchy?  These are both terms that we use to describe our parenting, but just because they mean one thing for us, doesn’t mean that they mean the same thing for others who describe themselves within the realm of semi-crunchy natural parenting too.

First, let’s talk about what I mean by natural parenting. Natural parenting is described by Natural Parents Network as the “desire to live and parent responsively and consciously”.  According to Natural Parents Network they have four subcategories that essentially make up natural parenting: attachment parenting, ecological responsibility, holistic health, and natural learning.

natural parenting

The reason that I use natural parenting over just attachment parenting is because I think parenting needs to encompass more than just the attachment speak. So what is natural parenting to us? Well, it’s a lot of things.  Our main key focuses that we believe in are:

  • Preparing for Birth, Pregnancy, and Life – we do this by researching, questioning, and educating ourselves on risks and benefits of recommendations during our pregnancy, as well interventions for newborn care and childhood, as well as the recommendations for us as adults
    • For us during pregnancy and birth specifically this means limited inventions during pregnancy, natural, unmedicated birth, delayed cord clamping, immediate skin to skin contact
  • We believe in exclusive breastfeeding and extended breastfeeding
  • We do not believe in Cry-It-Out or other forms of sleep training children
  • We co-sleep by bedsharing since birth
  • We babywear
  • We practice baby-led weaning instead of cereals and purees
  • We do gentle discipline
  • We use cloth diapers
  • We garden and recycle and teach our children about the importance of natural preservation
  • We find natural, holistic alternatives to health conditions like using essential oils
  • We make most of our meals from scratch, watch ingredients lists, and eat organic
  • We allow learning to happen naturally and plan to homeschool
  • We extended rear-face and are very adamant about car seat safety

And many more things encompass what we believe when referring to natural parenting.

Now, what in the world does Semi-Crunchy mean?

semi crunchy parenting Well, crunchy is just a fun term coined to describe everything that I just mentioned above.  So here we are really focusing on the “Semi” part.  As much as I wish to be the best 100% Crunchy, Natural, Attachment parent- I’ll be the first to admit, I’m not.  So why? Well, the answer is simple, I’m not perfect. And to be 100% honest, we didn’t start on the natural journey at all until we into halfway through our pregnancy with Skibbles.  Here’s what I mean-

  • We use disposables too.  In fact, since about 16 months, we’ve been exclusively using them over cloth diapers after I was running into issues.
  • Eating organic isn’t possible 100% of the time. We aren’t made of money and I believe that limiting processed foods is better than not having an organic apple.  Everyday we try to get better.
  • I enjoy eating out when we can.  We know this isn’t the best, but I can’t turn down an Amish doughnut, a spoonful of Nutella, a cookies and cream milkshake from Chick-fil-A, or that delicious greasy pizza from our favorite place.
  • We watch way more TV that I care to admit.
  • I loose my patience some days and my voice gets raised.
  • I don’t ALWAYS enjoy breastfeeding.  Since day one, I’ve had moments, days, weeks, where I wanted to throw in the towel…I remind myself that each day is a new day and we’re still going at 26 months.
  • Sometimes there’s more snacks throughout the day than there is real food because I just need a break from the whining.
  • We give plastic toys AND wooden ones
  • Andrew would never allow me to get rid of our microwave
  • We don’t always get outside and explore and have fewer playdates than I really want
  • And to be 100% honest – there are just some parts of “crunchy” parenting that freak me out or that I just don’t think would work for our family – like kombucha or elimination communication.

natural parenting for us

The main idea here is that there is not a “one-size” fits all when it comes to natural parenting. We are all parents and we are all trying to do our best.  This is what works for our family and we change and adapt everyday as we feel that we need to do so.  At the end of the day, I think we all just pray that our children grow into upstanding adults that respect themselves and others, work hard, love unconditionally, and appreciate the little things we did for them.

Do you find yourself a part of semi-crunchy natural parenting?  Something else?  Weigh in below in the comments.

 

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