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Potty Training – COMPLETE!! (For kiddo #1, anyway…)
Potty Training has certainly been a long road in this house. It started with little baby potties and an excited little guy. LONG story shorter, we’ve tried potties, trainers, pull-ups, underwear, different seats, bribery, stickers and lots of praise… We seemed to go from success to diapers over and over. And in the midst, there was a lot of screaming and crying. Thankfully, most of it wasn’t me. 😉 Right away, I want to tell you about one of the best kid-related investments we have made in our home… The Mayfair Next Step Built In Potty Seats. We installed one in our powder room, downstairs, and in the kids’ bathroom upstairs.…
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Wall Stickers – Thank you, Dollar Tree!!
I am not a fan of bare walls. In fact, I’m a mural fan, myself. My husband? All about resale – i.e. neutral. Hmmm… One day I will get some color on the walls. In the mean time, I try to spruce things up here and there on the cheap. When we first moved into our house, I got some cute safari animals and did the kids bathroom. I learned a lesson about re-usable plastic stickers and simple WALL stickers. Stickers, that don’t say re-usable, shouldn’t be put on to bathtubs!!! After a lot of Goo-b-Gone, they were removed. I should have explained that I didn’t change theme, the kids…
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Pom Pom Pushers – Busy Bag Idea
I came across this idea on Money Saving Mom, and HAD to try it! I figured that my one year old would enjoy it and I expected my three year old to be bored quickly. I was mistaken. They BOTH loved it! The photo on the right shows my son with his tongue out. That is generally the easiest way to see if he is actually engaged. His tongue was out almost the whole time he was playing. AWESOME! He was so happy, he wanted to be photographed to “show Poppa!” I got 4 containers for $1.50 at our grocery store, and we had the pom poms on hand, so this…
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Hungry Hungry Caterpillar Read Along Beads
I’ve been working on “Busy Bags for my kiddos (1&3), with the goal of intentional, but not necessarily structured, learning. AND… I’ve got a whole LOAD of books that sit on the shelf, being mostly neglected… and I’m hoping that doing some related crafts and activities will get us all more interested in them. Here is one of the first activities I put together. You will need one large Orange pony bead, purple and green pipe cleaners, scissors to cut the pipe cleaners, a fine tip sharpie, and some smaller pony beads: 5 red – 2 green – 3 blue – 5 orange Feed green pipe cleaner through the orange…
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Air Travel with Babies and Toddlers
I was almost 21 by the time I flew for the first time. Honestly, I thought I’d die in the state I was born in. For that matter, in the same city. I had never been out except on a family camping trip or a field trip and I didn’t feel as though I was missing much. But then, my whole world was in my city, or a surrounding state. I had grandparents, literally, around the corner. I had aunts and uncles and cousins all close by. Then… I met this amazingly funny and uplifting and encouraging Christian guy online. And he flew to meet me, twice… turned out he…
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Hand-me-downs & Hand-me-ups
August 4, 2026 Note: I’m still a huge fan of handing things down & up. In the beginning of our parenting journey, we were on a very tight budget. The generosity of others was very impactful. I will forever be grateful for the many people who showered us with gifts and grace as we established our home and our family. Now, 13 years later, I greatly enjoy being able to hand things down to families that can continue to appreciate them. Even more enjoyable is seeing my children’s giving hearts. The original post was as follows: My husband and I have often discussed the fact that it seems “normal” for…
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Household Help: Cleaning Dryer Lint Catcher
Did you know that it’s a good idea to clean out your dryer lint catcher on a regular basis? Yeah, it is. NO, I don’t mean rub off the lint and put it back. There is more, you ask? YES!!! I noticed that my dryer has been getting a little hotter than it should. Actually, it’s always been an issue. Even the repairman a while back said he thought something was amiss… but he couldn’t figure it out. Comforting, right? Anyway… I make a habit of cleaning up the lint tray and even vacuuming down as far as I can in the space where it goes. I had seen a…
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Household Helpers: Stripping Cloth Diapers & De-stinking
I LOVE LOVE LOVE my cloth diapers! So far, all we have in our house are Kissaluvs Marvels and Pocket Trainers. Aren’t they gorgeous? The thing about cloth diapers is… they change… The super soft fleece insides pill up, and for good reason. The pilling actually wicks the moisture away from the kiddos and towards the microfiber stuffers. Unfortunately, with most detergents, buildup occurs on the fabric, which prevents it from doing it’s job. I’m not kidding… from what I’ve read, it can get to the point where the fleece is waterproof… and the diapers just flat out leak!! I also learned something about microfiber. They are incredibly absorbant, which is why they work…
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So Many Seats!
We had an awesome baby bath when my little girl was very very little. It was small enough to fit on our master bath’s counter and large enough for her to grow with. Eventually, I would have it beside her brother’s bath and I could tend to them both. It served us well. The stepstool is still in use in our house and the bath awaits the chance of another new addition. Stop right there… NOT YET! Okay, read on… The challenge was that when she began sitting up, she would slide down in her chair/recliner. She wasn’t stable enough to sit in a slippery bathtub without assistance and even if she…
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Flashback: Baby Names
A long time ago… (2007) I was pregnant and working hard to decide on baby names. If you don’t know our story, I didn’t have a successful pregnancy until 2010 and there was a long period of emotional ups and downs in that time. Anyway, I’ve been looking through old posts, trying to reformat some, delete others, and just being blown away by where we have been and how much pain there was and how much information I shared and where we’ve gotten to. One of the things that amazed me as well, was my choices of baby names. My first choice for boy remained my first choice… for years.…
