Nursery Sneak Peek

Well it was a busy weekend around here guys.  We started setting up the nursery!  Here's a little sneak peek for you.  I decided to set a bed up in there so I could have a place to rest in the middle of the night and if my comes to stay and help at all.  Remember our original plan for nursery?  Well I ended up ditching that color scheme and going for an all white theme with pops of bright, neon like colors and touches of beige linen.  So far I love it, what's set of it so far anyhow.  And because of my snoring escapades, Art was able to take advantage of the set up bed last night, so it's already getting some good use!

I've still been keeping up with the big belly project, so if you're on Instagram, follow along @fourflights!  Saturday night big belly was brewing beer, totally appropriate right?  We celebrated a friend's 40th birthday and had a great time at a local brew house, making pretzels and drinking small batch brew (small brew soda for me, the root beer was fantastic!).  

Friday night big belly took it easy though and hung out at our local concert in the park.  I just chilled while the men chased the kids around.  Perfection.  I'm going to miss being able to use the pregnancy card in situations like these ;)

In other areas on the web, I'm baring my soul, or my cover up anyhow, and showing off big belly in a bikini!  Say what?!?  Yes, I was shy at first, but there's really no reason pregnant gals can't rock the bikini too.  After all, when else are you not going to worry about whether your abs are rock hard or not?  It's liberating I tell ya.  

 I got a little crafty this past week too, and shared this DIY for a no sew leather pouch. 

And I also shared the most exciting news I've heard since, since, I don't know when...it's that exciting though!  Neiman Marcus and Target holiday gift collaboration yo!  Read more about here.

And I'm doing lots of baby and pregnancy journaling over on Disney Baby.  Last week I shared how we managed to gobble down dinner with a newborn during the dreaded "witching hour".

I'm splurging a bit on the non-essentials this time around.  Read here to see what those splurges are.

The best thing I ever did as a new mom was join a mom's group.  Read why here.

And lastly, the top 10 things I look forward to after pregnancy.  Number 7?  Walking like a lady instead of a duck again.

I don't want to say much about the last 2 days of school after I wrote this post, because I don't want to jinx anything, but I promise to share later in the week how things are going and our progress.  Thank you so, so much for all your kind and encouraging words.  They meant so much to me, especially hearing about all the sensitive boys!

My Life As A Baby Whisperer

I don't think I've ever shared with you guys, but one of the things I most obsessed over when I became a first-time mom was my baby's sleep schedule.  Sleep patterns, sleep techniques, hours of sleep, type of sleep.  You name it, I thought about it.  Endlessly.  I read just about every well known book on the market including Ferber, Weissbluth, Baby Wise, Baby Whisperer Vol. 1 & 2, and Happiest Baby On the Block.  My knowledge was as vast as the Sahara.

So vast in fact that when Taylor was about 9 months old and I had "nailed" her sleep patterns, I volunteered to be a Nap Forum Moderator (very official title yes) on the Baby Whisperer forums.  I'd say this was my first entre into the world of online chat rooms.  You see at 3 months, due to go back to work and not being able to make heads or tails of my baby's cues and schedule, I was in a panic. I had read both of Tracy Hogg's books (the Baby Whisperer) and knew she lived in Los Angeles and had originally started out by giving private sleep sessions to her clients.  I was prepared to look Tracy up, contact her and give her 10 MILLION DOLLARS to help me get my baby to sleep.

I logged on, hands shaking with excitement.  Why hadn't I thought of this before?  Of course I'll just contact her office and get her right down to my house!  I visited the site and what did I find?  A memorial dedication for Tracy Hogg.

You guys, Tracy was dead.  What was I gonna do?!?!?  And as a side note, this is how crazed and consumed I was by the thought of getting my baby to sleep; I didn't even give thought to the fact that this woman had died before her time of cancer.  No, all I cared about was now who in the hell was going to help me get my baby to sleep?

By doing some further research, I discovered that there was a whole online forum dedicated to people following and teaching Tracy's methods she wrote about in her books.  I visited and I was hooked.  I quickly shot up to Veteran commenter in the forums session, and joined a little support group with babies born in the same 2 month window as my Taylor.  We had weekly chat sessions, we asked each other questions, gave advice, and just listened.  All of us were first time moms and all of us could sympathize with how lonely and scary being a first time mom could be.  Those ladies were like my lifeline for a long time and we all still keep in touch now.  We exchange Christmas cards every year and some I have even met in person.  I often tell people it's why I have no fear now when I meet up with blogging friends I only know online; it's because I've gone to amusement parks (Michelle!) with a woman and her family that I'd never met either and we spent 2 days together!  To me it's totally natural in a weird unnatural sort of way.  We are located all over the world, from US to Canada to New Zealand.

Besides joining the little support group, I was a boss in the Naps forum and could answer questions from any harried mom trying to get her baby to nap like it was my job (a volunteer job that is).  For years after I had resigned as a moderator, I still got emails from desperate moms whose babies wouldn't nap, asking for advice.

I came to know a lot about infant sleep patterns and schedules, more than any layperson should know.  But it turns out I put that knowledge to good use with my first post for Disney Baby!  Yes, all that to introduce my first post on the Disney Baby site.  I figured a little back story would help you understand why of all things I decided to write about babies napping when I could have written about anything, yes anything.  I've been given pretty free reign on topics to discuss as long as they are overall positive, so when I sat down to write, it seemed natural that I talk about sleep, and naps in particular.  I have a feeling that I'll be thinking and talking about babies sleeping a lot in the following months.

So if you have any interest in reading about how to get out and about, working around your baby's nap schedule, please go visit my first post.  I'll be writing over there 3 times a week and will just do a weekly recap post here linking to my articles, so no more Disney Baby sponsored posts.  I hope you'll visit!  It is a job and they monitor stats and all that official stuff, so it would be nice if my stats were good so I don't get fired ;)  So please go on over and say hi!  I'd say I'd pay each person per click but I think that's actually illegal.  Kidding Disney, kidding!  Have a great day y'all!

B3 Gets Its Own Room

Ten weeks to go and we've decided to do a little demo to our house to make a proper nursery for baby.  No big deal, it's how we roll.  We went back and forth so much about what to do with this baby.  We have a 4th bedroom that we use for an office, and for the first 7 months of this pregnancy we both agreed that we wouldn't touch the office.  We NEED our office, right?

Not finding out the gender made things a bit more complicated.  Our plan for a long time was to have Syd and Taylor share a room for the first year, let the baby have one of their rooms while it's napping all day and screaming all night, and then after a year, depending on the gender, we'd have two of the kids share a room.  Sounded like a decent of enough plan, but then which room do we set up as the nursery?  Both the kids rooms are unabashedly very boy and very girl.  If we set up the baby in Taylor's very pink room, and it ended up being a boy, do we switch everyone around or repaint?  Try telling a 7 year old girl you're going to repaint her room for a year, then you promise to paint it back.  Yeah, that goes over real well.

The other thing that was really bothering me was the age space between the kids, and asking them to share a room.  I grew up in a 3 bedroom house with 1 bathroom and 4 kids, and shared a room with my sister, who is 9 years older than me, until she moved out when I was about 12.  I certainly don't theoretically believe that each kid has to have their own room.  Art and I felt it was important not to disrupt our lives and cause a great deal of expense just so they could each have their own room.  But at 5 and 7 years apart, the age difference does have to be considered a bit.  Especially if this baby turns out to be a girl.  Long term, I know how hard it will be for Taylor to have to share a room with her 6 year old sister when she's a teenager, because I've experienced it.  Kids that far apart are in such different stages of their lives and they often don't intersect well. By sharing a room with my older sister, I probably found out about sex way too young. Had I still found out if we weren't sharing a room?  Maybe, but being together as much as we were in such close quarters certainly didn't help.  If the baby is a boy, and considering that boys are a bit more adaptable and flexible, a 5 year spread might not be that big of a deal, but still has to be considered.
       
Now I know it really doesn't matter if the baby is a boy and sleeps in a girl's room for a while.  I know if we wanted to put our foot down, we could tell Taylor that she had to put up with getting her room painted.  But the more we thought about it, it seemed like we were asking our kids to make the most adjustments and accommodations, while we were willing to make none.  At the end of the day, is it going to be harder for them to make some transitions, or us?  We decided that it would just be easier for us to be displaced a bit then 3 kids.

So for now, my desk is moving out in to a corner of our formal living room (fancy right?), and Art will just work off of his laptop.  And the baby is going to get its own nursery.  And everyone will live happily ever after right?  RIGHT?  Ha!  We'll see.  I do know that once we decided to set up a proper nursery, I suddenly got very excited with the idea of choosing gender neutral bedding, paint color, etc.  I was trying to play it cool for a very long while, but it turns out that for me, nothing spells getting ready for baby more than setting up a nursery.  My best memories of being pregnant with both my kids is setting up the nursery, and then sitting in it at night after it was all done.  Touching their freshly washed clothes, rocking in the rocker.  Makes me tear up just thinking about it :)

The one thing I do know is that decision makes me even more relaxed rather than more stressed, so I think that's a good sign.  Stay tuned for updates on how we make room for baby.  A wall has to come down and a new closet rebuilt, but all manageable and should be done in 2 weeks or less.  My biggest worry at this point is what to do with all my crazy craft supplies!  Me and my sewing machine may be moving out to the garage ;)

1. & 2. crib & changing table our own; 3. handmade quilt 4. & 5. sheet & crib skirt 6. artwork 7. light fixture 8. kid chair 9. rocking chair
In the mean time this is what we have in mind for the nursery.  The crib and changing table we held on to, but everything else will be new or borrowed.  The inspiration for the entire nursery is based off of this quilt I found on Etsy and I think is perfect for a gender neutral space.  I'll add in pops of color here and there to make it a bit more bright, but overall I want a really clean and light space with white walls.  What do you think?  Too drab?  I think colorful decor will really make the difference though between drab and boring to light and bright.  Fingers crossed!     

*footnote added that what I mean by "I learned about sex too young", is that girls having sleepovers talk.  I learned about the birds and the bees during one such sleepover my sister had with her boy-crazy friend Tricia.  Nothing horrible or dirty, just stuff I probably shouldn't have been hearing when I was 8.  I never thought much about it until I had kids of my own.  Now I know 8 is in fact way too young to learn about the birds and the bees ;)

This post is sponsored by Disney Baby. I'll be joining the Disney Baby blogging team next month, and look forward to sharing these kinds of stories (projects/ideas/etc) with you over there! Stay tuned for more details!

Namaste

I am no longer a prenatal yoga virgin guys.  It only took 30 weeks into my 3rd pregnancy for me to finally make the time to take a class.  And I shed tears guys.  Several of them in fact.  At the end when the instructor told us to lay a hand on our heart and a hand on our belly and send our baby love, that hippie, crunchy stuff actually got to me and a full stream of tears poured down my face faster than I could catch them.  WHO.  AM.  I???

As I mentioned yesterday, this pregnancy is careening perilously way too fast and out of control.  Just weeks ago I was taking the mellow yellow, go with the flow approach to this pregnancy.  But the other night it dawned on me that perhaps I've been too laid back?  Yes, I've wanted more than anything a relaxed pregnancy, and have achieved that bar none, but have I been so relaxed that I haven't bothered to stop and really make it special enough?  I think maybe I have.

So Art and I sat talking two nights ago about what we could do to cherish these last 10 weeks (he didn't say 'cherish', he pretty much said "what do ya want to do?") and make them special.  For me, for the kids, for the baby.  This is the last time I'll be pregnant, I won't be doing this again and so how do you make it momentous, especially when you're not the real sappy, sentimental type?  And especially when it's your third baby?

I started by signing up for prenatal yoga so I could take some time for just me and baby, and it was perfect.  The energy of a room full of pregnant ladies is something crazy amazing.  The other idea we had was to make a few short films of us talking to the baby, setting up the crib, maybe even visiting the doctor.  And we've already set up our maternity shoot with Miranda.

Other than those ideas, I'm kind of stumped.  I know that I don't want to read any pregnancy books.  I don't want to take any hospital tours or breastfeeding classes, the stuff you do when it's your first or even second baby.  So how else do you immerse yourself in pregnancy mode and make it as special as can be?  I'm not one of those people that really finds the need to be "present" every moment of every day (does that sound bad?), but I really do want to do everything I can to make these final few weeks as memorable as possible.

Do do any of you have any ideas for me?  Either things you did yourself to make your pregnancy special, or maybe even things you saw on Pinterest? ;)  I know you guys have some cute ideas up your sleeves!  Thanks in advance for helping me to make this mama and her baby feel special.   

This post is sponsored by Disney Baby. I'll be joining the Disney Baby blogging team next month, and look forward to sharing these kinds of stories (projects/ideas/etc) with you over there! Stay tuned for more details!

How To Have A Relaxed Pregnancy

My wish for all the pregnant ladies to be out there would be first and foremost, healthy pregnancies and babies. Second after that would be to experience a relaxed pregnancy. Yes, even above a pain free labor or super fast and easy delivery (neither of which are very likely anyhow, so might as well go for 9 months of relaxation, right?).

It's no secret that I'm usually a bit of a worrier and "the sky is falling" type of person. Well then, you can only imagine how worried I was during my first pregnancy. I read too much, listened to too much unsolicited advice, researched too much, and even made too many lists. Yes, there is such a thing as too much list making. When you add "make a baby supply list" to your "to do" list, you've taken it too far. All my fretting and worrying landed me with not much more than a fretful pregnancy, multiple unnecessary visits to the ER because she didn't meet the 'kick count' criteria, and an induced labor because by 39 weeks, I literally just wanted Taylor out of me so that I could be in control of her safety and well being, not my body. That my friends, is my very first piece of advice; keep that baby cooking in there for as long as possible because they're much easier to take care of inside the womb, than outside ;)

My second pregnancy was much more relaxed. I was still working full time and traveling a ton, so as relaxed as one could be in that situation, but in terms of the safety of my unborn baby, I overall was much more at peace with my body and the process of growing a human. In fact when at 10 weeks I suddenly started bleeding profusely on the bathroom floor, I was scared, but I had a feeling that me and my baby would be just fine. And we were.

This third time around though, I am like a different person. So much so that some friends, and even my husband are amazed by my carefree, "wing it" attitude about this pregnancy. The once controlling, type A personality has been replaced by a laid-back woman I myself hardly recognize at times. I've thought a lot about how I got here, and what purposeful steps I've taken to find this balance, so I thought I'd share a few of the things I've done that have personally helped me sit back, relax and enjoy this special time in my life.

•  Don't read What to Expect When You're Expecting type of books.  Alright, if this is your first time, you're probably going to find it impossible to follow this advice, especially when every relative and friend gives you a copy.  So if you're going to read, just read the first happy parts of each section that describe your baby's growth and development, and steer clear of the secondary sections that explain all the horrible things that could go wrong.  I know knowledge is key, but too much knowledge in the hands of a pregnant woman can be frightful. 
• On the subject of books, don't read any behavior or sleep books ahead of time, because it's a waste of time.  I tried to get a jump start on my parental education by reading 2 different baby sleep books and it just confused me, it was like reading Latin.  Each baby is different, and you won't know which book and bit of advice is going to suit you and your partner's style best until you meet your baby.
• Ignore people's silly remarks and comments.  And if you can't ignore them, just agree with them because it totally throws them off.  The other day a grocery checker literally said to me "That's so weird!  I didn't know people still did that!", in reply to me when I explained we weren't finding out the sex of the baby.  After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I just said, "I know, isn't it strange?!  My husband and I are so loopy!"  He sort of just looked at me shocked, when he heard the words he spoke repeated back to him.
• Have faith, whatever your faith may be.  Millions of women and babies have gone through this process before and have come out alive on the other side.  Have faith in your body that it knows what to do, and if you believe in a creator, have faith that He has a plan for you and your baby.  
• Be wary of lists.  I laughed the other day when I looked at a "suggested baby registry list" because it was just so overwhelming, and I breathed a sigh of relief that this time around I knew what was really necessary and what to steer away from.  If it's your first time, take an experienced friend or sister along with you when registering to help you navigate through what is really necessary and what is superfluous.
• Let go of the notion that it all has to be done before the baby arrives.  With both my first two pregnancies I just HAD to have the nurseries all in check before the babies arrived, as well as 1 million house projects completed.  This time around, I'm not even sure we'll do a nursery to be quite honest.  10 weeks to go, and well I don't know.  The point is, yes, it will be crazy and hectic after a baby is born.  But there will also be down time and hopefully you'll have help.  People will bring you meals, a mom or mother in law will come and help you do laundry.  You're hands will be busy a lot, and you'll be tired, but you most likely will also look forward to having something or some project to work on and occupy your time during the 10 naps a day a baby takes.  Or maybe that's just me...;)
• Lastly, indulge yourself!  Take extra time for yourself, buy yourself that maternity dress that will help you feel pretty during this time, even if it's not practical.  Eat the extra piece of pizza every now and then, and for goodness sake don't weigh yourself!  No other time in your life should you take the opportunity to be a bit selfish and indulgent as when you're pregnant.  You're growing a human after all, and that's pretty darn spectacular.  You deserve every bit of indulgence you can afford.     

I hope this "list" is and can be helpful to you or a friend.  I can honestly say that aside from the normal emotional ups and downs of pregnancy hormones, this is one of the happiest and most relaxed times of my life.  It's taken me two pregnancies to get here, but for the first time I am truly enjoying being pregnant.  And please, if you have any other tips to add to this list, share in the comments!

This post is sponsored by Disney Baby. I'll be joining the Disney Baby blogging team next month, and look forward to sharing these kinds of stories (projects/ideas/etc) with you over there! Stay tuned for more details!

       

Choosing (and Sticking With) A Preschool That's Right For Your Child

Syd's last day of preschool was last week. It was my turn to work in the classroom so I got to be a part of all the festivities that took place that day. It was exhausting and emotional, and I'm glad I was there to be a part of it. I realize as we near the end of the school year, the last thing some of you may want to talk about is more school, but I wanted to share a bit about our experience now that I've had some time to reflect on the entire year, and hopefully some of our experiences will help you in your preschool search along the way.

We found our preschool through a friend that recommended it for Taylor.  We started Taylor at a very traditional type of preschool when she was 3 1/2, and aside for some tears in the beginning, the year was pretty much uneventful.  There weren't any real opportunities to volunteer in the classroom so I could see what went on in there, and the artwork Taylor brought home was pretty much scripted pieces of pre-cut squares and triangles that she was prompted to glue together to represent a penguin, Abe Lincoln, a snowman.   In other words, nothing terribly creative, or messy, for that matter.  But her teachers and the rest of the staff were loving and caring, so I figured I'd let sleeping dogs lie.     

As she started her second year though, minor tears turned into full fledged screaming, terrified meltdowns.  She was clearly unhappy and scared and just miserable everyday that we went to school.  After a month, we trusted our gut and what our daughter was telling us, and we pulled her out.  The last thing we wanted was for her experience before she started Kindergarten to be miserable.  We started her at The Children's Garden Preschool, and Syd continued there when it was time for him to start preschool.

With a year under our belt, I knew there were a few things I wanted for their preschool experience:

• A developmental preschool where learning through play was the philosophy.
• Loving teacher(s)
• Opportunities for parents to volunteer
• A creative environment where children were not only allowed to get dirty, but it was encouraged
• A place where he would learn the fundamentals to prepare him for kindergarten, like sitting quietly, waiting his turn, working and playing with others

The first year for him was overall a great experience.  I was working full time so never really got much of a chance to connect with the other moms in class, or set up play dates for him with the other kids.  I felt guilty about it, but when you're working, what can you really do?  I saw relationships form between some of the other moms and kids in the class and it stung a bit, but as the school year ended and I quit my job, I looked forward to the new school year where I was now going to have time to focus on fostering some relationships for my little guy.  After all, in our group of friends, he is the only boy out of a sea of girls and he was ready to start playing with boys.  

The second year started and it was a bit crazy, if you will.  Lots of boys in a large classroom with lots of energy, boy energy that is.  Since I volunteered in the class twice a month, I got to see what transpired in there throughout the day.  There was aggressiveness, some pushing, lots of well, just frustrating behavior.  My son was starting to pick up on these behaviors.  The teachers assured me they had it under control but I had my doubts.  I was hoping for some punishments, some time outs, some stern talk.  But that wasn't our teacher's styles.  I appreciated that when I wanted them to be loving and understanding when our children were having a tough day.  But being naughty?  I wanted them to be tough.  I wanted to have it both ways.

On top of that, I was trying to assimilate into the circle of moms but just wasn't getting very far.  Aside from a couple of ladies that I really enjoyed talking with and now consider friends, I just wasn't connecting with anyone else.  Our views were different, our lifestyles, our parenting philosophies, whatever.  And because I wasn't connecting with many people, neither was my son. Play dates were being made between lots of other kids in the class, but not with Syd.  I started to feel hurt on top of frustrated, and I started to take things personally.  For someone that overall makes friends fairly easily, it felt so weird and odd to be in this situation.  I started to look for a new school.

We looked into and applied to the preschool where some of my best friends sent their children.  It would be a natural fit after all.  Syd would have built in friends, and so would I.  I took Syd there one day to show him around and he clearly showed that he was not happy with this turn of events.  He said over and over again, "I don't want to leave my school, I love my school.  I love my teachers."  We talked about our possible move for a few days and tried to convince him this was the right move for him, but he wouldn't budge.     

Had we seriously felt Syd was in danger, or that he wasn't thriving at his school, despite any of his objections we would have moved him.  But the more he protested, the more I realized that this move wasn't about him, but about me and my feelings about the situation.  He didn't care that he wasn't being invited on play dates, he didn't mind that some of the kids were rowdy and rough.  Overall he was having a great time at school, and felt loved and safe and comfortable.  I realized that I had to make this decision about him, not me. 

We decided to stay.  The teachers did get things under control, through a combination of their loving way, with a bit more sternness added in.  They didn't bully the kids into behaving but taught them through example.  Within a couple of months the energy of the classroom was completely different than the beginning of the year.  I still never made any real connections with many of the women there (just one or two), but at the end of the day, it didn't matter.  His experience was the same regardless of how many play dates he was invited to or how many birthday parties he went to.

The last day of school was a carnival of fun, literally.  There were regatta races with boats the kids made, obstacle courses, art projects, and sliding down slides in boxes, an activity I'm sure would be banned at most schools out of fear of a lawsuit.  The kids made popcorn and ice cream from scratch, and they got filthy dirty.  To collect their diploma, each child slid down the twirly slide and shook hands with Mrs. Hill and Mrs. Bailey.  It was an amazing day.

Art and I texted each other later in the day and both said the same thing; we were so glad we stuck it out and kept him at that school.  Syd is now going into Kindergarten with a great set of social skills, and with the experience that learning can in fact be fun.  I couldn't have asked for anything more. 

What factors did you look for in choosing your child's preschool, and was their preschool experience what you had hoped it would be?

This post is sponsored by Disney Baby. I'll be joining the Disney Baby blogging team next month, and look forward to sharing these kinds of stories (projects/ideas/etc) with you over there! Stay tuned for more details!

5 Tips For a Fun & Successful Pool Party

Since we built our pool almost a year ago, we've hosted several get-togethers with family and friends and I've started to learn a thing or two about throwing a successful pool party.  If you're not careful, kids can get ridiculously tired and hungry, which leads to crankiness.  And crankiness in the pool is never a good thing.  And if you're really careless, kids can get bored!  In a pool you ask?  Yes, even in a pool I've seen some kids get bored and restless.  After a year of hosting pool shindigs, here are a few tips I've learned to help have a successful (and safe) pool party.

 Hire a lifeguard - First and foremost this is the most important thing I've learned, and that's maintaining the safety and peace of mind of my guests.  Now I don't hire a lifeguard every time we have kids swimming in the pool, but for big birthday parties like Taylor's and Syd's, hiring a lifeguard from the local swim school has given me, and my guests immeasurable peace of mind.  At the last party he jumped in and saved 3 kids.  Granted there were plenty of adults around, and the likelihood of something tragic happening was probably slim, it did save some adult from having to jump in with their clothes on ;)  In Southern California a lifeguard runs about $50-$60 for a 3 hour party and it's well worth it.  This is the best piece of advice I can give.

 Have a few other activities lined up - Not every child knows how to swim or even enjoys swimming, so have an activity or two that those not wishing to swim can enjoy.  At Taylor's party we had hula hoops and a craft set up.  At Syd's party we had a small bounce house a neighbor lent us and the homemade light sabers.  Having these extra activities really helped to make all the kids feel involved and have fun, whether they were swimming or not.

 Set up a break time for the kids to all get out and get some rest - 3 hours of non stop swimming can lead to really tired, hungry and eventually, careless kids.  Set up eating times so they all get out and get replenished, and plan a separate activity that all kids participate in, like a pinata, to give them all a much needed break.

Keep pool toys to a minimum - For safety and sanity, limit the number of pool toys allowed in the pool when large groups of kids are swimming. This will lessen conflict over kids fighting over toys, and also give you better visual coverage so each child can be accounted for at all times.

Establish rules up front and stick to them - one friend has a no diving rule, another has a no jumping off the raised wall rule.  Our rule is no hanging onto each other when swimming.  Set your rules and don't be afraid, or negligent in enforcing them.  Set up warning systems so that if a child disobeys the rules, they get a 1st warning, 2nd warning means they take a break, 3rd warning means they are out of the pool.  Pools are supposed to be fun, but they can also be dangerous and above all else we need to set the tone that safety is the #1 most important priority, then comes the fun.  

I hope these tips have been helpful, and please share any others you may have learned along the way as well!  We've got a long summer of swimming ahead of us ;)   

This post is sponsored by Disney Baby. I'll be joining the Disney Baby blogging team next month, and look forward to sharing these kinds of stories (projects/ideas/etc) with you over there! Stay tuned for more details!

Syd's Star Wars/Boba Fett Party

I love the saying better late than never, because I am notoriously late, to everything. It's the thing I despise most about myself, yet find it impossible to fix. Syd's Star Wars party recap post is no exception here...almost 2 weeks later I'm sharing the pictures with you. But as they say, better late than never, right? The party really was overall a fantastic one. Syd had a great time, and I think most of our friends and family did too. The only complaint was by 2 picky eaters and a hot dog mix up (one got a cheese filled bratwurst and the other didn't get a hot bratwurst). Just two complaints about hot dogs out of almost 50 people, and I'd say that's a pretty wildly outrageous party in my book. I'll take it.

Syd from the outset wanted a Boba Fett party.  Not a Star Wars party, but a Boba Fett party, he was very clear on that.  He is the most obscure Star Wars character of all and it's impossible to find any party related supplies with just Boba Fett featured.  To make matters worse, Syd requested that there be no "bad Star Wars guys", which means no Darth Vader, the usual Star Wars back up character.  If the kid had been turning 4, I probably wouldn't have been so attentive to his wishes, but since he was turning 5, a milestone in my book, I did my best to follow his rules ;)
Let me take this time before we move on, to tell you that neither of my children have yet to actually see any of the Star Wars movies.  He has a few books people have given him, but for the most part the kid's knowledge and obsession of Boba Fett is completely of his father's doing.  The Boba Fett action figures on the table?  Those are Art's.  Yup. This is what I'm dealing with here.  Full on Star Wars geekery.  That's okay, I know many of you ladies out there can relate.      

I racked my brain for weeks trying to figure out how I could compile some sort of overall decor scheme out of just Boba Fett, especially when I really didn't have an overall color scheme.  I had a creative mental block up until about 2 pm the day before the party.  Inspiration finally at that point hit me and I decided to tie it all back to neon, because I'm sure Star Wars pretty much invented neon, right?  Had I had more time I really could have got wild and ordered neon straws, neon balloons, neon sanding sugar, the works. But I decided to chill just a bit and work with what I had.

Overall the party was all pulled together with the following elements:

• NEON cardstock bought at Target for $4.49 - all food labels were printed on this, in a basic black Star Wars font and were customized to the food we were serving.  We thought up the names the night before and printed them out on our printer.  The cardstock was also used for the Happy Birthday banner, which I simply held together with neon artist tape I had from Neon Week.
• We printed up a few cool looking Boba Fett pictures and taped them to picture frames (we were really scrambling at the last minute to get everything pulled together so we didn't even have time to put them in the frames.  We just taped them on with some neon tape and it worked fine). 
• Boba Fett figurines were set out on the table.
• I used an entire roll of silver glitter wrapping paper from the Paper Source as the table runner, tying in with a spacey star theme.
• Black balloons were outlined with some neon artist tape.  Not sure why I did this, I guess to sort of make them look like planets?  It was a last minute add on and it ended up looking cool.
• The kid's take home item instead of a goodie bag (because remember I really don't like goodie bags), were homemade light sabers out of pool noodles.  These took forever to make, at least 4-5 hours, but they were worth it and were very easy to do.  The kids used them all throughout the party and especially in the pool.  Best addition to the party by far.
• I debated for about 10 seconds about having a Boba Fett pinata custom made for the party, but then decided to just get one of those generic star shaped pinatas that they put the themed paper plate on in the center; the cheap way to incorporate the pinata into the theme.  The one we chose most resembled an actual star and had a whale on it, so we just printed up some Boba Fett pictures and taped them over the whale.  Worked out perfectly!
• The Jedi Juice was just lemonade tinted with yellow and green food coloring.  I saw lots of recipes for fizzy Jedi Juice using Sprite and green sherbet, but I didn't want a bunch of 5 year olds running around crazy after drinking soda.  They were already crazy enough ;) The light sabers were just chocolate covered pretzel rods rolled in sanding sugar, teh closest to neon colors I had on hand, and the Galactic gummies are just Star Wars gummy snacks sold at our local Ralphs, already in pre-printed Star Wars packages. The cake just had a picture of Boba Fett and a spacey color scheme.

 

I'm taking next year off from the birthday party hosting circuit, but if anything, despite all the work, I'm glad I was able to give each kid a great big birthday party before this 3rd baby was born. I hope they both remember these great big parties next year when we're sitting at home just the 5 of us singing happy birthday over a store bought cake ;) If you'd like to download your own Star Wars printables, I've included a link to the Photoshop file so that you can customize your own food labels and Happy Birthday banner to any thing you want. I've also included the link to the free fonts we used in case you need to download those as well. You must have a copy of Photoshop to customize the labels. I hope some of you put them to good use one day! Besides the homemade light sabers, the food labels were also a big topic of conversation. My 8 year old nephew saw them and said "Those are quite hilarious Auntie." Props from an 8 year old boy and smiles from my favorite 5 year old boy? I'd say that is pretty cool and definitely makes it all worthwhile! ;)  
Get your customizable Star Wars Food Cards here

Make sure to download the free Star Wars Fonts here

This post is sponsored by Disney Baby. I'll be joining the Disney Baby blogging team next month, and look forward to sharing these kinds of stories (projects/ideas/etc) with you over there! Stay tuned for more details!

 

Announcement!

(Family - because talking about them never gets old)

I've started this post 10 different times and 10 different ways, trying to find the right way to say it, without saying "I have a big announcement", but sometimes you just have to state the obvious so here goes: Guys, I have a big announcement!  And since I'm already pregnant we know that that big announcement has already been covered, so what could it be?  Well I've recently signed on to be a regular contributor at Disney Baby, and I honestly couldn't be more excited, honored and ahem, nervous.  It's an actual job guys ;) 

What is Disney Baby you ask?  Well it's going to be a space where myself, and some other really amazing bloggers will talk about everyday parenting and family moments.  I'll be writing about pretty much the things that us moms all experience and do with our kids and families.  I'll be sharing practical tips as a mother of 2, soon to be 3 (yikes!).  Talking about life with the new baby, sharing craft and activities I do with the kids.  When they told me the list of topics I could cover it seemed like a natural extension of what I'm already doing here.  So of course I said "Dude, sign me up!" (dude added to emphasize my California roots).  

I grew up and live 15 minutes down the road from Disneyland.  Some of my best memories are truly from our once a year trip there as a kid, even if we did always bring our own sack lunch.  I honestly never had an inkling of a dream that someday I'd be writing content for them.  It goes without saying that after a few days of this news sinking in, I'm really excited and honored to be a a part of this. The contributors portion of the site launches June 22nd so expect to hear me mention it and ask you to come over and say hi :)  

As a side note, remember when I wrote this post just a few weeks ago?  Wow, sometimes it's just all about timing right?  Feeling very thankful right now.  Thanks for the continued support and encouragement. 

This post is sponsored by Disney Baby. I'll be joining the Disney Baby blogging team next month, and look forward to sharing these kinds of stories (projects/ideas/etc) with you over there! Stay tuned for more details!

P.S. Here's a list of the other bloggers I'll be contributing with over at Disney Baby.  Again, I feel honored to be in such good company.

Nadia Carriere of Child Mode
Melanie Edwards of Modern Mami
Amy Heinz of Using Our Words
Selena Burgess of La Petit Reve
Michelle Horton of Early Mama
Melanie Blodgett of You Are My Fave
Lauren Hartmann of The Little Things We Do
Janssen Bradshaw of Everyday Reading
Jacinda Boneau and Jamie Morrison Curtis of Prudent Baby
Rachel Faucett of Handmade Charlotte
Arianne Segerman of To Think Is to Create
Casey Mullins of Moosh in Indy
Natalie Holbrook of Nat the Fat Rat
Amber Doty of The Daily Doty
Meagan Francis of The Happiest Mom
Becka Robinson of Life as an Artistpreneur
John Cave Osborne of JohnCaveOsborne.com