Monday, November 21, 2011

Fun Learning

Before I became a SAHM, I was a preschool teacher for about 3 years. If you have kids, you know how hard it is to hold their attention! It's like they have the attention span of a gnat. ;) I found Learning Through Crafts online and used some of the ideas for my classroom art center and many of the ideas in my lesson plans. The kids LOVED them.



It sparked their creativity and desire to learn. The crafts are very unique, as well. You can even use materials recycled from your house. They weren't the same ole crafts you find everyday online or in dozens of kids crafts books. It also kept my kids calmer and more lrelaxed as they focused on their crafts, thus resulting in less disipline issues. I definetly plan on using this for Kinlee too when she gets older! It was a GREAT investment!!

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Win 1 of 5 Amazon Giftcards

I would go on and on about what I would like for Christmas, but instead I will go on and on about my HUGE family and how many people I must buy for. I have 3 sets of grandparents, 5 sets of anuts and uncles, my parents, my 3 brothers (and their significant others), and a few cousins. Then, there is my boyfriend's family... wow... overwhelming. This may sound horrible, but I'm not even going to buy my daughter anything for Christmas. She'll only be 4 months old and
1. won't even realize or remember what's going on and
2. Will be getting so many gifts from family

Here's the link to this awesome give-a-way. frugaldad.com I know it would benefit me, so I must share so maybe it will benefit someone else as well. Happy Holidays! :)

No Need To Go Out To Eat!

I found this cookbook online and I am so in love with it!! It is loaded with copycat recipes from dozens of different restaurants! You can go to the store and cook your entire family the same meal you would get at a restaurant for about the same price as just one plate. Instead of having to shell out $10 to tip the waitress, your family will be tipping you! (yeah, get real right?!) Seriously though, your family will LOVE your cooking! My personal favorites are Red Lobster's cheddar bay biscuits and Olive Garden's chicken marsala. Sometimes for breakfast, I'll whip up Cracker Barrell's ham and egg casserole. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!!
My boyfriend loves Dave & Buster's cheeseburger pizza. (That's what I'm making tonight) :)

Anyhoo, here's the link if you want to check it out. America's Restaurant Recipes

You really have to see all the restaurants this cookbook features! Ladies, it has recipes from The Cheesecake Factory! Who doesn't love that place!?!? It's only about $30 and that's cheaper than your bill would be if you actually went out to dinner instead of cooking the SAME thing at home! Thank me later ;)

Another good thing about cooking these restaurant meals at home is you can cut calories! You can replace a lot of ingredients with "fat free" or "reduced fat" ingredients. YOU control what's in your food!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Tired of Turkey Sandwhiches?

Am I the only one who gets super tired of turkey sandwiches after Thanksgiving?!



Ingredients:
  • 1 cup leftover turkey breast
  • 1/2 cup leftover stuffing (broken into small pieces)
  • 1 cup shredded mexican blend cheese
  • 2 large (burrito size) flour tortillas
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1/4 cup cranberry sauce


Heat large skillet over medium heat
Put 1 flour tortilla in skillet
Cover tortilla with 1/2 cup cheese
Layer turkey, then stuffing, then remaining cheese
Cover with remaining tortilla
Cook 3-4 min
Flip
Cook another 3-4 min
On the side, mix sour cream and cranberry sauce
Remove from pan and slice into 8 wedges
Serve with cranberry sour cream

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Shed the Extra Pounds

I downloaded Lose Weight By Dancing about a week ago and have been trying it out about 3-4 times a week. I was left with 13 pounds of "baby weight" after Kinlee was born. (Which I didn't think was too bad considering I was on an all ice-cream diet the last month of pregnancy).

Dancing has always been something I like to do. It gets your blood flowing, heart racing, works up a sweat, and produces leg soreness the day after. Sounds like a good day at the gym right?! Well, I hate going to the gym and being around a bunch of skinny girls watching me jiggle on the stair master. Not only do I not like the feeling of being judged, I also don't like the hard work it takes to do a "real" workout. Dancing is a FUN way to shed the weight. You may even find it a little more fun when you have someone you're comfortable with doing it with you... However, I prefer locking the door and closing the blinds after checking the house for hidden cameras.

This program is a download, so you can get started TONIGHT! No waiting at the door for the UPS man for a week. Check it out!! Lose Weight By Dancing

P.S. There is a 1 year money back guarantee, so if you don't like it... you can get a full refund! Can't beat that huh?

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Monster In The Making??

Kinlee still sleeps in a bassinett type thingy beside our bed at night. I still haven't worked up the courage to put her in her crib yet. I know, shame on me. Anyways, for the past few nights she has been waking up around 2:30am (She usually sleeps until 6ish) crying. I reach over and stick the paci back in her mouth and she instantly falls back to sleep. I know I am probably doing more harm than good by doing this, because she is going to get used to it and never learn how to soothe herself back to sleep on her own. Ugh. Guess I better get started reasearching...










Thursday, November 10, 2011

Wreaths

 

I've seen these on numerous people's blogs and it inspired me to make a few to try and sell to make some extra $$. Momma needs a pedicure! I've had a few interested people. I have them listed for $60, which I thought was kinda pricey, but ornaments are crazy expensive!

Second order of business, today was the day I have been dreading for a few weeks now. Kinlee had her 2 month well check today... which involoved shots. I had to leave the room, because I knew I wouldn't take seeing them hurt my baby very well. Dad said it's a good thing I did leave, because she totally FREAKED. Ugh. We came home, I fed her a bottle, and she has been knocked out since 5...It's now almost 10. I keep checking on her to make sure she is still breathing!! They say her legs will be sore for a couple of days so I'm guessing she is going to be fussy also... It's gonna be a great Friday! Err

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Technical Difficulties

I'm having some technical issues with blogger.com. I can't comment on an blogger.com blogs. Please do not think I'm being rude by not commenting back to you guys, but I can't even comment on my OWN blog. Anyone else having this issue? Well, I guess if you are having the issue you wouldn't be able to comment and tell me huh? Haha! Duh! Hopefully they will resolve the issue soon, because I'm gettin a tad frustrated.

I just wanted to let everyone know what's goin on. I do see all of your wonderful comments, and I really appreciate them. Hopefully, I'll be commenting back soon.

P.S. Anyone have any cute, but easy craft ideas that I can do in my spare time? I get pretty bored sitting home, but I'm also no Martha Stewart. :-/

Monday, November 7, 2011

The Sixth Sense

I'm pretty sure all of you mommy's know about the sixth sense that babies seem to have. They can sense the very exact moment you start trying to accomplish something... and they prevent it from getting accomplished. I'm just now learning all these things because I've only been a mommy for 2 months.

I'll feed Kinlee a bottle, play with her for about 45 minutes to an hour then put her into her swing (by the way, the swing is the BEST baby gadget ever!). She dozes off like usual and as soon as I leave the room to do ANYTHING (pee, shower, sweep, etc) BOOM! She starts fussing. Some of you may not aggree with me on this, but if it's not an all out cry, I don't even mess with her. I let her fuss a little until she REALLY starts crying. At first, I would tend to her EVERY whine, grunt, etc but I quickly learned I would get NOTHING done EVER if I continued to do this.

I'm actually really shocked she has left me alone long enough to write this...

Sunday, November 6, 2011

No More Zombie Mom



Lifesaver!!!




I was given an mp3 player as a gift at my baby shower along with a note that said, "listen to this in your spare time." So, I ran a bubble bath that night and started listening away. I felt I HAD to share what I heard! When I first brought Kinlee home I felt she was too young to even attempt to get her to sleep through the night. The kids gotta eat right? Well,  around 4 weeks I decided to put what I had been listening to into action. Kinlee was sleeping 7 hours straight a week later! I felt like a new woman, seriously! It's amazing what sleep can do huh? I know I was probably starting to scare my boyfriend, because I was always so tired and always in "B-word" mode.

I know, babies are not robots and are all different. What worked for Kinlee may not work for your baby. That's why I believe The Baby Sleep Solution is such a success. There are SEVERAL techniques provided so you can choose which one will work best for YOUR baby. Here's the link so you can check it out! The Baby Sleep Solution

Oh, just a side note. Appearantly 2 month olds do not know that when you turn your clocks back for fall, you're supposed to get an extra hour of sleep! Oh well, maybe next year. ;-)

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Here Goes Nothin'

Hey ya'll! This is my first official blog post...ever. After having a baby and quitting my job to stay home and start raising my new family I figured I needed somethin to do during baby naptimes. Being a SAHM to one 2 month old isn't very exciting. She sleeps pretty much all day so I spend most of the day watching TV, cleaning, doing laundry, and playin online. *yawn*

Anyhoo, I decided to start blogging, not only to share my experiences and tactics in raising a child, but also to collect advice of others who are probably going through some of the same things. This is my first baby, and I'm sure I'm gonna screw somethin up sooner or later (as we all do) so please feel free to throw your 2 cents in when you feel you need to. ;-) I'm no SuperNanny expert.

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