Naptime Blog

I get this question ALL the time.  The twins are 14 months older than the baby.  I guess as they get older, it will appear as if they are triplets more and more, especially because Joseph is such a big boy!  Sometimes I want to just answer “Yes!  They are!” because it might be easier than telling them that they are fourteen months apart.  I usually get something like “You have your hands full” or “Oh my God three of them so close!”.  I probably would get more questions if I said that they were triplets, so either way, I have to be ready for an answer.

Just this month, my baby (who was a year old on the 18th… time is flashing by!) started standing, pulling himself up in his crib and creeping.  I figure in no time he will be walking, and then I don’t know HOW I am going to keep my sanity!  As it is now, the twins are always running in different directions and I have a hard enough time splitting myself to run after each of them!  Now three?

Good thing is my baby formula days are over now, although to be honest, I think it was much easier when Joseph was on formula.  He really doesn’t like milk (guess he needs to get used to it) and he eats like the boys!  My grocery shopping bill is going to skyrocket soon!  At least with the formula I always bought Parent’s Choice, so I saved a lot of money.  Now?  My TRIPLETS are going to eat us out of house and home!  OH BOY!

It seems to be that kids are grasping technology younger and younger as the years go by. Working at a cell phone store has proven that to me. I remember when I got my first phone, I was 16 years old and was told it was only to be used in case of emergency or to call my mom and let her know when I was leaving work after staying late. Of course I could talk after 9pm because it became free. My brother got his first phone when he was 9, I believe, and my sister was 8. They got prepaid phones which I could understand because their phones would only be turned on after leaving school and letting my mom know they were walking home. My brother who is now 11 teaches my mom how to work her computer sometimes. Most recently, I saw a 13 year old boy purchase a 32gb iPhone 4 for himself the other day. What is going on? It seems like if you do not have a phone by the age of 6, there must be something wrong. We were gifted an iPad about a month ago and so far love it. I have downloaded multiple toddler apps and Shaughn probably uses it more than me. The boy will be 2 in September and can unlock the iPad, get to his memory game and beat it in one player mode before I can say “Be careful with that!” Its amazing. My husband complained that as children, we had crummy cardboards with pictures, and our son plays on an iPad. Technology always fascinates me and at the rate it’s progressing, I can’t wait to see what the future holds!

Krystle

 My two year old has been benefitting from speech therapy. He is speech delayed but is now mimicking a lot and saying some words. He can be such a stinker but is so cute you just can’t stay mad at him. Could YOU stay mad at this face?

Here are a couple of cute things he has done lately:

His speech therapist will throw a ball and say, “On your mark, get set, go go go!” and he loves the word “go” now. We were at a red light the other day for a bit longer than he preferred and he shouted from the back seat, “Set, go go go!”. I busted out laughing, but it was beyond cute and such a blessing to hear him speak.

Here is another… Yesterday, I was cut off in traffic and had to honk my horn to avoid being hit. He goes “beep beep beep”. That was so cute. I hadn’t heard him mimick a horn or sound like that.

Aren’t kids such cute blessings? What is something cute your little one has done lately?

By Shannon

Potamus Prefers

http://www.potamusprefers.com/

When my twins were born,  I learned about the Pampers Gifts To Grow program.  Had I not had twins (and had double the amount of diapers and wipes!), I probably wouldn’t have started collecting points, but because I was buying so many diapers and wipes, I figured why not!

It is pretty simple… All you do is collect the Gifts to Grow points on the Pampers boxes and enter them on the Pampers website.  Plus, you can get extra “points” by becoming a fan of theirs on Facebook and checking out their website… they give freebie codes!

A few months ago I collected my first “gift” and chose a coupon for a free extra large Dreft (something else we use a lot in this house!).  I am ready to redeem my points again, and I am not sure if I want a gift card or photo cards!

Be sure to join the GIFTS TO GROW program, where you can earn points from your Pampers purchases and redeem for items!

Here are some freebie points!  Just enter LaborDayFB92010 before the 12th and you will get 10 pts.

Well I was completely convinced that I was going to do a Go Diego Go party, but of course at last minute I changed my mind. I changed it to Blue’s Clues and thought it would be an easy and fun theme. Ha! Little did I know what I got myself into. Since Blue’s Clues has been “off the air” for years now, many of their licensed products have been since discontinued. I must have searched over 100 websites that had the Blue’s Clues party packs and accessories, only to get to the actual page and find out they are out of stock. Then the ebayers who had items listed for plates, table cloths, etc had higher prices probably because they knew it was impossible to get. After I already sent out the invites, I spent any free time I had panicking on what to do. I went to the dollar store and got blue plates, cups, napkins, silverware and a tablecloth. Not bad for less than ten dollars! I’ve come to terms with the fact that there’s not “Blue” the character on there, but I also got a poster board that I can hopefully draw Blue on. Hopefully is the key word here. On the website of Publix, a grocery chain here, under their cakes section they had a thumbnail photo of a Blue’s Clues cake in the Preschool Favorites section which I was so excited about. I clicked the link to see all the preschool faves and guess what, Blue’s Clues cake was not listed. So I called, thinking maybe there was a mistake in the list since they had a picture. Nope. No mistake. The cake decoration set had been discontinued! So now I had to think of how to make a cake without doing just the paw print, or cupcakes to make a print. On Amazon, there was someone actually selling the cake decoration set that was used in bakeries for $10! Things are slowly coming together for Saturday’s get together. I am not, by any means, doing a big thing this year. I felt the ONE party was a good celebration for Shaughn and for us as new parents, so this year it’s only going to be my family and Brent’s family for a nice little gathering What did you do for your child’s second birthday?

Yeah, you read the title right. I never thought I’d say that. My mom is really into Adam Lambert. It is her 62^nd birthday today and my sister bought her tickets. I am taking her.

It’s actually kind of cute. My mom is in the other room blow drying her hair and getting all dressed up. She keeps coming to ask me if she should wear this watch or that one, these shoes or those and what glasses look best. It reminds me of when we were in high school and she would give us advice on hairstyles and clothes. We never took it, but that’s not the point. J We are going out to eat before the concert and our seats aren’t even together (this guy is pretty popular it seems).

My mom thinks he’s the next Elvis and she has photos of him all over the place. It reminds me of my obsession with hair bands in the 80s. Anyone else ever take their mom to a rock/pop concert?

Raise your hand.

Or comment.

You choose.

By Shannon

Potamus Prefers

http://www.potamusprefers.com/

What is the best ovulation calculator on the market?  Should you spend almost $300 on a fertility monitor?  Should you buy ten kits of ovulation predictor tests?  Maybe.  But the first, and possibly the best, ovulation calculator is YOU.

It is amazing how many women do not know more about their own bodies as they should.  Possibly a better way to phrase that is: it is amazing how many women do not think they know as much about their bodies as they do.  Let’s face it.  You may have a great team of gynecologists, reproductive endocrinologists, midwives and more, but they do not know your body like you do.  After all, you have lived with it since the very moment your own mother became successful in her predicting ovulation when you were created.  No one knows your body better than you.

What is most shocking is that many women continue to believe that ovulation occurs on day fourteen of her menstrual cycle.  Let’s back up one step.  Day one of your menstrual cycle is the first day of your period.  In a perfect menstrual cycle, ovulation would occur on day fourteen.  If your cycles are consistently 28 days long, that may be a good indication that you might ovulate consistently on day fourteen, although because of the different phases of the menstrual cycle, this might not always be the case.

The menstrual cycle is broken up into the follicular phase (lay terms: when the egg matures), ovulation (when the egg is released from the ovary and can be fertilized by sperm) and the luteal phase (when the egg either breaks down ending in menstruation or the egg and sperm become an embryo and pregnancy is achieved).  The duration of a woman’s luteal phase usually remains consistent, although the follicular phase might fluctuate.  If a woman’s cycles are usually 32 days, and she learns that her luteal phase is consistently 16 days long, ovulation generally would occur most months at around day sixteen (not day fourteen).  Once you can figure out your luteal phase length, you can use simple math to pinpoint ovulation more successfully.

Because charting is fairly simple and inexpensive, and because both the woman and her partner can participate in charting, I would recommend giving it a try to pinpoint your luteal phase length and then your day of ovulation.  If you take your basal body temperature (your waking temperature, taken at the same time every morning) and record it daily, charting it on graph paper might tell you a lot right off the bat.  The morning AFTER ovulation occurs, and usually for 12-14 days after (give or take), your basal body temperature should be significantly higher than the previous days.  Once you have charted for two or three months you should see a fairly reliable pattern.  If your temperatures are all over the place and no pattern can be seen, you might want to move on to alternate methods of ovulation calculation.  Y ou can get some ovulation prediction strips to see for yourself if there is a surge indicating that you are ovulating, your doctor can run some tests to track your hormone levels to confirm that you are ovulating, and you might want to invest in that fertility monitor to track ovulation as well. 

Remember that by just charting your temperature, once you see that temperature surge, ovulation has already occurred.  You might want to chart other signals your body gives off every month to better pinpoint ovulation, including cervical mucus, cervical position, any ovulation pains or mood changes you may have throughout your cycles, and anything else that might affect your temperatures (“I had a few drinks last night, my temperature this morning was off”).  Charting cervical mucus and position helps to pinpoint impending ovulation, and charting temperature confirms ovulation occurred. 

Obviously, if after a few months of charting and learning more about your body, understanding its signals and getting better at pinpointing ovulation, timing intercourse accordingly, you and/or your partner might find it time to see your doctor.  But at least by this point, you know more about your body and can work together with your doctor on deciding the next steps!  Good luck!

How do you keep up with advice and regulations as they are ever changing? My boys were infants just a couple of years ago and it seems like recommendations for car seats (forward vs. rear-facing), ingredients in formula and chemicals in baby bottles has changed since then.

I do a lot of my research online and love reading other blogs written by moms in the know. I wish there was some sort of text message reminder that went off that said, “Hey mom, that diaper you are using isn’t the best one anymore!” Ahh, if it were that easy right?

Good thing I am a part of a great moms’ group. I can get advice from other moms and we will mention things we heard in the news or read in books. We also share great sales we see at stores or give our opinion on the latest store brand or “it” item.

Where do you get your advice and how do you keep up with the newest recommendations and trends?

By Shannon

Potamus Prefers

http://www.potamusprefers.com/

Win: A great meal to enjoy either quality family time, a quiet dinner with your husband/partner, or a recipe to make for friends!

Lose: Healthy eating leads to a healthier lifestyle. For those of us who have pounds to LOSE, enjoy our Win, Lose and SCORE! recipe!

Score: I am sharing a healthy recipe and tips for your family, and at the same time I have matched up the recipes to money saving coupons and deals to purchase the groceries in your recipes!

Salisbury Steak, courtesy of Cooking with Healthy Girl,  Mandy Potter.

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef, 90% lean
1/2 (5-oz) package of whole wheat stuffing
1/2 onion, finely chopped (Target coupon, $1 off fresh produce)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 egg
1/4 cup reduced-sodium beef broth
1 tablespoon worcesterhire sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 tablespoon pepper
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (Felipo Berio Olive Oil printable coupon $1/1; or here)
1 packet reduced sodium brown gravy, prepared (save $1/3 Heinz gravies)

In a bowl, combine meat, stuffing mix, onion, cumin, egg, borth, worcestershire, salt, and pepper.  Mmix to combine well and then form into 4 very thin patties.  Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat and then add olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan.  Add the patties to the hot skillet and cook, turning once, until done (about 8 minutes total).  Seve with gravy poured over the top.

Per serving:
340 calories
20g carbs
17g total fat
3g fiber
5 g saturated fat
3g sugar
116 mg Cholesterol
29g Protein
514 mg sodium
Points 8

Tips:

• Eating together as a family is invaluable for your children.  Try to eat together as much as possible during the week.
• Don’t forget store brands!  I will NEVER again buy name brand spices when I can get the Spice Time for $1 or so many other generic spices!
• Healthy cooking begins with a healthy lifestyle change!  Let’s do this together (because I am telling you I need to follow my own tips and start eating healthier!)

I love them. That is the highlight to going to Red Lobster, which I rarely go anyway, but when I do I have to eat them! I’m not much of a recipe poster mainly because I don’t cook all that often. When I do have the time to cook, I like to do things different and try new ways of making things that isn’t the everyday norm. Even though this recipe isn’t out there or unique, it’s still delicious and a great add to any meal! So here is the recipe that I use when I have the urge for these yummy rolls. I definitely add a little more cheese however!

Red Lobster Biscuits – Cheese garlic biscuits

2 c. Bisquick
2/3 c. milk
1/2 c. grated cheddar cheese
1/2 c. melted butter
1/4 tsp. garlic salt

Mix Bisquick, milk and cheddar until a soft ball forms. Beat vigorously for 30 seconds. Drop by balls onto an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 450 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. Mix butter and garlic and brush on rolls while still on the pan and hot.