-Krystle

When I told Juliana about the show, she was excited.  I showed her the website, http://pinkaliciousthemusical.com/ , and thought the music and the video clip would get her even more excited.  Instead, my daughter got upset that I would want to take her to a “baby show” and that “only babies see that stupid show”.  I was crushed (and ticked off with her, which I made quite clear).  But after a few days, Juliana said she would love to have a Mommy’s Day Out with me.  So a few Sundays ago, we saw Pinkalicious.

Juliana is STILL singing the tunes from the show!  She LOVED it!  And honestly, so did I.  I must say, I had gotten a little worried myself that my daughter was going to be too old for the show, but after seeing it, I truly feel that she was the PERFECT age for the show, and the moral of the story is the lesson I try to teach my daughter all the time!  Despite Pinkalicious Pinkerton’s parents warning her to stop eating so many pink cupcakes, Pinkalicious does not listen and she turns pink.  The way to treat her condition “pinkititis” is to eat lots of green foods.

My daughter is almost 8 years old, but we still have these battles daily.  Juliana may not eat countless pink cupcakes, but she often thinks she is old enough to disregard our rules and directives to make her own choices.  And I enjoyed seeing part of myself in Pink’s mom.  She’s sitting at the kitchen table, working on the laptop with one hand, mopping the floor with the other, disciplining Pink and her brother all at the same time.  Juliana and I could relate to the show in many ways, and it was nice to see how this mother/daughter battle is not just a battle in our house!  My daughter needs as many reminders as possible to understand that my husband and I DO know what we are talking about!

The show was entertaining for me as a grown up, for my eight year old daughter, and for the MANY smaller children in the audience.  I think we can all relate as parents, and the kids can see similarities between the Pinkerton family and their own family.  Great show, great story, kept both of us interested, and I would recommend it to all!

Jennifer
Wife to Paul, Mom to Juliana (7), Anthony and Louis (1) and Joseph (4 months)
www.nevaland.com

It’s really funny, because even Jayce our 14 month old (wow)  loves the noodle soup. I have been in search of a really good home-made soup recipe that would compare, but I still think that is one of my favorite comfort meals, with a grill cheese on the side.

For me warm weather brings thoughts of cool, crisp salads and smoothies out of this world! Our family is juicing a little bit now, so we are still experimenting with the best fruit & veggie combination. When we figure it out, I will share,,

I’m looking forward to the bright, warm sun shining on me as well. What do you love about spring?

~Shanta

When Daddy was a little boy in the 1900s (in the early 70s), he won a train set. He thought it had been given away years ago. Imagine his surprise (and our utter delight) when Grandmommy found it at our our great-grandparents’ house this weekend. Daddy fiddled with it until he got it working perfectly and then when we woke up this morning, it was like Christmas morning. We couldn’t hold in our happiness.

See the little chair that Kieran is sitting on? That chair belonged to our daddy’s daddy when he was a little kid. Mommy now calls it the “magic chair” because Kieran will sit still in it for long periods of time. Kieran NEVER sits still. Magic indeed!

We think Daddy enjoys playing with this set too! He sure was happy when he saw his old train set along with some of his other childhood toys. We hope he will share with us.

Grandmommy also brought the old packaging to Daddy’s Fisher Price Little People plane. They don’t have what was in it (bummer), but Mommy was excited about the packaging. She wants to decorate our playroom in vintage toy photos and this will look cool when she’s done… or so Mommy says. We trust her!

Shannon
Potamus Prefers
http://www.potamusprefers.com/

My husband and I decided to be spontaneous, something we cannot often do with our children, especially with three children under two years old.  I needed a vacation, and so we decided at the end of January that we would spend my daughter’s winter break in Florida.  We booked rooms with our timeshare in Orlando, and I was thrilled that we were going to get away from the snow and cold for a few days and spend a little time with Mickey Mouse.  We weren’t planning on visiting all the parks, and would play it by ear, but I figured we’d spend two or three days in Walt Disney World and introduce our little ones to this most wonderful family vacationing spot.  The boys adore Mickey Mouse and friends, and my daughter, although this would be her third trip to Disneyworld, was very excited.  As for Paul and I?  No matter how old I get, I still love to go to Disneyworld.  It is my favorite place to be.  So I was totally unprepared for anything less than an amazing vacation.

The only negative with planning something spur of the moment is that we didn’t get the chance to seriously research doing Disney with three babies.  I automatically assumed that we’d have no problems in Disneyworld, as it caters to young families.  This may be true, however, if you are a family like ours, Disney might not be the place to go…  believe it or not!

The first morning we awoke in Orlando, I was more excited than the kids were!  I couldn’t wait to see Mickey Mouse, I could not wait to see that castle in The Magic Kingdom, and I was so looking forward to the mid afternoon parade with all the characters, music and dancing.  We were unlucky enough to arrive in Orlando during the coolest week of the year, but I was determined to enjoy the week in the cooler weather.  After all, we had just left 26 degrees and a foot of snow in NYC.  Fifty-five degrees in Orlando was better than that!  Plus, I had only done the Disney parks in 95 degrees in the past, and waiting on lines in the heat and humidity, walking with the kids would be difficult.  Perfect.  As the park was open until 1 am that day, we decided to wait until 11 am to arrive, to give the sun some time to warm up Orlando.
We had to get through the crowds with my seven year old, a double stroller and a single stroller.  We thought it easier to take the two strollers than our triple.  We walked around a little bit, just letting the kids take it all in, and decided that the first ride we took them on was “It’s a Small World”.  The wait was only 30 minutes, so we went on.  I asked the attendant if I could wait on the line with the kids in the strollers until I got to the ropes, and she said we had to park our strollers.  Of course, having rules the way they are, I understood why they needed us to park our strollers.  I asked if there was any alternative, as we were only two adults with three babies (my seven year old cannot hold a baby in a crowd), and she said no.  I was a bit taken back, but again, rules are rules.  We parked the strollers, took the kids out, and got on the line.
As we expected, due to my boys getting bored and antsy (what toddler doesn’t?), it was a nightmare on the line.  Paul held the twins, and I held Joseph.  The twins wanted to get down, so Paul put them down.  I would hold one of their hands and Paul would hold the other’s hand.  Louis is into diving on the floor yelling “safe” (as in baseball sliding), and Anthony is the neat police, picking up every bit of food or paper that falls on the floor.  And wouldn’t you know it, both of the twins did exactly those two things while waiting in line.  So as one twin was throwing himself on the floor and the other was picking up every bit of Disney litter, Mommy and Daddy were in a sweat.  I need to remind you that we also had our 5 month old Joseph on this line, as we alternated which of us would hold Joseph and which of us would fight with twin toddlers.

We were still determined to enjoy our trip to The Magic Kingdom.  After all, we spent enough money to get in the park!  Tickets were almost $80 for each of us to get in and almost $70 for Juliana to get in.  For $240, we were CERTAINLY determined to get SOME fun in the day.  Don’t let anyone fool you.  You only save a significant amount of money if you go to the parks for multiple days.  And I don’t mean 2 or 3, I mean 7 or 10.  Well, if you buy the four day passes you save about $20 for a day.  But if you are like my family, who can’t possibly do all of these multiple days in the same trip, you have to add on the “no expiration” option, which adds a lot more to your ticket bill.  I often wonder if Walt Disney had those prices in his plan when he designed this amazing world. 
Well, those Disney people are not stupid after all, because the look on the boys’ faces when our boat went through “It’s a Small World” was priceless.  They loved every minute of it, as did Juliana.  And no matter how many times Paul and I sit through it ourselves, it is still amazing.  So off we went to continue on our park journey.

I asked the attendants on the Pooh ride if my husband could wait on the line with one of the little guys, and I would wait with the others in their strollers until he made it to the front of the line, to save us from fighting our kids on the long lines (as the lines were getting thicker at this point).  Once again I was told no.  Another attendant evidently felt sorry for me, and as obviously the senior of the two, he asked what he could do to help us.  I explained our dilemma that we could not possibly wait on one more line with three babies and our daughter with only two adults.  I told him that I was not trying to cut any lines, and that one of us was quite willing to wait on the long line with everyone else.  If they could allow us to do this, it would be very helpful, and I would meet him at the front of the line with the remaining children.  He said that even though it was busy today, he could help us out.  So he asked his colleague to assist me to the front of the line as my husband got up the ramp and was almost ready to board. 
Paul called my cell as he approached the ramp, as surprisingly, the line was moving quickly.  I took the twins out of their carriages, and the attendant helped me get to Paul.  I was thrilled.  And then, the line stood still.  Evidently, the “fast pass” line backed up, so they needed to take them first, having the rest of us wait.  And so once again, Paul and I were on the line for another twenty minutes with Juliana and three babies.  And once again, we were in a sweat, losing our patience and energy, and not very happy in the “happiest place on earth”.

We spent the next day at our resort, debating on whether to try another park or not.  We met other vacationers and resort workers, and asked for tips and pointers, should we decide to try the parks again.  A few people suggested lying, either renting a wheelchair and beating all the lines all together, or going to customer service and telling them one of my children had special needs to get a pass to avoid the lines, and honestly, this was NOT an option.  We were blessed with healthy children, and I won’t take advantage of special accommodations for those families who really need it due to disabilities or illnesses.  Although I do think my family could use special accommodations, we were not eligible for any without lying, so we decided that our first Disneyworld trip as a family of six would be an abridged version, and we didn’t visit any more parks.

Yes, Disneyworld has the “baby swap”, but that doesn’t help our family because we still have to wait on the lines with three babies and only two adults.  Yes, Disney has “fast pass”, but if you utilize this feature and your ticket says to return 3-4 hours later, if you are walking with multiple toddlers, do you really think it is conducive to return to that area of the park later on, when it takes so much effort to get around as it is?  Yes, The Magic Kingdom (and I believe all the other parks as well) has a baby care center, but only one in the park, so if you are on another end of the park and need to feed three babies or change three diapers, you need to use the bathroom (and wait on the baby changing table line) or use your strollers.  And a lot of the other “perks” Disney claims to offer for young families is ONLY an option if you are staying at a Disney resort.  As we utilized our time share, that didn’t help us.  But I DID visit the vacation desk at our resort, which was manned by a Disneyworld employee, and she could offer no other help for us.

Although I feel every child should experience Walt Disneyworld at the various stages in their lives: as toddlers, as preschoolers, as school aged children and as teens, I would certainly re-evaluate taking your toddlers if you have more than one toddler at a time, for Disneyworld is not very family friendly for families with multiple toddlers/babies.

Jennifer
Wife to Paul, Mom to Juliana (7), Anthony and Louis (1) and Joseph (4 months)www.nevaland.com

-Krystle

One of my favorite movies is “Ice Castles” (movie from the 70s with Robbie Benson).  The theme song is “Through the Eyes of Love” by Melissa Manchester (am I showing my age?).  I always said that was the theme song to my life (or at least what I had hoped my life would be when I was a little girl!).  The movie is actually about an ice skater.  Lexie loses her eyesight while skating and then returns to skating later on. Here is a clip from the movie… makes me cry EVERY time I see it. Lexi skates for the first time at a competition and does not want her fans to know she is still without her eyesight…
Now that I am all grown up, married with children, I know that the song means so much more to me…  My husband is my Robbie Benson… He would come and save me after I fall because of the flowers…  And he would stick with me…
 
“Please don’t let this feeling end, it’s everything I am, everything I want to be.  I can see what’s mine now, finding out what’s true.  Since I found you, looking through the eyes of love”.
 
Makes me appreciate everything I have… and how I am exactly where I want to be.

What would YOU dance to?

Jennifer
Wife to Paul, Mom to Juliana (7), Anthony and Louis (1) and Joseph (4 months)
www.nevaland.com

I am not sure if I am ready for this phase. He wants a cell phone too!! A cell phone and a girlfriend, that’s too much for mommy. He is a handsome little devil, if I must say so myself! Lol

You guys keep me in your prayers during this difficult time. LOL

~Shanta

Don’t you hate it when your mouth is too small for the awesome cupcake you want to eat? My youngest son is my eater. Boy does he love to eat. Can you believe one of his favorite foods is fresh cut green beans? Yep it is! Another favorite is blackberries.

The boys are learning so much every day and are such entertainers. My first born son is walking so much on his own now and walks what we call his obstacle course all over the house. The funny part is he doesn’t like doors open so he closes them all (including baby gates behind him). Then he has a little issue when he comes back around the “course”. lol

My youngest likes to dance along with The Wiggles on Sprout and spin and kick with the Nutcracker ballerinas. He even tried to “skate” across the living room when watching Olympic speed skaters. When they skate off of the TV screen, he runs and looks behind the TV to find them. Classic! Such a comedian that boy is.
They’ll turn 2 and 3 in April. I can’t decide what to do for their birthday party or parties. Since their birthdays are just a day apart, it makes sense to combine them. I, however, love birthday parties and since I have two kids, I want to have them two birthday parties. I am looking for ideas. Do you have kids with birthdays close together? What do you do for birthday parties?

Shannon
Potamus Prefers
http://www.potamusprefers.com/

When do we find the time to do everything else?  How can we squeeze in appointments, birthdays, play dates, cleaning out the closets, catching up with the latest best seller, or the hundred other things on our “to-do” list? Furthermore, how do we find the time (or energy) to focus on romance and keeping that relationship strong?  And what about “Mommy time”?  Does it even exist?

I am married with four children.  I work full-time from home and then have other jobs I do during the course of the month.  Approaching the end of every month, the crunch begins.  I have end of the month deadlines that I often find haunting me in the final days of every month because I never found the time throughout the month to complete them.  But after the crunch is over and it is the beginning of the next month, I wonder if it is lack of time or lack of motivation that led me to be behind yet again another month?

I have spoken to many mothers who say that they have no motivation to do anything that is not first priority, or I should say, what they consider to be priority at the moment.  Helena works full-time out of the home.  A single mother, she also does freelance writing to help with the bills.  She has attempted countless ways to try to help her get motivated to complete her writing each month, which often falls to the wayside.  Helena has asked me to help her get motivated to write her articles.

Renee also works full-time out of the home.  Mom of two, she lives with her fiancé and has a hectic schedule with two very active boys.  Renee loves to read, but finds it almost impossible to devote any significant time to the Best Seller List.  She finds herself sitting in the car while waiting for baseball practice to end, tempted to open that book, but then the phone rings or another mother comes up to the car to chat.  So she crawls into bed and manages to open a book (“I’ll just read a few chapters…” turns into an all-nighter) she spends the next day dragging and drained from a lack of sleep.  There is no ‘happy medium’.

That online master’s degree program that Jenna signed up for last year looked like the perfect solution to allowing her to complete that degree she has always dreamed of.  The benefits of an online program that we have today, while seeming to fit perfectly in Jenna’s life, are being met by the demands of her two toddlers and husband.  Jenna really wants to get this degree in motion, but is not motivated enough to get the ball rolling due to being so busy with the kids.

We ALL have good intentions, and the motivating factors behind these things (and others) should be enough to keep us going, but we are often too consumed in the demands of the day that we cannot get to complete what we set out to complete.  How can we get motivated and stay motivated?

Here are some things we can try, hoping it helps!

The Buddy System - Exercising, dieting, even spring cleaning, can often be easier to do and stick with when done with a friend.  I was most successful in my weight loss goals when my aunt (who was living in the apartment upstairs from me at the time) and I dieted together.  We would share recipes, celebrate our successes together, head out grocery shopping (for healthy foods and finds, of course) together, and help each other through our pitfalls together.

Group – Join a book club, and the other ladies in the club will help get you motivated to catch up on your reading.  There is more accountability and strength in numbers, and it will be more fun if you can be involved in the discussions and can discuss the books from your own viewpoints if you read the books!

Enlisting the help of your spouse/significant other – Whether your partner is your accountability buddy or if he/she helps out in some of your other chores so that you can complete the tasks you are seeking motivation for, having your spouse/significant other on board with you in your goals always makes things that much easier.  As a matter of fact, the whole family should be on board to help out where they can, and having stress lessened in one area can help you manage in other areas.

Reminders / Calendars / To-Do Lists – In the age of technology, I have finally become better at keeping track of things, due to the reminders I set up on my laptop and my blackberry.  As I learn of deadlines I need to make, I put them into the calendar feature.  I give myself a few days notice to remind me, and the notification is clear enough to remind me.  So when I have an article due on Tuesday, I set the reminder alarm to go off on Sunday, giving me two more days to complete it.  Unfortunately there is always the option to click the “snooze” button (same problem I always had with alarm clocks each morning since I was younger!), so I cannot be guaranteed to get it done immediately, but at least the reminder is fresh in my mind at all times.

As mothers, we must remember that we are human first, not machines.  We are often our biggest critics, and if you can continuously remind yourself that you are doing a great job, it might be motivation enough  to keep you going!  Good luck!

Jennifer
Wife to Paul, Mom to Juliana (7), Anthony and Louis (1) and Joseph (4 months)www.nevaland.com