Naptime Blog

After my twins were born in 2008, we started house hunting.  That came to a quick halt when I found out I was pregnant with Joseph only six months after the twins arrived.  When Joseph turned six months old, we started talking about house hunting once more.  The only negative to buying a house (other than the financial end, which I will save for another blog!) is that we would move away from my family and we have come to rely on my parent, siblings, aunts and cousins to help us with the kids.  But as this is a buyer’s market, we felt it was the best time to resume our hunt. 

The hunt quickly ended when we made the decision to do construction at home and stick around for a few more years.  We rent an apartment in my grandmother’s house, so we are lucky to have a yard, a garage, an attic and a basement.  We spend most of our time in the basement, which is set up like a huge family room.  We have a full kitchen and half-bath in the basement, so we have made it quite comfortable to spend our days, utilizing the yard, and having some more living space.  The only drawback is that our apartment is on the third floor.  So every night we have to trudge up 4 children three flights and every morning we trudge back down.  Throw in laundry and diapers and everything else that goes up and down each day, it has been tiring and has taken its toll on us all.

We have decided to move our bedrooms downstairs to the first floor apartment.  The construction crew came last week to gut the walls and start the work.  I am very much looking forward to how much easier it will undoubtedly be when all is said and done, but I am wondering, were we totally crazy to make this decision?

Stick around, I will certainly be updating as construction resumes (contractor will be back in two weeks to get back to work) and I will probably be doing a lot of venting as we have to start packing and bringing everything down!  Wish me luck!

Jennifer Nevadomski
Paul’s Wife
Mom to: Juliana, 8 – Louis and Anthony, 24 months – Joseph, 10 months
www.nevaland.com

I am quickly learning that family can grow out of some of the most unexpected places. After losing my mother 5 years ago to cancer, I realized that my remaining family unit was not as strong as I once thought. In many was I think my mother was the glue, and when se passed there went our glue.

Trying to raise small children without a maternal or paternal grandmother is a tough and heartbreaking task at times. Our community and church family have proven time & time again that they are our family without the blood connection.

Friends step up to show support like they are aunties and uncles, and the church family I like a room full of grand mommies & granddaddies. I couldn’t ask for a better extended family <3

~Shanta

Is it just my grocery store or are they all doing it? I have noticed that a lot of times they will have a deal where if you buy the name brand version of a product, you can get the
store brand version of the product for free with an in-store coupon (they usually have them on a tear pad right by both products). This is genius.

Many times people are reluctant to purchase something they aren’t familiar with if they have a tried and true favorite. This way, consumers can compare the two and not be
out any extra money if they don’t like the generic version. I have found several new favorites like this. For example, one of the local grocery stores now has a pure can
sugar version of their store brand cola. I loved the brand name version, so I was happy to try out the store brand version. Surprisingly, I liked the taste better than the national
brand and the price was much better. The store now has a long-time customer for this product for the cost of one free product via that coupon promotion.

I have also found new cleaning products and snack crackers this way. So, whoever came up with this promotion, thank you! Keep up the good work.

Shannon
Potamus Prefers

http://www.potamusprefers.com/

As I may or may have not mentioned in the past, my hubby and I are huge fans of coffee, more specifically Starbucks. It was our little sinful treat that sometimes we would sneak off late one night and grab a cup to ease our caffeine cravings. Now that Shaughn is older he has cravings of his own! There are things in the house that he absolutely must have like bananas, but now that he recognizes the Starbucks logo he must have a cup of his own haha. What we do, as a little treat, is when we go get our coffees, we will also get him a mini sample cup with the logo of whipped cream. Their cream is amazing and is not super sweet, which I love so I don’t mind giving Shaughn a tiny cup of whipped cream every now and then. It’s definitely not an every day thing, heck we can’t afford Starbucks on a daily basis! Now he will eat his cream with a spoon all by himself. Granted he makes a mess but sure enjoys it and I’m happy too

-Krystle

Not quite sure how Anthony got pink eye last week.  He is not in school and really is only around his brothers and sisters.  But he got it, and had crusty, leaky, swollen eyes for a few days.  I thought maybe he was having a reaction to the chlorine, as he was swimming the day before his eyes started to show symptoms, and really didn’t think he was contagious because no one else had caught it.  But sure enough, about a week later, the baby woke up with eyes closed shut! 

Joseph’s left eye was very icky and gooey, and I called the pediatrician.  I explained to Dr. Grace that Juliana and I had slight colds, and asked if it could be possible that Anthony and Joseph’s cold symptoms were coming out their eyes.  She said this would be possible, and asked me to monitor the little guy and call her if anything changed.  I kept cleaning Joseph’s eyes (by this time both eyes were showing symptoms) and hoped that when he woke up the next morning he’d be better.

When my 10 month old baby boy woke up yesterday morning, he looked like a prize fighter!   His left eye was almost shut closed, he was swollen and red, his eye was crusty and gooey.  I was just about the call Dr. Grace back when Juliana walked into the boys’ room.  “MOM!  Look at my eyes!  They hurt!”  UGH!  Lucky me.  Three out of four kids obviously have pink eye/conjunctivitis, or whatever they call it these days.  Dr. Grace got us right in.

Luckily, Anthony’s eyes looked much better.  Joseph and Juliana were given drops, and she told us that should Louis develop symptoms, give her a call so she could call his prescription in as well.  And off we went.

Don’t you know it, not 2 hours after we left the pediatrician’s office, Louis wakes up from his afternoon nap with a swollen right eye and goo coming out of it!  By bedtime, his left eye was gooey as well.  Just my luck, four kids, eight pink eyes over the last week.

Not that this was enough of a blow for our family…  but don’t you know it?  I woke up this morning with a gooey right eye!  Fun, fun, fun!  I hope my husband doesn’t get it!  I cannot imagine when I have all four kids in school and germs are spreading in their classes.  I will FOREVER be at Dr. Grace’s office!  Happy Summer everyone!

Jennifer Nevadomski
Paul’s Wife
Mom to: Juliana, 8 – Louis and Anthony, 24 months – Joseph, 10 months
www.nevaland.com

Is it just  I or does it seem like every time you build up that nest/savings account an emergency pops up and knocks you off your feet? We had finally gotten our finances in a comfortable place. Bills were being paid on time, we were enjoying our weekend etc. Then our AC in our truck dies out with a few other things! It would have been impossible to ride around with 2 kids and no AC in this heat.

The bad news is that vehicle repairs can wipe out your savings pretty quickly. I hope to start planning for an emergency fund, a nest egg and just that little extra on the side.

Below are two good articles that may help someone thru to the tough times.

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/life/managing-the-stress-of-financial-uncertainty-262219/

http://www.credit.com/products/loans/Emergency-Preparation.jsp

~Shanta

When I was a little kid in the 1970s, we lived in a teeny tiny town. There were only several hundred people in our community. It was a different time and place and we’d
run and play outside from morning until night. We’d ride our bikes to elementary school a couple of blocks away from our home (these were country blocks… about 10 of them would make up a city block these days). Our parents worried more about us falling out of a tree or wrecking our bikes than about us getting abducted by a stranger.
These days that’s not the case anymore. Parents have become hyper-vigilant (and rightfully so) about keeping an eye on their children when they are outside. It’s sad
in a way that the world has to be like that. These days, many activities are indoors (gymnastics, dance, karate) and I wonder if children sometimes miss out on some
of the things I experienced as a child… roly polys in the yard, climbing trees, riding bikes on winding trails and experiencing that carefree childhood. Of course, I was
a good bit older than my children are when I was allowed to run and play freely.

This past weekend, I watched my two children and their very different personalities emerge. We went in the backyard and the boys played and played. My three year old
spent most of his time in the sandbox, scooping up sand and raining it on his head. He enjoyed running his small fingers through the dirt, rolling his cars over sand mountains
and giggling at his brother. My two year old ran constantly. He ran from one side of the yard to the other side of the yard. He ran up slides and slid down slides. He dug his
hands in the mud and squealed past me as I tried to catch him. He would stop only long enough to take a few long drinks of the ice water I had prepared for him. He picked up
bugs and giggled at the hopping frogs. He chased the dogs and grabbed onto their tails.

He enjoyed being a boy, being free (as free as you can be in a fenced in backyard).

It was bliss (for all involved).

Shannon
Potamus Prefers

http://www.potamusprefers.com/

Which baby wipe is your brand of choice? Do you have a favorite or just buy what’s on sale?

Huggies Wipes 40.35%
Pampers Wipes 26.32%
Luvs Wipes 0%
Store brand (Target, Walmart, Babies R Us, etc.) 25.44%
I make my own 4.39%
Other (name it!) 3.50%
Total number of votes: 114

I recently asked moms from all across the country which brand of baby wipes was their brand of choice.  Huggies brand got the highest percentage of votes, with Pampers and store brand wipes almost tying for second.  Less than 10% of moms said that they either used washcloths or made their own wipes.  Out of 114 votes, no one voted for Luvs wipes.

After reading all of the feedback, it is obvious that a mom’s choice of wipes is just as unique as her choice of baby names, religious beliefs, or anything else that might not be agreed by the next mom.  Here are some of the comments that the moms mentioned when asked to respond to the poll.

Huggies wipes
Many moms who voted for the Huggies brand wipes mentioned the thickness of the wipes, some said that they were too rough.  One mom said she felt the Huggies wipes felt cheap, and some said that they rip too easily.  Some moms mentioned that the Huggies wipes were not nearly as wet as the Pampers wipes.  A few of the moms mentioned the scented wipes, and found personal preference in those.

Pampers wipes
Contrarily to the Huggies wipes comments, moms noted the Pampers wipes to be soft.  While some moms felt the Huggies brand didn’t stay wet and fell apart too easily, others said that the Pampers wipes weren’t as wet as the Huggies brand and/or fell apart too easily.

Store brand wipes
Many moms mentioned that they only buy store brand wipes, as some said they shop based on price, others said they shop store brand because they see the brand as identical to a name brand product, and others made it clear that as long as they can clean a baby’s butt, they would buy and use a particular brand again.  Just as with Huggies and Pampers brands of wipes, there are moms that will ONLY buy a particular brand, and there are moms that would never touch a particular brand again.  Some moms love the individual store brand of wipes, some had some strong feelings against specific store brands.

Target brand
Some moms mentioned how they love the softness in the Target wipes.  One mom argued that these wipes have inordinate amounts of bleach in them, recalls a story of a mom who left a wipe on a shirt overnight, the next morning the blue shirt had a white spot where the wipe was
Walmart brand

One mom mentioned that her son had a reaction to the Walmart brand of wipes.  Some like the scent and feel of the Walmart brand.  One said that they are not as nice as the Target brand.

Costco brand
A few moms made mention of the Kirkland brand and how they are not only a great price, they are convenient and their brand of choice.
 
Some moms admit that they have no brand of choice, but rather they buy what’s on sale or the store brand.  Other moms shared that their babies’ bottoms are too sensitive for wipes, and many of those moms opt for washcloths.  At first, I was surprised to learn that some moms who will only buy (for instance) Pampers diapers would never buy Pampers wipes. 

As a mom of four, three in diapers at once, the best advice I can give is to try out the various brands of wipes on the market today.  Your baby might dictate which brand is best for him or her (some babies need specific sensitivity brands, others, due to what they make in their diaper might need a stronger or more rugged wipe.  If your child is showing no reactions to any one brand, you have the flexibility to try various brands, scents, special features, etc., until you find the one that is perfect for you and your baby!

Poll was conducted on MomsLikeMe.com national.

Jennifer Nevadomski
Paul’s Wife
Mom to: Juliana, 8 – Louis and Anthony, 24 months – Joseph, 10 months
www.nevaland.com

I am almost always the person who grocery shops in the household and I will usually go with Shaughn, more to give Brent a little break but it’s also fun for me because he is very well behaved in the store and makes shopping easier to deal with. Our most recent grocery excursion took us to Publix Supermarkets where I was able to get some good deals on some items, including their store brand products. Most particularly they were having a sale on their brand of paper towels for a double roll, which was great. I choose the one I want and hand it to Shaughn who’s sitting in the cart waiting, and he will place them into the big area of the cart. He smiles and claps when he’s made it into the cart and I laugh and cheer him on. Publix also has some good specials on store brand items and specialties they make in the store which are delicious. I’m glad I went into the store when I did to grab the deal on paper towels because we always need those in our house!

-Krystle

…OK, well I’m really not ready.  But that is what their invitation sent.  Just mailed them out today.  I still cannot believe how fast time flies.  I remember my daughter’s second birthday which was six years ago already.  She woke up on the morning of her second birthday chanting “Happy JULNA day!”  Back then it seemed every day was Juliana Day, as she was my only child.  And now I have four.  Two of those four are turning TWO years old!

It feels like a few weeks ago Paul and I were planning our wedding.  We tried for a year after we got married to become pregnant, and when the sonogram showed twins, Paul had to lift my chin up off the floor.  I didn’t think I could survive a twin pregnancy, but I did, and they were the cutest little pair of cuties ever!  I cannot imagine my life without them!  These two little characters are just that.  They are always full of laughs and make everyone who comes in contact with them laugh, too!  Even when I want to run away from the chaos, I still have to sit back and laugh at these kids. 

Anthony loves to strip.  When we took them to see Toy Story 3 last week, he slowly and steadily took off one sneaker, then the next, followed by each sock (“dock”).  I didn’t realize he had slinked out of his shorts as well, and slid down on the floor to eat the popcorn he dropped a few minutes before!  When I picked him up to stop the popcorn eating fiasco, he just looked at me with those adoring eyes and said “Mommy, CAN I HAVE MORE POPCORN PLEASE!”  OK, it actually sounded more like “MaMa!  Corn!  Pease!  More!!!!”

Louis is a self-proclaimed vegetarian.  Yep, not even two years old and already deciding he will not eat meat.  OK, so that is NOT entirely true.  He will eat Grandma’s meatballs, chicken nuggets and hot dogs (“Ott dugs”) and occasionally I try to sneak in a slice of ham or a bite of a piece of steak.  One evening, I forced his little mouth open and made him eat a piece of London broil.  The child smiled, saying “MEEEET!!!  Noo-Noo (what he calls himself, his version of Lou-Lou) eat MEEEET!!!”.  He chewed and chewed for TEN minutes.  Then, as soon as Paul and I turned to eat other to talk, he took the piece of meat out of his mouth and back into his dish!  When we told him to eat the meat, he told us “I DID!!!!!”  and when I told him he needs to swallow it, he answered “I CAN’T”

Yes, they certainly keep things interesting around here!

So, as we approach the terrible twos (and debatably we already did!), I am planning my sons’ second birthday party.  We’re not having a big party as we did last year:  some family and friends in our yard.  The theme is Sesame Street, and I am going to decorate the yard, have Elmo make a guest appearance, and have the kids swim in the kiddie pool.  We will barbecue and have cake and cupcakes, and my boys will get to hear everyone sing HAPPY BIRTHDAY to them!  They love to sing it to everyone else, and every time I say that it is THEIR turn, they grin from ear to ear.  My twins are turning two.  I’m sure it is going to be a fun ride!

Jennifer Nevadomski
Paul’s Wife
Mom to: Juliana, 8 – Louis and Anthony, 24 months – Joseph, 10 months
www.nevaland.com