You know, I used to consider myself a good friend.  We'd get together for game nights, talk on the phone, shop, and do other things that friends do.  Then, I got married and had a baby.  Being the first in my small group of friends to make that leap from child to adult was fairly seamless.  I mean, a small baby was easily transportable.  But once that little one began to crawl, both her world and mine began to change.  Then came baby number two.  The visits and outings became fewer in number Read more [...]

Do you have an emergency kit of essentials ready in case something would happen around the home?  Something as simple as losing power in the dark for a few hours can become extremely stressful, especially if you have kids.  I never really thought much about an emergency kit until we started our foster care licensing last year.  They had several things on the list such as a flashlight and radio.  So I put together a few things but was really on the hunt for a light that would be more usable with Read more [...]

I can still remember when we had our first baby almost 12 years ago.  It was such an exciting time for us and I couldn't wait for her cord to fall off so I could finally give her that special first bath.  Frustratingly, it took almost two weeks!  But once it was off, in the bath she went.  I was surprised to quickly learn that those tiny babies are slippery little things!  It was tricky enough that after my husband tried once, he passed bath duty to me completely.  But I've found that having Read more [...]

Have you ever felt like life is a never ending cycle of cooking, cleaning, laundry, and perhaps even cleaning up broken things?  Thankfully, our kiddos are actually quite careful with their toys and belongings and clean up after themselves fairly well.  BUT, since we have been working to eliminate most plastics in our kitchen, our dishes are mainly glass, Corelle, ceramic, etc., and we've dealt with our fair share of "Freeze!  Everybody step away from the glass and watch where you step!"  To Read more [...]

It's no secret that I love babies.  Everyone who knows me at all knows I always have.   I still remember back in 5th grade when I turned down going to a friends house overnight to, instead, spend the evening babysitting.  Since my passion has always been children, I actually opened by very own licensed home daycare the week after I graduated from high school!  While I was worried my age would be a hindrance, parents never seemed to mind and I almost always had a waiting list of families wanting Read more [...]