Fabulous Fall Fridays #5: Sparkling Pumpkins

This post was inspired by...my brain!!  No...I'm sure it's been done before, but I thought of it when we picked up three little mini pumpkins at the pumpkin patch last week and I gave them the names of my babies.  It was then that I decided I had to do this project.  I was then excited to find pie pumpkins 2/$1!!! at the local farmer's market.  Those would be the mama and daddy pumpkins.  I know...I'm kind of silly!  So here's how they turned out!

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Five Newborn Necessities

I've seen posts like this all over the internet.  Some have up to twenty (TWENTY!!!) things you just HAVE to have when your child is born.  Everything from cute little outfits to expensive car seats.  I've seen many comments where people say they need almost NOTHING for their baby.  Just their body to provide milk and a few blankets.  Well, I'm going to skip the basics (duh...everyone knows the kid needs clothes and a car seat) and share with you the five things that I wouldn't want to live without in my child's first few months of life.  Some of these are for Mom and others are for Baby.  All will make life easier!  These are in no particular order of importance.  

{Affiliate Links Included}

1.  Miracle Blanket:  You will LOVE this swaddle!!!  The videos on the Miracle Blanket website showing a baby instantly calming down after being wrapped are not lying.  This really does happen!!  We have three of these and I think that's a good number.  We started with just one and it was always stressful getting it out of the wash before another nap or bedtime rolled around.

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The 7, 8, 9, 10 Plan!

My days have been a mess lately.  I'll admit to staying up much too late, then laying in bed until the girls get up (8:30) and then sometimes even putting on a movie for them so I can lay here a little longer.  I know there's no wisdom in this "schedule", but it's what I've been doing.  And somehow, even though I tell myself I'll be going to bed earlier, I'm still up at 11:30 the next night.  It's crazy!

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Not gonna lie...this is what I feel like in the mornings.  A tired, cranky hippo.  :)  WHY do I do this to myself?  

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5 Ways to Make Chores EXCITING!

Preschoolers and a clean house.  They go together about as well as fire and ice.  I often feel like I'm trying to fill a china cabinet during an earthquake.  To tell the truth, it gets a bit frustrating.  And if you have toddlers or have ever had toddlers, you know how I feel.

But your little ones don't always have to work against you.  Most of the time, they probably still will be, but if you have them helping you move in the right direction some of the time, it really helps.

I've seen the normal lists of child appropriate chores, but let's be honest...they're bo-ring.  So how do you make them fun?  You get creative!!  Here are 5 ideas we use around our house to get the girls excited about helping.

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Fabulous Fall Fridays #4: Popcorn Candles

Today's Fabulous Fall project was SO simple!  In fact, it was so simple, I'm not even including a step by step.  But as simple as it was, I LOVE how it turned out!

My piano needed some help.  It hadn't looked nice since I cut up the brown fabric that was on it to use for the frame two weeks ago!  :)  So...I did some work on it and I think it's looking much better!  Still needs some work, but this project was enough for this week!  

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My Happy Pumpkin Book Review

I have a love/hate relationship with this time of year.  I LOVE fall!  I love decorating for fall, I love having my windows open, I love the changing colors of the leaves, I love crunching them under my feet.  I love everything about fall.

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On the hate side of things, I hate everything that goes along with Halloween.  Now before I get into this too much, I know some of you are going to tell me that Halloween is harmless fun for the kids and some will even tell me that its origins are good (Stuart, my brother-in-law may leave some links for you in the comments).  No matter the origins, Halloween today has become a time of scary costumes, things to scare kids, and a time for evil to run free and rampant.

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Breaking Free of the Mommy Uniform (and a video!)

Ever get stuck in the "mommy rut"?  I know I do!  I wake up, slip into some comfy jeans or gauchos and a t-shirt, spend the day cleaning or cooking or changing diapers or shopping, kiss the honey when he comes home from work, and change back into my jammies.  I look like a mess most of the day, but it doesn't matter.  It's the Mommy Uniform, right?

The Mommy Uniform:
T-shirt
Jeans
No makeup
Ponytail

Shortly after M was born, I was at the store and I saw a mom with two young children.  She was dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, her hair pulled back in a ponytail.  Her children were whining.  She had something spilled on her shirt.  I remember thinking, "Wow...she must not be enjoying this very much."  Then I looked down and realized I looked exactly the same way.  

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Fabulous Fall Fridays #3: Sunflower Centerpiece

Well, my apple centerpiece was starting to look a little sad, so I decided it was time for a new one.  Confession: I like this one WAY better!!  It's so...sunshiny!  My inspiration came from this early fall centerpiece.  Didn't turn out exactly the same, but what fun would it be if it had?  :)

See?  You love it too, don't you!  So...want to make one yourself?  It was SO easy!!

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30 FREE Things to do in Kansas City (Kid Friendly Version!)

There are lots of days that we just need to get OUT of the house and burn energy!  I'm not a homebody...never have been, and if I'm home too many days in a row, I lose my mind.  The time of year is coming where being outside will be wonderful and I can't wait!  I've compiled a list of 25 great things to do in the area that are FREE!

If you're not in the Kansas City area, look for similar things around where you live!  They may not be exactly the same, but I'm guessing there are things like these in every city.

This list is mainly for children ages 2-10.  There are some things that would definitely work for older or younger children, but that's the main age group I'm looking at (since mine are littles right now!)

1. Waterfall Park: This park is great!  Not only is there a play place, there is also a nice walking trail, a lake (and waterfall!), and ducks and geese to feed.  Picnic areas as well!

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2. Library Story Time: Mid Continent Public Library hosts several different story time opportunities including Family Story Time, Toddler Story Time, and Preschool Story Time.  

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VitaFusion PreNatal Gummy Vitamins Review

When I was pregnant with my girls, I took a prenatal vitamin from Walmart.  Not the cheapest one, but not the most expensive.  I made sure they had all the "vitals"--DHA, Folic Acid...  When we started trying to get pregnant this time, I bought the same brand as I'd bought before.  They were fine while trying to conceive, but when I got pregnant, I noticed that every time I took my prenatal, I felt worse within an hour.  It was awful.  I had bad morning sickness anyway and I didn't want to have my vitamins making it even worse.

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I spoke with my midwife about it and she gave me some samples of prescription prenatals to try.  They were even worse!  One of them, you had to take two a day and they were HUGE!  It's hard to swallow when you're constantly feeling like puking and even harder when the pill is horse-sized.  The other one she gave me to try was equally awful.  It was also two pills and although both were small, one was the DHA pill.  It smelled like dead fish.  Not good for a pregnant, sick mama.

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It's a...

This morning, we had our 20 week ultrasound.  Before I reveal the gender, I'll tell you that everything looks great!  Baby is measuring at about 22 weeks, but our midwife isn't worried about it and didn't change the "due" date (praise the Lord!).  Everything else looked great.  Heart, kidneys, brain, stomach...all normal.  :)  I'm not a huge worrier, but I will say that I hold my breath a tiny bit before these ultrasounds hoping everything will look good.  And it did!

So...I've seen several people do the gender predictor wives' tale tests and we did a few before the ultrasound, just for fun!  Here are the results.

Baby's Heart Rate: If baby's heart rate is above 140, it's a girl
Girl

String with wedding band tied on: Hold it over your belly.  If it swings back and forth, it's a girl, if it swings in a circle, it's a boy.
Girl

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Fabulous Fall Fridays #2: Acorn and Leaf Frame

Today's Fabulous Fall Friday inspiration can be found here.  I love the simplicity of this project, but as usual, I can't do things as simple as they really are.  :)  I had to jazz it up a bit!  So here it is!

Acorn and Leaf Fall Frame

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10 Steps to Start (or Re-Start) a Homemaking Routine

Some of you are new wives and mothers.  Others are just setting up your own space at college.  Some are experienced wives and mothers who have had a set routine at one point and are now at a place where you need to start over.

That's where I am.  I'm not a homemaker at heart.  I'm a creative mind who tends to be messy instead of neat.  I have to really work to keep my home tidy (read: livable).  It runs in my family...I can't be blamed.  :)  But that doesn't give me an excuse to not make my home a pleasant place for my family.  And so I work at it.

Right now, for me, it's time for a home reset.  I was down with morning sickness for four months, I started to get back to it, and then we had sickness hit our family and keep us down for another couple weeks.  My home has become a place I'm embarrassed to let people come into.  And I really hate that.  I love to be hospitable.  I love having company and welcoming family and friends in and I haven't been able to do that lately without just hiding the mess in a back bedroom.  So it's time to start again!

You may wonder what my credentials are for writing such a list.  Well, it's because I have a lot of experience starting over.  If this was a how-to about keeping your house clean for a year straight, I would not be the person to write it, but I've started over lots of times successfully.  So here you go!

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Dear Girls (My Response to FYI if you're a teenage girl)

Dear Girls,

Over the past couple days, you may have read a letter written to you by one, Mrs. Hall.  I read it too and I must admit, as a woman with two small children in the house who is not yet a mother of teenagers, but also hasn't been a teenager for quite some time, I quite agreed with Mrs. Hall.  I thought it was great that she was protecting her sons from the visual stimulation of scantily-clad girls out there posting pictures for their enjoyment.  I thought it was great that the Hall family looks at their Facebook feeds together.  I thought it was fantastic that she was encouraging you girls to rethink how you present yourself in public.

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But then I read this paragraph.  "And so, in our house, there are no second chances, ladies.  If you want to stay friendly with the Hall men, you'll have to keep your clothes on, and your posts decent.  If you try to post a sexy selfie, or an inappropriate YouTube video - even once - you'll be booted off our on-line island."  And honestly, I think she's fine in doing that as well.  It's up to each mother to decide how to best parent her child and this is the choice she's made for herself.  

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