Things to Do with Daddy - Guest Post

Preston and his mom, Carrie, can be found at www.thingstodofamily.com.  Preston is a precocious toddler who writes about ducks, bananas, and tick-tocks.  Carrie works full-time, parents full-time, and blogs and crafts for fun. Together with Daddy/husband, John, they keep a journal of the life of a toddler from different points of view.  You can follow Carrie on twitter @carriedbyme and visit the site of her blossoming business www.cherrylndesigns.com.

When you have a Daddy with a nickname like “Technical John” you can’t always expect to do regular father/son activities.  Sure we play ball, build brio layouts, and read stories about trucks and ducks.  But if I’m stuck with Daddy when he is in the middle of a project, some strange things happen! 

This one time Daddy was redoing the sound system in our home theatre.   Mom and I aren’t really sure what is involved, except that a lot of wires and big heavy boxes get moved around. He was in there for hours – in his own world.  When he finally took a break, Mom and I needed a break from each other, too.  So she asked Daddy to read me a story.  Let me tell you it was the strangest story I’ve ever been read.  It was called “Onkyo” and had really weird pictures.  It was also way too long for me, so we’ll have to try finish it another night.

Sometimes Daddy has to go away overnight for his job.  If the universe aligns I can look at Daddy on the computer before I go to bed.  It’s not really him, but somehow I can play with him and talk to him!  Mommy calls it “Skyping.”  Daddy and I can play all of our favorite games through the computer, too!  He likes to draw pictures for me and then hold them up for me to guess what they are.  He also plays “Peek-a-boo,” and we make silly faces at each other.

One time, Daddy used a camera so that we could "Skype" with/spy on some baby birdies!  Their Mommy built them a nest on our patio speaker.  We watched as they hatched, begged for worms, got super fluffy, and then flew away.  It was a really fun project!

Daddy and I also LOVE to play the piano together and sing!  Mommy sings with us, too, sometimes.  And we dance!  Family dance parties are the best.  When I play the piano with Daddy he lets me pick the song.  When I get tired of the song he is playing I turn the page to let him know it’s time to move on.  I also like to get on the floor and push the pedals on the piano; Daddy has to get his feet out of the way.

What silly things do you do with your Daddy?

Blueberry Scones - Guest Post

Hi all! My name is Amanda and I'm visiting from 10 Years Later.

I am wife to Eric.

and Mom to Eliana

How does a pretty simple recipe for crazy tasty blueberry scones sound to you?

Good? Right. That's why I'm here!

I have always been intrigued by the thought of baking my own scones. Intrigued but afraid. They are such a specific density and nothing else even closely resembles them. I'm no Martha so I fo sho thought it was out of my realm of capabilities. I am happy to report that I was wrong. They were surprisingly easy to make and way easy to eat. Yum yum yum!

I found this recipe via Pinterest which led me to La Petite Brioche.

Ingredients:

2 Cups all-purpose flour

1/2 Cup sugar

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 Teaspoon kosher salt

1 Tablespoon grated orange zest

1 Stick cold unsalted butter, grated

1 Large egg, lightly beaten

1/2 Cup cold heavy cream

1 Cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

Extra heavy cream for brushing the tops

Raw sugar for sprinkling the tops

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F

2. Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix 2 cups of flour, 1/2 cup sugar, the baking powder, orange zest and salt. Mix on lowest speed until combined.

3. Add the cold butter and mix at lowest speed.

4. Combine the egg and heavy cream and, with the mixer on lowest speed, slowly pour into the flour & butter mixture. Mix until just blended. The dough should look lumpy.

5. Add the blueberries to the dough and mix on lowest speed until blended.

6. Dump the dough onto a well floured surface and knead it into a ball. With much flour on your hands and on the rolling pin, roll the dough 3/4" thick. You should see small bits of butter in the dough. Keep it moving so it doesn't stick.

7. Shape dough into a square. Cut the squares into quarters and then cut again into eights, diagonally, making triangles.

8. Brush the tops of the scones with heavy cream. Sprinkle with sugar.

9. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are browned and the insides are fully baked. They will be firm to the touch.

10. Enjoy!

Just a quick note to give you my adjustments as I'm anything but easy going. I didn't have an orange to zest so I substituted it for 1/2 tablespoon of some bottled grated lemon peel. I also didn't have 1/2 cup of heavy cream. I made a substitute by combining 3/8 cup milk and 1/6 cup melted butter. I just stuck it in the fridge for a few to cool it. I had planned on drizzling them with a homemade icing, but they were plenty sweet and delish without.

I hope you are all efficiently salivating and preheating your ovens. Thanks for letting me share!

Thanks for sharing, Amanda! Carina is obsessed with blueberries and will go crazy for these.

Journey to Baby Number Two - Guest Post

Hi Geeky Readers!

My name is Chelsey, and I blog over at The Halbert Homestead  I am a stay at home mom of Curtis and Evelyn. Today I wanted to share our journey to our daughters pregnancy, the struggles we went through, and how we came out on the other side. My hope is our story might encourage you if you are in the midst of trouble trying to conceive, or help you understand what someone you know struggling might be going through. I am by no means an expert at baby making, or have dealt with the extremes of infertility. However with a son born prematurely, a chemical pregnancy and a miscarriage, I often wondered if a second baby was even in the cards for us.  

From January 2011 to February 2012 God tested us. Because our son was a "honeymoon" baby it really shouldn't be that hard to get pregnant? right? Well as it turned out, God has a different plan for our journey to baby #2. If you've ever experienced a miscarriage, then you might understand the need to get pregnant again. When we were pregnant with our angel baby, he/she wasn't planned. We knew we wanted our kids spaced 2 years apart, and we were planning on trying in a few months. The pregnancy was an awesome surprise and one welcomed with open arms. Unfortunately we didn't end up with a baby in our arms at the end. After the MC  we started trying again as soon as we got the "ok" from my midwife.  

My need for a baby grew each month, and each month I would hear comments "just let go, relax, it will happen"  please do me a favor, if you know of a couple that is trying, or going through infertility, or a miscarriage... please.please.PLEASE. do not utter those words to them. It's not because you are saying them meanly, we know you care. But in that moment of wondering "if you can get pregnant, keep a pregnancy" you really don't want to hear all the reasons why you aren't pregnant, and the biggest annoying one is because you aren't "Relaxing or letting go" 

We did every trick in the book, including relaxing, breaks, letting go, charting, etc... My prayers have been more fervent this past year and 1/2 then ever before. Not because I "wanted" something, because I was having deep conversations with God.. asking Him, seeking Him, telling Him the hard stuff, and giving over having anymore children to Him. Those are hard conversations to have with God and my husband. 

Finally after 9months of TTC {trying to conceive} we went to see our Midwife Diana. We would have waited the "Recommended year" before seeing her, but I was nervous/anxious because of the miscarriages and complications with Curtis's pregnancy. She is super sweet, motherly, and is willing to help. She said we should wait until March (1yr of ttc) before she would do anything drastic regarding help getting pregnant. That wasn't our goal, we wanted to try and go as natural as possible, and not use medication. She wanted to have a few tests done, and highly recommended Acupuncture to us.

Before this appointment I had just read an article about Acupuncture helping fertility, She told us she just had a couple in a month ago, that on paper there was no way they could get pregnant, unless they went straight to IVF/IUI. She told the woman to try our Acupuncture to help relax and reduce stress {They were trying for several years} She went and within 1 month of weekly acu she was pregnant. They didn't do anything different, just added in acupuncture. I thought that was a pretty cool story. Since we were coming up on our Thanksgiving trip, and the holidays we decided to look into acupuncture after Christmas. {if we weren't pregnant by then}
 
Now I am by no means saying Acupuncture is the cure all to infertility. Our faith was in God to direct us were we needed to go, if we needed to pursue help. After the holidays and still not pregnant, after praying and asking God for direction we felt lead to give Acupuncture a try! My midwife recommended Fertile Grounds Wellness Center After our first appointment I was hooked, Cecily was so genuine, was on the same thought process that I was (meaning natural, looking at my whole body, nutrition, health) We did some blood work, all my tests came back normal. She told us to give her 3months, and we would re-evaluate and go from there.
After being a human pin cushion, (I kid!) all the sessions were super relaxing. After 2 months of acupuncture, 13 cycles trying, on February 13th, 2012 we saw this:

I believe God pointed us in the right directions this whole time, knew what he was doing, and ultimately lead us to Fertile Grounds where they helped us get pregnant. I HIGHLY suggest going to acupuncture if you are struggling TTC. You don't even have to be a year of trying, a few months or even the first month. There are so many benefits to acupuncture and so much more then just infertility they can help. I saw results within the first week, I use to get hormone headaches and now I don't. Plus many other results. 

If you have any questions about acupuncture/our journey feel free to contact me, and I can answer the more personal questions. 

We continued to do acupuncture up until 12weeks, as it helps with preventing miscarriages and morning sickness. Now nearing the end of my pregnancy, I wouldn't change a thing about our journey. I miss our angel baby daily, and often think how different our life would be if he/she was born into our arms. But there is always a greater plan out there, that I cannot see in the midst of turmoil.  If you'd like to read more about our story, my preemie (now huge) toddler son, and our baby girl, plus a bunch of other fun posts.. please follow us!  We'd love to be your friend!

                                    Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest 
 

Thanks for sharing your story with us, Chelsey!

The Pinterest Influence - Guest Post

Hi! I'm Meghan from Phase Three of Life. I'm a working mom, living in Phoenix with my husband and toddler son, 2,000 miles away from our families. Sometimes I'm sentimental, sometimes I'm overwhelmed and sometimes I laugh when my kid throws a tantrum. I write whatever I'm feeling on any given day; it just so happens that I feel sarcastic more often than not. 

I'm honored to spend a little time in Melissa's space!

****

I did the same thing last year. Two months before Ryan's first birthday, I announced that I was simply not a "theme" person.

"The theme is 'Kid's Birthday,'" I'd say, rolling my eyes. "I'm not going over-the-top with themes and DIY projects and blah blah blah. Let's just order a cake and call it a day."

But then...

I got on Pinterest.

A couple quick searches and suddenly I was all "RYAN NEEDS TO HAVE A 'FIRST BIRTHDAY FIESTA'!!"

The Fiesta Party planning took me weeks. I enjoyed it, but it was a lot of work, including at least 93 trips to Party City to find perfectly coordinating, brightly colored necessities.

I felt that I could justify the work for the first birthday, which is a special one. But for birthday #2? No way was I doing a theme. No way was I DIY'ing anything. No way was I wasting countless nights and weekends leading up to it, chipping away at endless party details.

"I'm not even getting a cake," I said. "Ryan doesn't even like cake! I'm getting a big cookie and some balloons and that's it."

And then I got on Pinterest.

Oh, the cuteness. The personalized t-shirts and adorable invitations and the whimsical handmade birthday banners...

So guess what?

Choo-Choo-Choo! Ryan's turning TWO!

Damn you, Pinterest.

Trains are gonna be rollin' all through my house that day in every way imaginable. Luckily, my kid happens to adore anything with wheels.

Further inspiration:

Door sign.

Mantel sign.

Favor bags.

Also? I may or may not have purchased him his very own conductor's hat.

I give in. The wonder of Pinterest has beat me into submission. There will be a theme; there will be theme-related favors; there will be DIY projects. I might as well just admit it right now: We will probably have a theme next year, too.

Now, I must go. Tons of party-planning to do.

Stop by some time and say hi!

Ha! Thanks, Meghan! I am experiencing this as well right now! I've been stalking Pinterest for Tangled Birthday Party ideas...

Benefits of Sensory Play - Guest Post

Hey new geeky friends!  I'm Margaux, a stay-at-home/work-at-home wife to Steven and mama to Darwin, our 15 month old.  I write a family friendly blog called Young Nesters where you could find me sharing about our family adventures.  While Mama G is taking some well deserved R&R from blog-land I thought I'd share something that we love to do over at our house.  I've got a very busy toddler on my hands so I'm always looking for new ideas to pique his interest.  Sensory play is a great way to break up the routine at home and offer stimulating activities that occupy the kids for a while.  But it isn't just fun and games (and possibly a way to get a few minutes time to gather your thoughts), there's some great opportunity for learning.

Motor skills.  I think this is probably the most obvious benefit.  Grasping tiny objects, putting things in and taking things out, scooping, splashing, digging...  All of these skills are put to use when toddlers are allowed the opportunity to explore sensory objects in their environment.  And how does practicing these skills help in other aspects of their (and our) life?  They are practicing and fine tuning the very same muscles and motions as picking up and putting away toys, brushing teeth, holding their cup with out spilling, the list goes on and on.

Toddlers learn through their environment.  Without advanced language skills they are constantly learning based on what is presented to them by their senses.  Given the opportunity to play and explore with a variety of objects gives them the chance to continue to process new details about their world.

Cognitive-emotional regulating.  Have you ever wanted to smash something when you were beyond angry?  Or how about relieving anxiety by squeezing a stress ball?  These are examples of how we use sensory experiences the same way we can inspire our toddlers to explore.  Certain activities can even be great pre-bed time calm down time because it focuses the child's attention and energy on an experience that can be very calming.  And other activities can give our kiddos the chance to smash, bang, or otherwise release negative feelings and self-regulate.

So especially with the colder months approaching and opportunities to play outside becoming limited, I recommend digging around your cupboards and using your imagination to create some new play experiences for your toddlers and older children.  Plastic baby pools or large storage bins are great for containing some of your exploring and the bathtub is a great place to play with those exceptionally messy creations.

Some of our favorite sensory play items are:
Dry beans
Dry pasta noodles (different shapes)
Acorns gathered from the back yard
Pine cones
Water
Good old dirt
Cornstarch and water (try adding some flour too!)
Baking soda and vinegar
Bath foam
Sand
Rice
Dry Corn
Cooked Spaghetti

What else can you think of or have you tried?

Want to read more about this topic?  Here are some great resources:
Not Just Cute - A Handful of Fun: Why Sensory Play is Important for Preschoolers
HighScope Extentions - Look, Listen, Touch, Feel, Taste: The Importance of Sensory Play
The Imagination Tree - Sensory Play


 

Margaux is the Feminist Social Worker wife of a Veteran turned Ecologist and a newly domesticated first time Mama. Follow her adventures in home ownership, do it yourself projects, living sustainably, and growing a baby... on a budget.

I love all these ideas, Margaux! Thanks for sharing!

What turns your baby into a lunatic - Guest Post

Hi! I'm Roxanne from The Good Life.

I am a 4k teacher at a small Catholic school and I absolutely love my job. I get to sing and play with puppets all day long. Can it get any better than that? My man friend (the husband) just received his license as a mental health counselor so he is certified to deal with me everyday. I am killing some time for Melissa while she is taking in all that sweet newborn goodness with Aurelia and spending some time with her big girl Carina. I don't really blog about anything Fashiony or DIYey because I have absolutely no fashion and when I DIY it usually doesn't get finished. Hence the 3 huge blue swatches painted in my laundry room I am currently redoing and have been redoing for about 3 months and why my kitchen cabinets are half tea stained and half grey. I basically write about whatever is on my mind that day and usually it is this little lady.

Her name is Mckinley with a little k aka Kinley, kitten, little lady, nut job, snaggle rock, snot, peanut, quit eating that pile of dog hair! She is the light of my life and the reason our lives are so entertaining. I know every parent says their child is amazing, and beautiful, and wonderful, but she is all of the above and has been since the day she made her spectacular appearance into this world.

And then something happened. Something that changed my precious, sweet, smiling little lady. It seemed to come out of nowhere and we weren't expecting it to happen because we had been waiting so long.

What was it that changed our precious little girl into a screaming tiny lunatic.

TEETH!

Holy crap people. Teething is no joke! And anyone who tells you some B.S. about never even knowing their kid was teething and they just magically woke up one day with a mouth full is a big fat stinkin liar! 

Now don't let me scare you new parents with those sweet, cuddly, precious babies you may be that obnoxious person who tells everyone they were never up all night with a snotty screaming baby. Unfortunately we did not get that lucky. My husband and I are pretty laid back when it comes to our little lady. We don't panic when she gets sick like tonight she has a 102 fever and we are all fine, but the first night we experienced our child literally rolling on the ground, screaming like someone was killing her. We almost, no lie, took her to the emergency room because we figured that this couldn't be normal. And then the next morning her 2 bottom teeth had popped in. Then round 2 happened and we knew this maniac screaming at 11 and 1 and 3 and 5 could only mean there was something wrong and we should call the dr. and then her upper left tooth came in. Do you see a pattern? You would think we would be used to her low threshold for pain by now, but I swear it gets worse each time.

So what have we done about it you ask? Everything we could think of. Wet rags frozen with a little fruit puree so she will chew on it, but my wonderfully abnormal child (I wouldn't have her any other way) has never been a chewer and basically refuses to chew on teething toys. We tried tylenol, ibuprofen, or whatever you want to call the nasty medicine stuff, but it didn't seem to do anything and I honestly hated giving her medicine every night. We are currently using Hylands teething tablets and they seem to work the best for her. If you haven't tried them and you are suffering like we have run to your nearest Walgreens, CVS, whatever and get some because they are a  freaking Christmas miracle! I don't know what ingredient it is that helps, but God bless you whoever invented Hylands teething tablets and gel. Before I tell you our most recent save me from teething hell purchase you must know I am one of those cloth diapering, recycling everything I can get my hands on hippies even though you would never know it if you saw me. My pearls are a great disguise. Alright. Now you know my dirty little secret our newest teething purchase is a butterscotch amber teething necklace. You can see it in the picture of my sweet snaggle toothed girl. I honestly am not sure if it is a placebo or if there are really some natural earthly qualities that leak out of them, but I honestly think it might be working. Her upper right tooth has been working its way in and it hasn't been as bad as the first few. Plus it is a pretty cute accessory and we like accessories around these parts. I honestly don't know what else to do besides what we are already doing so if anyone has any suggestion go ahead and throw them my way. 

Now that I have scared every parent with a newborn or a child who hasn't had the pleasure of a jagged tooth popping through your sweet little gums I would like to Thank Melissa for letting me guest post on her amazing blog (geeky fan here) and congratulate this sweet family on their newest addition. 

Mckinley says be nice to your mama Aurelia and let the woman get some sleep.

And now I finally realize why Carina had a random fever the other day...I spy a tooth! Thanks, Roxanne!

Raising Daughters - Guest Post

Hello All! I'm Samantha from On Pink Bears and Pacifiers. I feel so honoured to be able to guest post on Growing Up Geeky today - thank you Mama G! I am a (mostly) SAHM of Clara, born in December 2010 (just like Carina!) and just had Baby Girl #2! I blog about my life and all of the pregnancy and parenting joys and struggles that go with it. When I am not blogging or parenting, I enjoy reading, writing (anything), music, teaching piano and attempting to organize my constantly disorganized life. I would love it if you all came over to check us out!

Mama G and I both have two daughters who are less than two years apart in age. Since I wanted to post on a topic that we had in common, this seemed like the obvious choice. So, my post today is simply on 'Raising Daughters'.

I must confess that before I knew we were having a daughter, I was nervous about raising a son - and was relieved to discover I had a girl. A very close friend of mine - who just had a baby boy - confessed that she had the same fear about having a daughter, and was relieved to discover she was carrying a boy. She and I both considered our upbringing and realized it made a lot of sense. She was the only girl among four brothers and simply felt lost when it came to little girls, yet felt completely comfortable with little boys and how they were raised. I had no mother, and spent my childhood and teen years trying to recreate a 'mother-daughter' relationship for myself with various friends' and family, and spent a lot of time thinking about what a mother 'should' have been to me. I think I always felt that having a daughter would give me the opportunity to make it up to myself.

So, like I always do - I made a list for myself. This is definitely not a complete list, but it is the start of what I would like my daughter to learn in life, and things that I feel it is my responsibility as her mother, to teach her - although I hope her Daddy helps with this as well :).

1. I want my daughters to love themselves, but to also genuinely love others, and consider others' needs and desires as equal to their own.

2. I want my daughters to know they are beautiful, but at the same time to believe that outward appearance means nothing.

3. I want my daughters to understand their weaknesses, as well as their strengths, and to be willing to do what it takes to achieve what brings them joy in life - despite any setbacks they might have.

4. I want my daughters to understand as early as possible that their parents are not perfect, and we might make some pretty big mistakes, but that we love them completely and unconditionally and that despite our screw-ups, we were always doing what we believed was the best thing for them at the time. And I pray they will forgive us for our screw-ups.

5. I want my daughters to know how to work hard, even when they don't feel like it.

6. I want to support my daughters, but I also want them to be strong and brave enough to make choices and act on their choices without needing anyone's support. If they decide they want to spend two years traveling the globe - alone - I hope it is never fear holding them back, and I hope they never feel the need to bend to anyone else's opinions.

7. I want for my daughters to never allow themselves to be bullied into anything by anyone, but to be flexible and willing to adapt with grace when the situation calls for it.

8. I want my daughters to be able to discover who they are early in life, and to spend their lives being true to that person.

9. I want my daughters to be kind to others. Always.

10. I want my daughters to never feel limited to 'girly' things, simply because they are girls - yet I also hope they feel free to be as 'girly' as they wish, and not feel any pressure to conform to what anyone thinks they should be.

 

Many of these scare me - because I don't feel comfortable that I have learned how to be like this, and that will be part of learning how to teach them - teaching myself. I don't feel beautiful, and I don't always love myself. I'm not very good at hard work, am too often lazy - admittedly - and I am afraid of everything. I am easily bullied, and even catch myself bullying still on occasion. I have chosen to be a SAHM, and this is what I have always wanted, but I still struggle with the fact that despite knowing that I am intelligent, I didn't do 'more' with my knowledge and become more highly educated. I also feel as though I have no real idea who I 'truly' am.

Because I am a brutally honest person - my daughters will know all of this about me, and I hope beyond hope that somehow they can be all of these things that I am not.


Thanks for sharing this, Samantha. I want many of the same things for my girls :)

Becoming a Perfect Mom - Guest Post

I am honored to be guest posting today for Melissa while she's otherwise occupied :)

Bit of a flashback photo, this is the family last Halloween Alex was a week shy of 7 months.

Let me give you a brief intro on Happy Heart. Hi! I'm Ashley, mommy to Alex and furbaby Charlie, wife to Kris and mommy blogger. Welcome! This blog is about my life and those that are a part of it. Alex is 17 months old going on 6. He's growing so quickly I want to make sure I remember everything, EVERYTHING, so I put it all here. This is a blog about becoming a mom and living to tell about it. Enjoy!

Sure, we all strive to be the perfect mom. Hair and makeup done, clothes adorable and perfectly behaved children that makes all the other moms green with envy. The perfect mom has her life put together. The house is always spotless and organized, kitchen included. The perfect mom is not me. 

I looked up perfect in the dictionary. Here is what I found : Lacking nothing essential to the whole; complete of its nature or kind. Yeah right, does that even exist? Everybody wants to be the perfect mom but if that is the definition of perfect what are you really striving for? If we lack nothing, then we learn nothing. Some of my best parenting has been the result of the mistakes I made. My son Alex, is my world but I don't want to be the perfect mom TO him, I want to be the perfect mom FOR him. Then I came across this definition : Completely suited for a particular purpose or situation. Right on!

I've done posts on parenting but that's not really what I want to get into. I want to talk about what makes me the perfect mom for Alex. Every decision made, is made in the best interest of Alex. I do everything I can to protect him and make sure he is healthy and happy. From how he is fed to his daily routine, everything is designed for him, just him. We may all try to be perfect and at some point or another we may come close in our lives but nothing is more important than putting your focus on being your little ones mom and not on being the perfect mom.

Reality is, my hair is probably in a pony tail and my makeup is most likely just a quick brush over of foundation. My clothes, I'm sure they match but they are likely far from glamorous and I'm lucky if the are wrinkle and dog hair free. My kitchen is probably a mess and Alex's toys are probably still spread out across the living room even though Alex went to bed 2 hours ago. I'm sure when I get up in the morning, it's probable that I am going to be too lazy to move the toddler bath toys from the tub so I will just step around them as I take my shower. That screaming kid in the restaurant that has you asking for your check early and causes you to give dirty hairy eyeball glares, is probably mine.

I may not seem like I have it together, but when it comes to Alex we are golden. I play with him daily regardless of how silly that block on my head looks or how ridiculous I appear with that 5 ft stuffed snake wrapped around my 5'4" body. This week at work, I pulled a cheerio out of my pony tail and I proudly told my co-workers that my son left me a present. I make Alex's dinner every day and do my absolute best to sneak in vegetables without his knowing, fingers crossed he actually eats them. I am there when he wakes up in the morning and there when he goes to sleep at night. He crawls into my lap at night to snuggle on the couch and wind down before bed. I try to be creative with activities to encourage his development and do my best to engage him in almost everything I do. We read books daily and I point out the pictures in hopes that one day soon he will repeat those words to me. I laugh with him, scream with him and cry with him. Sure, sometimes I need a break, but that's ok, I am sure sometimes he needs a break from me. But the important thing is he is a happy and healthy toddler who lives everyday without a care in the world because I am trying create that world for him.

I may not be the perfect mom but it's ok. This is MY life, my happy, exhaustingly, beautiful life. And the way I see it, this is me being the perfect mom for Alex. My son is healthy, my husband is happy and my house is a home. How much more perfect could it be than that?

Here is a list of other posts by Happy Heart that are related to this post, thanks for reading :)

Respect the Mommy

AHHHHHH Parenting!

Having a Baby Changes Everything. EVERYTHING.

My Son, My Boobs, Now Mind Your Own

Somebody Please Tell Me I Can Do This


I could have written this post, Ashley. Thanks so much for sharing!

Halloween Toddler Fun - Guest Post

I'm Heather and I blog over at My Slices of Pie. I'm mommy to Emily, a spirited and slightly silly 21 month old. I work full time, so between the job and the mothering, I stay super busy. Finding time for activities and crafts to do with my daughter means there's never an idle moment spent around our house. If I had idle moments, I might clean up around there sometimes! Who am I kidding? I still wouldn't do it, which is why I'll never be a house wife. 

Halloween probably takes the cake when it comes to holidays, at least in my book. What's not to love about it? There are no forced family gatherings or obligatory gifts. It's all candy, hopefully cool weather and kids dressed as adorable little monsters, ghouls, princesses and pirates, reality t.v. stars or anything they/their parents want them to be. As far as I'm concerned, it's better than Christmas.

To keep my toddler entertained, stimulated and properly educated about the season, we've done multiple Halloween themed activities around the house. The felt pumpkin busy bag has easily become my favorite because it's cheap, it's easy and it's re-usable. As a huge proponent of busy bags and felt, I combined the two and created a pumpkin cut out from orange felt and multiple sets of eyes, noses and mouths. Whenever we're out to eat or somewhere I need her to act like an angel, I whip out the pumpkin busy bag and she makes faces on the pumpkin. 

You'll notice, also, there's an ant in our busy bag. Since we had ample black felt, I cut out a few circles and sticks (all of which double as facial features on the pumpkin) so that we can put together an ant. Ants=an obsession for this girl. 

Visiting a pumpkin patch remains on our to-do list, but we do have a few small pumpkins plucked from the bins at the grocery store and produce stands that Emily enjoys decorating with stickers. Over and over and over and over again. She adds stickers, she removes stickers. It keeps her entertained. We've made a few polymer clay fairy pumpkins, covered with beads. We have a trip planned to go trick-or-treating at Baby Land General, home of the Cabbage Patch Kids. This could be the only chance for Emily to wear her lady bug costume unless we have a sudden cold front come in.  My plan for the actual day of Halloween is to let her paint a pumpkin while we carve ours. It should be worth the mess, right??

I simply cannot do a Halloween post without the mention of COSTUMES! As far as costumes go, since we live in the fine land of Georgia, where you never know what your October weather will bring, we have two options: a fairy (for warm weather) and a lady bug (for cold weather). These are both favorites for her, and I'm only slowly learning to yield to HER whims as far as her attire. Just as a quick aside to the fickleness of Georgia weather, we went to Boo in the Zoo (epic failure on my part, as I did not dress her up) and there were children dressed in plush costumes that could have doubled as winter coats good for negative wind chill, which would be awesome for colder climates, but since it was 70 degrees by lunch time, I'm quite certain the kids were roasting, especially the ones on the play ground. Halloween Parenting Rule Number One: Don't roast/freeze your child!!   

I've really seen some excellent ideas this year, my favorite a set of siblings dressed as a shark (older brother) and a goldfish (little sister). What will your kids be masquerading as this Halloween??

Thanks for sharing these great ideas, Heather!

Making Lunch Time Fun Again - Guest Post

Hi Growing Up Geeky readers! My name is Lindsay and I blog over at You Are The Roots! It's such an honor to be posting here today -- Melissa's blog is one of my favorites! I'm a first-time mom to a 14-month old little boy, Ethan, living down in southeast Florida. As all mothers of toddlers know, every day is an adventure -- so much so that I started to find that Ethan's lunches weren't nearly as spectacular as he deserved. I'm not exactly skilled in the kitchen but I found that between a nutritious breakfast and a healthy-but-delicious dinner was a pretty dull lunch. I made a promise to myself to step it up a notch and offer fun and nutritious lunches that were still fun for a toddler and realized that the answer to all of my problems rested in the hands of a muffin tin. I thought I'd share some of my favorite toddler-friendly recipes with you all today!

Toddler Veggie Quiches


These tiny little veggie quiches are as healthy as they are cute. I love that these freeze well and store well, making them perfect to always have on hand when you find yourself on the go. For these, choose any three vegetables you want (or happen to have on hand). I used some of Ethan's favorites: kale, tomato and carrot.

In addition to your veggies of choice, all you need is milk (1c), a few shakes of black pepper, dried mustard (1 tsp.), 4 eggs and your favorite cheese (3/4c).
I use my trusty Baby Bullet to chop the veggies up oh so small and then pile them into a greased muffin tin.


From there, mix your eggs, cheese, milk, pepper and mustard together until combined and pour over the veggies. Stick in a preheated oven at 375 degrees and bake for 20-25 minutes until bubbly! Perfectly portioned toddler lunch (or breakfast) in minutes!

Carrot & Zucchini Muffins


I love these little guys because you can pack a lot of veggies into them (see?!) and the little ones still look at them as a sweet treat and midday snack.

I use a hand grater to shred a whole zucchini and a whole (peeled) carrot. In addition to the veggies, you also need canola oil (1/4c), brown sugar (1/2c), 1 egg, applesauce (3/4c), all-purpose flour (1c), whole-wheat flour (3/4c), cinnamon (1 tsp.) and nutmeg (1/2 tsp.). You simply whisk together the oil and sugar, then add the egg, applesauce and your vegetables. In another bowl, combine all of your flours, cinnamon and nutmeg. Fold your dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and combine, but be careful to not stir too much! Pour the batter into muffin cups and bake for 20 minutes in a (preheated) 400 degree oven.

Quinoa & Cheese Spinach Muffins


The last toddler-recipe I wanted to share today is definitely one of Ethan's favorites. Instead of regular macaroni, I used quinoa to make these delicious, cheesy spinach muffins!

I again use my trusty Baby Bullet to finely chop up fresh spinach leaves. I use organic baby spinach leaves, but you can also used cooked or frozen spinach. You also need cooked quinoa (3c cooked), your favorite shredded cheese (I used a mild cheddar), whole-wheat breadcrumbs (1/4c) and sour cream or milk (I used sour cream). Once your quinoa is cooked and still warm, remove from heat and throw in a handful of your shredded cheese. Stir until melted and smooth. Add 1 teaspoon of milk or sour cream and continue to stir until combined. Add your breadcrumbs to the quinoa mixture and then fold in your spinach. Pour into greased muffin cups and bake in a (preheated) oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.


Happy lunches to you and your toddler and thanks for letting me blog over here today!

 

Thanks, Lindsay! I think that Carina will LOVE the veggie quiches.

Baby Name Troubles - Guest Post

Hey All!  I'm Jayne & I blog over at The Naptown Organizer.     I am a wife, mother to my adorable toddler little man, speech language pathologist, blogger, organizer, pet parent, and soon to be mama of two as I'm due with a baby girl in December!  I blog all about my trek into being a crunchy mama through parenting, any and everything granola, and a life more organized.  Check out The Naptown Organizer for all of the above plus some tidbits on decorating, fashion, and giveaways/free stuff!!!     Today, though, let's talk about baby names.   Normally that sentence will elicit looks of terror from my husband and makes me want to run out of the room screaming.  I'm sure there are some couples who are so in sync with their name choices, that choosing a name for their child/children is easy.  For us?  Not so much.   I mentioned I have a toddler, right?  Well, to come up with his name, we tried everything.  We spent hours devouring baby name books, websites, and lists together.  We watched television and looked through books to find names of characters that we liked.  We came up with our own lists separately and then came back together and compared notes.     None of it worked.   What really helped us choose our baby's name?  Construction.  Lol.   Close to the end of my pregnancy, we were in the middle of a bathroom renovation project.  My husband REALLY wanted to tile the shower a certain way, and I disagreed and wanted it done a different way.  In the end, to stop the fuss over the bathroom, my husband just said,   "Okay.  Here's the deal, if you let me tile this shower how I want to, you can name our son whatever you want."   Done.     So that rather romantic story is the way in which we came about the name for our first child.  And this new baby?  No different.  We know what the middle name will be (Elisabeth), but as for the first name, we are up the proverbial creek without a paddle.  I have my few names that I really like and could see naming our baby girl, but my husband doesn't like any of my names.  He has a few names he likes, but they are all so off-the-wall crazy that I can't agree to it.   (For example: he likes the name Trudence, which I'm pretty sure he just made up)   I think that naming your child is a huge responsibility.  A name is such an important thing to give someone, and there are so many considerations that go into it.  Will they be able to find a job later on with that name?  Will their name constantly be mispronounced or confused with something else?  Will they be teased because of the name or possible nicknames that come with it?  Does it sound okay with our last name?  Does it sound okay with their sibling's name?  Will they even like it when they're older???   Really, it could all drive you batty.     I'm pretty positive that this new baby is going to be baby girl even at the hospital....   Unless we find a good construction project to start up before December.   Like this post?  Want to see more?  Check me out on the blog here, or in the following places: Facebook, Twitter, or follow me by email on Bloglovin!

Thanks for sharing, Jayne! I personally love chatting about baby names and the thought behind them. How did you come up with your kids' names?

Oh, the Mom Insecurities - Guest Post

Hi there! My name is Emily and I blog over at The Winking of an Eye. I'm a new-ish stay-at-home mom to Caleb (10 months), wife of 3.5 years to Jon and a displaced Minnesotan living in San Diego. My passions (when I have time) include blogging, design, photography, cooking, Minnesota and being the best mama and wife to my two favorite men (but the last two I always have time for ;-)). 

My blogs typically involve honest mama moments, thoughts on daily life with a kiddo (whom I refer to as C), pictures and photos of said daily life, recipes and attempts at humor.

It's the plague of every mom woman. Insecurities. Self doubts. It's something I feel like we all deal with every. single. day. Anyone else find it exhausting? From completely ridiculous to deeply rooted, all these little things poke and prod at me in both the expected and unexpected moments — in front of the mirror, cooking in the kitchen, playing with my kiddo at the park, after hitting the send button on an e-mail. 

And, while I'm no stranger to insecurities, it struck me the other day how oddly they have shifted since becoming a mom. 

1) I, like most women, have always been concerned with my style. I'm talking about my "cuteness," what I'm wearing, making sure I'm relatively on trend (though I'm no fashionista...). Since Caleb was born, not so much. I've written before that my closet (or floors more likely right now) include jeans and Target-bought boyfriend Ts (which I usually wear over a sports bra). Heck, I've even done one of my "I will nevers" and worn yoga pants out to the grocery store.

A good example of my typical look, kissy face included.
And C looking rather scared and unsure of his mama's sanity.

What I am now concerned with is not how I look, but how my little man looks. From hats to jeans to baby sandals, you better believe that when we walk out the door, he's looking good. Even when I have to change him out of the very mismatched outfit the hubby has dressed him in (which with a mobile kid is no easy feat), C looks good and presentable. 

Does the baby care that he's stylin'? Not so much, considering he would just assume eat the sandals as wear them and he doesn't even bat an eye at barfing all over whatever he's wearing. But, I do. And, I love how cute he looks.

3) And speaking of appearance, let's brush the subject of baby weight. Before the kiddo, I was constantly concerned about how I fit in my jeans, how much weight I should lose and how unattractive or fat I felt. The story of every woman's life, right?

Now, as much as I'm concerned with "yeah, I should probably lose 5 pounds (ehem, more than that...)" and "Can you untag that photo of me on FB, please? My third chin is showing," I also spend about half as much time thinking about it as I did before. Chalk it up to spending more time thinking about C's nutrition or the fact that he's fallen on his face three times just this morning. I just don't have the energy to guilt myself over the fact that I didn't work out that day. My energy is spend so many other places right now.

A day where it was more a matter of being proud that
we both got out of the house put together than whether or not
I looked fat in my dress.

Does that mean I don't want to be healthy? No. But it does mean that while I respect the importance of taking care of my body, I also recognize that I'm at a stage in my life that maybe it's OK that it's not my prime focus. Getting down to a size 2 (cuz that's not gonna happen) is not my job right now. C is, and that's alright.

3) I feel like I've always been pretty good at controlling the urge to care about what other people think about me. While it's taken a lot of practice, I feel like I'm good at being myself without worrying about how it makes me look to others. But since I've had C, I feel like I'm always re-examining my behavior and how it's perceived by other moms.

The behavior doesn't even have to do with child-rearing. I mean, I find myself questioning what I eat in front of people for fear they may think I'm setting a bad example for C. I will worry about what I say for fear that people may think that I don't love C as much as I do or value my job as a stay-at-home mom. It's the unending pressure I put on myself and perceive that the world puts on me to be the perfect mom.

Hmmm... is my mom capable of handling all my shenanigans?

Is that ridiculous? Yes. But, aren't most insecurities? I guess when this particular insecurity rears it's head I usually just have to take comfort in knowing that C's a happy kid. He's a (relatively) healthy kid. He leads an amazing life with parents that not only adore him, but will do whatever they can to see him thrive and grow and learn. And, well, if people want to perceive my abilities as a mom differently… that's fine.

Living the life...

And usually that thought process gets me through… until the next time I feel inadequate. But, that's how these sorts of things work. 

I have a feeling that as C gets older and more children get added to the mix, these (and the rest of my ninety-eleven insecurities) will continue to shift and change. Never disappear. And, I guess that's just the nature of the beast.

Thanks, Emily! I am completely guilty of caring much more about how Carina looks than I look, for sure.