Do Pinterest Worthy Homes Make You Depressed?

Oct 8,2014 / By Maria / 6 Comments

This post was initially supposed to be a tongue in cheek tour of my not exactly Pinterest worthy house. I realized that it could be taken as a) Jealousy towards bloggers who have posted their lovely home tours or b) Humblebragging. I decided I was going to make this a learning experience for myself and try to look at our home in a different way. Seeing the good, the memories & the humor instead of the bad. I ended up learning more than I’d planned. The most surprising thing? Looking at the photos I took, I don’t see the dust, the sticky fingerprints, the dings on the floor, and the mess doesn’t seem as bad. So either the camera makes everything look nicer (in which case I don’t feel as terrible about these Pinterest homes) or I am really being too critical of my home.

We are very blessed. I know we are. 15 years ago I was living in a hotel room sized efficiency apartment, in a bad part part of town, and driving my rickety car to my $8/hr job. I eventually saved for a used couch, but sat on a folding chair & used cardboard boxes as tables for quite a while. If you’d dropped me into my current life then, I wouldn’t have believed it. Back then I had very little but I couldn’t have been happier and I don’t remember comparing myself to others or lamenting what I didn’t have. Today, I see these gorgeous, beautifully decorated homes on Pinterest and blogs, and I can’t help but feel down about my own. Old, ratty furniture, sweat on my brow just keeping up with the laundry, dishes, toys and junk, let alone deep cleaning. Why would it take me a full day of cleaning & re-arranging to even consider photographing my home? Well I didn’t (clean) and I did (photograph.)

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Super Undies Night Time Undies – Great for Bedwetting Big Kids

Oct 7,2014 / By Maria / 2 Comments

I purchased the pictured items myself. I was not asked to write, nor was I compensated for this post, and all opinions are my own. It’s actually not uncommon for kids to wet the bed until age 8 (sometimes even later.) Each child is different and boys in particular can take a bit longer. Certainly discuss with your doctor, but if medical issues have been eliminated, you have lots of options. You can do bedwetting alarms, waking your child through the night, limiting drinks etc.

We have taken a gentle approach and though we’ve tried several things, our son simply isn’t ready to stay dry every night. As is typical for kids not developmentally ready to stay dry at night, he will stay dry when he doesn’t sleep soundly (like when we are sleeping away from home) but otherwise sleeps right thorough it. Many families use disposable pull ups at night, which are outrageously expensive, and I know my son’s sensitive skin couldn’t handle them (we made the switch to cloth diapers because of this.) In our hope that this would be a temporary issue, we’ve made due with what we had, even using Bumgenius 4.0s with stretched out elastic, and stuffing them to the gills (with varied success – often pants were wet if not the whole bed.) I chatted with the ladies in the Super Undies booth at ABC and ended up ordering a pair of Super Undies nighttime undies.

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Baby Products Review

Aden+Anais Swaddle Blankets Review

Oct 6,2014 / By Katie Fender / 1 Comment

Aden + Anais (pronounced AY-dun and uh-NAY) is a well known company that has a variety of products from skin care, laundry care, adult daydream blankets to swaddle blankets for your little ones (just to name a few). Aden + Anais believes in using muslin because of it’s breathability and natural it’s natural softness and durability. Their products go through a rigorous course of testing before they hit the market because they keep safety as a top priority. Their signature iconic prints make them unique and make them who they are. They have a meaning behind each and every one of their designs.

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Baby Products

Feeding Bytes Picky Toddler Solution Course – Free Videos

Oct 6,2014 / By Maria / No Comment

Post contains affiliate links. I paid for the prior course myself. All opinions are my own. Several months ago I took Feeding Bytes’ toddler feeding course. The course is all online and offers easy to swallow (ha ha) lessons including video, case studies and “homework.” The course is back, with a few free videos to give you a taste (I’m so punny.)

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