Fun craft time with your toddler

The longer I'm a mom, the more I realize it's up to me to enrich my child's life.  Yes, his daycare is wonderful - they sing, dance, play games, do arts & crafts and have a jolly good time, but I also feel like part of that is my responsibility as his mother (plus I want to do all that fun stuff with him too).

Initially I was very daunted by the idea of trying to organize activities for my son (he'll be 2.5 next month), that's when I had an "ah ha" moment.  Toddlers have super short attention spans.  I didn't need to plan activities that would last for hours - just a short 10-30 minutes.  Once I had this realization, I started Googling and doing different crafting activities with my son - sometimes it's just coloring in a coloring book (but hey, we're doing it together) - other times I put a bit more effort into it and we "make" something.

To date we've made a telescope from a papertowel roll (which we covered in construction paper bits and painted) and this past weekend we made a paper bag puppet (who got his hair removed the moment we were done, lol).

Point is, don't be intimidated mommies!  There are lots of great resources out there and these crafts don't take a lot of time (or money ... or if you're like me, creativity).  The main things I learned are that (1) it doesn't have to be something super well thought out; (2) it doesn't have to be priceless work of art you'll want to frame and keep forever; (3) have fun with it - get involved with your toddler and (4) encourage their inner artist simply by presenting them with these opportunities to be creative.

Here are some great links of sites with craft ideas and a few inspirational pictures of my son's own handy work :)

• Buzzfeed: 25 of the best toddler crafts for little hands
• 42 Toddler Crafts for you to try from I Am That Lady blog
• Kiwicrate Top Toddler Crafts - I heart Kiwicrate btw - I want to order them for my son, but have yet to give in to the urge
• Easy Crafts for Toddlers
• Crafts for Preschoolers and Kindergartners

Recipe: 30 minutes or less: Paprika Chicken

You may have figured out that when it comes to cooking I'm all about (1) quick and (2) easy.  Yes, I'd also like to get "yummy" out of my meals and this one delivers on all 3.

When I got married, I got gifted several cookbooks from The Pampered Chef - one of our favorite recipes out of the 29 Minutes or Less cookbook is Paprika Chicken & Egg Noodles.

I'll share the recipe in it's entirety along with the changes I made in parenthesis.  This is a great recipe because you're constantly moving in the kitchen and before you know it - bam done!  I'm also able to get 85% of the dishes done before the meal is ready (a favorite bonus perk of mine).

Ingredients:

• 8 oz green beans (I've used both fresh & canned - my guys prefer canned).
• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs (I use maybe 1/3 of a pound and use chicken breast meat)
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp salt (I just shake the shaker a few times)
• 1/4 tsp coarsely ground black pepper (again, I just shake the shaker a few times)
• OPTIONAL: 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (I do use this and I don't tolerate spicy food well, so non-spicy food eaters should be ok)
• 8 oz mushrooms (I do presliced from the store because I'm lazy)
• 1 medium onion (I have never used an entire onion in a meal before - I use 1/4 of a medium onion for this)
• 3 tbsp butter, divided
• 8 oz uncooked egg noodles (one bag of noodles makes two meals!)
• OPTIONAL: 2 tbsp snipped fresh dill (I've never used this)
• OPTIONAL: sour cream (I've never used this)

Steps:

1. Bring salted water to boil.  If using fresh green beans, cut diagonally into 2-in pieces, set aside.
2. Lightly spray skillet with vegetable oil; heat over medium high heat 1-3 minutes or until hot.  Meanwhile, dice chicken into 1-in pieces; sprinkle with paprika, salt, black pepper & cayenne pepper, if desired.  Cook 5-7 minutes or until centers of chicken are no longer pink, stirring occasionally.  Remove chicken from skillet, set aside.
3. As chicken cooks, cut mushrooms into quarters (or if you're me, wash some dishes).  Cut onion in half lengthwise, then into 1/2-in wedges (I cut mine to the point I can put it into my food processor and let it do the work).  Add 1 tbsp of butter to skillet.  Cook and stir mushrooms and onion over medium high heat 5 minutes or until golden brown.
4. Meanwhile (by meanwhile, I usually do this before I start the chicken on step 2 above), add noodles to boiling water and cook 2 minutes.  Add green beans and cook uncovered, 5-6 minutes or until noodles are cooked to desired tenderness.  Carefully remove 3/4 cup of the cooking water for use in sauce.  Drain noodles and green beans using colander.
5. Add chicken and cooking water to skillet; stir to loosen browned bits from bottom of skillet.  Cook and stir 2-3 minutes or until sauce is thickened and chicken is heated through.
6. Meanwhile, toss noodles and green beans with remaining 2 tbsp butter.

The recipe says to serve by putting the noodles/green beans on the plate and then topping with chicken/vegetable mixture - however, I've taken to mixing everything together in one pan as I feel that gives the overall meal a better flavor - feel free to serve it however you'd like!  If you'd like to use dill and/or sour cream, the recipe states to add it as a garnish to each individual plate.

Pictures of the magic happening:

Haha, those bottom few show: (1) that I can do dishes while I cook; (2) proof kids will eat it too and (3) the finished yum yum product.

Share links to your favorite 30 minutes or less recipes below, I'm always looking to try new things.

Bon appetit!

To vaccinate or not to vaccinate?

The mainstream media has blown this issue way out of proportion lately - I'm sure you've seen all the articles about how anti-vaxxers are causing massive "outbreaks".  OK, first off - take a breath, there is no need for mass hysteria unless you consider less than 200 cases across the entire US in 2013 to be an "outbreak".

Some back story - here is a link to one of the articles I'm referencing: Thanks, Anti-Vaxxers. You Just Brought Back Measles in NYC.

Here is a very well written rebuttal by another blog writer, Jessica Gianelloni: Thanks, Pharma. You created the “anti-vaccine movement”.

The purpose of my article today is not to take a stance on either side - you, as a parent, have to ultimately make the decisions that you believe are right for your children & family.  If you vaccinate, great - if you don't, that's OK too.  As a parent, I would never blame an unvaccinated child for an "outbreak" because statstically speaking, odds are low the "outbreak" came from an unvaccinated child - odds are higher that it came from (1) someone who traveled outside the country and did not obtain the proper boosters before travel; (2) someone who had the vaccine as a child, but did not maintain their boosters as an adults or (3) someone who recently obtained the vaccine and had a negative response (you've heard of people contracting the flu from the flu shot yes?).

The purpose of my article is simply to say: as parents we have choices.  We can't let fearmongering articles like The Daily Beast article above influence our decisions as parents.  We know the research is there, both pro-vaccine and anti-vaccine.  It's up to us as parents to read the research, process what it says and make decisions regarding how we want to move forward.

See: How Facebook Can Sway Parents' Decision to Vaccinate Their Kids

Personally, we decided to follow the CDC guidelines for my son (some of his shots are delayed).  I did a lot of research (especially around the possibility of vaccines causing autism) and came to the conclusion for myself that the recommended route was OK and safe for my son and would protect him should he be potentially exposed to one of the diseases he's vaccinated against (yes, I did the chicken pox one too - I could write an entire new article about that decision).  That does not mean that I believe every other parent should do what I chose to do - they have to make that decision independently for themselves.

There have also been interesting articles from personal, individual experiences (like this one from Slate).  The thing I find interesting in this article that I'd like to research more is this: does being vaccinated naturally strengthen our immune systems in other ways?  My son is 2.5 - he's had a handful of sick visits to the doctor in that time (mostly due to my paranoia as a first time mother, more so than any sickness), he's missed 1-2 days of daycare max for sickness (teething related fever) and has received mild antibiotics 2-4 times (mostly just amoxicillin).  I can't help but wonder if there is a correlation between my son being vaccinated and his almost complete lack of illness since birth (granted there are other factors to consider, his diet, our overall household health [I've been sick quite a bit since he was born], his exposure to environmental elements, etc).  It's something I plan to do more research on as my husband & I talk about expanding our family.

Since I've now rambled on, let me just leave you with this: at the end of the day, as a parent - you make the choices regarding how you raise your children.  That's always how it goes: parents make the choices, but we also suffer from any unintended consequences.  Lord knows as a mom, I've made a decision one way I've later regretted.  All we can do as parents is learn, grow and change along the way.

PRODUCT REVIEW: Alba Botanica, Giovanni, and Burt's Bees Hair & Bath Products

About a year ago, I had to go see my dermatologist due to what appeared to be a rash on my scalp.  Turns out it was dermatitis.  The doctor made it seem like I would have to use a scalp spray and prescription shampoo on and off for the rest of my life due to flare ups.  I was not a happy camper.

I decided to give all natural shampoos & conditioners a shot to see if they would require me using the medicated shampoo/spray less.  Turns out, it worked.  It's been months since I've had to use the prescriptions I was given on my scalp.  As a note, I recently went back to using Suave temporarily because all natural products tends to cost a little more and I've already noticed the dermatitis is flaring up again so I'm going to repurchase some all natural goodies.

This is a review of the all natural bath products I've tried to date with my honest opinions.  The first thing I'm going to point out is that I'm from Florida and we have hard water here - so if you see in my notes "did not lather well" or something like that, could be related to the type of water we have here and may not be applicable to you should you wish to give these products a go.

ALBA BOTANICA

Let me start off by saying that if you've ever visited Hawaii, you will LOVE these products.  Every morning in the shower reminded me of our trips over there and brought a goofy smile to my face (you know how they say a sense of smell triggers memories - totally true).

Specific products I used:

Body wash: LOVE this product - it lathered up nice & bubbly and smelled fantastic.  It rinsed cleanly and left a slight hint of tropical passion fruit without smelling like I doused myself in body spray.  Would definitely purchase again.  Only complaint is I felt like I went through it quickly and for $10 I'd like it to last at least a month.

Shampoo: I was kind of meh on this product.  It didn't really lather which made it more difficult to apply and work into the hair in my opinion.  However, after showering my hair looked clean and smelled nice - and my dermatitis did not bother me so overall I feel the product worked effectively.  I think I would have preferred a more cream based shampoo as opposed to this gel (especially since it apparently has coconut milk in it).  Would probably buy again, but mainly because I like the other products so much.

Conditioner: the conditioner was great - it was a nice thick cream and I didn't need to use a lot.  It smelled wonderful and left my hair shiny and feeling great throughout the day with a slight hint of coconut (again, it was a nice smell, not an overly perfumey smell).  I brush my hair right out of the shower when it's still wet and I did not have a lot of issues with tangles.  Would definitely buy again.

Facial cleanser: this is one of those cleansers that wakes you up in the morning due to the infusion of pineapple (smells great!).  This product gently exfoliates due to the acid in the fruit it's infused with - so you get the exfoliation without the harsh scrubbers that you find in some cleansers.  I really did not notice a huge change in my skin from using this product - it just maintained the status quo.  My face did feel clean and refreshed after using and my skin did not dry out (as sometimes happens with overly chemicaly cleansers).  Overall, this product basically broke even for me - it did what I expected it to do, but I wasn't in love with in.  I would probably purchase again because finding a good all-natural face cleanser is difficult.

GIOVANNI HAIR PRODUCTS

These products remind of the Aveda products I used to use (but cost much less).  I LOVE this shampoo/conditioner combo and would definitely recommend.

Specific products I used:

Shampoo: Root 66 Max Volume - this shampoo lathered wonderfully (even in my hard water!).  I could actually feel it working in my roots (I have notoriously thin hair).  This product has been great on scalp and rinses cleanly - I love LOVE these products and would definitely purchase again.

Conditioner: Tea Tree Triple Treat - this conditioner smells heavenly and feels great in my hair and on my scalp (yes, it's got mint as an ingredient and who doesn't love that fun scalp tingle?).  It's a thick cream that coats hair and moisturizes.  Rinses cleanly and I'm able to brush my hair right out of the shower.  LOVE this stuff - would definitely purchase again.

BURT'S BEES

I was not impressed with the Burt's Bees product I tried.  I know the company is owned by Clorox and I feel like their "all natural" goods have perhaps taken a hit due to cost savings measures.  Who knows?  I do know that the body wash product I tried did not deliver like I hoped it would.

Specific products I used:

Body wash: This body wash is specifically marketed as an exfoliating body wash.  Personally, I got none of that out of it.  The body wash consistency seems to be halfway between a gel and a cream wash.  Due to the royal jelly (I'm assuming), it doesn't have an overly pleasant smell.  I used the same amount I use with other products, however this body wash did not lather hardly at all - I got some light bubbles for the top half of my body and it felt like I was using my loofah with nothing on it by the time I hit my legs.  I did use the whole thing because I'm not a huge fan of waste, but this is not something I will be purchasing again. 

If you're interested in trying these (or other) all natural bath products - Soap.com has a great selection of all natural products that are sometimes hard to find in stores.  They also ship for free if you order over $35.  You can buy all your household goods there (I get my all natural laundry soap from them as well).

Do you use any all natural products in your house?  Which ones do you love or dislike?  Share below.

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Disclaimer: I was not requested to review, nor was I compensated in any way.  The thoughts expressed above are mine and were observed firsthand.  

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Healthcare in the US vs other nations - a brief summary of why it's broken

You have to love John Green.  I really don't have to comment on this in any capacity because he does such an excellent job of explaining why US healthcare is broken (i.e. ridiculously expensive and unreasonable).  Give it a watch - then leave your comments below.  I'm honestly curious!

Disclaimer: this post is purely my opinion and is not meant to offend any one in any way.  If you choose to comment on this post, please do so respectfully.

Winter Car Seat Coat Rules

Since it has started cooling down for fall and approaching winter, I figured I would go ahead and share the following: wearing winter coats in a car seat is a huge no no.  The thickest item a child should ever have on is the equivalent of a thin fleece jacket.  When in doubt on whether an item is ok for a child to wear in a car seat, put the jacket (or whatever it is) on the child and put them in the car seat - adjust straps accordingly.  Then remove the child, take the jacket off and put the child back in the car seat.  If the straps fail the pinch test, that clothing item is too bulky and should not be worn by the child in the car seat.

Some tips to keep kids warm:

• Put jackets on backwards after child is strapped in car seat.
• Cover car seat with blanket.
• Turn car on and get it warmed up prior to putting child in car seat.

If you're still thinking, it's ok - see these pictures and YouTube video below:

PRODUCT REVIEW: Leapfrog Tag

For Christmas my husband & I purchased the Tag for our son Bryce (13 months at time of Christmas).  After watching Bryce figure it out (he's still putting two and two together that to hear the words/sounds from the book you have to tap it with the pen), I must say - I am thoroughly impressed by this product.

It's easy to use.  You load it kind of like you would an iPod or Kindle, you go to Leapfrog's website and download Tag software onto your PC, then "load" books onto the Tag.  There is a space limit, but we have yet to reach it and you can swap the books on & off should that ever occur.  Honestly, I have no idea how the "pen" differentiates between books, but it is very cool - you tap the words on a page and the Tag reads it to you.  You can also tap all the characters or objects and they will make some sort of sound or talk - it's very interactive.  Another nice thing is that - if you wanted - you can just read the books like normal books.  So it's nice to know that if you ever forget your Tag, yet have the books handy, you can still use them as a form of entertainment.

The various Tag books feature a variety of characters from Disney, Nickelodeon, etc.  We are currently using the Tag Junior books as that is the level my son is at.  The books all have different learning elements, which are clearly stated on the cover, such as letter recognition, counting, etc.  The Tag Junior books are board books and cost about the same as a traditional board book - approx. $8 a book.  In my personal opinion, they don't skimp on the content either, which is nice when compared to other board books like The Very Hungry Caterpillar (a classic to be sure, but other parents know, light on content).  The Tag books will run you a little more, but are also longer - more like a traditional children's book (approx. $11-$12 each).

My biggest peeve about this product isn't actually about the product itself.  As I stated above, my son was only 13 months old at Christmas and as you can see from the picture the Tag is designed for children ages 4-8.  Initially, I purchased the Tag Junior (picture below).  As you can see, the Tag Junior is designed for children ages 1-4 (the category my son falls in).  The Tag Junior works the same way as the Tag, however has an easier device for small hands to hold - it's shaped like Scout (the Leapfrog puppy).  I mentioned in passing to a co-worker that I had picked one up for my son for Christmas and she told me to return it and buy the Tag.  The Tag Junior retails for $30 and the Tag retails for $32.50; however the Tag will "read" both Tag Junior and regular Tag books (Leapfrog has a progressive reading system); whereas the Tag Junior will ONLY work with Tag Junior books.  Ergo if you started with the Tag Junior, you would eventually have to purchase the Tag to progress to a higher level of books (assuming your child loved the Tag system and you wanted to continue using it).  You will also be able to verify this on the box (and the books) that the Tag works with both kinds of books, whereas the Tag Junior only works with Tag Junior books.

That being said, all in all I LOVE this product.  While I know he's young now, I already see that my son likes the "interaction" with the book that the Tag creates.  It's the same as me reading to him, but he gets to control everything - it's also helpful that he can play with it on his own, when I'm busy cooking dinner for example.  We own several Leapfrog learning products and I think they make learning fun & easy - it also helps that they're not incredibly annoying given the fact they produce sounds.  I would highly recommend this product, but I would recommend you skip the Tag Junior and just go with the Tag - the pen is wide enough that my son does not have issues holding onto it and he already has figured out which end goes on the book.

You can purchase the Tag reading system at any large retailer.  We bought ours from Wal Mart.
Here is a link to Amazon's site:
Amazon: Leapfrog Tag

Does anyone else have the Tag or another type of "reading" toy?  I'd love to hear your comments!

Disclaimer: I was not requested to review, nor was I compensated in any way.  The thoughts expressed above are mine and were observed firsthand.