Pumpkin, Leaf & Acorn Fall Craft and Homeschool Lesson

Pumpkins, acorns and leaves scream fall to me. Their colors are gorgeous and when you see them, there is no mistaking autumn is here with crisp air, bonfires, apple picking and wonderous views. To bring a little bit of the outside inside, M2 and I did a craft with all three. Once we finished, we had a beautiful decoration to set on the hutch.

Homeschool Lesson
While we painted, I talked with M2 about colors, shapes, fall, acorns, leaves and pumpkins to add a toddler age appropriate homeschool lesson. To help her with taking turns, sharing and team work, the craft has aspects I had to do or help her with. She learns best through art and music, so this craft a perfect way to incorporate learning. When we were done, she was so proud of her work!

For older kids, you can go more in-depth while you craft or do a lesson before followed by the hands-on art. They'll be able to do the craft themselves also.

Fall Craft Week
Next up for Fall Craft Week is a roundup of 20 crafts for kids from other bloggers followed by my cute Welcome, Fall Wooden Sign. Friday I'll have adorable hand print, footprint and thumbprint Halloween art M2 and I created to share with you. There's also a roundup of 15 crafts for moms coming up Thursday!

Supplies
Orange acrylic paint the shade of pumpkins
Green acrylic paint the shade of leaves
Brown acrylic paint the shade of a pumpkin stem
Apple-red acrylic paint
Autumn colored silk leaves
Small glass display bowl
Acorns gathered from outdoors
Orange permanent marker, fine tip

Directions and Lesson
Mom's turn: Draw four circles around the bowl with the permanent marker so your child knows where to paint.
Child's turn: Paint inside the circles. Talk about how the shape is a circle, the color orange and other things that are orange.
Mom's turn: If needed, clean up the paint that went outside the line or clean it up a bit with paint, making them bigger.
Mom's and child's turn: With both of you holding the brush, paint stems on each pumpkin then vines connecting each stem. Finish off the stems with leaves which you can make by adding thick lines randomly. Talk about how pumpkins grow on the ground on vines that come from stems. Identify brown and green and name other things that are those colors.
Child's turn: Plop the acorns in the bowl. Talk about how acorns come from trees and that squirrels eat the nuts.
Mom's turn: Cut the leaves off the stems.
Child's turn: Add the leaves to the bowl. Talk about how leaves grow on trees and change to pretty colors in the fall. Name the colors and other things that are those colors.
Mom's turn: With the red paint, write "fall" on one side vertically between two pumpkins then the year on the opposite side between two pumpkins. Talk about fall, including fun things you do, how the weather changes, that it's when the leaves change colors, pumpkins are ready to pick and squirrels begin collecting the acorns.
Let your project dry then enjoy the beauty of fall indoors!

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Pumpkin, Leaf & Acorn Fall Craft and Homeschool Lesson

Pumpkins, acorns and leaves scream fall to me. Their colors are gorgeous and when you see them, there is no mistaking autumn is here with crisp air, bonfires, apple picking and wonderous views. To bring a little bit of the outside inside, M2 and I did a craft with all three. Once we finished, we had a beautiful decoration to set on the hutch.

Homeschool Lesson
While we painted, I talked with M2 about colors, shapes, fall, acorns, leaves and pumpkins to add a toddler age appropriate homeschool lesson. To help her with taking turns, sharing and team work, the craft has aspects I had to do or help her with. She learns best through art and music, so this craft a perfect way to incorporate learning. When we were done, she was so proud of her work!

For older kids, you can go more in-depth while you craft or do a lesson before followed by the hands-on art. They'll be able to do the craft themselves also.

Fall Craft Week
Next up for Fall Craft Week is a roundup of 20 crafts for kids from other bloggers followed by my cute Welcome, Fall Wooden Sign. Friday I'll have adorable hand print, footprint and thumbprint Halloween art M2 and I created to share with you. There's also a roundup of 15 crafts for moms coming up Thursday!

Supplies
Orange acrylic paint the shade of pumpkins
Green acrylic paint the shade of leaves
Brown acrylic paint the shade of a pumpkin stem
Apple-red acrylic paint
Autumn colored silk leaves
Small glass display bowl
Acorns gathered from outdoors
Orange permanent marker, fine tip

Directions and Lesson
Mom's turn: Draw four circles around the bowl with the permanent marker so your child knows where to paint.
Child's turn: Paint inside the circles. Talk about how the shape is a circle, the color orange and other things that are orange.
Mom's turn: If needed, clean up the paint that went outside the line or clean it up a bit with paint, making them bigger.
Mom's and child's turn: With both of you holding the brush, paint stems on each pumpkin then vines connecting each stem. Finish off the stems with leaves which you can make by adding thick lines randomly. Talk about how pumpkins grow on the ground on vines that come from stems. Identify brown and green and name other things that are those colors.
Child's turn: Plop the acorns in the bowl. Talk about how acorns come from trees and that squirrels eat the nuts.
Mom's turn: Cut the leaves off the stems.
Child's turn: Add the leaves to the bowl. Talk about how leaves grow on trees and change to pretty colors in the fall. Name the colors and other things that are those colors.
Mom's turn: With the red paint, write "fall" on one side vertically between two pumpkins then the year on the opposite side between two pumpkins. Talk about fall, including fun things you do, how the weather changes, that it's when the leaves change colors, pumpkins are ready to pick and squirrels begin collecting the acorns.
Let your project dry then enjoy the beauty of fall indoors!

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Family Fun at Mystic Aquarium

As part of our recent escape from daily life, we planned a trip to Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, Conn., to get in some much-needed quality family time. M2 love animals of any kind so we knew she'd love it. It was her and Baby B's first time at an aquarium. My mom came along for the full multi-generational family experience.

We went on a Tuesday and were surprised how many people were there. Mystic Aquarium is a popular place to be with all the nifty activities available. The aquarium is set up pretty cool. You enter through an outdoor circular entrance area that branches off via different paths to the indoor building, 3D movie theater and sea lion theater and the outdoor exhibits. It's like a little village, complete with wooden walkways and a cute restaurant. The set up makes you feel like you're more a part of the aquarium and interacting with it.

The outdoor area is really neat with a walking path that takes you around lakes with frogs, the penguin section, the sea lions and the beluga wales. Unfortunately for us, the day we visited there was a pretty consistent downpour. We didn't get to enjoy the outside parts as much as we would have in nice weather. Even with the rain, it was fun to see all the arctic animals. None of us had ever seen beluga wales before. We spent a good amount of time watching them swim around and send off spouts of water into the air. The penguins were enjoying some fish when we stopped so M2 got to watch them being fed.

Inside, there are so many hands-on exhibits to engage the kids (and adults). Three touch tanks with rays, sharks, shelled critters drew my attention. I am much too chicken to actually touch them (I'd jump and scare the poor things!) and M2 has a bad habit of splashing water all over so we watched others enjoying the tanks.An area to dig up "bones" in a "sandpit" was an area M2 loved. There was even a Jeep, polar bear and dog sled to pose with for pictures. There was a lot more, too, I can't even remember it all! The aquarium really draws in and helps the kids to learn, engaging them rather than just showing. We had to check out the cute sea lion show which lets you see the cute critters in action.

My favorites were the jellyfish -- some even lit up!! -- and the angel fish. Angel fish have always been my favorite since I was a little kid. Another highlight for me was the Titanic exhibit. I've been obsessed with the Titanic since my first trip to the library when I was seven (long before the movie). It was so neat to see the displays. One showing shoes was especially touching as it explained that there are no bodies at the site of the wreck. The bodies would have disappeared within 5 years due to the ocean environment, leaving nothing behind but the shoes the people wore as they fell. M2 loved the ray and shark tanks. A came right up to the glass to greet her. She was thrilled to make a new sea friend. Even Baby B stared at all the tanks, enthralled.

We all had a great time exploring the aquarium and could even have spent more time there than we did, especially if it'd been a nice day. If we have the chance to, I would totally go again! If you're up in Connecticut, be sure to stop by Mystic Aquarium to check it out for yourself.



This post is sponsored by Mystic Aquarium.

An Adult Aspy: A Personal Summary

I'm so excited to introduce you to the author of this article. Lindsey is a very good friend of my family's (really, we consider her to be family). She volunteered to do a guest post on a topic I've been talking about more recently – autism. She herself has mild autism (often referred to as Asperger's Syndrome) so had been a great support with M2's diagnosis of mild-to-moderate autism. Here is her perspective as an adult who has dealt with Asperger's for over 30 years. Keep in mind, the way autism presents itself can vary from person to person. 

Geek. Awkward. The weird one. Anti-social.

I grew up with more disheartening labels than I care to mention. Born into a military family in the early eighties – when mild autism was unknown and women were never diagnosed – my personality quirks weren’t seen as a disorder that could or should be addressed by a professional. Consequently, my ad hoc ‘therapy’ growing up in a society that wasn’t structured for my strengths and weaknesses was less than stellar. I’ve always had the feeling of being left out, right down to my bones – I wasn’t interested in the same things as other children my age, I didn’t know how to communicate with them and they confused me.

Frustrated and lonely, I withdrew into things that I did understand; scholastic pursuits, fine arts, computers, etc. And so my childhood went, actively working on my IQ without corresponding attention to my EQ. I’d implicitly accepted that somehow I was broken, and would spend my life as such.

Then, years ago when I was in my mid-20s, I had a good friend of mine ask a simple question that caused a reexamination of the structure I had built to understand myself. She said, “I don’t want to offend you, but do you walk on your toes? Because I think you’re an aspy.” Considering I take pains to hide my "natural" toe-first stride, this came as a bit of a shock. This friend had been officially diagnosed as having Asperger’s Syndrome, now known as mild autism, and had seen traits in me that paralleled her own. While it wouldn’t be worth the hassle to garner an official diagnosis, as I’m not seeking assistance or programs for help, having a recognized and researched behavioral structure to compare and contrast my personality with has proved a tremendous help in proactively boosting my social integration and EQ. I use trusted and tested behavioral therapies to address traits I would otherwise not have recognized.

Eye Contact – Appropriate eye contact is something most children learn intuitively from watching others around them. Many mild autistics lack this skill, either not enough (appearing disinterested or not attentive) or an uncomfortable staring (appearing aggressive). I still have some troubles in regards to making appropriate eye contact with people I’m speaking with, but is something I try to be actively aware of, especially when conversing with people I don’t know very well. I’ve made good strides in this regard, and mostly falter when I’m highly emotional – tending to avoid eye contact most when I’m angry.

Touch Sensitivity – Growing up, I had a counter-intuitive relationship with physical contact. On the one hand, I liked to climb into my mother’s lap past the age where other children grow out of this, cuddled with people sleeping next to me, and absorbed as much information from touching an object as seeing it. On the other hand, I reacted negatively to others making physical contact with me without my initiating it. I earned a reputation of hating to be touched. It wasn’t until much later in life that I married the two disparate feelings, grasping that it wasn’t that I hated being touched, but that it was too much sensation I wasn’t prepared for. Uninitiated contact was the sensory equivalent of an unexpected camera flash.

Hand Flapping – While I don’t recall much hand flapping as a child, I don’t doubt I had similar self-stimulating behaviors to cope with stressful situations. Hand flapping is about a white noise of physical sensation, like sleeping with a noisy fan. I would never advocate a complete cessation of this coping mechanism (as long as self-harm is not involved), but certain behaviors are less intrusive than others. As an adult, I’ve turned my initial reflex from flapping to either clenching my fists or rubbing my hands together. People are less likely to look at you askance and wonder about what you’ll do next. It’s worked out better if people perceive me as frustrated or nervous, rather than unpredictable.

Toe-First Stride– Toe walking is one of the more puzzling characteristics of the disorder. Many diagnosed autistics naturally walk with only the ball of the foot in contact with the ground, rather than with the expected heel-toe placement. Sometimes this is called walking on tip-toe, but this is rather a misnomer; the heel of the foot is not highly elevated in the step. This lack of heel contact is more often noticed as an unexpected bounce in a person’s stride. When in my home, especially when in socks or bare feet, I walk on my toes. I can’t tell you why, but that’s the most comfortable way for me to move about. Forcing myself into a heel-toe stride feels like I’m stomping around like a rogue jackhammer. When in public, I make an effort at a ‘normal’ stride. Accordingly, I look for flats with good heel support when shopping for shoes, to lessen the thud-thud sensation of a heel-toe placement.

Speech Processing – To not put too fine a point on it, I’m an educated and intelligent individual. I don’t say that in a condescending or bragging tone, but as an admission that I’ve done well scholastically through the years. Unfortunately, sometimes I’m taken for being slow on the uptake or a bit of a space cadet, because speech processing is not one of my strong points. A similar judgment happens when someone is conversing in a non-native language; the extended search for a particular word to convey a concept more precisely will inaccurately give the impression of a slow or ignorant mind. Luckily, conversation is a skill that can be improved with practice. While I still have trouble assembling what I’d like to say during especially complicated or subtle conversations, everyday banter has become smoother and more natural as I’ve focused on improving it.

Integrated Social Anxiety – Not all mild autistics have anxiety issues to boot, but enough do to make this complication worth mentioning. My own social anxiety and autism traits are intimately linked – not intuitively understanding other people leads me to feel isolated and uncertain in social situations, and that confusion makes me anxious and ill. From experience I’ve learned I need to couple behavioral therapy with a prescription SSRI to cope effectively with this imbalance. A side benefit of my particular prescription (sertraline HCl, brand name Zoloft) is that the drug has a “disconnecting from the outside world” effect. I call this a benefit, as it reduces the sensory impact of life enough for me to handle physical contact, movement, unexpected loud noises, etc., with grace.

Though perhaps not the case for those diagnosed with more severe levels of autism, I’ve come to view my personality not as an autism-spectrum disorder, a thing to be cured, but more as a different operating system. Apple OSX to the world’s Microsoft Windows, if you will. My efforts have been focused on how I can best integrate with society at large, rather than trying to change the core of my being to match. I will still “geek out” about things that interest me, but actively watch for the glazed look of too-much-information when talking to others. I’ll never love talking on the phone to strangers (where I lack visual cues to help interpret speech), but make myself do so in optional situations, to become less terribly anxious when I’m required to do so, such as client calls and job interviews.

And, most importantly, I take these experiences, these 30+ years of living with, well, ME, and share them with other people. With people who have no experience with autistics, so they won’t fear the unknown. With people who have autistic friends and relatives, so they understand what makes us tick. With people diagnosed or suspected of being autistic, so they won’t feel alone or rejected. It’s how I pay forward the good things in my life, and make this a better place to be.

Author Bio
Lindsey is a graphic designer who lives, works and plays in the D.C. metro region, and has known and loved Melissa, A, and their kids for years. She is currently available for freelance design work and is interested in full-time graphic design positions as well. Find out more about her services and experience.



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Wherein Life Throws Many Punches

The past few weeks life has changed around here. A lot. It's been one big change after another for our family. A new diagnosis for M2, a job change for A, opportunities that fell through for me and a new fence (about the only fun one on this list).

To start with, M2 got the diagnosis of mild-moderate autism. We'd been told by her current therapists that we should have her tested. At baby B's checkup, we mentioned to the doctor, who is also M2's doc, that we wanted to get her checked out per the therapists' recommendation. I was amazed when he said there was an appointment the next morning. We'd thought there would be a 6+ month wait.

I took her in for the evaluation since I'm with her most. Having A and B go along would have been more distracting as we'd have to chase B around, too. The developmental pediatrician spent over two hours evaluating her. He picked up things I'd never even realized were related to autism. Anything I said to try to convince him that maybe it's not autism just proved his point more. By the end of the appointment, he was confident in his diagnosis. While it's nice to know exactly what's going on, and that I'm not making it all up in my head, it's also difficult to be told your child is autistic. It's not something she'll just grow out of, we don't know what caused it and it's not something we can just fix. Right now, we're still looking into options for therapy and other avenues to pursue to get her help. The hope is that since she's mild-moderate, over time she'll learn to adapt and it'll seem more like quirks than big issues. Right now, the big tip off that something's going on is her speech. She just has not improved and the usual therapies haven't helped. We know now that it's because it's related to her autism, not one of the usual causes for delays. You can read more about the diagnosis and what that day was like here.

Just after this happened, we found out that A's job is giving him a large pay cut. When things are already pretty tight that's a huge blow to receive. We're still figuring out how to deal with it and what we're going to do. One route was me finding a work-from-home job that's more stable and pays more than my current blogging and freelance. I had a job pop up that I spent all of last week prepping my resume, writing samples and practicing interview techniques for. The company was moving fast so I thought it was a great sign. There were a few "huh?" moments when my contact there said things that made me wonder if she'd even read my resume, but I pushed it off. 

At the interview, I found out I was right. They'd had no intention of hiring me, they were most likely trying to reach a quota so they could hire someone they'd already selected. The interviewer was nothing short of hostile from the start. Seriously, who asks you, "What would the person who hates you MOST in the world say about you?" Umm, that I suck? Nothing good, that's for sure. After all, they hate me. The interviewer was not impressed when I tried to turn it around to be something positive. I've never had an interview like it before. I was seriously in shock the whole time with what was going on.

Ten minutes after the interview had been scheduled to end, after the office had closed, I got a form email telling me they weren't hiring me. My guess is that it was already scheduled to go out after the interview ended. It was another blow, especially since I'd worked so hard and thought I had a good shot. Now, we're back to figuring out where to go from here. There are no real answers and much of it is being based on chance and luck. That's not something I deal well with, I like to be able to work toward a goal and have backup plan. And a back up plan for the backup plan. I work hard to not end up floundering. This time, there isn't much of a choice and any route isn't going to be fun or easy. Right now, I'm going to be upping my freelance work as much as possible. (If you know of someone who needs a writer, editor or proofreader, send them my way!)

On the weight-loss front, I've been back sliding. As you can imagine, there's been a ton of stress, uncertainty and changes. Logically, I know that things could be much worse. Emotionally, it's not a great time for me. I'm an emotional eater and have been eating more than I should while all this has been going on. Not really junk food, but still more than I should and not as healthy as I should. Last week rather than losing, I gained a pound. I'm working on getting back into the portion control and healthy choices. Exercise is happening more often at least. I'm determined to get back on track and keep losing.

The one upside lately has been that our new fence for M2 has finally gone in. Since she's a runner, we haven't been able to let her play outside much. It's simply not safe without the fence. Now, she can run all over the yard and play while I'm outside with her. I'm really looking forward to spending time with her and baby B outside enjoying the warm weather.

On the blog side of life, I have some great posts planned for the coming months. There is going to be the rest of my The "Fat Kid" Tells All series to start with. I'll also be sharing more of our journey with M2 as it progresses.

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Wherein Life Throws Many Punches

The past few weeks life has changed around here. A lot. It's been one big change after another for our family. A new diagnosis for M2, a job change for A, opportunities that fell through for me and a new fence (about the only fun one on this list).

To start with, M2 got the diagnosis of mild-moderate autism. We'd been told by her current therapists that we should have her tested. At baby B's checkup, we mentioned to the doctor, who is also M2's doc, that we wanted to get her checked out per the therapists' recommendation. I was amazed when he said there was an appointment the next morning. We'd thought there would be a 6+ month wait.

I took her in for the evaluation since I'm with her most. Having A and B go along would have been more distracting as we'd have to chase B around, too. The developmental pediatrician spent over two hours evaluating her. He picked up things I'd never even realized were related to autism. Anything I said to try to convince him that maybe it's not autism just proved his point more. By the end of the appointment, he was confident in his diagnosis. While it's nice to know exactly what's going on, and that I'm not making it all up in my head, it's also difficult to be told your child is autistic. It's not something she'll just grow out of, we don't know what caused it and it's not something we can just fix. Right now, we're still looking into options for therapy and other avenues to pursue to get her help. The hope is that since she's mild-moderate, over time she'll learn to adapt and it'll seem more like quirks than big issues. Right now, the big tip off that something's going on is her speech. She just has not improved and the usual therapies haven't helped. We know now that it's because it's related to her autism, not one of the usual causes for delays. You can read more about the diagnosis and what that day was like here.

Just after this happened, we found out that A's job is giving him a large pay cut. When things are already pretty tight that's a huge blow to receive. We're still figuring out how to deal with it and what we're going to do. One route was me finding a work-from-home job that's more stable and pays more than my current blogging and freelance. I had a job pop up that I spent all of last week prepping my resume, writing samples and practicing interview techniques for. The company was moving fast so I thought it was a great sign. There were a few "huh?" moments when my contact there said things that made me wonder if she'd even read my resume, but I pushed it off. 

At the interview, I found out I was right. They'd had no intention of hiring me, they were most likely trying to reach a quota so they could hire someone they'd already selected. The interviewer was nothing short of hostile from the start. Seriously, who asks you, "What would the person who hates you MOST in the world say about you?" Umm, that I suck? Nothing good, that's for sure. After all, they hate me. The interviewer was not impressed when I tried to turn it around to be something positive. I've never had an interview like it before. I was seriously in shock the whole time with what was going on.

Ten minutes after the interview had been scheduled to end, after the office had closed, I got a form email telling me they weren't hiring me. My guess is that it was already scheduled to go out after the interview ended. It was another blow, especially since I'd worked so hard and thought I had a good shot. Now, we're back to figuring out where to go from here. There are no real answers and much of it is being based on chance and luck. That's not something I deal well with, I like to be able to work toward a goal and have backup plan. And a back up plan for the backup plan. I work hard to not end up floundering. This time, there isn't much of a choice and any route isn't going to be fun or easy. Right now, I'm going to be upping my freelance work as much as possible. (If you know of someone who needs a writer, editor or proofreader, send them my way!)

On the weight-loss front, I've been back sliding. As you can imagine, there's been a ton of stress, uncertainty and changes. Logically, I know that things could be much worse. Emotionally, it's not a great time for me. I'm an emotional eater and have been eating more than I should while all this has been going on. Not really junk food, but still more than I should and not as healthy as I should. Last week rather than losing, I gained a pound. I'm working on getting back into the portion control and healthy choices. Exercise is happening more often at least. I'm determined to get back on track and keep losing.

The one upside lately has been that our new fence for M2 has finally gone in. Since she's a runner, we haven't been able to let her play outside much. It's simply not safe without the fence. Now, she can run all over the yard and play while I'm outside with her. I'm really looking forward to spending time with her and baby B outside enjoying the warm weather.

On the blog side of life, I have some great posts planned for the coming months. There is going to be the rest of my The "Fat Kid" Tells All series to start with. I'll also be sharing more of our journey with M2 as it progresses.

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You'll Never Know

Standing at the counter, giving my daughter the last of the milk, poured out of my own glass because that's all that's left in the house and she MUST have some, I realized something. There are so many little things, like this simple milk sacrifice, that she'll never really know about. So many things I gave up or did, just for her. Just because I love her.

No child knows, or ever fully understands, all their mom does or went through for them. Though, we moms really wish they would. Maybe they'll get it when they're older. Maybe. It's all stuff moms hold inside, memories an feelings that make us the moms we are.

You'll never know how much I wanted you and how afraid I was that you'd never come. How much I struggled monthly when, again, no matter how hard we tried, there was no positive pregnancy test.

You'll never know how stunned I was when the pregnancy test FINALLY was positive. Or how shocked I was with your brother because we weren't even trying, yet there it was, even though I'd been sick as hell the last time I ovulated. The doctor was amazed, too. Your brother seriously wanted to be born. You'll never know that despite being shocked and stunned, I also had already known I was pregnant the moment it happened. I just couldn't believe that in 9 months, there would be you.

You'll never know how scared I was when, at 28 weeks pregnant, the doctor said
you probably had hydrops. Or how relieved I was when the specialist told me, "WTF was the radiologist looking at?! That's skin! You're supposed to have skin! Were they looking at the chubby cheeks? Gee, it can't be normal at all for babies to have chubby cheeks, can it? The radiologists your doctor works with are always messing shit up, freaking people out, then sending them to me for no good reason!"

You'll never know how certain I was about having a girl first then a boy. Long before you even existed, mind you. Call me nuts, but I was right, down to the month you'd both be born.

You'll never know how much that 41 hour induced labor hurt. Seriously, at 37 hours in I was begging the doctor to make it stop after the failed epidural that made it worse. Every single time I pushed, I asked her how many more until it was over. You took your sweet time and wanted it your way, that's for sure. That hasn't changed.

You'll never know how special your name truly is. Or how wonderful the women you were named after were as they died long before you were even born. I'll tell you the stories someday, when you're older, but it won't do them justice. They were amazing, just like you.

You'll never know how much your father and I argued about what name to give you. Your father seriously came up with some "creative" names. I still hope to this day that he wasn't really serious about some of the ones he suggested. He had to have been screwing with me.

You'll never know how much our lives truly changed completely after you were born. From job, less money, and where we lived, to giving up time out alone (what's date night?!), having "special adult time" often, and parting with lazy days in bed, nothing is the same. I changed every aspect of my life for you. And I'd do it again.

You'll never know how I worry about every. little. thing. because I want you to be happy, healthy, and live a long life filled with love.

You'll never know how much your father and I fight because we both want what's best for you. We just sometimes can't agree on how to do that.

You'll never know how absolutely insane you make me sometimes. Seriously, some days I just want to take a month-long vacation. Alone. Far away. Before I rip out all my hair, scream so loud the neighbors think I'm going totally freaking insane, or start speaking parseltounge like Harry Potter. Only, I wouldn't be speaking snake, I'd be spouting gibberish because of the insanity spell you so rudely cast upon me.

You'll never know how I gave you the last slice of cake just because you asked so cutely. I really wanted that cake, too. That cake took me 3 hours to bake from scratch and I love cake. I wouldn't have given it up for anyone else.

You'll never know how much I worry about being a good enough mom or how often I wonder if maybe I really am not all you deserve.

You'll never know how crappy I felt every night we have a bad day. Yes, you were being a total terror, breaking everything, absolutely out of control, but I still feel bad for having yelled.

You'll never know how much I sometimes just don't want to be touched, hung on, climbed on, jabbed, poked, prodded and just want to be alone. Yet, I miss you when you're not around and having you to hug and cuddle is absolutely amazing.

You'll never know how guilty I feel getting new clothes, even when I really need them because my old ones are falling apart or don't fit (yay, weight loss). Why the guilt? Because I feel like I'm taking something away from you by spending on me.​

You'll never know how much I long to hear you say, "I love you."

You'll never know how you make life worth living. The years before you were really just time spent waiting for you. Without you, life would feel empty.​

You'll never know how much you are worth all of this. And more. You'll always be my baby.

N is for Nest Craft

Rainy days can be difficult for little ones who enjoy nice weather and feel cooped up inside. I am joining 25 other bloggers in the A-Z of Rainy Day Activities  blog hop to give you great ideas of what to do with your kids when the weather is bad. Today, I bring you the letter N.

Lately, M2 has been fascinated with birds. We live in the country, so see lots of birds. She points and says, "brr," whenever a bird flies by her view. We even have two bird nests in the yard right now, one which just hatched. Visiting the baby birds before our daily walks is a must.

When rainy days took over last week, her new obsession gave the the idea to do a nest craft with her. We made a tree, a bird, and a nest for the bird to live in. M2 had lots of fun and is so proud of her craft work. She just had to show it off to her uncles who came to visit.

The craft is also an opening to teach your kids about birds and nests. While we crafted, I told M2 about birds and how they make nests out of pieces of things they find. We have a few bird nests in our yard now, so I told her how the birdies have eggs in the nests, which hatch into baby birdies. You can get more detailed and go more in-depth depending on the age of your child.

Supplies
Scissors
School glue
1 piece blue felt (you can get packs or single pieces at the store)
1 piece brown felt
1 piece green foam (you can get packs or single pieces at the store)
Feathers
Googly eye
Foam stickers of flowers, birds, butterflies--whatever you'd like to include
Medium brown, light brown, and multi-color yarn

Directions 
Moms can do this part, unless you have older kids who are able to do these steps
Cut yarn into small pieces, roughly 1/2 to 1 inch long
Cut foam into the shape of the top of a tree
Cut blue felt into shape of a bird
Cut brown felt into a nest shape
Cut remaining brown felt into a tree trunk shape

The kids take over here
Glue googly eye and feathers onto the bird
Glue yarn pieces onto the nest
Stick on the stickers where ever
Glue the top of the tree to the trunk
Glue the nest onto the space at the bottom of the tree top and top of the trunk
Glue bird onto the nest

Next up on the blog hop is an obstacle course from Cutting Tiny Bites.

Chew-Choos Sweet Pea Silicone Teething Necklace

M2 and B always seem to be chewing on everything. B chews because he's teething. M2 chews just because she likes to. I usually avoid wearing necklaces because both end up grabbing it and trying to chew it. I then end up getting choked or worrying the necklace will break. I don't want my jewelry broken or for them to choke on it, so I just don't wear necklaces. That's a major bummer as I love necklaces and some outfits need their finishing touch.

Then I heard about silicone teething necklaces. They promised to be the answer to all my non-necklace-wearing, kid-teething-and-chewing mama woes. I got to try the Chew-Choos sweet pea silicone one by Baby Pinch in exchange for this review. Baby Pinch is a stay-at-home mom business, which is an added plus in my book. I love supporting fellow moms in their endeavors.
to my chewing-and-teething-kids, no-necklace-wearing mommy woes. 

I was worried the necklace would look like cheap plastic, not breakaway as promised, be too heavy to be comfortable, or that the kids would hate it. I shouldn't have -- none of those are a problem at all. It's great!

The necklace looks really stylish and the color is beautiful. It's like a regular bead necklace, only chewable and with a break-away clasp in case one of the kids yanks too hard. (Mama doesn't want to choke!) It doesn't come off too easily either. Perfect! The beads have a diamond-like cut to them, making them look nifty and not at all like pieces of silicone. That also gives it an extra texture, making it even better for teething and chewing kids.

Each purple, black, turquoise, or blue necklace is 28 inches long on a silk cord. If you want it shorter, you can trim it easily to shorten it. To wash it, stick it in the dishwasher or just hand wash (both are safe, according to Baby Pinch).

Baby Pinch says the necklaces are organic food-grade silicone and free from BPA, PVC, phthalates, cadmium, lead, latex, or any harmful toxins. The FDA-approved silicone is also hygienic, hypoallergenic, and resistant to bacteria.


*Baby Pinch is responsible for providing the coupon code to the winner. I will notify them who the winner is, they take it from there. I have no control over fulfilment of the prize to the winner. If you do not have Amazon Prime, you may need to pay shipping charges. ARV of the necklace is $14.99.

Affiliate links are included in this post. You can find the disclosure and policy here. I received this product at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Your experiences may differ. 

Giveaway: Chew-Choos Sweet Pea Silicone Teething Necklace

M2 and B always seem to be chewing on everything. B chews because he's teething. M2 chews just because she likes to. I usually avoid wearing necklaces because both end up grabbing it and trying to chew it. I then end up getting choked or worrying the necklace will break. I don't want my jewelry broken or for them to choke on it, so I just don't wear necklaces. That's a major bummer as I love necklaces and some outfits need their finishing touch.

Then I heard about silicone teething necklaces. They promised to be the answer to all my non-necklace-wearing, kid-teething-and-chewing mama woes. I got to try the Chew-Choos sweet pea silicone one by Baby Pinch in exchange for this review. Baby Pinch is a stay-at-home mom business, which is an added plus in my book. I love supporting fellow moms in their endeavors.
to my chewing-and-teething-kids, no-necklace-wearing mommy woes. 

I was worried the necklace would look like cheap plastic, not breakaway as promised, be too heavy to be comfortable, or that the kids would hate it. I shouldn't have -- none of those are a problem at all. It's great!

The necklace looks really stylish and the color is beautiful. It's like a regular bead necklace, only chewable and with a break-away clasp in case one of the kids yanks too hard. (Mama doesn't want to choke!) It doesn't come off too easily either. Perfect! The beads have a diamond-like cut to them, making them look nifty and not at all like pieces of silicone. That also gives it an extra texture, making it even better for teething and chewing kids.

Each purple, black, turquoise, or blue necklace is 28 inches long on a silk cord. If you want it shorter, you can trim it easily to shorten it. To wash it, stick it in the dishwasher or just hand wash (both are safe, according to Baby Pinch).

Baby Pinch says the necklaces are organic food-grade silicone and free from BPA, PVC, phthalates, cadmium, lead, latex, or any harmful toxins. The FDA-approved silicone is also hygienic, hypoallergenic, and resistant to bacteria.



I love this necklace so much that I'm doing a giveaway with Baby Pinch so you can win your very own! You'll get a special coupon code to get your choice of sweet pea necklace for free.* You can also find them on Amazon for $14.99 each, which is a good price, I think. Entry period closes at 12 a.m. May 5.

a Rafflecopter giveaway 


*Baby Pinch is responsible for providing the coupon code to the winner. I will notify them who the winner is, they take it from there. I have no control over fulfilment of the prize to the winner. If you do not have Amazon Prime, you may need to pay shipping charges. ARV of the necklace is $14.99.

Affiliate links are included in this post. You can find the disclosure and policy here. I received this product at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Your experiences may differ.