F is for Family

Family, home, travel, life

Wanderlust Toddler: The Detailed List

I shared my broad list of things for travel and now we get down to the nitty gritty details. I love checklists. With crazy busy days, working full time and trying to get ready for a trip, something is inevitable going to fall through the cracks. So lists are my friend. They are also a working document, you can add to change, customize what you need. So this is for our 12 day European trip coming in ONE WEEK!

Toddler Toiletries
I always pack our Children’s Tylenol and ESPECIALLY the Benadryl when we are traveling somewhere new. The Benadryl stays in the diaper bag at all times. Just a worrisome first time Mom thing, I think.
· Tylenol, Benadryl and dispensers
· Saline Spray
· Thermometer (just in case)
· Bulb Suction
· Boogie Wipes
· Tooth brush and tooth paste
· Wipes
· Diapers
· Shampoo/body wash
· Diaper Rash cream
· Wet Ones
· Sunscreen

Toddler Meal Accessories
· Bibs
· Sippy Cups
· Bottles
· Travel Place Mat
· Spoon and Fork
· Snack Catcher
· Snacks in baggies

Outfits
This is the fun part!

· 1 Outift per day (11 outfits)
· Back-up/diaper bag outfits (5 for this trip)
o I use leggings and onesies that can be switched easily in case of accidents.
· PJ’s (1 for every 2 days)
o This will give us enough in case of emergency and not make an over packing situation
· Sweaters/cardigans just in case
· Puffer Jacket.Coat

Accessories

· Socks per outfit
· SHOES!!
· Hats if needed
· Swimsuit and swim diaper
· Hair bows

Miscellaneous

· Bedding (twin flat sheet for rental crib)
· Blanket
· Teddy
· Backpack harness

Entertainment

· Busy Bag
· Ipad with favorite shows
· Books

Large Items/Travel

· Sling/Carrier
· Carseat
· Stroller

Now, what am I missing? Suggestions?! Thanks!

Wanderlust Toddler Style: The Pre List

We are on our final countdown until we leave for an 11 day trip through Europe…with our toddler. So let’s get it out of our systems, “are you crazy”, “why would you do that”, “oh God, good luck”. Yes, I know, I’ve heard it all. I do know she won’t remember this trip, I know it may not be “ideal” to travel with a toddler but I also couldn’t imagine leaving her for that long or having this experience with my whole family.
Now that we got that out of the way, on to the strategy of how to make this work. I’m going to post a series of “Travel Preparation” posts starting with our pre packing must have list. We’ve flown a few times and the most successful trips have been when we took the time to be prepared.

· Saniwipes

o The germ infested part of airplanes is everything you touch NOT the air. We learned from an aviation engineer that there is some insane amount of filtered air pumped in and out of the cabin per minute that the air quality isn’t what you should be afraid of

· Entertainment for busy Toddler

o Our Miss Busy loves books, songs and specific TV shows. We love to carry one regular book, and a few small board books for her to flip through. The mini’s are the best because you can throw them into anything throughout your travels. We also purchased the Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood series onto the iPad for a backup plan.

· Snacks

o Plane friendly snacks that are easy to grab are the best. Little baggies of goldfish, blueberries and a few Golden Graham’s mixed (this is our sweet version of toddler trailmix), string cheese and crackers, crackers and almond butter sandwiches.

· Clean and Sealed Paci

o We have a back-up paci always on hand. It stays in a snack Ziploc in case one makes a nose dive in the airport or anywhere else for that matter.

· Food Supplies

o This trip I decided to add some additional products to the list since we now have a “real food eater” on our hands. I purchased a pack of disposable sippy cups that have travel lids, disposable bibs and disposable placemats. These will take up little room in our bag and will help with the unknown that can occur with traveling. I also plan to grab some forks and spoons from Target’s $1 area. This way if they are lost along the way, the financial impact is minimal.

This of course is just the preliminary list. I’ll have my detailed list for packing baby soon. Very soon since we have only 10 DAYS to lift off!!! What are your go to products or tips when you travel?

Wanderlust Toddler Style: The Pre List

We are on our final countdown until we leave for an 11 day trip through Europe…with our toddler. So let’s get it out of our systems, “are you crazy”, “why would you do that”, “oh God, good luck”. Yes, I know, I’ve heard it all. I do know she won’t remember this trip, I know it may not be “ideal” to travel with a toddler but I also couldn’t imagine leaving her for that long or having this experience with my whole family.
Now that we got that out of the way, on to the strategy of how to make this work. I’m going to post a series of “Travel Preparation” posts starting with our pre packing must have list. We’ve flown a few times and the most successful trips have been when we took the time to be prepared.

· Saniwipes

o The germ infested part of airplanes is everything you touch NOT the air. We learned from an aviation engineer that there is some insane amount of filtered air pumped in and out of the cabin per minute that the air quality isn’t what you should be afraid of

· Entertainment for busy Toddler

o Our Miss Busy loves books, songs and specific TV shows. We love to carry one regular book, and a few small board books for her to flip through. The mini’s are the best because you can throw them into anything throughout your travels. We also purchased the Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood series onto the iPad for a backup plan.

· Snacks

o Plane friendly snacks that are easy to grab are the best. Little baggies of goldfish, blueberries and a few Golden Graham’s mixed (this is our sweet version of toddler trailmix), string cheese and crackers, crackers and almond butter sandwiches.

· Clean and Sealed Paci

o We have a back-up paci always on hand. It stays in a snack Ziploc in case one makes a nose dive in the airport or anywhere else for that matter.

· Food Supplies

o This trip I decided to add some additional products to the list since we now have a “real food eater” on our hands. I purchased a pack of disposable sippy cups that have travel lids, disposable bibs and disposable placemats. These will take up little room in our bag and will help with the unknown that can occur with traveling. I also plan to grab some forks and spoons from Target’s $1 area. This way if they are lost along the way, the financial impact is minimal.

This of course is just the preliminary list. I’ll have my detailed list for packing baby soon. Very soon since we have only 10 DAYS to lift off!!! What are your go to products or tips when you travel?

The Busy Toddler: Matching Game

         It’s official, my 18 month old micro preemie is bridging the gap between her adjusted age (little over 18 months) and her adjusted age (14 months). The problem at this point is keeping her challenged without frustrating her. So, I was at Target since it’s impossible to get in and only purchase what you came for, I ended up in the $1 area and I got a toddlers paradise worth of things. I picked up a few coloring books because she is now like to “color”. We are working on learning to not just jag the crayon although she maybe she’s just perfecting her Pointillism technique, what do I know!
               
Old Maid from Target $1

I also picked up a $1 pack of Old Maid cards by Crayola which I used to play a matching game with Little Miss Busy Pants. I only pulled out 4 sets of matching cards at a time. I would lay four cards down, hold 4 in my hand. She would “pick a card” and then I’d ask her to find the match. Example, “this is the pig. Can you find a pig?” This was WAY over her head, she just wanted all the cards and she also wanted to just fold them in half. Fail!







But this got me thinking about games I could play with a young toddler that would challenge her, lead to working on more complex cognitive skills and still be budget friendly. So off I went to the 2nd worst place to go if you are trying to live on a budget…Michael’s! And that’s where I found it, my young toddler friendly, matching game, well an improvised version that is. Searching the aisles, I looked for something that was easy for her to recognize and identify and I found just what I needed in the scrapbook section, Sesame Street Crafting Chipboard Embellishments.

 


Here’s how we set it up. The pack comes with individual character cut outs along with round “headshot” coins with each characters cute little mug printed on them. 









I held the round disc/coins and placed a few of the characters in a small container. I would then hold up a disc and ask her to find that character in her container. It went something like this. 

Mommy: “Who’s this?” (holding Elmo disc)
Sofie: “ELMO!”
Mommy: “That’s right! Can you find Elmo? (point to container) Where’s Elmo? Say, Elmo where are you?”
Sofie: (Looks through container) “ELMO!”


Granted that was on a good run. Sometimes we got it, sometimes we didn’t. If it was a miss, I would stay positive and say “who did you find, that’s ::insert character name::”. This turned into a huge success and has been a fun rainy day game that lasts maybe 15-20 min. She practices her memory and matching skills and it’s fun to watch her reaction when she find a “new” character every time she searches. That’s a win in our book!

The Busy Toddler: Matching Game

         It’s official, my 18 month old micro preemie is bridging the gap between her adjusted age (little over 18 months) and her adjusted age (14 months). The problem at this point is keeping her challenged without frustrating her. So, I was at Target since it’s impossible to get in and only purchase what you came for, I ended up in the $1 area and I got a toddlers paradise worth of things. I picked up a few coloring books because she is now like to “color”. We are working on learning to not just jag the crayon although she maybe she’s just perfecting her Pointillism technique, what do I know!
               
Old Maid from Target $1

I also picked up a $1 pack of Old Maid cards by Crayola which I used to play a matching game with Little Miss Busy Pants. I only pulled out 4 sets of matching cards at a time. I would lay four cards down, hold 4 in my hand. She would “pick a card” and then I’d ask her to find the match. Example, “this is the pig. Can you find a pig?” This was WAY over her head, she just wanted all the cards and she also wanted to just fold them in half. Fail!







But this got me thinking about games I could play with a young toddler that would challenge her, lead to working on more complex cognitive skills and still be budget friendly. So off I went to the 2nd worst place to go if you are trying to live on a budget…Michael’s! And that’s where I found it, my young toddler friendly, matching game, well an improvised version that is. Searching the aisles, I looked for something that was easy for her to recognize and identify and I found just what I needed in the scrapbook section, Sesame Street Crafting Chipboard Embellishments.

 


Here’s how we set it up. The pack comes with individual character cut outs along with round “headshot” coins with each characters cute little mug printed on them. 









I held the round disc/coins and placed a few of the characters in a small container. I would then hold up a disc and ask her to find that character in her container. It went something like this. 

Mommy: “Who’s this?” (holding Elmo disc)
Sofie: “ELMO!”
Mommy: “That’s right! Can you find Elmo? (point to container) Where’s Elmo? Say, Elmo where are you?”
Sofie: (Looks through container) “ELMO!”


Granted that was on a good run. Sometimes we got it, sometimes we didn’t. If it was a miss, I would stay positive and say “who did you find, that’s ::insert character name::”. This turned into a huge success and has been a fun rainy day game that lasts maybe 15-20 min. She practices her memory and matching skills and it’s fun to watch her reaction when she find a “new” character every time she searches. That’s a win in our book!

The Busy Toddler: Matching Game

         It’s official, my 18 month old micro preemie is bridging the gap between her adjusted age (little over 18 months) and her adjusted age (14 months). The problem at this point is keeping her challenged without frustrating her. So, I was at Target since it’s impossible to get in and only purchase what you came for, I ended up in the $1 area and I got a toddlers paradise worth of things. I picked up a few coloring books because she is now like to “color”. We are working on learning to not just jag the crayon although she maybe she’s just perfecting her Pointillism technique, what do I know!
               
Old Maid from Target $1

I also picked up a $1 pack of Old Maid cards by Crayola which I used to play a matching game with Little Miss Busy Pants. I only pulled out 4 sets of matching cards at a time. I would lay four cards down, hold 4 in my hand. She would “pick a card” and then I’d ask her to find the match. Example, “this is the pig. Can you find a pig?” This was WAY over her head, she just wanted all the cards and she also wanted to just fold them in half. Fail!







But this got me thinking about games I could play with a young toddler that would challenge her, lead to working on more complex cognitive skills and still be budget friendly. So off I went to the 2nd worst place to go if you are trying to live on a budget…Michael’s! And that’s where I found it, my young toddler friendly, matching game, well an improvised version that is. Searching the aisles, I looked for something that was easy for her to recognize and identify and I found just what I needed in the scrapbook section, Sesame Street Crafting Chipboard Embellishments.

 


Here’s how we set it up. The pack comes with individual character cut outs along with round “headshot” coins with each characters cute little mug printed on them. 









I held the round disc/coins and placed a few of the characters in a small container. I would then hold up a disc and ask her to find that character in her container. It went something like this. 

Mommy: “Who’s this?” (holding Elmo disc)
Sofie: “ELMO!”
Mommy: “That’s right! Can you find Elmo? (point to container) Where’s Elmo? Say, Elmo where are you?”
Sofie: (Looks through container) “ELMO!”


Granted that was on a good run. Sometimes we got it, sometimes we didn’t. If it was a miss, I would stay positive and say “who did you find, that’s ::insert character name::”. This turned into a huge success and has been a fun rainy day game that lasts maybe 15-20 min. She practices her memory and matching skills and it’s fun to watch her reaction when she find a “new” character every time she searches. That’s a win in our book!

“Here’s Your Sign” – Love, Life

You can chock certain things up to coincidence in life but sometimes it seems like life is truly putting up a billboard and screaming “here’s your sign”! Ok Life, I hear you. About a week ago, I sat through a course for continuing education called Achieving Your Highest Priorities by Franklin Covey. In the course they go through recommendations for time management and identifying what is or is not truly a priority. One of the suggested recommendation was the identify what you want your “legacy” to be in life. Hmm, ok. How you ask? By identifying the virtues you want to live by (based on Ben Franklin’s 12 Virtues) and writing a mission statement for your career. So, ok fine, obviously in a work related course they want you to do an exercise to verbalize your goals. Then, while Googling decorating ideas for the house renovation and trying to determine the best color for the rest of my house (see entry on my renovation painting hiccup), I came across an article that suggested writing a mission statement for your home and family in order to help your home reflect your family ideal. So, in the same week I’ve been told to write a mission statement for my career and my home. This got the wheels turning and I have set myself a goal of writing a mission statement for my family/home, one for my career and one for myself. In the meantime, here are the virtues that I hope to include in my statements and now that I’ve made them public, I hope to live by them. What virtues are important to you?

12 Personal Virtues
(Help with choosing/defining virtues)
· Fidelity– – being faithful in my marriage, my relationships with family and with my friends
· Philanthropy– – give back, support my community and teach my child the importance of giving
· Organization– – make strides to organize our home more regularly
· Patience– – patience with my family, friends and the awareness to take time to live in the moment
· Frugality– – budget and save where necessary to provide myself and my family a better future, avoid wastefulness
· Confidence– – “having faith in [myself] and in life”; leading by example for my daughter
· Creativity– – respecting the fact that creativity is an exercise for mind and soul
· Grace– – Accepting life as it comes, good or bad, and being thankful or moving forward as needed
· Diligence– – work hard at home and career and have pride in the details of that work
· Hope– – maintaining the awareness of optimism
· Happiness– – focus on the joy of life while being content with what we have
· Health– – provide the foundation of healthy eating and staying active for my entire family

“Here’s Your Sign” – Love, Life

You can chock certain things up to coincidence in life but sometimes it seems like life is truly putting up a billboard and screaming “here’s your sign”! Ok Life, I hear you. About a week ago, I sat through a course for continuing education called Achieving Your Highest Priorities by Franklin Covey. In the course they go through recommendations for time management and identifying what is or is not truly a priority. One of the suggested recommendation was the identify what you want your “legacy” to be in life. Hmm, ok. How you ask? By identifying the virtues you want to live by (based on Ben Franklin’s 12 Virtues) and writing a mission statement for your career. So, ok fine, obviously in a work related course they want you to do an exercise to verbalize your goals. Then, while Googling decorating ideas for the house renovation and trying to determine the best color for the rest of my house (see entry on my renovation painting hiccup), I came across an article that suggested writing a mission statement for your home and family in order to help your home reflect your family ideal. So, in the same week I’ve been told to write a mission statement for my career and my home. This got the wheels turning and I have set myself a goal of writing a mission statement for my family/home, one for my career and one for myself. In the meantime, here are the virtues that I hope to include in my statements and now that I’ve made them public, I hope to live by them. What virtues are important to you?

12 Personal Virtues
(Help with choosing/defining virtues)
· Fidelity– – being faithful in my marriage, my relationships with family and with my friends
· Philanthropy– – give back, support my community and teach my child the importance of giving
· Organization– – make strides to organize our home more regularly
· Patience– – patience with my family, friends and the awareness to take time to live in the moment
· Frugality– – budget and save where necessary to provide myself and my family a better future, avoid wastefulness
· Confidence– – “having faith in [myself] and in life”; leading by example for my daughter
· Creativity– – respecting the fact that creativity is an exercise for mind and soul
· Grace– – Accepting life as it comes, good or bad, and being thankful or moving forward as needed
· Diligence– – work hard at home and career and have pride in the details of that work
· Hope– – maintaining the awareness of optimism
· Happiness– – focus on the joy of life while being content with what we have
· Health– – provide the foundation of healthy eating and staying active for my entire family

“Here’s Your Sign” – Love, Life

You can chock certain things up to coincidence in life but sometimes it seems like life is truly putting up a billboard and screaming “here’s your sign”! Ok Life, I hear you. About a week ago, I sat through a course for continuing education called Achieving Your Highest Priorities by Franklin Covey. In the course they go through recommendations for time management and identifying what is or is not truly a priority. One of the suggested recommendation was the identify what you want your “legacy” to be in life. Hmm, ok. How you ask? By identifying the virtues you want to live by (based on Ben Franklin’s 12 Virtues) and writing a mission statement for your career. So, ok fine, obviously in a work related course they want you to do an exercise to verbalize your goals. Then, while Googling decorating ideas for the house renovation and trying to determine the best color for the rest of my house (see entry on my renovation painting hiccup), I came across an article that suggested writing a mission statement for your home and family in order to help your home reflect your family ideal. So, in the same week I’ve been told to write a mission statement for my career and my home. This got the wheels turning and I have set myself a goal of writing a mission statement for my family/home, one for my career and one for myself. In the meantime, here are the virtues that I hope to include in my statements and now that I’ve made them public, I hope to live by them. What virtues are important to you?

12 Personal Virtues
(Help with choosing/defining virtues)
· Fidelity– – being faithful in my marriage, my relationships with family and with my friends
· Philanthropy– – give back, support my community and teach my child the importance of giving
· Organization– – make strides to organize our home more regularly
· Patience– – patience with my family, friends and the awareness to take time to live in the moment
· Frugality– – budget and save where necessary to provide myself and my family a better future, avoid wastefulness
· Confidence– – “having faith in [myself] and in life”; leading by example for my daughter
· Creativity– – respecting the fact that creativity is an exercise for mind and soul
· Grace– – Accepting life as it comes, good or bad, and being thankful or moving forward as needed
· Diligence– – work hard at home and career and have pride in the details of that work
· Hope– – maintaining the awareness of optimism
· Happiness– – focus on the joy of life while being content with what we have
· Health– – provide the foundation of healthy eating and staying active for my entire family

Kitchen Renovation: Snail’s Pace

I’ve been a little slow on the updates because we are still mid renovation. It’s been weeeeks. And, now we are back at my parent’s because construction dust + no kitchen + toddler = No bueno! I’m sure my parents’ are thrilled about this equation. Anyway, this is where we are at so far…· Cabinet demo- – Check!· Cabinet replacement- – Nope· New drywall—Check!· Popcorn Ceiling scraped and knockdown texture- – Check!· Kitchen painted- – Check!· Cohesion with new paint and adjacent room- – Nope 🙁 🙁 :-(With that short list this is what we have learned, construction never sticks to original timelines (duh), new problems always occur and you may think you can plan it out 100% but you are WRONG! Things that were not on the original list of things to do: scrape ceilings and add knockdown texture and paint the ENTIRE rest of the house. So in the famous line from the movie Dan In Real Life “put it on my tab”.

Michael’s AD