is weight loss during pregnancy bad | Homeschooling kindergarten

is weight loss during pregnancy bad

We have started our oldest sons kindergarten year. I was a little nervous about starting kindergarten, not that I felt it would be hard, but that it is the first year that actually "counts." I put counts in quotations because there seems to be some debate in the South Carolina homeschool circles about whether or not you need to join an accountability group for kindergarten. I prefer to error on the side of caution, so I joined an accountability group for kindergarten. Thus, for us, this is the first year that counts. (Check out HSLDA for homeschooling laws: link to South Carolina homeschooling laws.)

I really like this post by Simple Homeschool called "The truth about preschool." The post is about homeschooling preschool and how most of preschool lessons are learned organically. I loved it and totally agree. I wrote a post awhile ago called "Homeschooling 5-year old preschool." I think it is really important at these ages for school to be fun. I view kindergarten as the beginning of a lifetime of schooling. My husband is in school right now with the Navy and, as he put it, training never ends for nukes. Why turn them off to school now? So we make it fun.

To make school fun, I really tried to focus on our sons style of learning and what he does well with. He loves structure, a regular routine (knowing what to expect), and a challenges in areas that he understands. He will avoid concepts that dont come naturally to him. He loves pleasing others and positive attention.

To make school easy for me, I wanted something flexible. I stay at home with our 4 children. My husband is going through the training pipeline and just started prototype, meaning long hours and rotating shiftwork. Since we plan on homeschooling for the next couple years (for now-- we are always open to what God planned for us), I want something that I can eventually use with our other children. I decided against a boxed curriculum and went with things that suited our oldests learning style, my learning style, and would be flexible and inexpensive enough to use with our other children. I love this post by The Busy Mom on "Choosing Curriculum the Simple Way." In that post she has this picture:

Picture courtesy of The Busy Mom

I love that. It is a good reminder. As a side note, you really should be following The Busy Mom on Facebook. She is wonderful. :)

Last year for 5-year old preschool, I used Saxon Math K Home Study Teachers Edition. My son and I really liked it. I really liked the lessons. I did not always follow the scripts, but felt the lessons gave us purpose and direction when sitting down together to work on math, even when I just used the book as a jumping off point. I also felt the lessons challenged him. I decided to continue with Saxon Math and bought Saxon Math 1 Home Study Teachers Edition. I dont like to buy anything I dont need, so I didnt buy the work books or the meeting book when I bought the teachers edition. Once I flipped through the book, I realized I would need the work books, so I bought them. When we actually sat down to do math I realized I needed the meeting book. I found all of them on Amazon after some searching. The work books were a little harder to find, but I did find them for a good price.

About a year ago I stumbled upon Sing, Spell, Write Level 1 for a great price at a homeschool consignment store. It was the entire kit so I bought it. I havent used it yet for reading this year. I decided to wait on that until I had built up his confidence in reading. He enjoys the sense of accomplishment when he reads a book, but he really only looks forward to math! I bought the Bob Book Kindergarten series at Costco; I love them! They really help him build on words and sounds he knows. It may not be his favorite part of the day, but listening to him read is my favorite part of the day. I love sitting down with him and helping him through a Bob Book. The best part is that I dont really need to help him that much! He doesnt even realize how much knowledge hes drawing from as hes reading through them. We have the pre-readers that we used last year. Im going to start doing some of those with our 3-year old toddlers. We are nearing the end of our kindergarten set so Im going to order the Beginning Readers and 1st Grade sight words for him next. After he feels like he has a good handle on reading, Im going to start Sing, Spell, Write. To help him with his phonics, weve been using the Star Wars Workbook Kindergarten Phonics and ABCs. When we were working through the Bob Books, he would get stuck on certain sounds-- like "ou" or "th." The Star Wars Phonics has helped him work on letter sounds even more in a way that he enjoys. Last year we took Ruth Beechicks approach to reading, which I liked; I just have been struggling with him and phonics. He didnt have much of an interest in reading until I combined it with Star Wars! ;)

For writing, weve been using a good old fashioned composition book. Ive been combining social studies and writing a lot by having him write down his address, his full name, his parents names and phone numbers, etc. Now we are working our way through the alphabet. We also do a lot of practical writing. He helps me write our shopping lists, notes to his dad, notes to our relatives, thank you cards, and the like. There is so much writing in day to day life. We write in his field trip notebook. He writes his name on top of his math worksheets. Ive tried to make the writing in the composition notebook short. Each day he heads his paper with his name, the date, and the subject. Then we write our sentence. For the alphabet, we write the letter is for blank. I have him pick what each letter is for. "B is for basketball." "D is for dude." "G is for Gatorade." It gets him thinking about letter sounds as well. What starts with a "G" sound? G-g-g-Gatorade. G-g-g-good, girls, golf, Granny... He comes up with all sorts of words that start with the sound before he decides on the word he wants to write down.

Science and social studies are pretty easy for us right now. My husband is in the military so social studies is part of our every day life. When he started prototype we read about submarines for awhile and their job. We talk about what it means to be in the military all the time, about public servants and various types-- government workers, EMTs, firemen, police officers, etc. We recently visited a Fire Museum and worked on our fire plan at home. Our boys are very interested in these types of things right now so we have long conversations about them.  When we pull over on the side of the road to let an ambulance pass, they ask, "Why did we pull over for the ambulance, Momma?" Science also happens organically at our house. Bike riding, tractor driving, KNex roller coasters, Legos, Matchbox car tracks, water table, Slipnslide, Play Doh... on and on. "If I do this, this will happen... Why?" Their minds are naturally curious right now. We conduct experiments. I ask our kindergartner to help me solve a problem. "My cookbook wont stay open. Can you help me?" He figures out how to keep it propped open or builds me something with KNex to do the job or thinks of some other solution. Sometimes I present them with a problem. "I cant get the Play Doh out of the bottom of this tube. What should we do?" And they give me solutions. I love to have them help me cook. So many learning experiences happen in the kitchen. "This pot is hot. Do you know why?" "What does half of a cup mean?" "How do they make flour?"

Our entire homeschool day takes about 1.5 to 2 hours from start to finish. With 4 kids, we like to do things that are fun for everyone. Right now, our 2 month old just wants to eat and sleep. We start off our homeschooling by saying the Pledge of Allegiance to the little flag weve attached to the top of our fruit stand. All 3 of our older boys participate in this. We then sit on the couch and someone says a prayer for the day, usually our kindergartner. The toddlers love crossing their little hands and bowing their heads. I think they feel like big kids, so they are usually content with that job and dont mind their older brother saying the prayer. I usually nurse our baby during this time. We then read a story from our One-Year Childrens Bible. We talk about what happened in the story, briefly. We then do our boys favorite part of the day which is reading a poem from Where the Sidewalk Ends. If it is a short poem with lots of imagery, I have them close their eyes and imagine the action of the poem. If it is longer with a picture (Shel Silverstein has awesome pictures), I hold the book so they can see the picture or let them discuss the picture before I start the poem. After I read the poem, I ask them what happened. For instance, we read a poem yesterday called, "Its Dark In Here." Basically a little boy gets swallowed by a lion and writes a poem from inside the lion. All he says in the poem is that it is dark in here and he stood too close to the lions cage. Asking what happened in the poem gets them thinking about the meaning of what they heard, re-telling me the story in their own words after they have digested it on their own. "When he stood too close to the lions cage, the lion grabbed him and ate him for lunch!" I love hearing how they interpret the action. The best part is that I then have them act it out. They love acting it out. Some of the poems lead in to other discussions, like, "If you were in this poem, how would you do it differently?" They love it. They love all getting a turn and hearing each other talk. They laugh a lot. I laugh a lot. It is one of my favorite parts of homeschooling, sitting with all our kids and laughing as they tell me stories and run wild with their imaginations. After we finish all this on the couch (and I feed the baby), we move on to the calendar and memory verse. I try to ask our oldest throughout the day what our memory verse is. Right now we are working on Psalm 91:14 and 15. I add pieces to it each week until he eventually learns the whole thing. We did this last year and he still has most of those verses memorized! Ill ask him his memory verse as we transition activities. About mid-way through this year, Im going to start giving our toddlers memory verses as well. Right now our oldest works very hard to teach them his memory verses. For our pocket calendar, I give them each a job-- the calendar helper, the days of the week helper, and the weatherman. The days of the week helper gets the calendar pieces out. Then we all go to the calendar and sing the days of the week song. Then the calendar helper puts the numbers in the calendar; the days of the week helper moves around the days of the week; the weatherman tells us what today looks like and puts in the appropriate weather tiles. After we are finished I use the Saxon Math script to discuss what today is. Then the calendar helper puts away the calendar pieces.

After all of that, I do school just with our kindergartner and set our toddlers up with something fun for them to do. Often they sit at the table and do "school" too. They get out their backpacks and crayons and paper and color while we work. Sometimes they do puzzles in the family room. Whatever they do, the rule is they do it quietly. Most of the time one of our toddlers works diligently at the table and the other builds with Legos in the playroom. This is when I either put our baby in the Tula or swing, depending on his disposition.

I start off kindergarten with writing in the composition book just how I previously described. He does that as I prep math and reading. After he writes, he does his Star Wars Phonics workbook and then we read the Bob Book. I try to do these first when he is freshest and most focused because he likes doing the other subjects more. After we finish that, we start on math. The lessons dont take very long at all. Then we do the worksheet front and back. If our day went slower than usual or his attention is elsewhere, I sometimes just have him do one side of the worksheet and have him finish the other side later or the next day. I check all his work, the composition book, the Star Wars book, and the math worksheets right after he fills them out. I let him make the mistakes as he goes and do not interfere. He often catches his own errors. When he gives me his work to check, I have him fix his errors and then give the satisfactory work a sticker. He likes to put the stickers on the top of the sheet. Then we move on to the next thing. After we have done all his work, we clean up our school supplies. If we did school in the morning, I have him practice his piano after school. He practices his lesson book and presentation piece and does his flash cards. If we did school in the afternoon, I have him go play for a bit before sitting down at the piano, let him clear his mind some. We usually do the theory book before I start cooking dinner or he works on it while I prep dinner. For science and social studies, I let those organically happen in our day. I look for opportunities to bring them into our play and conversation.

If we went on a field trip, we pull out the field trip notebook. Some field trips arent an entire days worth of school, like our nature bike ride at the park. We just drew pictures of what we saw in the field trip book. That trip is helping build the ground work for a unit study I am going to do on habitats with the all the boys. We are going to conclude our unit study with a trip to the zoo, but we have been talking about habitats without ever using the word or officially studying it since we started school August 4th. When we went to the Fire Museum, that was our whole day of school. We discussed dates and passing time (math), "Is this fire truck newer or older than that fire truck? How do you know?" I had him read the signs to me, read the pamphlet to me, all while making school fun. We came home and worked on our fire escape plan (social studies) and then wrote in our field trip notebook, drawing a picture of our favorite fire truck (science-- "How does that fire truck work?"). I love having them talk about what they liked best and hearing how they internalize books we read, stories they hear, or outings we take because I feel it helps them develop a love of books-- really feeling and connecting with stories.

I keep track of everything we do in the Homeschoolers Journal. I really like how it is laid out. It works well for me and is compact, which I like. I liked it for lesson planning last year with our preschool. I did a lot of unit studies last year. This year I plan on doing some. I like how unit studies are easy to involve both the age groups of our kids while still emphasizing with each child the concepts they need to learn, often in a hands on, natural way.

I also rely heavily on Smart Play by Barbara Sher. I stumbled upon this book in a used bookstore and bought it because it was cheap. I dont know why anyone would get rid of this book! It has the best ideas for fun, impromptu learning games with lots of kids. The other day we did our math lesson and then went outside for "Math Kung Fu." Hilarious! The boys were cracking up and counting karate kicks in the backyard. We have a lot of fun in this book.

A lot of our day is transitioning and waiting your turn. They are learning to listen to each other and respect what each of them has to say. They are learning to verbalize their thoughts and to speak up. It has been a lot of fun working with them on these concepts. Of course we carry this over into the non-schooling hours of our day, like when they help with chores and cooking. We have been putting a huge emphasis on cleaning up after ourselves. Weve been handing over responsibility to them and they have been rising to the occasion. I recently read Emma Jenners book Keep Calm and Parent On. This book is an amazing read for parents and especially homeschooling parents with more than one child. Your kids can and should help you! :) Weve been giving them responsibilities and expectations and are floored at how they have met each challenge. It makes our day-- my day-- so much happier and smoother when they are assisting me in real, practical ways, plus I think they are happier because they have more freedom (and less time outs). If I were to write a parenting book, it would read much like Emma Jenners philosophies. I wholly agree with her.

I hear a lot from people, "I cant believe you homeschool!" Homeschooling has been a blessing for our family. We didnt have an overly structured day last year when we homeschooled preschool, but it gave our play purpose. This year is much of the same. It has provided structure to our day. I burst into tears when we sat down on our first day of kindergarten this year and saw how our 6-year old had remembered all the letter sounds weve been working on and read-- actually read-- a book. It was amazing. I love those moments where I feel, "I taught him that?" I love when I see him applying things he learned from his dad. He changed the batteries in the swing by himself the other day as I made dinner. While he did that, he soothed the baby and then got the baby back to sleep once the batteries were changed. Its amazing to see our children behave like little people, little citizens finding their place in the world. I love that homeschooling allows us to play to our childrens strengths and to take things at our own pace. I know many of his 6-year old friends are entering kindergarten and first grade this year. Many already know how to read, but last year I could tell I was forcing reading on him and he was rejecting it so we switched gears and focused on letter sounds. This year he is ready for reading and is easily applying the phonics we learned last year. I love that we are teaching it to him in a way that makes complete sense to him and is enjoyable, not just for him, but for all of us.

The other nice thing is that there is a chance we will be moving this year. We started the year early so we could get as many days in as possible before my husband started rotating shiftwork. We also want to be able to take as much time off as we want for moving while still getting in our 180 days of school. When we move, we will be able to start school back up right where we left off, plus, when my hubby is on rotating shiftwork, our kids will be home to see their dad as often as possible. I feel like homeschooling really goes well with my husbands Navy career.

So thats our kindergarten plan! School has just started, but we are looking forward to the rest of the year! :) How are you homeschooling this year?

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best weight loss during pregnancy | All we are saying

best weight loss during pregnancy

 

 

Motherhood is challenging to navigate. There is so much out there on, well, everything.

 

"You must buy this!"

 

"If you want your baby to grow up feeling loved, do this..."

"Remember to always speak this way."

"Its the little things that count."

Even on this blog I talk about how I do things and about the products that I have liked with our boys.

But thats what they are: things that I liked.

That doesnt mean that you will like them or that you should parent how I do. It doesnt even mean that you should do things how I do. Im talking about things that work for me and my family.

Why?

Because I like reading about how other people do things. I like talking to other people and finding out about how they solve some of the more difficult challenges of motherhood, how they fix the small and big stuff. I like hearing other peoples family schedules. I like knowing that I am not the only one trying to solve a certain problem-- why are shoes always missing when it is time to get in the car? Why do our toddlers throw a fit during mealtimes? Why are organic foods so dang expensive? How is potty training so hard this time around when it went so well the first time around? Am I the only one sick of hearing the same twin comments over and over again and does it really matter who is older?

There is so much mommy judging out there, real and perceived. Sometimes comments that arent meant to be judgmental at all are taken that way.

For instance, we are a Navy family that has decided to go career. I hear from other military families, "We are finishing this tour and then hes getting out. We dont want to go career and put our kids through all that. It is too hard on them." Those people are not talking about my family. When I hear those comments, they arent talking about how my husband is going career and looking forward to putting our kids through deployment. No, they are discussing with a fellow military wife their own choices for their own families.

I hear, "I would have waited to have another baby after having twins as well." But they dont know that I had a miscarriage and a molar pregnancy. Im always surprised at how much this comment hurts. No, they do not know my history and they dont need to, but it always makes me want to share with the world about this baby that did exist, not for them, but for me. It was real and it happened.

Other comments are puzzling and hard to figure out their intended meaning.

"Thats great you are breastfeeding. It is so good for the baby." What does this mean? Do I need to fill them in on my breastfeeding history with my three other children? Or the fact that while I believe in benefits of breastfeeding, I think it is ludicrous that you cannot discuss breastfeeding without saying, "Of course I believe in the benefits of breastfeeding!" or giving a reason why you are bottle feeding. Heres what I think, mommas, truly and really: feed your babies how you feel is best. It is no one elses business.

"Im glad you arent one of those homeschooling families. You are only homeschooling this year, right?" Hmm. By "those" homeschooling families, do you mean Weird and Unsocialized Homeschoolers? And weve loved homeschooling so far. Not sure how long we will homeschool, but it seems to fit in with my husbands Navy career well. The kids and I love doing it. Im not sure what the future holds for us, but Im open to wherever God leads us.

And another hot topic, working inside the home versus working outside the home: "I could never stay home all day. I need to engage my brain/stay busy/do something..." or "I stay home because I want to be there to watch my children grow up..." Sigh. Moms, dont tear each other down. Sometimes those comments are not made at all to be a dig towards anyone else or their choices, current or planned. Yes, I stay at home, and, yes, I have my reasons why I stay at home with my children, but the reasons why I stay at home may not be the reasons why you stay at home. And the reasons why you work outside the home may not be the reasons why other moms work outside the home.

We are all moms and we are all working hard, whether we are working in the home, working outside the home, homeschooling, or getting the kids ready for school outside the home each morning-- public or private. Breastfeeding is hard; pumping is hard; exclusively pumping blows my mind; and bottle feeding... bottle feeding is hard (and expensive and time consuming). Twins are hard. Singletons are hard. New babies are hard. Toddlers are hard. Kindergartners... easier and harder all at once. One child is hard. Ive heard going from one to two children is way harder than going from two to three. Three children, hard. Four children, hard. Being a military wife-- hard. I know talking to my civilian friends that its not easy on the other side of things either. You know, marriage is hard.

There are so many challenges in life. So many hard times that you are brought to your knees and crying out to God to hold you and carry you through. There are so many unexpected speed bumps.

We need to stop judging either. We need to be careful how we phrase things. Yes, it is wonderful Im breastfeeding this baby; glad it worked out. Yes, the space between our twin toddlers and our newborn has been nice. Sometimes Im glad they are over three; sometimes I think it would have been easier if they were under three, like the gap between our oldest and our twins. We need to make sure that we arent wording the choices that work for our family in a way that sounds like we are judging other families. We also  need to make sure that we dont easily take offense. The best thing about life-- our freedom in Christ-- is that we are free to make the choices that God leads us to. We are free to go career Navy, free to get out, free to look at our children and say, "Okay, we need to switch gears. The path we are on is not working for us." We are free to homeschool using a boxed curriculum or piecing it all together. We are free to stay at home or free to work outside the home.

Be friends with who you connect with. Multiple mommas need singleton momma friends. Big families need small family friends. Working mommas need stay at home momma friends. Homeschooling mommas need public school momma friends. Mommas need friends without kids. Make friends with people older and younger than you, who have kids older or younger than yours. Be friends with positive people that lift you up and support you. The best friends you will make are the ones that pray for you and encourage you.

We are all in this together. Give peace a chance.

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post pregnancy weight loss foods | ARE ONIONS AND GARLIC GOOD FOR FERTILITY

post pregnancy weight loss foods

Yes! Onions and Garlic have many healthy qualities especially if you are trying to get pregnant. When I was trying to conceive, I would put onions and garlic in everything I could think of. They’re great raw or cooked in most recipes. Onions and garlic are a great way to season most dishes because they have so much flavor, you can use less salt and fat. Onions and garlic are in the “allium” family. These are rich in sulfur-containing amino acids and the anti-oxidant quercetin that helps regulate estrogen.
Much has been written about the medicinal qualities of both onions and garlic and they are also phytoestrogens. There are xenoestrogens (bad) and phytoestrogens (good).

SEE ALSO: FERTILITY DIET, FERTILITY FOODS (getpregnantover40.com)

Xenoestrogen literally means “foreign estrogen”. These xenoestrogens mimic estrogen in your system contributing to estrogen dominance. Xenoestrogens are stored in the body for an extended period of time leading to a number of conditions which ultimately contribute to infertility.

Phytoestrogens, on the other hand, are plant based substances which also mimic estrogens (phytoestrogen means “plant estrogen”), however they are weaker and they differ from xenoestrogens because they are actually beneficial. Phytoestrogens bind with estrogen receptors keeping out the stronger more harmful estrogens (like xenoestrogens). Phytoestrogens are not stored in the body and are easily broken down.

So if youre looking to regulate your estrogen, throw onions and garlic in all your cooking! If youre worried about your breath, brush your teeth and tongue with baking soda afterward. Bon Apetit!


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is weight loss during pregnancy dangerous | Toddler twin must haves 2yo to 3yo

is weight loss during pregnancy dangerous

Our toddlers are days away from turning three-years old which means it is time for another must-have list! :) What are the things that have made this past year with toddler twins just that much easier? I have found that as our twins get older, it is becoming much less about finding things that work for twins and more about finding things that work for having three children. Most of these things are applicable to making life easier with three young children, not twin specific.

Side note: I cant believe that my next must-have list will probably be for the youngest of four children-- newborn things again! This pregnancy is flying by; Im already in the third trimester!

1. The Aqueduck Faucet Extender

Without the Aqueduck, reaching for the water flow

With the Aqueduck, standing flat footed on the stool

Not sure what the silly face is for, but using the Aqueduck

This is seriously a parenting must-have, twins or not. I cant believe I didnt own this when our oldest was small. This makes washing little hands so.much.easier, even with a stool boosting them up. The Aqueduck moves the water flow closer to them and is easy to take on and off, which is useful when you have guests using the bathroom or if you want to bring it with you on a family vacation. I know this will be coming on our next timeshare trip.

2. Lunch containers

All these are from-- where else?-- Target

I dont have a specific lunch container that I highly recommend... Instead, this is much more about just having a lunch container that suits your needs. I love how these lunch containers from Target dont have fancy lids to open or lots of compartments to keep clean. I can take the lids off and let the boys finish their picnic lunches in their carseats. They are small enough to easily fit in their laps and hold the perfect portions for our almost three-year olds and five-year old. We pack a lot of lunches and so having containers for each of them is very useful. I also have water bottles that I refill for them and bring with us. Again, I dont have a brand that I am in love with. I tend to prefer water bottles that dont have a lot of small parts and no valves. Easy to clean is a must!

3. Thirty-One Picnic Thermal Tote

I do have a lunch pail that I absolutely love for heading out with all four of us-- me and the boys-- and the times when my husband goes out with us too: the Thirty-One Picnic Thermal Tote. I love this lunch pail. It fits us perfect for our park trips, afternoons out running errands, and when Im bringing snacks to our oldest sons little sports games. I use this thing almost every day. I can also fit my water bottle in here along with our lunches. This lunch pail is not too big and not too small. It is also soft so I can shove it underneath our stroller. The handle is adjustable so I can hang it over the handlebar of our stroller. I bought this lunch pail because I was out with one of my girlfriends and she had packed her lunch in it. I absolutely loved it and how well everything fit inside! I went home and told my Thirty-One consultant that I wanted one and promptly placed an order. :)

5. Croc-like shoes

Putting his Crocs on all by himself

Putting his Skechers on all by himself

I know what you are thinking: CROCS?! Yeah, Crocs. When you have three kids, it is really (really, really, really) annoying to help get three sets of shoes on six feet, tie six shoes, and then-- Lord forbid-- we go somewhere where they have to take their shoes off. Or their shoes get wet. So Crocs, or Croc like shoes, are just the ticket. The little boys can put their Crocs on and off by themselves. If they get wet while we are out, they dry quickly, unlike canvas sneakers. They breathe. They work like flip flops and protect their toes like sneakers. When we go to the spray park, they can wear their Crocs in the sprinklers. I let the Crocs dry and then they wear their Crocs over to the playground. Love a multi-purpose shoe! Their feet have grown again and it was time to buy shoes for this summer. A friend tipped me off to the Skechers Boys Guzman Seeperz. They have all the convenience of Crocs without that oh-so-stylish Crocs look. I loved the price tag-- I bought all 3 boys a pair at the outlet mall for just under $50 compared to one pair of Crocs at $29.99-- but for our oldest they have been a little disappointing. The shoes are still intact, but the white on the toes start chipping almost the same day we brought them home. Little kids are quite hard on play shoes, although they havent chipped near so bad for our toddlers.

6. Baby-sitter

In my blog post "0-2 year old twin must-haves," I said drop-in childcare and a baby-sitter were a must. Sadly we have moved from North Carolina to South Carolina and we no longer have a drop-in childcare place (believe me-- I have looked!). Being a military family, we move a lot. We are probably only going to be living in South Carolina for another year. When our oldest was a baby, I never had a baby-sitter I hired. I never even looked. I would ask my girlfriends in the FRG or I would reschedule whatever I had planned. My husband was always underway or working. I had a sling and our son went everywhere that I went. Having three kids with a fourth on the way changes that a little bit... I kind of need a baby-sitter for a lot of things, like my OBGyn has a no kids in the exam room policy. Actually, my last OBGyn had that policy when I was pregnant with our twins, but it was much easier to drag one fairly well-behaved toddler with me than a preschooler and two toddlers-- its slightly more distracting. Also, with three kids and our fourth on the way, we like getting out every now and then. My hubby and I want to use a baby-sitter to go birthday shopping for our toddlers. Not a very fancy date, but it sure is nice to get out without three kids in tow and chat as a couple. With a busy family, it is good for our marriage to take advantage of those little opportunities to get out by ourselves.

I know what a lot of my military wife readers are thinking, "But where do I find a baby-sitter?!" I dont really know. One of my best friends has found their baby-sitters (2 different duty stations) on sittercity.com. It is free for military families: Sittercity Military Program. My sister has even used a baby-sitting site like that, for her daughter and also to find a pet sitter for her cat. One of my really good girlfriends used to baby-sit for those sites before she had kids; I would definitely hire her to watch my kids (and I often do abandon my kids at her house-- haha!). I didnt have good luck finding a sitter on those sites when we first moved here. I get really nervous leaving our asthmatic toddler with people I dont know. Im going to have to give them a try again when we move next time; I dont know if well move somewhere with such an awesome neighborhood as we have here. I found our current sitter by word of mouth from my neighbors. I do know that I didnt just have a baby-sitter fall into our lap when we moved to South Carolina, away from our awesome baby-sitters in North Carolina. We found our baby-sitter here by asking people about baby-sitters. I messaged people. I posted jobs on baby-sitting sites. I met up with people. I actively searched for a baby-sitter and, after a couple weeks, I found the perfect match for us-- a fabulous Navy wife who also happens to have asthma (makes me much happier finding someone who understands asthma to watch our boys!). It takes patience. It is hard as a military family, moving to a new state and finding someone you trust to watch your kids, especially when you dont know anyone. Give it time. Keep looking. It can happen!

7. Our Baby Jogger City Select with a Second Seat

Well, you knew this would make the list. Read my previous blog posts about it here:

• "0-2 year old twin must-haves"
  This post includes pictures of our toddlers at two-years old using our stroller.
• "I love my stroller"
  The original post about our stroller.

Most of the time, now, I only put one seat in the stroller. There are still times when I put in both seats. Yesterday at the park I put in both seats because the boys played at the playground for an hour or two, ate lunch, and then played at the splash pad for another hour or two. I was very worried they would be tired on the way back to the car and wanted the toddlers to have somewhere to sit (at 28 weeks pregnant carrying two toddlers and all our gear isnt an option for me). A lot of times when I only have one seat in, one toddler will sit in the seat and the other toddler will sit on the foot rest. Not the best picture, but here is a picture of them doing that when we looked at Christmas lights this past December:

I put one seat in most of the time because only one of our toddlers really ever wants to ride in the stroller anymore. The other prefers walking. When baby #4 comes along, Im going to put our glider board back on our stroller. That way I will have the glider board for one toddler, a seat for the other toddler, and the infant car seat adapter for baby #4. For times when we are going to the park and hanging out for a long period of time, I love having the stroller with me to help carry all our stuff.

8. Responsibility

This is the age where our toddlers want to help with e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. They want to help unload the dishwasher, clean the bathtub, fold the laundry, pick up toys, carry in the groceries... but they dont really want to follow through with all of it or do any of it exceptionally well (well, the way I would do it if I didnt have "help"). Today when I cleaned the bathtub, I let one of our toddlers help me scrub. No need to worry; I used baking soda to clean the tub so it was entirely safe. I just gave him an extra scrub brush. (Read "Homemade household cleaners.") In my blog post "Domestic goddess," I talk about our cleaning schedule. They love helping me clean. I give them rags to dust with and dole out small tasks for them to help with. Today I gave one of our toddlers one piece of laundry at a time to put in the laundry hamper as I folded clothes. I like encouraging them to help because Ive seen how awesome it can be-- our five-year old is an exceptionally good help. Hes even started washing dishes lately! Yeah, awesome help. Encourage it while they are interested. :)

The other thing they love is having little things that they can do by themselves. Our boys love coloring. I put the crayons and the paper on a shelf that they can reach. This took time-- we didnt start out with the crayons within reach. They have learned that if they want the privilege of using the crayons whenever they want to, they need to use them at the table. They feel like big kids getting the crayons out whenever the urge to color strikes them. Having these little independent activities that they can do by themselves helps them start understanding responsibility and following instructions. These types of things are much easier when you are delegating to the youngest age. When we had these types of responsibilities for our oldest and our twins were around 18-months, we had to set him up in an area that wasnt accessible to his younger brothers who were not old enough to understand what he was doing and why they couldnt participate. Now that they are almost three, they understand when we tell them that their older brother is working in the office and they need to stay out. We can usually distract them with an activity of their own at the kitchen table. We have designated areas for all these types of activities/responsibilities. Our office is transitioned to a KNex/Lego workspace for our oldest (right now my hubby and our five-year old are building a 3D Star Wars puzzle in there). Most of our toddlers activities are at the kitchen table so we can keep a close eye on them and make sure they get properly cleaned up when they are finished.

9. Olivers Labels Safety Wristbands

This one is identical twin specific. We bought these wristbands when our twins were born. They were much too big for newborns, but we started using them after we found our first baby-sitters in North Carolina, before our sitters could tell our identical twins apart, or when we would drop them off in a childcare situation (drop-in childcare, church nursery, etc.). These are very useful when we have new baby-sitters (our new baby-sitter here in South Carolina now can tell our boys apart) or when we have friends/neighbors watching the boys. Now that weve been making all new friends, these have been quite useful again, especially since our toddlers dont like being called by the wrong name. "That not me! That my brother!" These are also super handy when you have a lot of extended family visiting or out of town guests that arent used to interacting with your twins. Our boys have such different personalities (and look different now that they are toddlers and not newborns) that it only takes people a little while to identify them. As I said, we bought each of our boys a pack when they were born. They are turning three in a few days and we are still using the same pack. When we had family in town for a couple days, I usually just kept the same wristband on them the whole weekend. These wristbands are very durable and did well through bath times and daily wear and tear for those long weekends.

(I am avoiding saying "knowing who is who" because I seriously do hate the "who is who" game. Read my blog post "Identical brothers.")

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pregnancy weight loss during third trimester | IS GLUTEN REALLY THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL AND INFERTILITY

pregnancy weight loss during third trimester

If youve been reading my blogs for a while, you know that I have written about gluten intolerance as a cause of infertility and possibly miscarriage.  So if you have been tested and are allergic to gluten, by all means eat a gluten free diet.  But what about the rest of us?  Is gluten really that bad?  Its amazing how many web searches will basically condemn gluten and lead us to believe that it should be banished from the earth.  Gluten can offer some benefits and it is actually VERY high in protein

What is the scientific research on gluten and should we all be avoiding it?

This interesting article in Medical News Today quoted a study from 2013 which said:

  "We found no evidence of specific or dose-dependent effects of gluten in patients with NCGS," the team concluded. In fact, the researchers found the bloating previously identified may be attributable to consumption of carbohydrates called FODMAPs (fermentable, oligo-, di-, monosaccharides, and polyols)" 

The article went on to say:

Lisa Cimperman, a clinical dietitian at the University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland, OH, and a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, added: "Gluten is neither essential nor detrimental to ones health or quality of diet." 

Gluten has been popularized as a dietary villain

As such, some nutritionists believe following a gluten-free diet without having received a diagnosis of celiac disease does not offer health benefits, but the unwarranted praise for the diet makes us believe it does.
Cimperman told us:

"There are no beneficial health effects to a gluten-free diet. Wheat and gluten have recently become popularized as dietary villains by a number of books and media outlets.
Unfortunately, talk show hosts and celebrities are able to amplify such messages while having little to no health or nutrition credentials. There is no research to support gluten-free diets for anyone other than those affected by celiac disease."

In fact, some experts claim following a gluten-free diet in the absence of celiac disease may actually be detrimental to health, as it can lack the nutrients needed to maintain a healthy, balanced diet. According to the Mayo Clinic, a gluten-free diet may lead to lower levels of iron, calcium, fiber, folate, thiamin, riboflavin and niacin. 

SEE ALSO: FOODS FOR FERTILITY (Getpregnantover40.com) 

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pregnancy weight loss tracker | Its all about that blood

pregnancy weight loss tracker

I know, I know, not my most catchy-ish of titles, but it was this or some other dodgy blood related one!! So, first off, this isnt some gruesome tale that involves alot of blood and gore, sorry if thats what you were after (!). This is the tale of me and my experience going to donate blood for the very first time. There are no dodgy photos and this isnt a preachy blog post urging you to go and do it. If you fancy reading about my experience of giving blood, or, if you have ever thought of donating before but havent been sure, then this is the blog post for you. Now we have cleared all of that up, lets get started! 

Back in December, in the midst of my blogging every day for Blogmas, I pledged to go and give blood. I wanted to go and do something for someone else during a season when it can feel a bit over commercial. I wanted to do something that would actually make a difference to someone else and hopefully show my daughter that Christmas isnt all about the presents. Ahhh, me and my bright ideas. My well laid plans certainly did not go to plan (they rarely do), and I found myself, after a week of worry, being turned away at the donor centre because the blood donation session was full!!! Argh! You can read all about that little escapade here.

Now I am not going to lie.  Giving blood worried me.  This was no walk in the park for me.  But dont you find that those moments that you feel most challenged by are sometimes the moments that you look back on and feel the proudest of? This felt like it could be one of those moments. And did you know that giving blood can save up to three lives? Fact. 

I had already signed up to the blood donation website where you can find out your local times and venues, and when one popped up near my home, I felt I had to go and do it. The very moment I clicked book, my nerves returned. As with most things in life, the thought of doing something is way worse than the actual event. (Hmmm, maybe with the exception of child birth?!) And as someone with a very over active imagination, I had already imagined the worst.  I imagined fainting, of my arm dropping off, of being sick all over the nurse - a bit like in the exorcist, of falling off the chair and other such completely believable scenarios (!!!).  

The big day finally came and I arrived very nervous.  As I had booked my session online this time there was no chance of me being turned away. I registered at the desk and went to take a seat in the waiting area.  When you book an appointment online they send you all the paperwork through the post and it saves time filling the forms out when you arrive.  I had to drink a big cup of water to help replace the fluids I would lose during the donation and during this time my two year old daughter performed a rendition of chim-chim-cheree from Mary Poppins which was nice. (N.B. I cant guarantee she will be there for you if you donate, but I am considering hiring her out for the waiting room!). 

Next, I was called into a private area and was asked questions to screen if I was suitable to give blood.   My finger was pricked to test my iron levels. A drop of my blood was placed into a copper sulphate solution and if it sinks to the bottom it shows you iron levels are OK for you to donate. (And you know this bit doesnt really hurt because Im taking pictures at the same time!!).  

However, I wont get too cocky as my ability to then take a good picture of my drop of blood sinking in the tube was a fail!! Sorry for the poor quality. I felt I had to include this photograph as the lovely nurse did the test twice for me so I could get a good shot!!!

After the test I went out to sit on a couch and I was placed in a semi-upright position ready for the donation.  A blood pressure cuff was placed around my arm to maintain a little bit of pressure and then the nurse found a good vein. Obviously you can feel a pinching sensation, but really, it was nothing.  

I wont lie.  I didnt look down at my arm once.  I just didnt want to see it.  But I can honestly say, it was absolutely fine!!! Yes, there was a little bit of pressure of my arm, but that was literally it.  I didnt feel faint, I wasnt in pain and I didnt feel sick.  They ask you to do several exercises during your donation to help reduce your risk of fainting, like clenching your hand, clenching your bum cheeks (!) and moving your feet.  Obviously not one to risk fainting and erring on the side of caution I clenched away like my life depended on it! 

The process of actually having the blood taken took about five to ten minutes.  That is all!!! I thought I was going to be hooked up all day! It really was over before I knew it and I had donated just under a pint. And then its the bit you all know is coming, I was escorted to have a well earned drink and a bourbon biscuit. 

Apart from having a bit of a sore arm for the rest of the day, I felt absolutely fine.  The staff were really a credit to the blood service. From checking in to the actual donation, they couldnt have been nicer. And you know what? Everyone thanked me for going to give my blood.  Even on my way out, a nurse who I hadnt seen said thank you to me for attending.  How absolutely lovely.  I mean I didnt want a red carpet and an award or anything, but feeling like you have done something great, well, it makes you feel great. 

I dont want this post to come across as preachy or to make you feel like you have to go and give blood.  Its a personal and individual choice. All I will say is that if you are even considering it, then go and do it. Coming from someone who worried for a whole week about this, it was absolutely fine and I will definitely be going back to donate again. You can find the UK Give Blood website here where you can find out more and find your local sessions. And what better way to start the year than to donate blood to help someone, somewhere, who really needs it? 

"When you give blood you give another birthday, 

another anniversary, 

another day at the beach, 

another night under the stars, 

another talk with a friend, 

another laugh, 

another hug, 

another chance", 

American Red Cross. 

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weight loss during early pregnancy | Homemade household cleaners

weight loss during early pregnancy

I love vinegar water. My mom used it as a cleaner when we were growing up and so the smell brings back memories of my childhood home. Ive always kept a spray bottle of vinegar water in our home. I have used it for a bunch of small cleaning tasks, but it hasnt been until our most recent move that I have started using it for all my cleaning needs. (Probably because up until we moved to South Carolina I had a housekeeper... read "Domestic goddess"). I want to say what prompted our shift to vinegar water is how environmentally friendly it is, but thats not true. What prompted the switch is how easy it is to make and how inexpensive it is.

What kind of cleaning products did I used to use? I used to use the Swiffer Wet Jet, but you have to buy the Swiffer Wet Jet Cleaner Refills and the Swiffer Wet Jet Spray Mop Cleaner Pad Refills, not to mention have the Swiffer Wet Jet Mop. I also had the Swiffer Dust Mop (needs the Swiffer Sweeper Dry Sweeping Cloths). We had the Swiffer Duster (needs the Swiffer Duster Refills) and the Clorox Toilet Wand with Storage Caddy (needs the Clorox Toilet Wand Refills). Plus we relied a lot on Clorox Disinfecting Wipes. The most offensive of all these cleaners (save for the waste from all these other cleaners) was my Clorox Bleach. We had these cleaners as well: Clorox Anywhere Hard Surface Cleaner, Soft Scrub, and Windex.

When we moved to South Carolina and I started doing all our house cleaning, I couldnt believe how much waste was leaving our house each week. I switched from all the Swiffer products to the O Cedar ProMist System, using vinegar water as the cleaning solution. I also bought the O Cedar Dual Action Dust Mop. I bought these at Target and picked up a couple extra cleaning cloths for them at the same time-- no throwing out, just wash and reuse. I switched from all the other cleaners to Method cleaners.

I still felt like I had a lot of waste and chemicals. Our toddlers are at the age where they want to "help" with everything and imitate everything they see Momma doing. Childproof locks and off-limit areas dont always prevent them from finding cleaners that should be well out of their reach. So I threw out almost all our harsh chemicals and switched almost exclusively to vinegar water. I kept some Method cleaners and put them in a box up on a high shelf in our laundry room. But there were cleaners I just couldnt bear to part with: our Clorox Toilet Wands and my Clorox Bleach.

Switching to vinegar water prompted a huge shift in our thinking. I buy a ginormous jug of distilled vinegar and mix this with water in a spray bottle. I use the vinegar water to clean our bathrooms (including the shower and outside of the toilet), the kitchen, our floors, our highchairs, and for detailing our vehicle (car seat buckles, car toys, center consoles, cup holders-- not the leather or our WeatherTech Floor Mats). I even use it as a dusting solution: spray a little on a dust cloth and send my toddlers to work dusting our house. I love that I can leave this cleaner under our kitchen sink and bathroom sinks with no worries. Not that I want our toddlers wandering around our house spraying everything down with vinegar water, but it cant hurt them! Even better, I never run out. Spray bottle empty? Grab one of my giant jugs of vinegar and fill it up right then and there. I love that convenience. No more shopping lists with dust mop refills, Clorox Wipes, on and on and on. No more gearing myself up for a cleaning day only to find out that I am out of bathroom cleaner.

(Dont care for the scent of vinegar? Try My Merry Messy Lifes recipe for Homemade Citrus-Infused Vinegar.)

I started thinking about how wonderful it would be for all our household cleaners to be this convenient. What if I could mix up laundry detergent whenever I ran out? What if I could make our own hand soap refills? What if whenever I ran out of something, I just needed to make a quick trip to our laundry room to whip up a new batch? Also, what if all these cleaners were environmentally friendly and non-toxic? What if I started saving money doing all this? I spent a lot of time Googling. I didnt want to switch from my beloved Tide Pods to something equally as horrible for the environment and my kids (OxiClean). I wanted to find ingredients I could use across the board for my cleaners.

Then I stumbled across my new favorite blog: "My Merry Messy Life," specifically her Green and Natural Cleaning Recipes and Buying Guide. Yesterday my husband and I started buying our materials for making our own household cleaners.

Whole Foods
Dr. Bronners Organic Castile Soap Citrus Orange, 32 oz. $15.99
Dr. Bronners Organic Castile Soap Lavender, 32 oz. $15.99
Dr. Bronners Organic Castile Soap Peppermint, 32 oz. $9.99 (on sale)
Now Essential Oils Lemongrass, 1 oz. $6.99
Now Essential Oils Lavender, 1 oz. $11.99

Total: $63.95

Ace Hardware

Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda, 55 oz. $4.29

20 Mule Team Borax, 76 oz. $5.49

Total: $9.78

Target

(3) 1 Gallon Rubbermaid MixerMate Pitchers, $3.99 each

Total: $11.97

Amazon

3-pack of 24 oz. spray bottles $8.26

Now Essential Oils Tea Tree Oil, 4 oz. $18.00
Toilet brush with holder $12.00
Glycerin Vegetable Kosher, 32 oz. $13.47
Total: $59.72

Costco
Hydrogen Peroxide, 64 oz. $1.99

Grand Total: $215.68

Lowes does not carry Super Washing Soda or Borax, but the gal at Whole Foods recommended we try Ace Hardware (where she said they for sure carried it) or Wal Mart (where she thought they might carry it). We went with Ace Hardware where we could for sure buy it. We then went to Target; they carried Borax for about $1.50 less than Ace Hardware but didnt have Super Washing Soda. My husband feels Wal Mart probably carries both for less. Also, some of the ingredients that we bought in store are less expensive on Amazon. We wanted to make everything today, so we went with the in-store option, but next time I buy I will make sure to go with the less expensive option. The reason I bought 3 different kinds of Dr. Bronners Organic Castile Soap is to give myself some variety when making my various cleaners, same with the lavender and lemongrass essential oils. The tea tree oil was purchased for its antibacterial properties.

What are we making with these ingredients?

All these recipes are from My Merry Messy Life:

• Homemade Laundry Detergent
  (already made 2 gallons and am currently washing my second load of laundry in it!)
• Homemade Natural Fabric Stain Remover
• Homemade Toilet Bowler Cleaner (non-toxic)
• Homemade All Natural Foaming Hand Soap
• Homemade Dishwashing Detergent
• Homemade Moisturizing Baby Shampoo and Body Wash

I am really excited about her uses for hydrogen peroxide. I cannot wait to get rid of our bleach. And our Clorox Toilet Wands. We have already phased out our Clorox Wipes. I use a rag sprayed with vinegar water instead and havent looked back. Maybe one day I will make Homemade Reusable Disinfecting Wipes, but for now our system is working great. The only cleaner I havent been able to replace yet is Windex. The Method window cleaner is streaky-- not too bad for bathroom mirrors but horrible for the windshields in our vehicles.

My husband is super excited about the economics of switching to our own homemade cleaners. Yes, we spent all this money up front, but to make the homemade laundry detergent I used 1/2 cup of the Borax, 1/2 cup of the Super Washing Soda, 3/4 cup of the lavender Dr. Bronners Organic Castile Soap, and a little over 20 drops from the lavender essential oil. I hardly put a dent in our supplies and it made 2 gallons of laundry detergent! If you read My Merry Messy Lifes posts with the recipes, she includes the math of how much it cost her per ounce to make and how much it costs per ounce to buy the conventional products. Also, all the ingredients we bought are used in all these other recipes. While my husband keeps a close eye on the bottom line for our family budget, I focus on convenience. Being pregnant with our fourth and a stay-at-home homeschooling mom, I like when things are easy. It took roughly 10 minutes from start to finish to make the laundry detergent; how much easier can it get? I can tell you that was 100% easier than dragging all the kids to Costco! For once, my husband and I are in firm agreement on something-- homemade is the way to go for us! :)

The last point that my husband and I love about all these homemade cleaners is that they are non-toxic. While, thankfully, our children have never eaten anything life threatening, we have needed to call poison control several times in our 5-years of parenting. It is such a comfort to know that we have safe products in our home, the reason why my mom used vinegar water as my siblings and I grew up. I know that Borax raises eyebrows on the "green" blogs, but I have done some reading and for now we are using it. I like that My Messy Life includes links for more information on Borax and I also found this blog post helpful when making our decision: Crunchy Bettys post, "Getting to the Bottom of Borax: Is it Safe or Not?" Of course there is a lot you can read Googling the topic, but I found those 2 posts to be very informative.

UPDATE ON HOUSEHOLD CLEANERS:

I have been getting a lot of questions about our homemade household cleaners. Here are a few:

1. What do you do about the vinegar smell?

First of all, the vinegar smell doesnt bother me, at all. I dont really measure the vinegar and water when mixing it into a spray pump or our floor mop. For the spray mop, I do put in more vinegar than for just our everyday spray pump (read the above post to find out what I use the vinegar water to clean). I find the vinegar smell dissipates quickly and, as I said, it doesnt bother me.

If it bothers you, check out these recipes for citrus smelling vinegar: My Merry Messy Lifes Homemade Citrus Infused Vinegar or The Busy Moms Homemade All-Purpose Citrus Spray.

2. I like the idea of making my own non-toxic, biodegradable cleaners, but do they actually, you know, clean?

Short answer: yes, they do. I would suggest researching some of the properties you are unsure of, like vinegar, baking soda, super washing soda, citric acid, or borax. My Merry Messy Life has really turned me on to Dr. Bronners Organic Castile Soap. Our homemade foaming handsoap is way better than the store bought foaming handsoap refills. I have very dry skin (genetics and washing my hands all the time with potty training twins!) and the homemade foaming handsoap is so moisturizing!

3. Okay, but what about the laundry detergent? How does that clean?

My Merry Messy Lifes laundry detergent recommends 1/3 cup detergent per load. I have been using:

• a little less than 1/3 on very small loads
• 1/3 cup on small/normal loads
• a heavy 1/3 cup on normal loads
• a really heavy 1/3 cup for large/normal loads
• 2/3 cup on large loads.

When I was shopping for ingredients, the gal at Whole Foods told me that many of her homemade laundry detergents made her clothes dingy. I have had a similar experience with previously sampled homemade laundry detergents and store bought biodegradable detergents, so I upped the borax in my detergent (heavy 1/2 cup compared to the 1/2 cup called for in the recipe). Ive also been careful to separate our laundry into brights (color), whites, and darks; washing like colors together has really been working. Ive also been much more proactive about stains, rinsing them out when the boys take their clothes off to change into pajamas and not letting dirty clothes sit in the hamper. Big changes around here! Ive actually been staying on top of our laundry. ;)

As a former Tide Pod user, I have not noticed a difference between our laundry washed with Tide Pods and our laundry washed with our homemade cleaners and neither has my husband.

4. How long does it take to make your own detergent and cleaning products? I dont think I would be able to stay on top of that.

Im a homeschooling stay-at-home mother to a preschooler and toddler twins with our fourth baby on the way, not to mention a Navy wife. I thrive on convenient. The detergent seriously took 10 minutes start to finish, including set up and clean up. Making vinegar water requires popping open my jug of vinegar, pouring it into my spray bottle or floor mop, and pouring water on top. I have a funnel for making the other cleaners and all my cleaning materials are kept in the same bin in my laundry room. I grab my Pyrex mixing cup, my funnel, and whip up my next batch. Sound easy? It is. If you compare it to a shopping trip with kids, it is almost perfect (it would be even better if magic cleaning elves popped out of the homemade cleaners and did the actual cleaning!).

5. How much did all this cost?

I love that on all the homemade cleaner recipes My Merry Messy Life includes a price breakdown when comparing her formerly used store bought cleaning products with her homemade cleaning products. Check out her price breakdowns! We essentially started from scratch when we started making our own cleaning products. I had to buy a toilet brush because I didnt own one; we had always used Clorox Toilet Wands. I also bought gallon jugs to hold our detergent since we only used Tide Pods before. I think My Merry Messy Life reuses her old laundry detergent jugs. We have hardly put a dent in the supplies I listed in the above blog post.

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pregnancy after weight loss surgery forum | The one about boobs

pregnancy after weight loss surgery forum

Ahh boobs. Theyre everywhere arent they?  Almost daily they are in the press. From a woman apparently waving them around her head in a posh restaurant whilst breastfeeding, to a woman breastfeeding in the swimming baths or maybe even the ten year old that is still breastfed. Then there are the mums who dare not to use their boobs to feed their baby. And then theres the mums that dare do.  The women whos tops are too low.  The woman who has no boobs. The woman who has huge boobs. And if you havent quite had enough of boobs yet, theres always page three where you can see pictures of them, just so you definitely know what they look like. Today, I heard on the news that the British tabloid, The Sun, are no longer going to be printing pictures of topless women on their page three, and you know what? I actually felt compelled to write a blog post to mark the occasion. 

The Sun newspaper, apparently (thanks Google), has a daily circulation of around 2.2 million copies.  Thats alot of copies. Thats alot of readers.  What I find interesting is that up until this week, you could open this newspaper and see a picture of a topless woman.  And for me, it really isnt about the page three model.  If you want to model with your top off, then thats your free choice and decision. Page three to me, represented boobs as being primarily for male gratification. 

I find it funny that some men (not all) are happy to stare at boobs in a newspaper, but at the same time they are agog when you use one to actually nourish and feed an infant. Especially near Nigel Farage.  And for the record, as a mum who breastfed, I can honestly say I never once stood up in a restaurant and waved them about for all to see. Quite frankly, I have no intention of showing the world my boobs, and even if I wanted to, I didnt have the time, I had a screaming baby wanting to be fed.   

The same men overlook the bit about that boob providing everything a baby needs for the first six months of that little ones life.  That makes boobs pretty amazing to me. Alot more amazing than just getting them out. But its not just about breastfeeding.  Page three, to me, represents the notion that boobs are there to be leered at.  It represents those wolf whistles you get on the street, those comments when you are out and when you dont know where to look. That notion that you are just a body.  The notion that all you are is how you look. 

Will this mark a change in peoples views of the female body? I think changing page three will change nothing overnight, but I hope it goes some way to society seeing the person beyond the boobs. And maybe, just maybe, it starts the way for woman to no longer be objectified by society.  That woman arent just boobs. In fact we arent just anything.  

How would I even begin to explain page three to my toddler? Well, I just wouldnt. But what I do hope for my daughter is that when she is older, she can walk down the street without wolf whistles, without feeling embarrassed. I hope she can feel respected by society as the clever and intelligent girl that I know she will be.  So much more than her appearance.  And so so much more than a pair of boobs. 

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pregnancy weight loss after delivery | Homeschooling 3 and 4 year old preschool

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Ive received several emails and Facebook comments lately regarding homeschooling preschool. I wrote a post called "Homeschooling 5-year old preschool." I feel 5-year old preschool was different from his previous years of preschool because he was technically old enough to be a kindergartner, but we decided against doing kindergarten that year. Instead we did another year of preschool with him, just with a more focused direction; he is a child that loves order, structure, and routine.

When considering preschool, there are many different schools of thought. Some really focus on early learning and some focus on play based learning and some on "unschooling." I dont like labels, so I will just describe our thinking when it comes to preschool. I think preschool should be fun. I think it should be play based learning. I think that preschool should focus on character building and how to interact with others. I think it should build a childs confidence and get them excited about learning. Preschool should incorporate the fundamentals of learning-- ABCs, 123s, shapes-- in a fun, play based environment. I referenced this article in my last post on kindergarten, Simple Homeschools "The truth about preschool." That article entirely sums up my thoughts on preschool.

When our oldest was 4-years old we put him in a church preschool program. At that time, our twins were keeping me very busy and I felt like I needed him in something that helped him with his desire for a routine. The program was great. I was surprised, however, at how hard it was to find a preschool program that didnt have a curriculum or focus on subjects. One preschool even had math worksheets-- excessive! We eventually found a program that worked for us-- play based, focusing on character development, interacting with others, and fostering their independence. It was a great program for him and I got a lot of great ideas from it for how I want to homeschool. I really loved how the teachers merged play with learning. When we moved from North Carolina, I was sad to leave the school because I was planning on having him attend their 5-year old preschool program.

One thing that I do not miss about preschool is the preschool schedule. (Yes, I wrote a whole blog post on it, "Preschool schedule.") After we moved last year and were doing 5-year old preschool, we had a lot of hits to our daily routine and by the end of the year we didnt have too much of a daily routine. I had several things on our schedule each week, like a park playdate and storytime, but the middle of the day was often chaotic. Mealtimes slipped into snacktimes; naptimes became movie times on the coach while I napped. The joys of my husbands power school schedule and pregnancy! By the beginning of the summer I was ready to have my body back (being pregnant in the south in the summer is not ideal) and ready for a regular routine. I debated over the summer if I should try to sign the boys up for drop-off camps over the summer, but not knowing if my husband was going to start prototype early in the summer (he didnt) and the unknowns of our routine once baby #4 came prevented me from committing to any day camps. The memory of how inconvenient pick ups and drops were in our day for his 4-year old preschool year is still fresh in my mind. Ive loved that homeschooling happens at our kitchen table, sometimes in pajamas and sometimes over pancakes-- no interruptions to our schedule!

So the big question: what are we doing for preschool this year? What materials are we using for preschool?

To answer the first question, we are doing what we normally do for preschool this year-- life as usual. I didnt have our oldest in a preschool program at 3-years old. I dont plan on putting our toddlers in a preschool program this year. Our big plan for preschool this year is to incorporate their learning in our daily life. I do involve them in some of our homeschool day. If you read the blog post, "Homeschooling kindergarten," I explain that I have all 3 boys say the Pledge of Allegiance, pray for our day, listen to our Bible story, read a poem together and act it out, and do the calendar each day. They are involved in that because that is what Im doing with their older brother for kindergarten. To answer the second question, I have not bought them any special preschool materials and dont use any curriculum with them, not even the Saxon Math book that I used for 5-year old preschool and no special books.

This year with the toddlers we are really focusing on independence. If they want to wear socks, they must put them on. I will help them if they are truly stuck, but they must try first. We problem solve. "If your sock isnt going when you pull it on that way, why not try a different way?" We focus on cleaning up the mess they make. "That was really fun to play with the cars and trucks. Now we get to put them away! How about you start on the cars and then do the trucks?" I help them break down the mess in their mind so they are able to tackle it-- clean up the cars, then clean up the trucks. Once the big toys are put away, they are able to pick up all the smaller action figures quite easily. I involve them in making lunch and baked goods. We work on taking our time and doing things right, "Can you carefully pour the sugar in the mixing bowl?" We work on them following directions, even when it is hard, "Before you go outside, lets get the family room tidied up, please." A big one that has been challenging for all 3 of them is assisting others, which teaches sympathy. "Your brother is sad. Why dont you go ask him what is bothering him and see if you can help?" "I think your brother is having a hard time cleaning up his mess. Why dont you go see what you do can to help him?" Most of the time I hear, "But I didnt make that mess!" Im really surprised at how they have responded to this last one. Im hearing them more and more slow down to help each other out, "Whats wrong, brother?" and I love their sense of pride and camaraderie once the job is done, "I helped him put away his blocks! We were a team!" "He helped me! Thank you, brother!" We put a lot of emphasis on waiting your turn. "Excuse me, your brother wasnt done telling his story. Lets let him finish and then I would love to hear what you have to say." I love Emma Jenners book, Keep Calm and Parent On, for setting expectations on our kids.

The other things we are learning through our everyday life-- shapes, ABCs, and 123s. We read about them in our stories before nap and before bed. We talk about them as we do art, make cookies, go to the park. We talk about colors. We do puzzles. We do all this stuff for fun. We just play and I bring in the learning, drawing their attention to something they are naturally connecting. "My blanket is the same color as a fire truck." Well, what color is the fire truck?

I mentioned in my blog post "Homeschooling kindergarten" that later this year I will have them start memorizing memory verses. This is something that we have been doing with our oldest since he was 3-years old. We used the verses he was learning at AWANAS, which we have not been able to fit into our schedule last year or this year, and discussed them throughout the day. I love memorizing Bible verses with the kids because I feel that it teaches lots of things. We write the verse down and will point to it as we say it-- it teaches words have meaning. When they see the memory verse card, they often start recognizing letters, "Thats an A, Momma!" They see the letters outside of their alphabet books and puzzles and start looking for them everywhere, "Momma, I see another A!" I also love that it helps them learn to retain things I teach them. The other thing about memory verses is that choosing key verses helps teach them things about their own behavior and Gods character. We learn to forgive because God forgives. We learn to examine our own actions, was I being fair to my brother? We learn to say Im sorry without prompting from a parent. Right now we talk about their older brothers memory verses and we use various phrases when dealing with conflict with each other, "Was that a kind thing to do to your brother? Do you think that made him feel happy or sad?" "How do you think we could show your dad we love him when he comes home?"

Next year our toddlers will do another year of preschool. They will be 4-years old at the beginning of the year and turn 5-years old during the year. I will probably start some of the methods that I used doing 5-year old preschool with their older brother. We will do letters of the week or colors of the week. Preschoolers love show and tell. During Red Week, Ill have them show and tell us about something red. During "A" week, Ill have them show and tell us about something that starts with an A. Ill probably use our Saxon Math K book again. Ive liked Saxon Math because the scripts are there to help explain something if you want them. I also like that it completely explains a certain activity, like introducing them to money or manipulating linking cubes or using counting bears. I like the Math K book because it was a great resource for me to find ideas for an activity if I needed help coming up with some sort of lesson for the day. I could open up Saxon Math K, read a lesson that involved counting bears, pull out the counting bears and say, "Okay, lets play with these for awhile." Then I could guide the play in a way that taught the lesson. That is how I most often used the book-- getting ideas, reading the scripts, and then applying it in a way that fit our preschool technique.

I really like unit studies for preschool. One unit study we did last year was on water. We just talked a lot about water. What happens if we get water really hot? What happens if we get water really cold? What letters are in the word water? What makes letter makes a "whu-" sound? Where do we find water? What animals live in water? Lets read books that have water in them. What movies have water in it? What do we call water that comes from the sky? What is water good for? On and on and on... So many fun experiments and lessons you can do in a unit study. Library trips. Movies. Books. Unit studies are great too because it really lets the preschoolers imagination run wild and lets them ask questions and find answers. (Unit studies are also a great way to include kids of different ages!)

How do you keep preschool fun?

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