Our zero-degree-freeze-the-snot-inside-your-nose midwestern winters are in full swing, and we are officially hibernating. I bought 3 months worth of food and we’re not leaving the house until April. The freezing months of winter here cause us to get a little bit creative with our indoor activities. And by creative, I mean, …
If naptime has gone CRAZY at your house, you’re in the right spot! In this post, you will learn: When do babies drop to one nap and how do you know if your baby is ready? What nap transitions look like and some nap transition tips The 2 to 1 …
There’s an ongoing poll in my mom-friend circles about which transition is the hardest: Having your first kid, going from 1 to 2 kids, 2 to 3 kids or adding more kids after 3. Each transition is different but going from 1 to 2 kids is REALLY REALLY HARD! If …
After having 4 babies with totally different personalities and varying levels of “easy baby” to “hard baby,” (is that a spectrum??) I’m convinced you can get almost any healthy baby trained to sleep through the night and on a predictable schedule during the first few months (even weeks)… if you …
In this post, you will learn 34 tricks and tips for coping with a toddler and newborn, especially during baby-feeding times! We had 4 kids in 5 years, and the hardest part of every newborn (after the first) was always the toddler. The clingy, confused, barely verbal, highly active, giant, …
In this post, you will get all the details on popular baby registry items and learn whether or not it’s a “must have” for your baby registry. Creating a baby registry is understandably overwhelming because, well, you’ve never had a baby before! It’s so hard to know what you’re really …
In this post, you’ll get sample baby schedules for various ages from your baby’s first year since it’s helpful to see what most babies need. I’ll also give lots of tips to help you think through how to get your baby on a schedule… ASAP! You can truly start our method from …
I googled “simplify your life mom” as I was writing this, and got over a million results. So why one more post about simplifying life? Because, I read a few, and they weren’t simple! The top result had 72 tips to simplify your life… 72! 72 isn’t simple. Here’s the …
There are a million articles, books, and blog posts about sleep training on the internet. With a million different thoughts and opinions. Much of parenting boils down to personal preference, and our personal preference has been to sleep train our 4 kids from birth. We recommend sleep training your newborn! …
There is a lot of advice about how to sleep train out there… everything from “dictate your baby’s life down to the minute” TO “my baby sleeps whenever they want and I never know what to expect.” We have taken what we call a holistic, parent-led approach in our sleep …
One of the most common sleep-training problems I encounter is moms wondering how to get a baby to nap longer. I hear a version of this naptime problem a lot! “My baby only naps for 30-45 minutes. And they wake up screaming.” “I try to keep them awake for 2 …
Okay, are you ready? This is probably going to be the world’s shortest blog post, but I finally decided to write it because I get this question a lot! How do you transition toddler out of their crib? Don’t. There. The end. Just kidding – I’m actually going to give …
In today’s post, I’ll share my best tips for surviving the first trimester of your pregnancy! I have been pregnant 5 times in the past 5.5 years. One of those pregnancies ended in an early miscarriage, but all 5 came with varying degrees of morning sickness. With each pregnancy, I …
One of our goals for our kids is that they develop a love for reading and maintain it throughout their entire lives. To that end, here are 10 specific ways we encourage reading in our home: 1. BECOME LIBRARY NERDS We go to the library almost every week. When the …
I thought I deserved me time. Everyone told me I did. “You should get your nails done.” “Just buy yourself a cup of coffee.” “Just do a little shopping.” “You’ll feel better if you can have a night to yourself.” And all those things are nice and were said by …
It seems like everyone wants to know how to cut your grocery bill down these days. Whether you’re trying to stop overspending on credit cards or want to spend less on groceries so you can hit a savings goal, this grocery-bill-cutting process works. If you stick to this system, I promise …
In this beginner’s guide, you will learn how to start using Google Photos, how to sync Google photos across your mobile app & computer, and the best habits for managing pictures with Google Photos. If you’re anything like me, you snap a zillion phone pictures a month and occasionally wonder… …
Our 4 year old’s bedtime habits had gotten out of control lately. One more toy, one more kiss, one more hug, one more drink… if we said no to something, dramatic tears ensued. Perhaps you can relate? Any one of those things on any given night wouldn’t be an issue. But, …
It all started when I had a 10 month old. We had just moved across the country and my husband was in a crazy intense masters program. I was staying home in our tiny 3rd floor apartment, with no family nearby, no friends, and no car. AND we’d just found out we …
People often feel like they don’t have enough money. Often, people think the solution to their financial problems is making more money… an “income problem,” if you will. While it’s possible that you do have an income problem, it’s also very possible that you have a spending problem or an expenses problem. So how …