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Mommy Advice, Show Us Your Life

Show Us Your Life – Favorite Apps

**No affiliate links are used in this post, but there is some self-promotion. 🙂 These are all apps that we truly have on our devices.  Please see link/review disclosures for details.

So Kelly’s topic today is Favorite App’s.  And since I spent some time earlier this week trying to suggest some to a Mama about to fly cross country by herself with a one year old, I thought favorite kids apps might be helpful.

Apps for Kids
(Mine are 4 and almost 2)

1. Laugh & Learn Animal Sounds for Baby
Both kids loved this app (J(almost 2) still does).  It’s catchy and easy for them to do themselves when they’re small.
2. Peekaboo Barn HD
Another favorite of ours.  Charlotte (4) still plays this sometimes and James loves it.
3. Peekaboo Wild
See above.
4. Mickey Mouse Road Rally – couldn’t find this exact app but Disney Junior Appisodes has it
The kids love this app because they’re watching Mickey but it’s interactive so they aren’t just mindlessly watching a tv show.  I think the Appisodes app has shows from other shows as well as Mickey.
5. Monkey Preschool Lunchbox
I feel like this taught C a lot and James enjoys playing it now (although he needs some help and often just touches things not recognizing what he’s doing)
6. BabyPiano HD
This is good for when the kids want to make some noise.  There’s even a two-person option so that they can both play together.
7. Fish School HD
This is good for letter recognition.  C enjoys “cracking” the eggs to get the app started.
8. Bedtime Music
C used this at my parents when she was 2/3 and was having a hard time going to sleep there.  I don’t think that she uses it anymore.
9. Easy Bake Treats
C loved baking cookies and cupcakes with this app.  She hasn’t played it in a while but it’s great for the 3 year age group.
10. Toddler Jukebox
This one can get annoying because it just plays the typical songs over and over again, but the kids both like it and like singing along.
11. IntroToLetters
This app has been great helping C learn how to correctly write her letters.  It’s a little difficult for the younger ones who don’t have a lot of motor control but is good practice.
12. 123 Color HD
This color app has kept C busy many a day.  It’s easy enough that they can do it themselves at 2, but complicated enough that she’s still enjoying it at 4.
13. Disney Palace Pets
This is a new addition (along with some other Disney app’s) that we haven’t had for very long, but C loves hearing the stories and “playing” with the pets and James likes seeing the dogs.

My real, every day home screen
(i.e. the app’s I use all the time)

1. Baby Monitor
This is the monitor that we use for the kids when they’re sleeping.  You can read more about our monitors here.
2. Twitter
This one’s pretty obvious.  But you can follow me here.
3. Mail
4. Bloglovin‘
I switched to Bloglovin’ after the end of Google Reader and like it pretty well.  You can follow my blog here.
5. Pinterest
Again, obvious.  I check this probably twice a day.  I like the app a lot.  You can follow me here.
6. Kindle
I don’t think I could survive without my Kindle app.  As I said on Twitter last night, I think I am addicted to free eBooks.
7. Nook
Ditto to above.
8. Facebook
Again, self explanatory.  But my page is here.
9. Instagram
I love the way photo’s look through Instagram.  I’ve got to make an instagram book!  Follow me here.
10. Anylist
We (sometimes) keep our grocery list with this app.  Jason and I log in on the same one so that we can both access it.  It’s nice but we still use paper lists sometimes, we haven’t fully transitioned over to digital yet.
11. ICE – looks like the version I have is not available anymore, but you should definitely download an In Case of Emergency app
12. NuVo Player
This is what we use to control our sound in our house.  I really like it.  C really likes the “princess music” station that I  made her on Pandora (i.e. a station from “Part of Your World” from The Little Mermaid).
13. Etsy
I check my shop stats and shop using this app.  You can check out my store here.

1. Paper
I love doodling with this app.  I get some initial ideas for my shop while I do this.  Plus the kids can play with it too.
2. Paper
I haven’t played with this much yet but some serious designers that I follow really like it.
3. Facebook Pages
This is how I monitor my facebook page when I’m not at my computer.
4. Amazon Instant Video
Did you know that Amazon has tons of shows and movies that you can watch for free if you’re a Prime member?  We haven’t taken advantage of it yet but are planning to!
5. Radarscope
With a weather lover as a husband I, of course, have multiple weather apps.  This one is my favorite though.
6. Snapseed
This is fun to play with editing pictures on the iPad.  I’m not a fan of the iPad instagram version.
7. Bamboo Paper
Another great drawing app.  This was the first one that I downloaded and I really like it.

Hope these helped you! Can’t wait to see other’s on Kelly’s link up!

Charlotte, Crafts, Mommy Advice

Baby steps towards reading

Despite the fact that Charlotte can sit and look at books for hours by herself and loves to have us read to her, she’s been reluctant to start working on reading.  I finally decided that it was due to her personality that doesn’t want attention (or excessive praise) shown to her.  Her typical reaction to us praising her effusively is to tell us that we’re “too excited” so I knew that a “typical” approach to learning to read that I would naturally lean toward probably wouldn’t work.

I knew that Charlotte tended to do better when she could see her progress and could mark it herself, without the pressure of a parent (or anyone) being overly effusive with the praise at her accomplishment.  I don’t understand it, but I get that that’s what Charlotte needs so I decided to try my best to accommodate her.

[Sidenote: For the record, I have no idea if this approach is even remotely close to how you’re “supposed” to start helping them learn to read, it’s just what we’re doing.  There was NO research done into what the best way to help your child learn to read.  I’m just winging it!]

In thinking about how to approach the problem, I remembered that I had bought two magnetic tiles from Target a while ago when they were on clearance.  They still weren’t hanging anywhere and I decided that making Charlotte a “Word Board” might be the push that she needed.  She hasn’t liked the “pressure” of sounding out letters yet (let me clarify that I promise we don’t pressure her, she just doesn’t like the attention) so I thought that we could start with some sight words.  You know, words that they basically memorize what the letters are and then can begin to pick those out of books?  I randomly chose the word “and” one day and we started pointing it out on the page and getting her to say the letters and recognize it.  And then I introduced the Word Board concept and you would have thought I hung the moon Charlotte was so excited!  In case you want to recreate, I’ve included steps below.

Supplies:
– Some type of board to put the words on.  I used the magnetic tiles shown below because I didn’t want her having push pins in her room for a bulliten board.  The Pinterest trick of using an old cookie sheet as a magnetic board might work too.  But the point is to create somewhere where they can see the words they know so they can be proud of themselves and can constantly see them and remember them!
– Note cards
– Magnets
– Pen/marker
– Sticky hooks (that’s what I hung the boards with on her doors so that they’re easy to get off when she tires of this)
Step 1. Hang your board somewhere at the kids eye level.
Step 2. Write the words that they can “read”/recognize on an index card and have them put them on the board.
Step 3. As they learn new words, add more cards!

As soon as we got this set up with the three words that Charlotte knew (And, I, Charlotte) she raced to find a book so that she could learn another word.  Now she’s constantly looking for new words that she can learn and even wrote out a card for the word “A” herself when we talked about how it’s a word that she knows too!  I know it’s just the start, but I’m excited about introducing her to the world of reading one word at a time!

– This magnetic board just happened to be something that I had laying around.  I wasn’t given it or compensated in any way for using it.

Mommy Advice

Making School Decisions

I don’t know if any of you are in the same boat as us, where your oldest is about to enter their last year of pre-school, but that’s right where we are.  And all year I’ve been stressing about the decision of where to send her for kindergarten.  I’ve been going back and forth between my options trying to decide what’s best.  Honestly, it’s been weighing on my mind a lot more than I thought it would.

So it was very nice back in January when one of my favorite blogs, Lil Light O’ Mine, did a weeklong segment on “Making the School Decision“.  They addressed the topic from multiple angles (homeschool, public, private, and kindergarten readiness) and I have to say that this is one blog series that I’m (a) still thinking about and (b) have discussed with numerous friends over the past few months.
The biggest thing that I took from this series, and that I want to share with you, is to make your decision for this year.  I was so stressed about picking an option that would see Charlotte and James through high school graduation that it was consuming too much of my time.  I was losing focus of looking for what Charlotte needs right now.  I don’t know what she’ll be like when she’s 8 or 12 or 16, but I do know how she is at almost 4 which is all that matters right now.
I realized that my kids are very different.  Charlotte has a late spring birthday and might be one of the youngest in her class (she definitely is this year in her 3yo class and I’ve already seen how much she wishes she was already 4).  James has an early fall birthday and will be one of the oldest in his class.  I think that the way their birthday’s fall will be a benefit for them, but that means that the decisions that we make for Charlotte might not be the decisions that we need to make for James.  And once I came to the realization that I didn’t have to choose a school path for both of my kids that will determine the course of our lives for the next 17 years, the decision didn’t seem quite so daunting.
At this point, we’re thinking that we’re going to keep Charlotte at the school that she currently attends for half day kindergarten.  It’s a small class in a small Christian environment that she’s familiar with and we think that this will be the best place for her to grow before moving on to first grade.  Now, where she’ll go in first grade? I have no idea!  But I have another year before I have to make that decision so I’m not going to let that influence my stress level right now.
If her four year old year progresses and we change our minds, we’re ok with that.  And if, in a few years, we don’t feel like this is the right decision for James, then we’ll choose a different kindergarten for him.  We are choosing for this child, for this year and relying on God to help us make the best decision for right now.
I wanted to share the resource of the blog series from Lil Light O’ Mine in case you haven’t seen it and are where we are.  And I wanted to share our story in case it helps reassure someone else that they don’t have to decide the next 13 years of their child’s education this second.  Every option is going to be able to be changed if it turns out to not be the best and we have to make the best decisions for our kids based on our kids and where they are now, not based on the best decision that was made for someone else’s kids.  In most situations, in our area, the education that they receive will be wonderful no matter where they go.  We just need to decide which environment is going to benefit them, and our family, the most.
Charlotte, Gift Giving, Mommy Advice

Charlotte’s Toy Recommendations

Last week I shared James’ One Year Must Haves and this week it’s Charlotte’s turn.  These are things that she is in love with day after day and, I think, would make great gifts for a similar aged little girl.

(1) Fisher-Price Doctor Medical Kit
Charlotte loves this doctor’s kit and her love for Doc McStuffins, I’m sure, is a huge part of this.  She likes to give everyone check-ups and diagnosis’s.  I think having her role play with the kit though has helped, a little, with her fear of the doctor too which is nice.

Charlotte has recently become obsessed with coloring and her Mickey coloring books are her favorites. She will set up tons of crayons and colored pencils and her one plume (purple pen with a feather on the end) on the kitchen table and work on masterpieces.  I had stopped buying coloring books because they were coming out of our ears and Charlotte never used them, but I guess she just had to grow into them because now I’m afraid that we’re going to run out!
Doc McStuffins got us out of the continual Mickey rut, but now I think Jason and I are singing “Time for your Checkup” in our sleep.  This is Charlotte’s go-to dvd on the long rides to Tuscaloosa and she (and we) can repeat most every word in it.  I really like Doc because she loves her animals just like Charlotte does and I think it’s helped Charlotte’s imagination run wild recreating stories and making up new stories for her babies around the house.
This puppy’s name is Nola at our house, since Jason and I brought him back as a surprise from New Orleans.  He is so soft (like all Jellycat animals) and Charlotte loves him.  I love that the Jellycat animals can be washed time after time and not change their texture or shape which you can’t say about some stuffed animals (in particular the ones that you pay an arm and a leg to make yourself!).
We got Charlotte some Piggy Paint after her haircut before school started and now, on special occasions, we repaint her toes.  Her color is more of a purple and she loves it!  I love that it’s non-toxic and, even though I don’t put it on her hands since she still sucks her thumb, I feel better about it being on her toes since I feel like it’s safer.
I could have included six pairs of shoes and they would have all been her favorites, but these are one of my favorite pairs that she has so I included them.  She loves her “Sparkly Toms” and loves wearing them when I’m wearing my Toms.  Some of her other favorite shoes are her HeeHaw Boots (fake Uggs) and her Cowboy Boots!

I would love to hear some suggestions for James or Charlotte for Christmas lists or things that your kids love that I haven’t thought of!  
Disclaimer: No one asked me to list these items and my opinions are all my own. But if you purchase one of these items through these links on Amazon I might get a few pennies through the Amazon Associates program.
Books, Faith, Mommy Advice

Book Review – Hope For the Weary Mom

I don’t know about you, but this Mom job is a lot harder than I anticipated it would be.  I envisioned time snuggled up reading books.  And pushing joyful kids on swings.  Tucking little ones into bed before going to a restful, full night of sleep.  And making nutritious breakfasts, lunches, and dinners from scratch every day.

While I wouldn’t trade this job for the world, it’s infinitely more difficult than I had imagined.  Instead of long, restful nights of sleep you’re up at least once a week because someone’s scared or had an accident or just needed their Momma.  Some days it’s terrifying to realize that I’m in charge of keeping two little people safe and healthy and teach them everything they need to know.  And my grand plans of doing all these things for myself during nap times and after bedtimes and in all my — insert sarcastic laugh here — free time — turned out to be a negative amount of time to do things I want to do.
A few weeks ago on Twitter I saw a tweet about a book that was free that day (October 23, 2012) on Amazon.  It was called Hope for the Weary Mom
 and it sounded like just what I needed to be reading.  Written by two Mom bloggers, I figured that I was definitely weary and, since it was free, it was worth giving it a shot.  Even if it had cost so much more money, what I learned from this book would be worth every penny.
A few days later I started reading it while I waited in carpool line to pick up Charlotte.  Almost as soon as I started reading it, I started making notes and highlighting on my phone.  The premise that we are all weary Mom’s and the ones who look like they have it all together are as much in a mess as I am, made me feel so much better.  I don’t want to be that person where everyone else has to be miserable (or in this case, overwhelmed) in order to feel better, but knowing that there were other Mom’s out there who were desperate and living messy lives like I am was such a relief.
I AM NOT ALONE! 
No one else has it all together all the time!  
No matter what kind of impression they give off!
And I kind of laughed at myself because I would bet that I give off that impression too.  I am an organized, perfectionist who likes to have everything in a structured format and know what’s going to happen at all times.  And I possibly look from the outside that I have everything under control more than I would like (unless you saw me at pre-school drop off, then you would never feel like I had it all together!).  I never want anyone else to feel like I think that I have it more together than them, because I definitely don’t.  But I also can’t go around waving my problems like a banner for every stranger I’ve never met to look at and judge.  So I walk a fine line and probably err on the side of closing myself off to avoid rejection.
This book taught me that maybe by closing myself off and trying to protect my tender heart from ridicule and judgment and non-acceptance, that maybe other Mom’s feel like I have it all together and am looking down on them.  By acting like my life is going just fine and I’m on top of everything that’s going on, maybe I’m closing myself off to letting God work in my life to help me handle it better.
Brooke and Stacey said, “So boast, mom.  Boast in the fact that you’re not good enough, not strong enough, not smart enough.  NOT ENOUGH to be a good mom.  And watch what God does.  Boast.  Be honest about where you are, who you are, and who you’re not.  Wiggle out of that straight jacket as Jesus turns the key with HIS mighty right hand and let Him be strong for you.”
Am I trusting in myself too much? Am I trying to rely on my own merits to raise my children and win their hearts for Jesus that I’m forgetting that, while I will play an important part in their story, I am not the one who will draw them to Christ, only He will do that?  Am I getting discouraged and overwhelmed because I’m not relying on God to meet my needs and am, instead, feeling forgotten by Him because I feel so overwhelmed and alone?
I loved the way Brooke and Stacey put it when they said, “If God never answered another prayer for me, if He never met another need, would His gift of Jesus and my salvation be enough?”
Well, yes, yes it would.  And I would do well to remember that instead of dwelling on my perceived needs that I feel like God isn’t meeting.  
Brooke and Stacey say, “[Jesus] says [in John 6:26], “Why are you following me? Is it because of what I can do for you, how I can meet your needs, or provide what you want? Or do you really love me for who I AM?” …… I follow Jesus not because of what He can do for me, but because of what He’s already done for me on the cross.”
Oh Lord, forgive me.  Forgive my self-centeredness and discontent in just being your daughter.  Father, help me remember that you have done more for me than I could ever repay and infinitely more than I could ever deserve.  You love me so much and you want me to succeed at being a mom.  You see me on those days when I feel like no one is listening to me and that I’m failing to teach them what they need to know.
I could continue to quote passages that I loved from this book for days.  I highlighted a ridiculous amount of it and can’t wait to re-read it learn even more from it the second time.  This book rocked my world and, I pray, that it changes the way that I mother and the way that I relate to the other mother’s in my life.
We are in this together.  We are all doing the best we can.  None of us are perfect and God doesn’t expect us to be so we don’t need to expect us to be.  Mothering will be easier if we’re transparent with each other in our struggles and encourage one another instead of portraying that we’ve got it all together and don’t need any help.
Mothering (at least for me) is full of fear that you’re going to mess up your kids.  Fear that you’re the only one who doesn’t know what she’s doing.  Fear that something will happen to you, your spouse, or your kids.  Fear that God won’t love your child as much as you do.  
I loved the way that Brooke and Stacey started wrapping the book up.  This passage especially spoke to me: “But in the same way that He loves you, the same way He’ll move all of heaven to chase your heart and make it His, He also loves your children.  When they break your heart, they break His.  When they run away from you, they run away from Him.  When they reject your love, they reject His.  When they refuse to walk in obedience to you, they refuse to walk in obedience to Him.  He hurts with you.  But His plans for you, and your children, are good.”
Brooke and Stacey ask their readers to make “a covenant with the Lord that we will never give up on His ability to move in the hearts of our children, in spite of us (emphasis mine).”  I’m making that covenant today.  A covenant to trust God to fill me up and meet my children’s needs when I fail.  Because I will, daily.  A covenant to trust that God wants things even better for my children than I do, even though that thought is pretty unfathomable.  A covenant to let God move in our family to lead us where He wants us to go and direct our steps and our paths.
If you’re a weary Mom like me, I’d love to hear from you.  And I’d especially encourage you to go out and get a copy of Hope for the Weary Mom
.  It will change your life and help you increase your stamina and energy towards the most important job that we will ever have, being a mother.
*Note: I got the book for free on Amazon like anyone who downloaded it that day and wasn’t asked to write a review.  All thought and opinions are my own.
Family, Gift Giving, Mommy Advice, Parenting

James’ Toy Recommendations

With Christmas approaching, I’m busy looking into gift ideas for my kiddos.  I love seeing what other parents are thinking about getting for their kids, but even more I love hearing what other kids my kids age actually love and play with.  So I thought that today I’d put together a list of some things that James is in love with right now.  He’s 14 months and can’t get enough of all of these items so if you’re in his ballpark age-range, I would definitely recommend any of these items!

(1) Melissa & Doug Deluxe 10-Piece Alphabet Nesting and Stacking Blocks
James loves these stacking blocks.  They are sturdy enough that he can’t hurt them even if he puts all of his weight on them, but they also all stack into one block for easy storage.  James loves stacking them and knocking them down.  I think they’ll also be nice to have as he gets older since they have colors, letters, and animals on them.

This sing-along train is one of James’ (and Charlotte’s!) favorites.  It plays “I Just Can’t Wait to be King” from The Lion King as well as says a few other phrases.  There are also stand alone animals (Simba, Lucky, and Dumbo) which are a big hit at our house.  James loves pushing the engine all over the house and stops to dance when it starts singing!
This little guy’s name is Woof-Woof at our house and he’s James’ lovey.  James can sleep without him, but he seems drawn to him the most when he’s in his bed.  His feet, tail, and ears are a little crunchy now from so much love, but he’s so soft and so easy to wash that I don’t mind at all.  He’s also not huge so he’s easy to throw in James’ bag when traveling.
James is definitely getting into his boy role and loves all balls these days.  He enjoys trying to play catch with anyone and “tackling” whoever has the ball.  He loves his Bama football but also enjoys any type of ball and this Melissa & Doug Sports Bag Fill & Spill has provided James with hours of entertainment.
Let’s be real, some days I’m at my wits end by the afternoon and the kids are too.  It’s on those days that I resort to Praise Baby dvd’s and I don’t even feel bad about it.  The kids spend about 30 minutes dancing and singing along to praise music while also exclaiming over the video of animals and kids and shapes and numbers and letters.  This one is one of our most requested dvd’s but we have a number of them and they are all fantastic.
While James might not say that he really loves his snack traps, I am very thankful for them!  They’re easy to clip onto his straps in his stroller while Charlotte is at dance and helps keep him entertained and also full.  This little boy will eat about anything you put in front of him so having a couple of these pre-filled are handy to pull out.  James manages to make a pretty big mess, even with the snack trap (Charlotte didn’t make nearly as much of a mess with them), but when we’re out and about the snack trap keeps them pretty contained.  I’ve found that these are a little easier for small hands to get food out of than some other brands of similar items.
I would love to hear some suggestions for James or Charlotte for Christmas lists or things that your kids love that I haven’t thought of!  Check out my friend Nicole’s Christmas Countdown series for her family’s wish lists this Christmas.
Disclaimer: No one asked me to list these items and my opinions are all my own. But if you purchase one of these items through these links on Amazon I might get a few pennies through the Amazon Associates program.