7 Ways To Entertain a 3 Year Old

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It is winter and my 3 year old son has cabin fever already. I have been searching pinterest for activities to keep him happily learning and playing all day long. These are some of the cutest ideas I found.

This pretend plate of food for Thanksgiving activity would be a good way to build my son up to eating Thanksgiving dinner. He is pretty sure he doesn't like anything but chicken and crackers.

My son might be down with this pretend ice cream cone craft. 

Hand print flowers would be fun to make and cute to display.

My son would like this make a lion craft. This is a must try soon idea!

My son loves playing matching games so this Popsicle  game would be a lot of fun for both of us.

My son loves to check out tanks of fish so he would like creating a fish of his own I am sure.

My son really loves the idea of Christmas and he loves cereal. Win, Win.

10 Baby Items You Won't Need

When I found out I was pregnant with my son Roo I was ecstatic. One of the things I was interested in was the birth process! You can learn more about the hypnobirthing technique like I did. I did a lot of shopping for baby gear before my baby shower and I ended up with a ton of baby items I absolutely didn't need, and I used many of them once if ever. When I found out I was expecting again I had a good idea of what things I would not need. I am going to share a list of baby items you really don't need to help you save money when you are shopping for a baby shower or your own little bundle of joy.

A baby wipe warmer- I received a baby wipe warmer as a shower gift. I thought what a cool idea and couldn't wait to set it up I envisioned my son being blissful when a perfectly warm wipe touched his skin...Then he arrived and I found I was never changing a diaper in the same place. I became a master of changing diapers in any location. The pads in the warmer dried out super fast and it mostly sat around using electricity. Save your money on this item, it is really not needed.

Baby Blankets- I saw so many cute blankets that I couldn't resist buying about a dozen for Roo. Then I had a baby shower and received 9 handmade blankets and 10 adorable mass produced blankets. We had so many baby blankets that I ended up giving 5 away right off the bat. We had so many blankets in the end that my son only used a few of them once or twice. We didn't need to buy any blankets for Harper as we had so many and friends and family have offered her handmade blankets also. Save your money, don't buy any blankets until after your baby shower. Really you need no more than 6 blankets in my opinion.

Toys that are aimed at newborns- Let's face it, we can't resist buying some of this baby stuff because it is cute! Toys are no exception. With Roo he had so many toys at birth that it was crazy. People that aren't familiar with babies will buy them toys at birth (or so it seems) then act very disappointed when baby isn't playing with them right away. If you need to buy toys stick with teethers, rattles and similar items. You are better off to buy toys for future play. Think the 3-6 month age range.

Clothes from the previous season- I have a well meaning relative that works retail. She buys up all of the kids clothes she can for my family at prices as low as $1 per piece. This always makes me feel bad! She might bring 20 items to us from the previous season. My infant daughter cannot wear a 3-6 month tank top and short set when it is January. Before she could wear it she will have outgrown it and that is a waste of money from the well meaning loved one. If you are going to buy off season clothes, think how big will the child be when it is spring? And buy a bigger size than what the child is currently wearing.

Infant towels- these are cute, who can resist tiny little towels?! But really they are so thin and flimsy they are not super effective for drying a baby. You can use your bath towels on baby, it will be okay!

Tummy Time Mats- These are cute and look fun too, but you can save at least $30 by not getting one. Put one of the lovely baby blankets you have to use. Offer baby a few of those toys you couldn't resist or were given as a gift. A rattle, a large inflatable ball  or a child safe mirror will do the trick of engaging the child while he or she is getting tummy time.

Pacifier Wipes- You think you are going to use these. You have good intentions. Then you realize how busy you are, you forget about them. These are a novel idea but in my opinion, they are not worth the money. 

Diaper Genie- I am sorry the idea of a huge container of soiled diapers just grosses me out. Plus, this is just silly! Just throw the diapers away with your garbage and save your money. The refills on these are too expensive anyhow.

Baby Powder- this smells nice, don't get me wrong, but my pediatrician told me not to use it, it is like rubbing sandpaper on delicate skin and can cause breathing problems if inhaled. He said frequent changes and use of diaper ointment when needed are better options for baby.

Baby Shoes- my daughter is 6 weeks old. She has 8 pairs of shoes for the 0-3 month size. She has at least 3 pairs of each size of shoe until she is about 18 months old... don't get caught up in this style game! One pair, maybe 2 if you can't resist of each size is more than enough. Shoes are really unneeded considering baby cannot walk.

I hope this list helps you save money on items for baby. I would love to hear from you, what items did you have that you found to be completely unnecessary?

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Life With A New Baby

Some of you might be interested to hear how life with a new baby is going in my world, so I thought I would offer an update post.

Harper is sweet, she is cute, she is cuddly. She brings a smile to the face of anyone that sees her. She is tiny, still not at 8 pounds. We have a little joke that she is 1 pound of baby and 6 and a half pounds of cheeks as she has the roundest little face. She has grown, tonight her preemie sized pajamas were too small, but they fit just fine maybe 3 days ago. We are officially into newborn sizes and she is 5 weeks old.

Harper makes the best faces, as you can see in the photo above. She has us giggling daily with her funny baby faces. 

Harper sleeps well a few nights a week and keeps me awake a few nights. The long nights that she won't sleep without being held are totally worth it. The nights she sleeps like a log are odd, I find myself going to her room to check on her every hour or so.

Rolf is warming up to her. He will give her kisses, he strokes her face and hair and he has shown an interest in holding her a few times. The first 10 days were rough, he was jealous and he acted out a lot, but he is getting better with the idea of having a sister. I am relieved! I have made an effort to hold him, hold his hand, to tell him how special he is to me and how loved he is. When I shower him with attention he feels important and his outbursts are fewer and further between. I try to include him in the care of Harper and that makes life easier. He feels important when he is handing me a bottle, throwing a diaper away or bringing me a fresh one or fetching a blanket big enough for everyone to cuddle under.

Harper is starting to demonstrate her personality. She likes only one brand of pacifiers. She likes to be held but is not fond of being stroked. She wants to be held without any extra touching and she wants you to be still when you hold her. She doesn't like to go outside, she doesn't like to ride in the car. She likes her cozy house best.

Harper is fascinated with Rolf, she hears his voice and turns her head to watch him with big blue eyes. Rolf likes the captive audience and has no complaints. 

Since having Harper I have learned about slowing down, not taking on as much work and letting the house get messy. Before Harper I stressed about those things. I wasn't sleeping enough, I was over extending myself and I was obsessed with picking up the never ending mess. I have noticed that in the past weeks with my new found go with the flow attitude that I feel better about me. 

Life with a new baby has been good. The time has passed rapidly, but it has helped me to prioritize. Harper is all anyone could hope for in a baby. She is healthy, cuddly, sweet, adorable. She makes me very happy.

Saturday #182

On Saturday #182 (#3) my family slept in a little later than normal. What a treat it was for me to wake up at a few minutes til 8!

We took the morning at a slow pace. I wasn't frantic to get a lot of things accomplished. I watched cartoons with my son and I cuddled my daughter. Since Harper was born I have really slowed down and started taking the time to enjoy life more. I notice how much my son has grown, how fast time passes and how insignificant so many things really are. There will always be laundry to fold, dishes to wash and things to pick up. My kids won't always be small... that makes it easier to go with the flow of things.

My parents finally came to see Harper. She was a sweetheart as always. She is beautiful, cuddly and totally addictive. She stole their hearts as expected. They accompanied us to the West side shopping plaza for Trick or Treat with Roo who was fun. The first stop he made was priceless. As the lady put a handful of candy into his pail he broke out in a huge smile and told her "Candy? Happy!" We both had a good laugh over that.

We then stopped for lunch and went back to our house to visit with the family. Roo was great, he was fun, he was lively, he was singing, dancing, completely showing off. I loved to see him come out of his shell and not act shy around the grandparents.

When they left we decided to take our recycling to drop off, and it wouldn't be a weekend without a dash into WalMart. I had to stock up on newborn size diapers and wipes for the week. I had been prepared for a big baby, I have size 1, 2, 3 and 4 diapers in reserve for Harper, but wouldn't you know newborn is a size I opted not to get and we are going thru a ton of those!

So I grabbed the diapering needs and headed home for a relaxing evening with my husband. He convinced me to watch a Kenny Rodgers movie with him. I fell asleep within 30 minutes but that was okay, when I woke up I saw Adam was asleep on the couch too. Quality time together in dreamland.

The day was great. It covered the basics; sleep, candy, family, shopping, happy kids. I hope you had a chance to enjoy quality time with your loved ones over the weekend. It amazes me how fast these Saturdays pass by.

Ryobi 40 V Cordless Mower Review

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or

services mentioned above in the hope that I would mention it

on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally

and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance

with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the

Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

I had the pleasure of reviewing a Ryobi 40 V Cordless Mower. This was my first experience with a battery operated lawn mower and I didn't know what to expect from it. I will be honest, I rarely mow grass. My husband usually takes care of that chore and when he can't due to time constraints I have a lawn guy that I call on. It is not that I don't enjoy the chore... well, no honestly I didn't enjoy the chore of mowing due to our previous mower which was hard to start, hard to push and very loud.

 When the Ryobi Mower arrived I was immediately impressed with the appearance. It looks very modern, and very bright!

My husband was ready to assemble the mower right away, I couldn't believe how lightweight it was.  I expected it to be much heavier than 40 pounds. The mower has such visual appeal I couldn't help but get a little excited about it.

As you can see the dog even got excited about the new mower

We both liked that it came with 2 batteries, we charged them up and prepared to mow the following day. My husband being the dear that he is told me he would handle the mowing as I am too pregnant to be doing that right now.

My son and I were curious so we headed outside to see the Ryobi mower in action. The first thing I noticed was that the mower started easily. My husband simply pushed the bar and pressed a button and it was ready to go! No pulling on a cord thingy for 10 minutes to get it started, this is a huge selling point for someone like me. Next I noticed the mower was quiet. My husband could hear me over the running lawn mower and we were able to talk without shouting while he mowed grass. I love a quiet operating lawn mower!

My little Roo had to pet the mower, he found it to be magical!

The next thing we liked was that it mulch bag attachment which makes the mow super clean. It takes about 90 minutes to fully charge the battery. The battery is easy to insert into the mower.

Now, I will be honest here. Our yard is not big by any means. It is a modest sized yard. The mower is ideal for really small yards. The battery life seems to run 20 minutes or so and that means to completely mow our yard we need to use both batteries, then charge them both again to do the front yard. This means to mow our yard it takes us at least 2 days. That isn't a huge deal to me, or to my husband. In the summer especially it is nice to take a break from the sweltering heat and rest when you are mowing. So it works well for our needs.

The mower has a 16" cutting width, it takes no oil or gas and it has a great deal of visual appeal. Several of our neighbors have stopped to admire our Ryobi 40 V Cordless and have commented on how quiet it is to operate and how they like that.


We liked the Ryobi mower. It operates with ease, it is quiet, it looks great, it folds up to be compact for easy storage which is always a bonus for us with limited space in our shed.

You can purchase the Ryobi 40 V Cordless Mower at Home Depot.
Connect with Ryobi to learn more.
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