Thankful Thursday - It Takes a Community to Share the Love...

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While we made a conscious decision to start our family, nothing fully prepares you for the reality of when your baby is born.  You'd think 9+ months of growing a human inside you would do something to help you prepare for the change your world is about to take, but really it doesn't.  Every security you had in life now feels uncertain when you have a new, helpless human being you are completely responsible for.  Life is full of unknowns, and factors we have no control over. And when its only you, or you and another adult partner, if bad things happen, it sucks, but you'll deal.  Once there is a baby in the picture, your decisions and their consequences no longer are just about you.

 
#ultrahug

#ultrahug

 

We are very lucky that we have family (relatively) close, and good friends that would help us out if something dire or tragic ever happened.  But not everyone has that support system.  And then life happens and families find themselves in circumstances they never dreamed of, and parents are faced with the horrible nightmare of not being able to put a roof over their child's head.  Fortunately there are programs out there that try to help.

 
#ultrahug

#ultrahug

 

Huggies, the diaper brand, has launched a "Spread the Love" campaign, using social media and the ever-favorite selfie to encourage people to nominate a community program that could benefit from a $2,000 donation from them.  Just upload a selfie of you and your little one to Instagram or Twitter, tag it with #UltraHug, and nominate your project of choice.  It can be a fundraiser for a specific event or effort, a non-profit, a school, a community park, playground or rec center, etc.

 
#ultrahug

#ultrahug

 

I'm nominating Family Promise of Orange County.  This is a program that is designed to help those families that life has seriously challenged, to get back on their feet. They believe that no child should have to sleep in a car or under a bridge (I couldn't agree more), and that every family deserves a chance to be whole and have a roof over their head. Sometimes it takes a community to provide for a child; Family Promise is the community doing just that.  I can't think of a better way to spread the love than helping families in need.  If my family found itself in hopeless circumstances, I would be eternally grateful for a program like this one.

 
#ultrahug

#ultrahug

 

I know there are so many worthy projects and causes out there that could benefit from a little extra cash - take a minute to capture a moment with your little one, and nominate a worthy cause. Don't forget the tag: #UltraHug.

 

6pm Shoes - My Wishlist

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A girl can never have too many shoes.  Ok, so that's not really true, but I have yet to encounter the time when I felt like I have too many.  One pair of shoes can go with so many things.  And a fun pair can totally transform an outfit.  Say you're wearing jeans and a T: basic, could be boring.  Throw on some sneakers and run your errands, nothing special.  But swap the sneaks for some strappy, sassy heels for a dinner or an evening out and you've got a stylish look.

A shoe habit can get very expensive though. While you don't want to skimp too much, because your feet will pay with blisters and aches, after a certain price point, the cost of many shoes is just inflated. I have not found any more comfort in a pair of $600 Manolos than I do in a $80 Nine West.  A 4-inch heel is a 4-inch heel.

So I'm always on the hunt for quality shoes at as affordable a price as possible (because then you can buy more!) One of my favorite sites for a wide selection of discount shoes is 6pm.com.   If you don't know them, check the site out.  They also have some clothing and accessories, but their shoe and handbag selections are the best.  Regularly you can find brand names at 30-50% off, but sometimes it even goes up to 70-80% off.  Men's, women's and children's.  They have free shipping on all orders, and their customer service is very good.

This is my current 6pm.com wishlist, and they're all (except one) under $50:

Those should get me through the summer, don't you think? ;)
 

Baby Registry: 5 Items You Never Knew You Needed

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I am by no means an expert, as I've only done the newborn through toddler thing once so far. But I was spending time a with a friend over the weekend who is 6 weeks in to being a mommy for the first time, and while she has the bulk of her current daily necessities at this point, I was thinking about a few other things she doesn't have and wouldn't think to have at this point, that I now highly recommend from my experiences.  So thought I'd share here too, for anyone else in the same boat.

None of these do you need in order to be prepared to bring your newborn home (in fact some of these aren't relevant until several months in) but once you've settled in to this new crazy life you're living, these will be helpful.

1.  A Diaper Clutch: You probably spent a lot of time look for the diaper bag that best suited your style and fit all the other requirements everyone told you would want.  And you probably packed each of the 3 dozen pockets with all of the items you could possibly ever need while out of the house with your newborn.  That's great.  But give yourself 3 -4 trips out of the house with that cumbersome bag and you're going to be over it really quick.  Yes, you will want to have all those diaper bag items in the car with you for your trips away from the house, but you don't want to lug the whole thing in with you when you're just running in to Target to get some toothpaste and deodorant.

When I was first gifted a diaper clutch I thought: what good is this? It only holds a diaper and pad?  Well, that's exactly what is great about it.  SO much easier to run in to the doctor's office, to the store, to dinner, without the giant diaper bag. With a baby still in a carrier, or a toddler running around, you have your hands full enough. You don't need the giant emergency bag everywhere you go.

2.  Padded Seat Strap Covers: Many carseat carriers come with their own versions of this item, but I've found them to be stiff and not cover enough. The nylon shoulder straps of car seats can irritate your baby's neck skin, so you want something over those straps, and I recommend plush ones with the extra plush décor, like these ones.  That's specific, I know, but the extra plush animal head is good for 2 purposes:  when you're baby still has a weak neck, the bulk of the plush helps keep your baby's head steady.  Then when they get a bit older add have more head control and are more alert and active, the plush head become a good, soothing, easy for them to access chew item.  One they can't loose.

3.  Plastic Bags:  These can be any kind, but I like these biodegradable ones (if I'm going to be adding to landfills, it makes me feel better.)  Why you need these: you will be out and your baby will have a blow-out.  Being the prepared parent you are, you have a change of clothes, but then what do you do with the removed poopy clothes until you get home?  Pull out a baggie, insert, tie closed. No mess, no stink.  Good to use as well if you change a poopy diaper somewhere public and either don't have access to a trash can, or to one that is sealed.  You'll just never be sorry you have plastic baggies on hand.

 
 

4.  A Zipadee-zip:  I know you're thinking what the heck?  I laughed the first time I saw one of these to.  But it is a brilliant invention that made all the difference in getting my son to sleep, both for naps and at bedtime.  If you have a baby that is very responsive to swaddling, and needs that security to fall asleep, this will help you transition as they start to grow out of it but still need it.  They're also great for when they fall asleep but you need to travel and latch them into their car seats: you can't properly strap a swaddled baby into a car seat, but the design of the Zipadee-zip allows the straps while still confining your baby's limbs (which is what is comforting about being swaddled.)

5.  Gum Massager:  These are not really needed until they start teething their molars, and are so great once that starts.  Molars are some of the later teeth to come through, and most of the other teeth are easily soothed by standard teething rings. But the rings/teethers don't really work as well with the molars, because they are usually too wide/big to get to the back corners of your baby's mouth.   These are designed specifically for that purpose, with a guard on the handle to keep your little one from sticking it too far back.  My son is going through this phase right now, and when his teeth are bothering him, he is excited to see me pull out the 'chew stick', as we call it.

 
 

So there you have it: these 5 items I was so happy to have but were not on my initial baby registry when I started out. Hope you find something that helps you out.

What baby items couldn't you live without with your little one?


 

Hello Friday - Links I Love

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Wishing you all a wonderful weekend ahead.  Here are some fun things I came across on the web this week.
 

 
 
  1. I will probably have to invest in all three of these products.  We all know how important it is to use sunscreen daily, which it think (hope) most of us do first thing with our daily face application.  But the proper use of sunscreen requires reapplication during the day. Who does that once their makeup is on?  These products help solve that problem.
  2. Even if you don't have kids, if you've ever been around them, you can sympathize and join in the laughter found on this Instagram account: average parent problems.
  3. I am excited to look now for cheap, cute little dishes (99 cent store maybe?) and get some rope and beads and make these darling hanging planters.  Hanging planters are a perfect way to add more greenery to your home while keeping it baby-safe.  These look so easy!
  4. Just a little interesting fact explaining the purpose of the extra lace hole in your gym shoes. Huh, who knew?

Friday Favorites - Links

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Sharing some amazing/fun things I found on the web this week.  Happy Friday! 

Top Row, L-R

Middle Row, L-R

  • Loving all the greenery and natural elements in this interior tour.  Inspired for my own home decor to use more plants. (abeautifulmess.com)
  • A trip down memory lane: a look back at our technology from 10 years (only 10 years) ago. Remember what you had? (huffpost.com)
  • You don't have to be a parent to appreciate that kids say the darndest things. (huffpost.com)

Bottom Row, L-R

What great things did you stumble across out there this past week?