Chicken Tortilla Soup

  • 4 chicken breast halves
  • 2 15 oz. cans black beans or pinto beans
  • 1 15 oz. can mexican stewed tomatoes or rotel tomatoes
  • 1 cup salsa
  • 1 14.5 oz. can tomato sauce
  • Tortilla chips
  • Shredded cheddar cheese

Combine all ingredients, except chips and cheese, in large slow cooker. Cover and cook for 8 hours on low. Just before serving, remove chicken and cut into bite size pieces. Stir back into soup. To serve, place a handful of chips into each bowl and ladle soup over chips, top with cheese. Can also add sour cream to slow cooker.

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January 30, 2006 | Filed Under Recipes | 1 Comment 

Cute Customized Shirts

P1010035-2

When we found out we were pregnant with our second child, we wanted to announce it to our parents in a unique way. We found Creations by Lisa McGrath and were able to customize a t-shirt for the special announcement. She has many designs available and she works closely with her customers to make sure you are getting exactly what you want. We were able to pick out hair color, eye color and clothing color. We liked the above t-shirt so much, we ordered one for Caleb to wear at the hospital that said “I am the Big Brother”.

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January 28, 2006 | Filed Under Clothing | Leave a Comment 

5 Ways to Entertain Your Toddler

Two year olds have the attention span of, well, a two year old (some 33 year olds do to, but that’s a post for another day). Sometimes you need to keep them entertained while you get things done, so here’s what we’ve found works:

  1. Books - This works a lot of the time. Caleb could take a stack of books and be occupied for quite some time.
  2. Coloring - I think kids are naturally creative. Caleb loves drawing, and he’ll color on anything you stick in front of him. This is good for restaraunts, since you can usually let him draw on a scrap piece of paper with a pen.
  3. Snacks - I wouldn’t use this if our kids were overweight, but this is very effective at keeping Caleb occupied, and we use this a lot when he’s in his stroller (at the mall, for example). His favorite is raisins or Cheerios, but we’ve been known to buy a box of Animal Crackers if we forget the snacks at home.
  4. Puzzles - There are certain toys that will hold Caleb’s attention, puzzles are one of them.
  5. Videos - We try to use this sparingly, but if all else fails this will usually work (particularly if what Mom and Dad are doing is interesting). We have a ton of the Baby Einstein videos, which Caleb still loves, and we usually have some episodes of Little Einsteins or Hi-5 on Tivo.

Bonus link: Parent Hacks has a suggestion as well: Play-Doh. We haven’t tried that one yet, but we will soon.

What’s your favorite “I need to get something done” trick?

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January 28, 2006 | Filed Under Crafts & Activities | Leave a Comment 

Chore Charts

We are in the process of finding the best chore chart to use with our 2 1/2 year old. He is at the age where he wants to do everything himself and is capable of doing some small chores around the house (picking up toys, putting dishes in the sink). We are also wanting to use it to reward good behavior (staying in bed, not whining/throwing temper tantrums). In our search for a chore chart, we have found one that we think will work well for us and it has gotten great reviews. It is by “Melissa & Doug” and our sons really like their toys. They are wooden toys and very durable. We have several of their puzzles, magnetic dinosaurs and a tool box. Has anyone used a chore chart that they really liked?

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January 26, 2006 | Filed Under Gear | Leave a Comment 

What’s in Your Diaper Bag?

I am always curious what other people have in their diaper bags. This is what is in my boys diaper bag:

  • changing pad
  • diapers (2 sizes)
  • diaper wipes
  • burp rag
  • bottle
  • formula
  • desitin
  • purell hand gel
  • tide to go pen
  • pacifier
  • pacifier keeper
  • kleenex
  • band aids
  • antiseptic wash
  • snacks (cheerios and kix)

For longer excursions out of the house, I will put books and toys in there as well to keep the boys occupied and happy. What’s in your diaper bag?

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January 22, 2006 | Filed Under Gear, Organization | Leave a Comment 

The Best Humidifier We’ve Ever Owned

I have a love/hate relationship with humidifiers. I love the way they prevent my skin from feeling like sandpaper. I hate the fact that they are a huge pain to keep clean, and every one we’ve owned has broken rather quickly. This year I bought two new ones (one for each of the kid’s rooms), that I found at Target (Amazon also carries them). There are a number of different models: a panda, a penguin, an elephant, a cat, a dog, and a frog. They’re cute, both kids like them, and they’re simple to clean.

I’m happy.

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January 19, 2006 | Filed Under Gear | Leave a Comment 

Mom Friendly Planners

Anyone who thinks that a mom doesn’t have a lot going on, hasn’t been one. Between doctors appointments, playdates and yet another trip to the store for diapers, there is a lot to keep track of. Luckily, I’ve found that there are a number of mom friendly planners on the market to keep you organized and on schedule. I am using a Franklin Covey 365 Planner from Target right now. I do like some of the features in these other planners such as:

  • grocery/menu planner
  • medical logs
  • birthday reminders

There are a few different brands on the market. The ones I have found are:

Has anyone tried one of these (or something similar)? What did you think?

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January 17, 2006 | Filed Under Organization | 1 Comment 

How To Get a Baby To Sleep

We have two children who sleep very well. Getting your kids to sleep well isn’t easy, but it’s possible. I won’t guarantee that everything here will work for you, but like everything else on this site, it’s worked well for us. Here’s a composite of things I’ve learned from various sources: friends, books, magazines, and online.

Start early. Newborns won’t stick to any sort of schedule – you have to accomodate theirs. But starting about six weeks, you can begin sleep training. Our first son, Caleb, was sleeping through the night (7pm-6am, getting up only once for feeding) at about 3 months. Camden, our second son, was doing so by 8 weeks.

The most important thing is establishing a routine. This isn’t always possible, but when it is, it makes all the difference in the world. Here are the essential components of a routine:

The same time/same place

As much as possible, sleep your baby in the same place. Try not to alternate too much between crib/bassinet/pack and play. The same time is important as well, kids thrive on consistency.

The same pattern

With both kids we have developed a good bedtime/nap routine. At bedtime, we give them a bath, read them a story, feed them (if needed), and then snuggle (my favorite).

Adapt when necessary

Regardless of what you may think, the baby is in charge. He’ll let you know when it’s time to change the routine and move the naps earlier or later (or eliminate them altogether). Learn to roll with the punches.

Here are a couple of other tips:

Don’t tiptoe around

If you demand total quiet while the baby is sleeping, you’ll raise a baby who can’t sleep in anything but total quiet. Not good. The noise in the womb is equivalent to a vacuum cleaner, they’re used to noise. Do the things you normally do, and don’t worry too much about waking up the baby. If your normal routine consists of listening to music at really loud volumes though, you may need to adapt slightly…

Let there be light

Expose your child to daylight, it helps to set their internal clock.

Use white noise

If your baby has trouble sleeping, it may be because there isn’t enough noise. Try putting a fan in their room, or play a white noise CD. There are also some white noise machines, but I’ve not tried any of them. We have, however, had good luck with our Ocean Wonders Aquarium crib toy, which has a “crashing waves” setting that both kids seemed to find soothing.

That’s really all there is to it. Hopefully you find this helpful. Here’s some additional reading on this topic:

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child – If you buy only one book, buy this one.

The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night

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January 13, 2006 | Filed Under Sleep | Leave a Comment 

Free Stuff for Your Baby

There’s no shortage of companies willing to give you free stuff just for having a baby (and seriously, they’re expensive buggers so you can probably use all the help you can get!). Here’s a list for starters:

Ringling Brothers Circus Your babies first circus is on the house.

Whitehouse Greeting A personal greeting from the White House. Not terribly valuable, but a nice memento regardless.

Additionally, most baby-centric companies will give you either free product samples, or coupons just for signing up on their website:

Any others we missed?

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January 10, 2006 | Filed Under Miscellaneous | Leave a Comment 

What’s in Our Favorites

Here’s a list of some of our favorite sites:

Babycenter: One of the best resources on parenting, period.

Flylady: An excellent resource for keeping your home running smoothly.

Parenthacks: Parenting hacks, tips and tricks.

Ask Dr. Sears: An A-Z compendium of medical information about children. One of my favorite sections is the Medicine Cabinet, which gives you detailed information on virtually every medicine for your child including dosage information.

The Lactivist: The lactivist is a somewhat irreverent blog and store devoted to nursing mothers. If you’re nursing (or planning on it), you need to check this site out.

What are your favorite sites? Post a comment below and let us know.

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January 8, 2006 | Filed Under Miscellaneous | Leave a Comment 

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