Where has my lil baby gone? Sadie is becoming more and more independent and mobile everyday.
She is still tiny and my lil baby girl but she has started trying to walk now and it just puts me in shock
at how fast ten months went. She pushes behind her lil push toy hippo and walks all over the apartment now..
she also loves to hold onto our hands and walk around. I believe she is determined to figure out this walking thing
since she will cry sometimes and just get mad at crawling so we will help her stand up and then ta da laughing
Sadie once again

We also just recently moved to a two bedroom apartment…that was a crazy move and we are still unpacking bits
here and there…but the most exciting of all about moving is Sadie has her own big room now and she sleeps through
the night now!!! I was so use to get up with her 6-7 times at most through out the night so it took me awhile to get use to
either getting up just once to nurse her or not at all!! Now I just sleep though It is so nice to sleep again….Friday night
she slept from 8:30-6:30 then slept in till 10am!!! Threw both my husband and I off since Sadie is usually our trusty alarm
clock between 7-8:30. And last night she slept from 9-7 so a full nights rest again I am just so thankful to God that she is
sleeping much better now and not demanding to be nursed every hour. She obviously needed her own space to rest better..she
even is taking naps better. Granted this might change due to teething or what not…(she is on her third tooth..getting them
all at once) but for now I am just so happy to finally get some goodnight sleep

The pictures are of Sadie playing at the Sciencenter…she loves going there and hanging out with her friends and all the new toys
and fun stuff to explore. Sadie has this one friend who is almost two years old..his name is Aden…and they just lvoe each other
so much its so cute…Aden will look around at nursery (church) for Sadie and when he sees her he yells out Sa Sa !! They hug each other, play together, and one day Aden decided to even carry Sadie around!!! that was a little scary turning around and seeing him holding her and carrying her…she was fine but it made both his mom and I hold our breath and run for the babies :)…Its so so cute
watching her interact with other babies and toddlers She loves other kids…as long as mommy isnt holding them we discovered she has a jealousy about sharing her mommy I was trying to help out a friend and hold her baby for a few minutes and Sadie acted like I had betrayed her for life…it was quite devastating for her…I quickly ran to her to let her know everything was alright…and I hope that she will learn to be okay with it. But for now Sadie has all of Mommy to herself

The other night my daughter Punka, went down (surprisingly) peacefully for her bedtime.  Within an hour, she erupted in a bloodcurdling scream that sent me running for her door.  I had never heard her scream like that before, so of course my mind involuntarily ran through worse case scenarios.  Had she fallen out of bed and broken her arm?  Was there an intruder in the house?  What could possibly make her scream like that?

I reached her room to find the culprit was a wolf.  Yes, a wolf.  Apparently in the haze of her dimly lit room, my imaginative 2 year old had found the wolf’s eyes (which had been featured in Aesop’s Fables at Library Story Time that afternoon).  I calmed her and asked her to show me the wolf, and she franticly pointed to the tiny lights on the smoke/carbon monoxide detector.  I tried to soothe her fears with logic (not a toddler’s strong point), but that didn’t work.  In the end, after retrieving Daddy (appropriately still dressed in cammo uniform and hunting make believe wolfs), turning on the light, and rearranging anything that might cast a shadow, she finally settle down to sleep.

The next night she saw birds in her closet – a small pile of clothes that cast a shadow.  The night after that, a snake – the skinny outline of her lamp’s electrical cord.  My husband and I were both baffled.  We’ve never had this problem with my daughter before.  You always hear about children being afraid of undescript monsters in the closet or under the bed.  But that would be too easy…My daughter thinks monsters are funny.  Monsters can be explained away.  “Oh, monsters are just pretend.  They don’t exist.” 

How do you explain away a wolf?  Or a bird?  Or a snake?  They’re all real animals she reads about or sees everyday.  It’s not like I can censor them from her life like I could monsters and horror movies.  Once again, I’m stumped by a two year old.

DebD, MilitaryMomma

www.DunkDesigns.com

So the owner of the gardening toolkit site decided to offer a one day sale to celebrate the first day of spring. You can get the whole set marked down from $27 to $14. Check it out here. This sale ends at midnight!

Happy Spring!

I just found out that Jim is going to make a better price on the gardening toolkit for One Day Only.  That will be tomorrow–to celebrate the first day of spring!  Come by tomorrow and I’ll have the info for you.  (He’s still putting it together right now)

It’s springtime and those tempting seed
catalogs are filling our mailboxes, inspiring
us to do some gardening! My husband and I
started gardening with our children when they
were young and it was such a fun experience.
We all learned alongside each other and got
to experience the wonder of actual food
growing in our own back yard.

If you have been thinking about doing some
gardening this year, you are going to love
this! My friend Jim Erskine has put together
a fabulous collection of gardening resources
at a super price.
This “tool kit” has 14 resources that will
instruct and inspire you in your gardening
pursuits this spring. For this week you can
get them at a great discounted price.
Go on over and check out all these great
resources. They have stuff for organic
gardening, growing potatoes the easy way (I’ll be trying this one!),
ideas for including your children in
gardening, and lots more.

If there’s one thing that I’ve found most of us have in common, we all love a bargain! Well, this week I have an incredible offer for you that I know you’re going to love.

My friend Tawra Kellam runs Living on a Dime, one of the internet’s most popular web sites dedicated to helping all of us live well on less.

This week Tawra is allowing me to share a fabulous offer with you folks. To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day you can get **17** wonderful eBooks for just $17!! This collection of books includes

• Grocery Savings book
• Menus on a Dime
• Quick Dinners
• Plan Ahead Leftovers
• Teaching your kids about managing money
• Gifts in a Jar recipes and instructions
• Money Management to help you get out of debt
• Debt-Free Holidays
• and a whole bunch more!

I have most of Tawra’s books and can tell you that they are chock-full of practical and helpful ideas that really WILL help you save money!

Stop by Tawra’s site to check out this offer. I think you will be very pleased with what you see there, and that this ebook package will be really valuable to you.

This special sale ends SOON so don’t miss it!

Come back tomorrow for another great GREEN deal that you’ll LOVE!

This gal is the winner of the Ultimate Blog Party giveaway.  Congratulations!

Ladies and gents, May I call your attention to the center ring as I attempt the impossible.  I, Momma the Magnificient, will attempt fly alone with my toddler, and arrive at my destination sane!  “Can’t be done!” You say?…
…I agree, but hey I have to keep the dream alive right?  So, back to reality.  Me being me, I set off to prepare for this fated trip back to the East Coast by researching and planning.  We’re not new to long hauls and traveling by car for days, being an Army family, but planes are different.  You can’t stop for potty breaks and the occasional “my butt’s asleep” pitstop.  Add to that Mommy’s huge fear of flying, and the general chaos of going anywhere alone with a very active and antsy toddler, and it seems like an all but impossible feat.
However, I am determined to try to make the best of it.  After all, at the end of that very long plane ride is HOME.  Grandma.  Grampa. Cousins, Aunts and Uncles.  I just have to make it through 8 hours on a plane and a short layover to gain 6 full days of the comforts of home.  I can do this! (Or so I tell myself.)
In order to make this trip as smooth as possible, I’ve compiled quite the Traveling Toolkit chocked full of fun little activities and, well, bribes.  My secret weapon:  snacks and a portable DVD player.  I’ve also bought a toddler book about first plane rides, a coloring book about airplanes, and toddler sized headphones shaped like teddy bears.

I added a GoGo Kidz TravelMate (an attachment for your child’s carseat that converts it into a stroller of sorts, for an easier terminal to terminal dash!) to my arsenal, and I hope that it holds up to my expectations.  Most of all I just hope beyond hope that the Tantrum Gods are good to us that day.  Be sure I’ll be giving a full report of the effectiveness of my battle plan after we return. Wish me luck!

DebD, MilitaryMomma
www.DunkDesigns.com

It’s time for another blog party! Welcome to the fun!

I’m Erica, and this blog is where I focus on everything that moms of little ones are interested in. In addition to my own writing, we have several contributing bloggers here, including a young first-time mom, a mom with a child with Down Syndrome, and a military mom.

Some fun things I have going on right now:

Get a free ebook: The No-Cry Parenting Guide. Yours when you sign up for my free newsletter here.

I am also hosting a great sale on my two healthy eating books right now, with 50% of the proceeds going to Zoe Children’s Homes, which is an organization that rescues children from the evils of human trafficking. You can read more about this here.

In celebration of The Ultimate Blog Party, I will be giving away a sweet pair of crib shoes in newborn size. Here’s what they look like:

All you have to do to be entered into the drawing is to leave a comment here and tell me who you would give the crib shoes to. Please be sure that I have your email address so I can notify you if you’re the winner.

You can visit my Health and Wellness blog here, and my Supermom’s No-Lice Advice blog here. I have giveaways going on at both sites.

Enjoy the party!!

ZOE Children’s Homes is an international Christian organization that rescues children who are sold, or at risk of being sold, into prostitution slavery; orphaned, or victims of other heinous crimes and abuse. You all have heard me talk about this organization before. The work that this organization does is amazing because they literally save the lives of children. We can’t even imagine the evils that await the children that fall into the trap of human trafficking, and it’s amazing what a small amount of money is enough for the ZOE team to take in one more child that they will love, feed, clothe, educate, and care for…until adulthood! ZOE is committed to their children for life. They are simply amazing.

I have looked forward to the day when I would have an opportunity to make a sizable donation to this organization, and now it’s here. I am offering my two books as a fundraiser for ZOE Children’s Homes. I will be donating 50% of the proceeds of this sale directly to ZOE Children’s Homes on March 15. Feel free to spread the word on your blogs and egroups so that we can make a huge impact in helping these children.

If you would like to make an additional donation to ZOE, please follow this link to do so. Every little bit helps. I have a personal friend that works with this organization and she has told me that many times ZOE has a list of children waiting to be rescued, but they have to wait for one. more. donation. before they can get that child. YOUR DONATIONS WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Visit the fundraiser here.

Sadie has gotten her first tooth…and it has made her very cranky so far. It is poking out more and more each day
and just the other day her Aunt Sophia found that she has another tooth coming in right next to the other one.
So Sadie is getting both her front bottom teeth all in one week! Poor Baby…

She also entered the phase of I don’t want to sit still for any bit of time… She does not like her stroller anymore
and wants to crawl all over the stores we go into. At church she just recently started going to the nursery which
she loves a lot more than I thought she would. I was all worried the first time and came to get her early and she did
not want to leave the other kids or toys. Sadie is a very social baby…she loves other toddlers and kids..she will follow them
around everywhere and look at them with those pleading eyes and laugh as if she is saying “hey lets play” in her own
little baby language. So know she plays in the nursery while we actually get sit and listen to the sermon.

It is amazing to watch how she interacts with others and how she approaches situations. She has just started to try to walk
behind this little push toy. She gets very nervous though and tries to signal to me to come help. So finally she decided
to walk on her knees to get around lol….it is pretty funny but works fine for her I guess. She also loves waving at everyone ..
at moving cars, when people leave, and just for fun she waves and blows kisses its adorable!

Her Daddy has also gotten her attached to music thats upbeat and fun. When we play her favorite song she will bounce up and down
and dance all goofy like…then when the song goes off Sadie signs more more frantically. Silly Sadie

I have been dreaming of going on a cruise for a long time now. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to make that happen this year. I love the idea of the all-inclusive vacation, where you can just go eat, hang around, sleep, and check things out without constantly having to worry about how much it all costs. My husband and I would love to go on an Alaska cruise tour and hopefully do some whale watching. My mom, sister, and sister-in-law have been talking about a girls-only cruise for about a year. We would probably aim for something warm and tropical.

I found a helpful site today. TravelStoreUSA.com has all the info you need about flights, car rentals, and of course cruises. I like it that you aren’t stuck looking at just one cruise line. Plus they have a cool search area where you can find cruises for particular interests, age groups, etc. They also have experts that are available to help you find what you’re looking for and get the best deal available. There is info to help you navigate passport issues, too.

Have you ever been on a cruise? Do you have any suggestions for me?

~Erica

Hey gals,

This week you can get a free ebook called Organizing 101 by going here.  I love to organizing, and I love to pretend that I’m going to get more organized.  ;)  At least with this book there won’t be any clutter coming into the house, right?

~Erica

This article highlights a disturbing discovery that all parents should be concerned about.  Take a minute to check it out.

This year, March is the month for Easter!  Religiously it is celebrated as the resurrection of Jesus after his crucifixion, and secularly, it is celebrated with colored eggs, chocolate candies and stuffed bunnies.  Easter is called a “moveable” Holiday because it is unfixed in relation to the civil calendar and follows the cycle of the moon.  In the West, Easter always falls on a Sunday anytime from March 22nd – April 25,^th and the rule since the Middle Ages has been that Easter is observed on the Sunday after the first full moon.  Whether celebrating in the religious manner with the traditions of the church, or by decorating eggs and hiding them throughout the house, most families in the United States, as well as other countries around the world celebrate the Easter Holiday in some way or another.

·         In Canada, eggs and other treats are distributed by the Easter Bunny.  The modern belief that eggs are delivered by a rabbit known as the Easter Bunny comes from the legend of the Goddess Eostre. So much did a lowly rabbit want to please the Goddess that he laid the sacred eggs in her honor, gaily decorated them, and humbly presented them to her.  She was so pleased at the gift that she wished all humankind to share in her joy. In honor of her wishes, the rabbit went through the entire world and distributed these little decorated gifts of life.

·         In the UK, families exchange chocolate eggs on Easter Sunday.  They also enjoy a traditional Sunday Roast Dinner and eat foods like Simnel cake, a fruit cake with eleven marzipan balls representing the eleven faithful apostles. Hot cross buns are also eaten through Holy Week and the Easter period. In Northern England and Ireland, families gather together and roll decorated eggs down steep hills.

·         Norway has a more contemporary Easter tradition that involves the solving of murder mysteries that are broadcast on television and printed in the local newspapers and magazines.

·         In Finland, Sweden and Denmark, small children dressed up as witches and collect candy and treats door-to-door, in exchange for decorated pussy willows. This mixture comes from the old Orthodox tradition in which houses are blessed with willow branches, and the Scandinavian Easter witch tradition.

·         People in Germany and the Netherlands light Easter fires on Easter Sunday at sunset.

·         In Hungary, perfume or perfumed water is sprinkled in exchange for an Easter egg.

No matter our religious denomination, ethnicity or culture, we can broaden our horizons and add some new experiences to our own family traditions.  Whether we try some new foods for Easter dinner, roll our eggs down the steepest hill in our neighborhood, or read a mystery story aloud as a family, experiencing different and unique things together can lead to some treasured family memories.

Lisa Smith is the Owner/CEO of Regionz Kidz, a multi-cultural infant & toddler clothing line featuring ethnically diverse characters and designs.  She publishes a blog on her website http://www.regionzkidz.com that discusses cultural diversity & children & is a frequent guest blogger on other blogs and websites regarding parenting and children’s issues. She is also a monthly contributor to Educated Mommy Magazine.  You can contact Lisa directly at: lisa@regionzkidz.com