Having a baby in the winter has its own set of challenges.  For many of us who live in cold weather climates, our biggest concern with having a winter baby is "How am I going to get to the hospital if there's a snowstorm?!?" It's so easy to get caught up worrying about how you'll get to the hospital in time and how you'll walk / waddle on the ice without slipping that you forget to plan ahead properly for the newborn essentials that you specifically need for babies born in the wintertime, which are pretty important! This blog post will get you started on the Keep Reading

  If you are wondering “What do I need for a newborn?” then you are in the right place! Having a newborn baby is stressful enough without having to worry about what to buy in preparation for his or her arrival. When I was about to have my first baby, I was SO CONFUSED about what was truly a baby necessity and what I should bother putting on my registry. It was so tough being a first time mom and the first of my close circle of friends to get pregnant! I really didn't know where to get advice. I wish an experienced mom would have taken me by the hand and walked me Keep Reading

  If you are going to be having an infant during hot hot HOT weather, like June, July, or August in North America (and maybe May or September, depending on how far south you live where you live), then you need to be prepared to keep baby safe from the dangerous summer heat. After having two May newborns in North Carolina, I feel like I have a fairly good handle on what you need to buy before your little one arrives to ensure you can keep baby cool in the summertime. My other little girl was born in November, so I've also written a winter necessities post! :) This is what worked for Keep Reading

    It comes as no surprise to many parents that reading TO your child in the early years (even as babies!) has a tremendous impact on a child's ability to catch onto reading later on.  I used to think the main benefit was that your baby begins to pick up on reading cadence, which helps them read along in class with inflection. This is a goal of beginner readers in Kindergarten and First Grade, so that makes perfect sense to me. What I didn't realize was that I was WAYYYYY oversimplifying the impact of reading aloud to your baby.    Benefits of Keep Reading

Baby showers are so much fun! If you are planning one, you’re probably wondering what kind of fun baby shower games to play, especially when you are trying to throw a classy baby shower with people of all ages in attendance. Often, the thought of playing baby shower games gives people a cold sweat, but never fear! There are a lot of funny baby shower games to play that are not inappropriate, and won’t embarrass either the mother-to-be or shower attendees.   10 FUN + CLASSY BABY SHOWER GAMES Here are 10 incredibly fun (and sometimes hilarious) baby shower games your Keep Reading

I have three kids. Every single one of them was different when it came to potty training. I don't claim to be an expert because I just winged it and felt like I had a different approach each time, but I get questions from readers asking me things all the time like: When should a child be fully potty trained?  How do you know when your child is ready to go to the potty?  How do you potty train a strong-willed child?  My child is resistant to going potty. What can I do?  I have a defiant and/or difficult toddler who REFUSES to go potty. Can I force him to Keep Reading