Totville: Toddler Activities

Yesterday, I shared a recipe for a delicious stir fry. It’s gone! Mysterious. I’ll resurrect it somehow and post it again soon.

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I never thought I’d make it to more than a year of nursing. Now, we’ve been nursing for 14 months.

I had my baby while standing in my front hallway. I delivered her myself. Afterwards, blood started coming out of me at a fast rate. I didn’t really care at that point. I just didn’t want to slip in it while holding the baby,and I didn’t want to get the furniture messy!

Because of losing so much blood, my body put milk making down on its list of things to do. A month went by until the doctor realized the baby was not gaining very well.

During my last week of maternity leave, I had to pump 4-6 x per day in addition to nursing 8-12 x per day. Basically, I was either pumping or nursing around the clock. And when I wasn’t doing one of those activities, I was trying to eat and drink a lot, so I could make the milk my baby needed.

Unfortunately, I had to supplement with formula. Even the lactation consultant said to supplement, because the weight gain was soooo low. Thank goodness I had the help of a lactation consultant who could teach me how to supplement while proteching my milk supply.

Eventually, I had weeks in which the baby got all breast milk. I was thrilled.

=)

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Many mothers have every intention of retuning to their full-time job after giving birth to their first child. And then…

The mother sees her baby for the first time. She is small, beautiful and adorable. Often, the mother gets a few weeks off (if in the U.S.) or a few years off (if in Europe) to spend nurturing this new life.

For mothers with a few months or weeks off from work, it can be a challenge to return to the 9 to 5 grind and to be away from a baby that’s only a few months old.

Now I WAHM (work at home) while the baby is only a street away from me. This is an arrangement I like a great deal.

When I first started to WAHM, I found it hard to focus on my work. The house was a mess, dirty dishes called my name, and we had a mountain of laundry. Not much housework got accomplished during my maternity time.

After much trial and error, I came up with several ways to get more done in less time. Reading Dan Kennedy’s time management book helped me as well. Since I read it, I’ve instituted changes in how I work with excellent results.

These are 5 ways I’ve managed to make the most of my time.

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Here are some more ideas for holiday gifts for toddlers!

• A set of little books
• A wagon, preferably one with a little door on the side
• A Rody ride-on bouncy toy
• Train set
• A child-size but real cleaning set with broom, duster, spray bottle, etc.
• An egg carton filled with sensory materials such as playdough, gak, etc.
• Bathtub bin for bath toys

Technorati Tags: mommy+blog mom+blog parenting baby+gifts toddler+gifts toddlers

The holidays roll around and family members start asking what to get for the little one. It can be hard to come up with a list! Here are a few suggestions for you. I’ll have more suggestions tomorrow!

A pull-along toy (cute and beautiful!) by Brio/Ambi or Building Blocks by Brio (Brio won’t let me connect right to the product page, so these links go to their main page.)

Toys from Haba (Clutching puzzle, ball tracks, and adventure bag)

Tabletop Easel by Alex (Don’t open this at work without muting your sound!)
IKEA Child’s table and child-sized chairs.

Technorati Tags: Baby Gifts - Baby Holiday Gift - Parenting - Toddlers - Gifts 12-18 Months - Mom Blog - Mommy Blog

This is an excellent and tasty way to add more veggies into your family’s meals.

The ingredients can be altered to suit your tastes; that’s why this is one of my favorite recipes!

1 onion

2 tbs olive oil

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp ginger powder

5 cups water

4 chopped scallions

1/2 lb peas

1/2 lb green beans

1/4 head cabbage

a handful of parsley

3 chopped celery stalks

a few washed kale leaves

Chop the onion. Sautee it in olive oil. Add 1 tsp garlic powder and several dashes of ginger powder (or use fresh garlic and ginger). Once the onion softens, add about 5 cups of water. Then add the vegetables.

Add more water, if needed, to cover veggies.

Bring the soup to a boil and then reduce to let it all simmer for aout 15 min. Remove from heat. Blend everything. Adjust water and seasoning as needed.

Garnish with chopped scallions if you desire.

Tags: Healthy Recipe - Quick Recipe - Easy Recipe - Vegetable Soup Recipe

I’ve written several parenting magazine reviews. These are some of my favorite magazines, and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

http://www.totville.com/parenting-magazines/index.html

Take 15% Off Your Entire Purchase At Childrensplace.com!

Children’s Place coupons are valid online only.

Tags: Baby Clothing Infant Clothing Baby Gifts Baby Clothing Coupons

This is a quick and easy recipe. My relatives love this recipe and would request it when I came over to their house for Thanksgiving or Christmas. I’d ask them if they were sure they did not want me to bring something else (more complicated to make) and they said to just bring the cranberries.

Well, I feel like I got away with something, because of how little time this recipe takes to make. In fact, it’s so easy that I have no idea why I never ate homemade cranberry sauce before!

1 bag cranberries

1 container frozen apple juice

Pour cranberries and apple juice into a pot. Cook on medium until berries start to pop. Turn heat to low for about 3-5 minutes. Stir throughout this process as needed. Remove from heat. Voila! You’re done.

If you like it sweet, you can add honey or sugar. If you go the sweeter route, use 1/2 cup sugar or 1/2 cup honey and adjust to taste. My family likes it tart, so I don’t use the sugar.

Tags: Cranberry Sauce Recipe Mommy Blog

Today, I stopped by the health food store to pick up a few items. I stumbled across bottled Kombucha (pronounced Kom-boo-cha) Tea. Several flavors were available, and I selected ginger. It was a 16 oz bottle, and I had no intention of finishing the whole thing…but it was soooo good.

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People often ask me how I do so much. Time management!

Doing a lot is how I am, so I don’t often think about the process in detail. A few of the most time-consuming projects I have are day work, art work, running a nonprofit on the side, mothering, wife-ing, keeping up social relationships, and working on other projects.

Since I can always learn to do something better, I’m reading Dan Kenndy’s No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs, which helps you get more time out of your day by helping you see where time is wasted.

Substitute the word “mother” for entrepreneur. The principles hold true.

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