Personalized Books from I See Me!

This unique gift is brought especially to you by our friends at internationally award-winning publisher Chronicle Books. We received a free book, but all opinions are my own. Affiliate links may be included.

Charlie is a reader, just like Mommy, so his Christmas presents always include a few books! I am so excited for him to open his I See Me! personalized book!

Today at the grocery store, Charlie pointed and started saying excitedly “I see A, I see A”. There was an “A” in the word bakery above the deli/bakery. He’s at that stage where he’s all about the alphabet and loves finding his name and letters that he knows in our everyday travels.

I See Me! offers all kinds of unique personalized gifts: Lunchboxes / Puzzles /Coloring Books/ Placemats / Stickers  and Growth Charts! Something for everyone and every occasion! For Charlie, we chose a personalized book: M is for Me!

Learning Fun with LeapTV from LeapFrog

We received product through MommyParties and LeapFrog, but all opinions are my own. This post may contain affiliate links.

When I first saw LeapFrog’s new gaming system, LeapTV, I was a bit hesitant. I’ve always been a bit of a gamer and Tom is as well. We have a couple of game systems already that have the power to let you interact by movement via camera.

I’m really glad we gave this a shot!

The LeapTV is listed on all of the hot lists for the holidays this year. It’s the cool new game system for kids that teaches letters, numbers, shapes, math, colors, reading and so much more. If you have other LeapFrog products, you know they put out some awesome educational toys. This is right up there with the rest of them.

Books to Read Before Starting Preschool

This post contains affiliate links.

Last night I went to a meeting at Charlie’s Preschool. I think he’ll be good to go and he’s super excited already. When I was working, Charlie went to daycare about once a month during the school year and once a week during the summer. He loved it and I know he’ll love going to preschool. Preschool for Charlie will be 2.5 hours a day twice a week. Although it’s not a daily thing, it’s definitely going to be a big change for him to have a schedule now.

Before preschool starts, we’re checking out some of these books to help with the change and prepare for preschool to start.

3 Years Post VSD Repair

Today marks 3 years since I handed my tiny baby boy to the anesthesiologist. I will forever remember walking down the hallway and crying the whole way back. This is a short and happy post because his Congenital Heart Defect was detected while we were still in the hospital and as you can see, he’s perfect now! My baby is a fighter and he’s my first little miracle boy! For those that don’t know, here’s Charlie’s story.

 

Ninja Party: Goody Bags

I received products from Oriental Trading for review purposes. All opinions are my own.

Charlie’s 3rd birthday was an awesomely themed Ninja Party (his selection). No birthday party is complete without goody bags!

Charlie is big enough now that he helped me fill his favor bags for his party. He thought this was extra special!

 

Time for Check-Ups and Havre de Grace Promenade

The boys had their well-baby visits this week: Charlie’s 3 year appointment and Owen’s 6 month appointment. Usually we don’t have to wait at all at the pediatrician’s office, but this time… it was over an hour wait. The boys behaved like angels compared to what could have happened.

Owen is 35th percentile for weight at 17 lbs and 90th percentile for height (I forgot to get his height from the nurse, I’ll get it next time). If you’ve seen any of the pictures of my boy- you know he’s not little. I can’t imagine him being chunkier, so I’m pretty okay with the fact he’s 35th percentile for weight. Charlie wouldn’t let them measure his height or stand on the scale. We went with 33 lbs (that’s what it said when he finally cooperated and let Mommy try to weigh him) and the nurse struggled to hold him against the wall to get his height of 40 inches. I think the Dr said he’s 75th for height and 50th for weight (I think, I could totally be wrong that though).

Because the Dr’s office is about 2 minutes from the Havre de Grace Promenade & Tydings Park, we decided to go for a walk and play for a bit. We haven’t been there in quite awhile and I thought Charlie would love it (he’s never been).

Ninja Party: Food & Decorations

I received product from Oriental Trading to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own.

For Charlie’s 3rd birthday party, he picked a ninja theme while looking through Oriental Trading’s catalog that we receive in the mail regularly.

Decorations were quick and easy to check off my to-do list with a little help from Oriental Trading! Oriental Trading offers a pretty nice selection of ninja decorations.

We picked out the Ninja Warriors Vertical Pennant Banner.

Ninja Party Fun & Games

Like any birthday, there was plenty of fun and games. Charlie is really into playing any kind of game right now. When I asked him what kind of games he wanted to play at his party, he said “racing game”. So we had a piñata, a “racing game”, a decorate your own ninja headband, decorate a ninja cookie, and “Sensei Says”.

Piñata

I received this dragon piñata from Oriental Trading for the purpose of this review. All opinions are my own.

The Dragon Piñata from Oriental Trading was a hit, of course! The kids loved it and everyone loved watching them take a whack at it. I had read a few reviews that people said they couldn’t fit much candy in this dragon piñata, but I have no idea what they’re talking about. We fit PLENTY of candy in this; you just need to shake it around so it spreads out throughout the dragon’s body. I will say this is not an easy piñata to break. That could be a good thing or a bad thing. I think it’s somewhere in-between: I hate a piñata that can’t take a whack, but even when the 11 year old got ahold of it to knock it open, we still needed to tear it apart to really open it up.

Happy 3rd Birthday to Charlie

To the little boy that made me a mommy, Happy Birthday! I can’t believe you’re already 3!

Charlie’s 3rd Birthday Wishlist

This post contains affiliate links.

If you ask Charlie what he wants for his 3rd Birthday, this is what you get.

Wallies Wall Play

When we found out baby #2 was a boy, I decided we would transform Charlie’s Pooh & friends room into a transportation themed room.
We bought several packs of stickers for the walls and put some up. Charlie had a great plan sometime during the night and tried to rearrange them. In the morning, we found stickers all over, stuck together and torn. I had a very upset little boy and he wanted daddy to “fix it”. Daddy’s good, but he can’t put stickers back together.
Let me introduce you to Wallies. I was sent a Wall Play set to review.

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is definitely different since we became parents. One year my mom came over to watch Charlie so we could go to dinner, I don't remember what we did last year, and then there's this year. I was nursing the little one when the hubby came home from work. He put his stuff away and brought me a plate from one of our favorite restaurants in town. On my plate was a lobster tail, some hush puppies, asparagus, and a twice baked potato. Woohoo! Charlie was sleeping and Owen was still nursing, so this was actually more quiet and peaceful than most dinners at our house lately, so it seemed appropriate for Valentine's Day!

While Daddy was at work, we made his present.

It just took a white 8x10 canvas and some red acrylic paint. Charlie put his handprint on there first. I then painted Owen's feet and tried to put a V on there with them (it was harder than it looks to get a 3 month old to cooperate). I added the L and E once the kiddos were all cleaned up. Had I put Owen's feet a little lower, I would've been able to put the E correctly. But like I said, it wasn't easy to do this by myself and I think it adds character.

Five Signs and Symptoms of a CHD

Today is the last day of Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week, but I hope you continue to think about it. CHDs cause a wide range of symptoms. Your baby may have only mild symptoms and tire easily, for example. He or she may have life-threatening symptoms, such as severe difficulty breathing. On the other hand, your baby might not have any symptoms that you notice at birth, but may have them later as he or she grows. These symptoms usually go away after the defect is corrected.

Lil' Heart Sluggers

 

  Jaxon, a baby boy in Kentucky, was born with a Congenital Hear Defect. His mommy and daddy made a baseball with his handprint on it while they were in the hospital preparing for his heart surgery. The simple baby memento made them feel like everything was normal for just a few minutes. The baseball became one of their most prized possessions and they want to share that feeling with others.   

Five Facts About CHD

Today is the first day of Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week. Charlie is 1 in 110 born with a CHD.

1. CHDs are the most common birth defects. CHDs occur in almost 1% of births.

2. CHDs are as common as autism and about twenty-five times more common than cystic fibrosis.

PlayDough Fun

Tuesday night I made PlayDough with ingredients almost everyone probably has on hand.

Last night after dinner I got it out of the fridge, put Charlie at the table, and away he went.
I do suggest taking it out and working it a bit before giving it to your kid. I enjoyed playing with it anyway, I forgot how much PlayDough is a stress-reliever.

Basic PlayDough Recipe

We've been having a very cold and miserable winter here in Maryland. With the new baby, it's hard for us to get out anyway. Here's a basic playdough recipe you can make to keep your little ones (or big ones) entertained.

You will need:

• a non-stick pot
• 2 cups of baking soda
• 1 1/2 cup of water
• 1 cup of corn starch
• food coloring (optional)

 

 

 

 

Mended Little Hearts

Mended Little Hearts is a program of Mended Hearts, Inc. Mended Hearts has been supporting families and patients since 1951. In 2004, Mended Little Hearts was born.

Mended Little Hearts' mission:

 "The Mended Little Hearts' mission is to provide hope and support to children, families and caregivers impacted by congenital heart defects in order to extend and improve quality of life."

Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week is Coming!

 

If you read my post Miracle #1, then you know why CHD Awareness is so important to me.

What is a Congenital Heart Defect?

• Congenital heart defects (CHDs) are problems with the heart’s structure that are present at birth.

• Common examples include holes in the inside walls of the heart and narrowed or leaky valves. In more severe forms of CHDs, blood vessels or heart chambers may be missing, poorly formed, and/or in the wrong place.




During CHD Awareness week, I'll be posting facts about CHD, how you can get involved, and some info about the many organizations out there already helping!

Pasta Faces!

We actually did this after dinner last night because Charlie insisted (and the pasta was dry).

I took a piece of cardstock paper and drew a circle on it by tracing a bowl with a marker.