Monday Ramblings

I feel like the weeks are just flying by and I can never get everything done that I have planned! My to-do list is getting longer and longer. I spent the other day organizing Makenna's closet and trying to make room for baby #2's stuff. The access to the attic is unfortunately through that closet. So I wanted to make sure that before I blocked it with a shelf, I got out all the stuff in there that baby would need for at least her first three months. Which meant we still had bins sitting all over our hallway a week later. I am not the most organized person in the world… which drives my husband CRAZY. When I do try to organize I am OCD about it and it takes an entire day to get it done, but the rest of the house suffers as a result. I keep seeing "cleaning schedules" on Pinterest. I really need to check some of them out. With another baby on the way I need to get more organized. Anyone use a cleaning schedule?? Feel free to share it with me, please! I am lucky that my husband is the total opposite of me. He does most all of the vacuuming, laundry and general house de-cluttering. 

Makenna is at such a fun age! She'll be three this September and I'm trying to soak up as much of this time as I can. The stuff that comes out of her mouth sometimes is absolutely hilarious. Most days she refers to us as Mommy Pig and Daddy Pig, but she likes to call me random words all the time: your majesty, superhero, tree, rock or whatever she is looking at. I thought I would share some of the funnier comments with you all…

She leans over and smells a marker, "oooohh it smells like poo poo and marshmallows!"   

Playing doctor, "I feel like you are going to have a heart attack. Let me check you out." She turns around and puts the stethoscope on my butt.

"Mommy, you understand?" after everything she says.

Drops something in the sink. "It's gone for the ages."

The kids were screaming and I kept telling them to stop. They didn't listen so they both got a time out. I hear Makenna say to Matthew, "It's ok Bubba. My mommy will get better after we take her to the doctor."

"I love goldfish! They are so….friendly!" 

The Doctor says to her, "Do you know what your mommy is having?"

Makenna: "Yes, she is having a Gummy Bear."

I took her to the bathroom at a restaurant. The toilets were really low to the ground and small. She looks at me and says, "You better not sit on this. Your butt is way to big."

What are some funny things your kids have said? I love hearing about the things kids say! They are usually hilarious and brutally honest. We will be back with a book review tomorrow! We also have a fun craft, another product review and a great recipe lined up this week! 

My family is going on vacation soon, so I will also be talking about traveling with kids. 

Someone is VERY excited for vacation!

Hope you all have a great week!

- K   

Bringing Your Baby to Sporting Events

Danielle and I were approached by Fanatics, an online retailer where you can get everything and anything sports related - from MLB hats and jerseys to NFL gear, to participate in a series called, "Family Fanatics." I have actually ordered NY Giants and Mets stuff from them many times and was thrilled to be asked. I had planned on writing a blog post about how we take Makenna to sporting events with us, so this was right up my alley. 

The "Family Fanatics" series is about an instance where sports have brought your family together. There are too many instances to count where sports have brought my family together. We are an avid sports loving family. My husband played, and up until recently, coached baseball. We are also season ticket holders for the NY Giants and attend as many Mets games as we can. If we aren't at the games, they are on TV. It's just not limited to those two sports though, my husband will watch any type of sporting event and any team if his aren't playing. 

When I became pregnant with Makenna, I remember my husband making a comment on how we weren't going to be able to go to a lot of games anymore. I said, "Why not? We will just bring her with us!" That is exactly what we have done from the very start. Makenna was exactly a month old when she attended her first Giants game. It was a gorgeous October day! We tailgated and everything. People were amazed she was there with us. The Giants lost the game and Makenna lost all her hair, but we had a blast!

First Giants Game 1 month old 

As Makenna got older we continued to bring her to games with us. We always tailgate, so it can be a LONG day. She is pretty much a pro at attending football games at this point. Now that she is almost 3 and super active, I am a little nervous about bringing her to Giants games. Not because she can't handle going, but because our seats are waaaaay up top and her being up that high freaks me out. She likes to walk around by the seats and talk to everyone. We might have to wait a few years before she can start going with her Daddy again.

One of my favorite pictures of us! 

My husband has passed his love of baseball to Makenna. She asks all the time if we can go watch a baseball game or go see Mr. Met. She doesn't care if it is high school, college or professional baseball. She just loves to go to games. A few months ago we went to watch a county championship HS baseball game. We severely underestimated the amount of people attending and the amount of parking spaces. After driving around and not seeing any spaces we decided to leave. Well, Makenna was NOT having it. She threw such a fit that we actually turned around to go back. Luckily we found a parking spot this time.

Makenna's middle name is Shea, so she was pretty much born a Mets fan. Citi Field, where the Mets play, is like her second home. We also took her to a Yankee playoff game, just because my husband found a good last minute deal on tickets. For someone who is not even 3 years old yet, she has attended more games than most.

Her first Mets game and meeting Mr. Met. They have a love hate relationship :) 

 Lucky kid even got to attend a Mets spring training game in Florida.

I am so glad that we decided from the start to include Makenna in our love of sports. I couldn't imagine leaving her behind every time we wanted to attend a game or deciding to just not go at all. This is something we love to do as a family and it has given me the opportunity of making some of my favorite memories. I can't even imagine all the quality and bonding time we would have missed out on.  

Here are some tips for people wanting to take their small children to sporting events:

1. Pack LOTS of snacks and drinks.
2. A little notepad and crayons helps them stay in their seat when they are getting restless or any little dollar store toy. Even your phone games.
3. If they are getting antsy, take a walk! There are so many kid friendly areas in most sporting venues. 
4. Play I Spy with them. It will help them stay still in their seats for a little bit and they can learn about the stuff around them.   
5. Start young! The younger you take them, the easier it will be. Its like second nature to Makenna.
6. Try to get seats on the end of an aisle. It will be easier than having to ask 20 people to stand and move every time you want to get out. 

I hope this helps anyone who is on the edge about going to a sporting event as a family. When baby #2 comes this september, you can bet she will be right there with us. Makenna has no problem sleeping anytime she needs to, even with 40,000+  fans screaming around her. I swear I think this is why she will sleep through just about anything! If not for any other reason, this is why we need to get baby #2 to a game asap! :)

What are some times sports brought your family closer together? Feel free to share below and make sure you check out Fanatics for all your sporting apparel needs. They have the cutest kid stuff, which is always hard to find! p.s. I am NOT being paid to say that! 

Have a great week!

-K

What all Parents need to know..

This topic has been recently trending across the internet and was brought to my attention from a good friend of mine. I want to speak about Secondary Drowning. Since we are in the Summer Season and pool and beach trips are prevalent in our lives every parent, grandparent, caregiver & friend needs to get educated on this topic.

Secondary Drowning can occur after you have a close call with drowning. This can happen in a pool, ocean or even a bath tub! SCARY! Your child may slip or fall into the pool and begins to drown and they are able to get their head above water and cough it all up. Your child seems to be fine and you go on with your day...

Picture found from Google.

However, ALWAYS pay attention to your child's behavior. They can begin to act extremely fatigued and develop a weird cough. NEVER hesitate to call your pediatrician or rush them to the Emergency Room. 

When Secondary Drowning kicks in a small amount of inhaled fluid can act as an irritant. It causes inflammation and leakage of liquid into the lungs. Sometimes, the body will react by pushing even more liquid into the lungs. It reduces the ability to breathe and the end result is your child will drown in their own body fluids. 

Picture found from Google.

THIS IS THE SCARIEST THING EVER! PLEASE PARENTS, GRANDPARENTS, CAREGIVERS & FRIENDS.. PAY ATTENTION AND SUPERVISE YOUR CHILD IN THE POOL, OCEAN AND EVEN THE BATH TUB!

If you want to read more information about Secondary Drowning, these are the sources I used. Please click the following links below:

1. Secondary Drowning
2. The inspirational Story 

Do you have any safety tips or close call stories with your child? Please share with us your tips on how you handled the situation. Lets help to bring awareness to this topic.

-D

Let's Be Prepared!

You know that moment, when you know your kid is going to get hurt, and your heart stops for a second. You brace yourself for the impact and BAM it happens. That's exactly how I felt last Saturday when we were playing at the park.

Makenna and Matthew were running around the tennis court, like they do every time we go to the park. They chase each other around and around the tennis net. Makenna had her head turned back and was calling for Matthew to follow her. I saw her cutting in towards the pole that holds the net. Before I could even yell out, she turned her head and ran straight into the pole at full speed. I honestly thought she was going to be missing some of her front teeth. I ran over to her and just saw blood covering her nose and mouth area. I picked her up and yelled for Matthew to follow us to the car. Of course Matthew had other ideas that included going down the slide a few more times before he followed. 

Now the park is absolutely packed. Not one parent offered their assistance in getting Matthew or asking if we needed help. Makenna was bleeding and screaming hysterically and I was yelling across the park for Matthew to get to the car. Maybe it's just the way I am, but I would have gone to get a little kid that a mother/nanny/grandparent, was calling for. Especially since it was very obvious that I was holding another hurt child. 

I put Makenna in my front seat and got Matthew buckled in his seat. When I got a chance to look closely at her face, I noticed that she made impact above her lip and below her nose. Thank God!! No missing teeth. Just a chunk of skin hanging off, that I was 95% positive would not need stitches. Also, she had a huge bump above her eyebrow. I sat there just staring at her thinking, "What the hell do I do now?" The only thing I had in my car was baby wipes. I was totally flustered and unprepared. I tired wiping up the blood that was dripping down as best as I could and told her to hold the wipe to her face. A trip to the doctors and a few stickers later, she was as good as new.

I on the other hand will be scared for life. I thought over and over again, "I can't believe I do not have a first-aid kit in my car!" Three days later, Matthew rolled the car window up right onto the tip on his middle finger. Again, having a first-aid kit would have been handy. Thankfully, we were right outside some place that had an ice pack readily available. But that sealed the deal, I was making a first-aid kit for the car! 

I saw once on Pinterest, a first-aid kit with all the supplies fitting in a baby wipe container. Who doesn't have one or 50 of these things laying around? Here is a picture of my first-aid kit all packed up. 

Here is what it includes:

• Scissors (every parent needs scissors in their car! I have read numerous stories about kids getting seat belts stuck around their necks and almost dying) 
• Gauze pads 
• Various size bandages
• Butterfly banages
• Tweezers
• Safety pins 
• Medical tape
• Alcohol wipes
• Burn Cream
• Antibacterial ointment 
• Antibacterial wipes
• Gloves
• Q-tips
• Ice Packs
• Ace bandage (not pictured bc the kids stole it) 

I had some of this stuff already at home, but you can buy most of it from the dollar store and Wal-Mart. You can also buy a pre made car first-aid kit at just about any store and online. 

Makenna is fine and loves reenacting, to everyone who asks her about her nose, how she ran into the "pool" aka the pole.  Matthew is also fine. Just broken blood vessels on the tip of his finger. What a few days it has been! Hopefully I won't have to use my new first-aid kit any time soon!! Next time something happens though, I'm hoping I won't feel so flustered and unprepared!  

Please fell free to tell us your stories and share anything else you think should be added to a car first-aid kit