Stuff Parents Need

Easing the chaos in the nest, one find at a time.

The Importance of Giving and a Chance to Win!

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The recent earthquake in Haiti has been a somber reminder to us all that it is so important for us to give to others. We need to give to our neighbors in need, both globally and locally. I have been especially reminded of the needs of children all over the world. If I was in need and couldn’t provide for my child, I would hope and pray that someone out there would have the heart to reach out and give, even if they don’t know me personally. With that said, I want to encourage you to make a contribution to one of any number of charitable organizations doing work in Haiti if you haven’t already. If you need a suggestion, check out the Haiti Relief and Development Fund of the American Red Cross. Even $5.00 will help!

I have also been thinking a lot lately about mothers in the United States who are experiencing difficulties right now and who cannot provide for their children the way they really want to. I recently learned that Frigidaire is working with Save the Children’s CHANGE program here in the United States. The CHANGE program is dedicated to providing nutritious snacks and promoting healthier lifestyles for children living in poverty in the United States. Frigidaire has made a $250,000 commitment to this program. Yay Frigidaire!

In addition, Frigidaire wants to provide families out there with some great opportunities to spend quality time with our children. Frigidaire is now running a Spin & Win game. Every day they will be giving away gift cards that can be put towards awesome activities such as reading new books with your children, playing dress up or going camping! Plus, once a month they will be giving away a brand new Frigidaire Affinity washer and dryer, with time-saving features that give you more time for the important things in life. Best of all, every time you play, Frigidaire will donate $1 to Save the Children, as part of their commitment to support the CHANGE program.

So take a moment today to reach out and give a little something to the mothers and children of Haiti. Then take a little bit of time to play the Spin & Win game, and in so doing, you will give $1 towards the CHANGE program. You might even win something really special for your own family.

Thanks to MomSelect and Frigidaire for providing me with information on this super cool campaign!

current giveaway: Baby Bond Nursing Cover (ends 2/4)

How to Breastfeed in Public Without a Cover

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As I have mentioned before, I am fortunate enough to be able to visit my 5 month old daughter every work day during lunch at her daycare. This gives me the opportunity to feed her myself and to have some special time with her in the middle of the day. I’ve also mentioned before that her daycare center does not have a private place where I can take her to nurse so I have to breastfeed in public. In December I was using a resource room. I think I fed her in that room 9 times, and I was only left uninterrupted 1 of those times. Seriously! There were even a few times when I had to use the room while other women who work there were cleaning and organizing in the room. Everyone has been very nice to me, but my need for privacy does not seem to trump their need to access the room.

This month I have just decided to nurse Darah in the room she stays in. If I have to make small talk with other adults while I’m feeding my baby, it might as well be with the women who are actually watching my daughter! I’ve tried a couple of things in an effort to be at least a little bit modest. I’ve tried using her swaddling blankets as a cover. This only works if she is too exhausted to pull them down. I’ve also tried using a nursing cover (the kind that goes over your head). Darah seems to be really annoyed by this contraption, and she frequently will stop nursing and try to move it out of her way. She just doesn’t like being covered, which makes sense, because she is never covered when I nurse her at home. The issue of how to breastfeed in public has been quite a challenge for me, to say the least. 

So, what to do? There actually is a really cool solution to this dilemma! It’s called Baby Bond, and it is a nursing cover unlike any other that I’ve seen! Baby Bond is designed babybond answers the question of how to breastfeed in public without a cover to provide mom with a bit of privacy, but it doesn’t cover up baby at all. It does require you to be a little bit more brave, as it is possible for you to be exposed if your little one suddenly stops nursing and throws her head back to talk to you (as mine sometimes does), but if you are prepared for that scenario, you can quickly move the fabric over your breast when that happens. The Baby Bond comes in 3 different styles. I was sent the Flex style to review. This is a really great product for me to use at daycare, as privacy is not an option and the nursing covers and blankets just aren’t cutting it. I wear the Baby Bond like a sash, and then just unbutton my shirt with the sash over me. I separate the two panels of fabric when Darah is in position and ready to eat. She covers up some of my breast, and the Baby Bond covers the rest. I am able to keep my shirt on to keep my belly and back covered. It’s great! Darah seems to like it, too, because she really does enjoy looking at me while she eats, and this doesn’t cover her up or obstruct her view of me in any way. Another terrific feature of the Baby Bond Flex nursing cover is the fact that it has a loop meant to hold the burp cloth that comes with it. This has been an absolute lifesaver for me. Before I had this product, I probably forgot to bring a burp cloth with me to nurse Darah at least 75% of the time. Now it is built in to my nursing cover so there’s nothing to forget. Leave it to a mom to think of such a great invention, and then add such a great bonus feature!

Speaking of the inventor, let me tell you a little bit about why Missy created this product. She says, “My determination to incorporate breastfeeding into my lifestyle meant nursing in public everywhere. It also taught me a lot about myself. I discovered that refusing to cover my baby’s head while nursing did not leave many options. I did not feel attractive when I lifted my shirt to nurse because I found myself slouching forward and it revealed my postnatal stomach and back. I also felt that by exposing my breasts, the intimacy shared between my husband and me was somehow compromised… I wanted to keep some things just for us.” I can certainly relate to all of these feelings, as they have caused me to really shy away from breastfeeding in public, which totally stinks. I also want to highlight the fact that Missy is a business owner with a heart for others. She regularly donates her products to various organizations and individuals who have need for them. I am always impressed with a business that gives to others on a regular basis. Check out some of recent donations here. Baby Bond also comes in two other styles. The Original cover is similar to the flex, but has a built in burp cloth. The Couture can be worn like a belly band or a nursing cover. This makes it a terrific option for moms of newborns who need the coverage a belly band can offer, and who need to nurse so often that they shouldn’t even take off their nursing cover! how to breastfeed in public with Babybond
The only difficulty I have had with the Baby Bond has nothing to do with the product, and everything to do with my wardrobe. It is designed to be worn with shirts that allow you to nurse from the top down (button up shirts or nursing shirts). A good chunk of my work wardrobe requires me to pull up my shirt, so on days when Darah is at daycare, I have to strategically plan what I’m going to wear if I want to use the Baby Bond. Hopefully you are smarter than me and already have a wardrobe that is more conducive to nursing!

Buy It! Baby Bond is available at a variety of online and retail outlets, and you can also buy it on the Baby Bond website! This product provides the means for you to nurse anywhere, anytime without sacrificing that important eye contact with your baby. It’s also great for those squirmy babies like mine who refused to be covered up! Get yours for $35 today.

EDIT: This giveaway is closed. Congratulations to #30!

Win it! Missy and Baby Bond want to give Stuff Parents Need readers the chance breastfeed in public once again and to win a Baby Bond cover! This contest will run until Thursday, February 4th at 7:59pm CST when a winner will be drawn via random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to my winning notification email. Open to residents of the United States. Make sure that your email address is either listed in your profile or listed in your entry.

How to Enter:

Mandatory Entry: Tell me which Baby Bond nursing cover (including the color and size) would work best for you. Choose wisely, as you will win what you select!


Additional Entries:

1. Follow my blog on Google friend connect (find it on my sidebar) (2 entries, so leave 2 comments)

2. Subscribe to my blog via email or RSS

3. Add my button to your blog

4. Become a Fan of Baby Bond Nursing on Facebook

5. Follow Baby Bond Nursing on Twitter

 

I was provided with a sample for product review purposes. The views expressed in this post are strictly my own.

Italian White Bean Dip Recipe

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Recipe name: White Bean Dip
Source: Giada on Food Network via Simply Tasty
Servings: 4

Thanks to Simply Tasty for introducing me to this recipe. I really think this may be my new favorite healthy snack. I love the creamy texture and the lemon-garlic infused taste. If you like hummus this is an absolute must try. I had it with some leftover pita bread, but I’ll also be cutting up some raw veggies to have with it.

1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup olive oil, plus 4 tablespoons
1/4 cup (loosely packed) fresh Italian parsley leaves
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
6 pitas
1 teaspoon dried oregano

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place the beans, garlic, lemon juice, 1/3 cup olive oil, and parsley in the work bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the mixture is coarsely chopped. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Transfer the bean puree to a small bowl.

Cut each pita in half and then into 8 wedges. Arrange the pita wedges on a large baking sheet. Pour the remaining oil over the pitas. Toss and spread out the wedges evenly. Sprinkle with the oregano, salt, and pepper.

Bake for 8 to 12 minutes, or until toasted and golden in color. Serve the pita toasts warm or at room temperature alongside the bean puree. I hope you love this white bean dip recipe as much as my family does!

Decluttering Your Home Challenge: Tackle Your Keys!

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You may remember that I wrote a post last week about my “decluttering your home” mission. Specifically, we are going to get rid of 730 items in our home by the end of the year. Oh yes we are!

Would you believe me if I told you that we’ve already gotten rid of 100 things? It’s true!

Even if you aren’t interested in getting rid of this much stuff in your own home, I hope to be able to give you some very doable challenges over the coming months that can help you eliminate some junk without taking up too much of your time.

when decluttering your home, start with your keys! This week, I want to encourage you to take a good, hard look at your set of keys. You know, the super heavy thing that you carry around with you every single day! I bet for 90% of you, there is at least 1 key on your keyring that opens who knows what…you certainly don’t! When I looked at my keys, I found 4 keys with no purpose that I could recall. They are gone now, and that makes my keyring look less cluttered. And now I’m not carrying around that little bit of extra weight every day. Hooray! You may also have 3 or 4 key chains, and I’d encourage you to consider getting rid of all but 1 of them, just to simplify your life a little bit.

If you participate in this challenge, let me know how many keys or extra key chains you get rid of!

 

Babies and Drooling: Our Favorite Drool Bibs

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You know the saying, “Drool Happens?” (ok, that’s not EXACTLY how the saying goes…). Let me tell you, babies and drooling go together like toddlers and tantrums! Drool really does happen when you have an infant. All day. Every day. And from what I’ve heard, what we’re experiencing right now is a cakewalk compared to the drool we’ll be seeing when she starts teething. Oh joy…

Darah drools so much that she has what her pediatrician calls a “drool patch.” This is a patch of super dry skin in the middle of her chest. It is due to the fact that we can’t seem to keep her clothes fully dry in that one spot. Yikes! She is too big for those teeny tiny bibs that babies start out with, and the toddler bibs just seem ridiculous to put on her when she isn’t even eating. They cover up her often adorable outfits, and as silly as it is, I just can’t stand that! So recently I went on a mission in search of some kind of product that was meant to help protect drooling babies and their would-be drool patches, all without stealing the spotlight from the cute outfit of the day (or cute outfit of the hour, in some cases). I found it!

Let me introduce you to a clever mom by the name of Lindsay who operates The Emmaline on Etsy. Lindsay sells a wide variety of really fabulous items such as toddler bibs, changing pads, and burp cloths. The most ingenious creations on the site, though, are her drool catching bibs. Notice that this bib looks a lot like a bandana, providing protection exactly where it is needed, which is front and center!

Lindsay was kind enough to send one of her drool catching bibs for Darah to try out. Here she is at Christmas time. She is technically wearing her bib inside out at the moment, which is another thing I love about these bibs…they are reversible! They are cotton print on one side, and a solid minky fabric on the back. This makes them soft for baby, and easy to coordinate with an outfit. The bib is also beautifully sewn together and has held up very well to frequent (and I do mean frequent) washings at our house for the past few weeks. So many of my other bibs have started unraveling at the seams, but I can tell that this bib is going to go the distance for us, and will also be around for baby #2 (which will happen MUCH later. Nobody get too excited).

Buy It! The drool catching bib is a really cute and super useful product, in my opinion, and it is majorly cool because it is invented by a mom! If you have a drooling baby at your house, this is one purchase you won’t regret.

Win It!
Stuff Parents Need readers are just so lucky! You have a chance to win your very own drool catching bib in your choice of patterns right now! This contest will run until Sunday, January 24th at 7:59pm CST when a winner will be selected via random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the winning notification email before a new winner will be selected. Open to residents of the United States. Make sure your email address is either in your comment or in your profile or else I can’t let you know that you won!

How to Enter:

Mandatory Entry: Tell me your very favorite pattern that the drool catching bib comes in.

Additional Entries:

1. Follow my blog via Google Friend Connect
2. Subscribe to my blog via RSS or email
3. Add my button to your blog (2 entries, so leave 2 comments and leave a url to your site)
4. Follow Lindsay on Twitter(2 entries, so leave 2 comments and leave your twitter id)

5. Follow Lindsay’s blog

6. Heart The Emmaline on Etsy

Disclosure: I received a bib for product review purposes only. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Easy Mexican Pork Burritos

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This pork burritos recipe comes from my mother-in-law. We found this to be an absolute knock out recipe that will feed our family for several meals.

Easy Mexican Pork Burritos

  • 1 Pork Loin
    1 large can of green enchilada sauce
  • large flour tortillas

Toppings:
Mexican rice
re-fried beans
shredded cheese

Cut the pork loin into thirds. Place in slow cooker. Pour enchilada sauce on top. Cook on high setting for 6 hours.
About 5 hours into the cooking process, open up the slow cooker and shred the pork apart with two forks. Replace lid and let it finish cooking.

Serve on large flour tortillas with rice, re-fried beans, cheese and any other toppings you wish!

A Great Way to Lose Some Weight This Year

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Did I get your attention? I’m joining in on a weight loss revolution. But it might not be the kind you are thinking about! I’m talking about getting rid of some serious STUFF! Amy at The Finer Things in Life recently announced that she planned to get rid of 730 items in her house over the next 365 days. That averages out to 2 items per day. Some days she may get rid of nothing, while other days she may get rid of 20+ items. But at the end of the year, the total will be at least 730 things that she will be donating, selling, passing along to a friend, or when necessary, throwing away.

I am SO joining her on this mission! We have so much more in our home than we reasonably need. And have you ever noticed that when it comes to stuff, you experience what economists call “diminishing marginal utility?” That basically means that the more you have, the less joy you get from each object (sorry if that is a rough explanation, I took econ 10 years ago). I frequently feel frustrated, zapped of energy and totally overwhelmed in my home because it gets so messy so quickly. This happens because we have so much stuff! So all of these great things that I have are more of a source of sadness than joy. That means that they need to go!

If you’d like to join in, let me know in the comments. I will try to update you a few times a month on our progress.

I Missed My 5 Month Old Rolling Over for the First Time

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age should baby roll over
Friday I was at home with Darah. She turned 5 months old on Thursday, and she still hasn’t rolled over. I wasn’t officially concerned, but I thought I should definitely start giving her more tummy time. So we practiced being on her tummy, and she was doing great. She was pushing herself up and even leaning a bit to the side. After a while, she got tired and frustrated, so I put her on her back to relax a bit. I stepped out of the room to pull some clothes out of the dryer. I came back, and the child was on her tummy! What?! I NEVER leave the room with her on her tummy, so I knew that she had rolled over while I was gone. I MISSED IT! And for LAUNDRY, of all things! I frantically start looking around the room for the camera and can’t find it. I roll her back over onto her back and walk out of the room to find the camera. Then I hear this voice inside my head say, “Turn around NOW!” So I do, and I just catch her rolling over again. Unbelievable! I still haven’t captured her doing this on film, but I’ll catch her soon enough!

If your child is 5 months old and not rolling over yet, don’t panic! Get down on the floor with him/her more and encourage the act, but don’t freak out. The odds are very good that everything is just fine and you just happen to have a chill baby. 🙂

Best Recipe for Sloppy Joes

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This recipe is straight out of Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms. Tim and I both agreed that this is one of the best recipes for sloppy joes that we have found. My favorite thing about it is that it includes a fair amount of celery in it. When I read the recipe, I was really skeptical about this addition. It turns out, though, that the flavor the celery adds is terrific, and as long as you get them chopped super fine, you don’t even notice that they are included in terms of texture. What a sneaky way to add some veggies to your meal! I’m definitely going to use this trick in other recipes.

You will also see tips for putting this together a day ahead, if desired, as well as for freezing leftovers. We froze some of what we made, and I know we’ll really enjoy being able to heat this up quickly on a weeknight in the next month or two!

Special thanks to Jane, the author, for permission to print her recipe.

best recipe for sloppy joes

Best Sloppy Joes Recipe

2 lbs. ground beef, 85% lean (we used ground turkey, and it turned out great!)
2 celery ribs, finely diced
2/3 cup onion, finely diced
2/3 cup green bell pepper, finely diced
½ cup ketchup
½ cup Bull’s-Eye Original Barbecue Sauce
16 oz. tomato sauce
2 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons dry mustard
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons vinegar
Salt and pepper, to taste
8 hamburger buns

~A Day Ahead~
In a large skillet, cook the beef, celery, onion, and green pepper on medium heat, until the beef is cooked through. Drain the fat. Add the ketchup, barbecue sauce, tomato sauce, brown sugar, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer the mixture to a bowl to cool. Cover and refrigerate until ready to reheat.

~Cooking Directions~
Reheat in the microwave. Serve on hamburger buns. Makes 8 sloppy joes.

~Freezing Directions~
Freeze the sloppy joes in labeled freezer bags and freeze flat. This defrosts in the microwave very quickly for an easy weeknight meal. For us, this is our go-to recipe, as it is the best sloppy joes recipe we have yet to try (and we’ve tried probably 8 different recipes!).