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Unique Baby Gifts
In the past two month, recently a lot of our friends gave birth, which got me thinking of unique baby gifts. We received so many unique and personalized gifts when C2 was born that I wanted to share. The unique and/or personalized gifts mean so much to me because as a kid – and even now – I could never find anything with my name spelled correctly or personalized. Therefore, I am always in search of unique, personalized gifts that would be great to give to others. Here are some of my top favorite unique baby gifts. Lovem Security Blankets. C2 received a Lovem Security Blanket from his Aunt and Uncle. His Lovem was custom made to look like our first baby (our lovable, English black Lab Parker). Lovem blankets are made with two luxurious layers of coordinating Minky and an adorable stuffed animal, so your child is actually getting an animal to love as well as a favorite blanket! They average price range is $17-$35. Bodmer’s Pottery. Personalized handmade custom pottery plates are excellent gifts for a baby. We received one when C2 was born, and now it is proudly displayed in his room. The plates are 7” in diameter and cost approximately $50.00. Monthly Onesies Stickers. I really wanted these for our son, but could not find them until of course he is almost 12 months old. These are a great gift for an expecting mama, Monthly Onesies Stickers and/or Monthly Onesies Complete Set. You can celebrate your baby’s “monthiversary” by photographing them in this set of 12 onesies. The Monthly Onesies Complete Set actual comes with onesie that are made with love using 100% cotton Carter’s brand bodysuits using high quality transfer paper. Each onesie has a month indicated on the front. The sizing is based off of the manufacturer’s specifications for age/weight. The Monthly Onesies Stickers you have to put on your own onesies. I See Me! Personalized Children’s Books. The I See Me! personalized books are beautifully illustrated books that helps children to learn to recognize letters and spell their names. The books are hardcover and professionally bound books. The average book cost approximately $32.95. Custom Birth Announcement Wall Art. Birth announcement wall art is a perfect addition to a nursery or child’s room. This completely customized, made-to-order item is a beautiful way to display the details of your baby’s birth – it’s also a perfect gift for a new mom! Each handmade piece is created using 2 different colored vinyls on a 12″ x 12″ x 3/8″ art board panel that is ready to hang. The price for the custom birth announcement wall art is $35.00, which does not including shipping and handling. Birth Announcement blocks.The featured Birth Announcement block is a great way to remember your precious one! Traditional letter blocks used to spell baby’s name, are not included. You can customize all 5 sides of your block with photos, verses, birth information, initials, or anything else you would like. The block measures 3.5″ on all sides. The cost is $25.00 plus if you would like the spelled out letters of your baby’s name it will cost $3.00 per letter. Name Puzzle Stool. Help your little one reach for a bit of independence and...
read more2012 Stroller Friendly Races
[category_specific_rss_menu] *Updated April 22, 2013 For a comprehensive list of 2013 & 2014 stroller friendly races, please see the Stroller Friendly Race Calendar. We currently have more than 1000 races listed and adding approximately 20 races weekly. *********** January 17, 2012 Stroller friendly races are hard to find. While many races discourage or outright prohibit the use of jog strollers during the race, I have found several races that offer special start times to strollers and some that encourage all family participation. Although, in search of stroller friendly races, I have not found one comprehensive list anywhere. Sites such as Running in the USA, Active.com, or Runner’s World do not have a search filter for “jogging strollers”, so in order to find out if races are jog stroller friendly, you have to contact each individual race director. As you can well imagine this is a daunting task, especially for parents who are trying to plan out their race schedules for the year. Don’t get me wrong, I do plenty of races sans jog stroller – my husband and I switch of race days or get someone to watch our son – but, there are times it is nice to bring him to “race”. As you know, for whatever reason, not all parents have the luxury of having someone else watch their child, so racing without them is not an option. One note: I do encourage anyone racing with a jog stroller to abide by Jog Stroller Racing Etiquette. This is very important not only for the safety of you and your baby, but also for the other runners. I began doing research on stroller friendly races and reaching out to the race directors of each race so I can develop a 2012 stroller friendly races comprehensive list by state. Several women have joined the effort to build this list; dads you can participate as well. If you know of races that are stroller friendly and you like to add them to the list, please leave a comment below with the Race name, Date, Location, Time and Race distance. I currently have Virginia covered and most of Arizona (thank you Kristy). Please spread the word about the Stroller Friendly Races List development; the more comprehensive the list the better for all running moms and dads. As race directors confirm that their races are stroller friendly, I will add the race to the list. Please note: The list is constantly being updated. Click the picture below to view the list. Thank you in advance for any help you’ve provided....
read moreMom, you told everyone! Kids Privacy Online
Being that Educause, a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology, coined January Data Privacy; it got me thinking about kids’ privacy online. With so many people blogging about their day-to-day lives, especially new parents wanting to document their child’s milestones online and share them with family; I wonder how we go about ensuring their privacy online. As of July 2011 according to Mashable, the two largest blogging sites Tumblr and WordPress.com, together hosted more than 20,958,182 blogs (Tumblr had 20,873,182 blogs and WordPress.com’s had approximately 85,000 blogs). So to me, the question arose do you have “rules” about what you will and will not post in blogs, forums and other online spaces such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Flickr, Babycenter.com, etc.? Someone once told me that anyone could find out anything about me because my life was so public on the web. I said, “Yes, you can, but there are a lot of things you will hopefully never find out about me because my husband and I have house “rules” for social media (more guidelines because use of mobile technology and social media change daily) about how, what, where and when we choose to share our personal information. As my hubby and I have become more actively engaged in social networks and in combination with the our son’s birth, we decided it was time to have family “rules” (guidelines) for social media. Our rules are constantly being revised based on new security and privacy issues that arise daily, especially with regards to our son’s privacy online. According to comScore.com, social networking sites now reach 82 percent of the world’s online population, representing 1.2 billion users around the world. In my opinion, that is a lot of people that you possibly can be exposing yours and your kid’s important private information. Here are our family house rules/guidelines that can be tailored to almost every family that uses any type of social networks (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Flickr, YouTube, Blogger, Tumblr, Pinterest, etc.). Of course, in order for any family house rules/guidelines to effective, good communication between you and your spouse is imperative. I am sure your communication is as perfect as mine is with my husband (my sarcasm injected). Never use our son’s real name. We always refer to our son as C2. Yes, we know that anything you post on the Internet is forever, but you are bound to make a slip up; if you do, when you realize it go back and make the correction as soon as possible. It is easy enough to avoid using the actual names of people and places in your blog so, skip the fine details and you’ll keep a stronger hold on your privacy. Never post birth dates. We don’t publish C2 birth date. Of course, we are not perfect and when C2 was born, we posted status updates on Facebook to our friends. Minimizing posting recent pictures of C2. Always remember to look at the background of a picture too. We try to minimize recent photos except on private blogs where an invitation is required to view. If it is a recent photo generally, it is taken from behind or from a profile view. There are exceptions to this rule,...
read moreKid Friendly Hotel Will You Be Staying At One?
Is the hotel kid friendly? Traveling with your baby and/or toddler and planning on staying in a hotel? Kristy Wood, one of my favorite guest bloggers, and I have developed frequently asked questions to make sure the hotel you plan on staying at is kid friendly. If this is the first time staying in a hotel with your baby, make sure you ask the hotel the following questions or be sure to check their website for the accommodations before booking your reservation. By finding out the answers to the questions before you arrive, will make for a more pleasant first time experience for your entire family, plus you will be more prepared. Do you have refrigerators in the standard rooms? If not, be sure to ask if they could put one in for you. A refrigerator is essential if you are breast feeding and you need to store breast milk. Or you have a toddler that is already on whole milk and you need to keep some at your disposal. In my experience some boutique hotels might not provide refrigerators in the rooms, but they will put your breast milk in their kitchen refrigerator. If they do, be sure to mark the cooler well with your last name and identify it is breast milk. Do they have a crib available to use or rent? This is only essential if you are planning to not bring your own pack-n-play or another sleeping device. Ensure you ask them how old the cribs are and if they know when they were purchased. From experience, I found that higher end hotels generally have the newer cribs ones that have not been recalled, but with lower end or cheaper hotels they have cribs that have been recalled or the cribs are so rickety and not stable because they have been a store room and have not been used in ages. You have to check them out carefully before using them. Many are old (some predating safety regulations) and structurally unsafe, and others come with bedding — such as folded full-sized sheets — that could present a hazard to your sleeping child. According to Babycenter.com, A few years ago, the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission ran a spot check on cribs at some 90 hotels and motels across the country; more than four out of five were found to violate federal safety guidelines. If you have a toddler and not interested in carrying a pack-n-play, consider purchasing the Kidco Pod Tent. See my review. Do they have a fan and can I reserve one? In my opinion this is essential for helping reduce the noise in the hotel room, plus providing additional white noise. As you well know, hotel rooms regardless of the chain, you can generally hear your neighbors next door; hopefully, this reduces the sounds to a muffle. Do you have additional children’s gear onsite like high chairs, booster seats, toys or gear, and strollers? Is there a local service that rents these? When in Maui, we have been able to rent sand toys by the bag for a day or week of fun. Beats traveling with everything and saves you clean up. Always ask what there is to do around the area, and what services are available. Sometimes you really don’t know...
read more10 Best Things My Toddler Has Said to Me
Since children grow so fast, I wanted to capture the 10 best things my toddler – now 22 months old almost 23 months old – has said to me this past year that has warmed my heart and still does every time I hear them. 1. “Ma Ma” 2. “Da Da” 3. “Wuve you.” (Love You) This warms my heart every time I hear this, which I usually hear several times a day. 4. “Nite Nite” Both Brett and I love to hear this. C2 usually says this when he is going to bed and waves good night. 5. “Da Da race, Ma Ma Race” While Brett was racing the Ironman Cozumel in November 2011, C2 would lay in bed when he didn’t want to go to sleep and talk to himself for an hour about racing. 6. “Go fast” C2 loves to run, so when he runs he says “Go fast”. 7. “Brovers” (Brothers) Referring to our two lovable labs Parker and Cole who we refer to as “The Boys” or his brothers. C2 does not recognize that his brothers are dogs. 8. “Yeah, did it” He usually claps and cheers for himself after he accomplishes something like jumping off a stair or his interpretation of jumping. 9. “Go, Go, Go” C2 loves to play chase and when you run after him, he yells “Go, Go, Go”. 10. “Oh, no” When C2 was 15 ½ months our Au Pair started teaching him when he drop something to put his hands on his head and go “oh, no”. Although, as we know, toddlers can be challenging, but I think the good times, toddler hugs and kisses outweigh any of toddlers trying...
read moreGoal Setting My 2012 Race Schedule
With the end of 2011 approaching rapidly, I finally got on the ball and finalized my 2012 race schedule not just for motivations purposes, but I needed to set goals other than trying to conceive our third child. After the birth our son in February 2010, Brett and I decided that over the course of the next couple of years, my triathlons would be limited to Sprints and Olympic (International) distances. Not would this allow me time to recover from the first pregnancy, but we knew we wanted to try for our second within a short period of time of having our first. Before getting into my race schedule let me give some background history. The 2010 season began; I received approval six weeks after giving birth from my doctor to begin exercising and four weeks later I was competing in my first triathlon of the season and to top it off it was my first Mother’s Day. Throughout the season, I competed in five triathlons (Sprint and Olympic) and two running races, while Brett completed in his first two half Ironman’s. When the season came to a close in late October 2010 – for me, I was almost ready to begin trying for a second baby. With a bit more convincing from my hubby, we began trying in January 2011. We are planners and very much goal oriented people, so Brett and I were trying to “ensure” the birth of the second child did not come to close to his first Ironman, which was held November 28, 2011. I really wanted to be there to support him. So low and behold, we got pregnant for the second time in May 2011. Perfect right?!?! I was due to give birth in February 2012, which meant I would be pregnant, but not too pregnant to fly to Mexico and be there for Brett’s first Ironman. All was going according to “plan”, I was still racing and we were on track to have a second lil’ Coffee. Well, as we know “plans” are not really ours; God had a different plan and our lil’ Coffee. In my second trimester – August 2011 – we lost our Angel. It was extremely difficult for both Brett and I. Luckily, at the time we had a beautiful, healthy almost 18 mos. old that loved to laugh and play and he is always put big smiles on our faces. As we tell people, a toddler hug goes a long way to curing a broken heart. A blessing in disguise, was our little man had no concept mommy was pregnant and we will not have to explain anything to him (at least at the moment). A silver lining that Brett and I felt we had walked away knowing when we were presented with the situation, we realized how strong we were together, and how our communications skills have really proven strong. We both feel blessed that we have one another and that we have our little man. Like my first pregnancy, soon after I received approval to begin training again, I did. I needed something to focus on, so I registered for the Richmond Half Marathon. I trained, but not too much because we wanted to try again to get pregnant. As any husband wife team...
read moreLast Minute Newborn Holiday Gifts
A friend asked me this morning if I had any suggestions on last minute newborn holiday gifts. Luckily, for parents with newborns, you do not need to spend a lot of money because you only “need” one or two gifts. The baby will not be able to open the present themselves and probably will not aware of the festivities. Every day for a newborn is festive. Yes, “need” is in parenthesis because most newborns do not need any toys, but if most parents are like me they want to spoil their child during the holidays regardless of their age. Here are some last minute gifts that you can pick-up at Buy Buy Baby, Babies R’Us, or Toy’s R’Us. Of course, you can purchase them on Amazon, but with only two days left (including today) until Christmas and Hanukkah has already begun, you will not get them in time. The list is derived from my own personal experience and friends. C2 loved anything that played music; he could chew on, or had bright colors. Leap Frog® Twinkle Twinkle Little Scout Activity Gym Kids Preferred Eric Carle’s Developmental Plush Toys Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Fun with Friends Muscial Table Fisher Price® Precious Planet™ Kick & Play Piano Baby Einstein® Roller Pillar Activity Balls Baby Einstein™ Sea Dreams Lullaby Soother by Kids II® LeapFrog My Pal Scout Vulli Sophie Giraffe Soft Rubber Toy Kids II® Baby Einstein™ Take Along Tunes 1. Leap Frog® Twinkle Twinkle Little Scout– $17.99 Only available at Buy Buy Baby or Amazon 2. LeapFrog My Pal Scout – $19.99 Available at Buy Buy Baby, Babies R’Us, Toys R’Us and Amazon 3. Kids II® Baby Einstein™ Take Along Tunes – $9.99 Available at Buy Buy Baby, Babies R’Us, Toys R’Us and Amazon 4. Baby Einstein® Roller Pillar Activity Balls – $9.99 Available at Buy Buy Baby, Babies R’Us, Toys R’Us and Amazon 5. Baby Einstein™ Sea Dreams Lullaby Soother by Kids II® – $39.99 Only available at Buy Buy Baby or Amazon 6. Fisher Price® Precious Planet™ Kick & Play Piano – $29.99 Only available at Buy Buy Baby or Amazon 7. Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Fun with Friends Musical Table – $49.99 Available at Buy Buy Baby, Babies R’Us, Toys R’Us and Amazon 8. Kids Preferred Eric Carle’s Developmental Plush Toys – $14.99 Available at Buy Buy Baby, Babies R’Us, Toys R’Us and Amazon 9. Vulli Sophie Giraffe Soft Rubber Toy – $21.99 Only available at Buy Buy Baby or Amazon 10. Activity Gym of any kind – they prices range from $24-99-$79.99 Available at Buy Buy Baby, Babies R’Us, Toys R’Us and Amazon 11. Personalized 1st Christmas Ornament or a Hanukkah memento – Buy these at Hallmark, Amazon, Buy Buy Baby, Babies R’Us, Toys R’Us, or local boutique shops 12. Soft resilient chew toys Local Stores Near You Check out where the local stores are near you. Buy Buy Baby Babies R’Us Toys R’Us Good luck on your last minute newborn holiday gifts...
read more10 Things a Sherpa Needs to Do or Not Do on Race Day
[category_specific_rss_menu] As I wrote in my one of my more recent post, I was a Sherpa for my hubby who just completed his first Ironman in Cozumel. It was such an experience, but as I mentioned I was not fully prepared for my Sherpa duties. With that being said, if you are planning on being someone’s Sherpa for an endurance race, here are some things I learned that I thought I would pass along, so you do not make the same mistakes I did. Nutrition. Nutrition. Nutrition. Yes, nutrition is just as important for you as your racer. You are preparing for a potentially 17-20 hour day and you need to eat and drink appropriately. Hydrate! This is not an easy spectator’s sport; you will be doing a lot of exercising yourself. Unfortunately for me, I did not think that far ahead. I did bring enough water and Gatorade, but nothing else edible. Good thing one of our Team Z cheer run stations was located at our hotel where I was able to grab couple of Cliff Bars. Map Out Route. Before the actual day of the race, look over the course map or even drive it to scope out where you want to be to see your racer. Very important, logistics on race day might be more difficult because there might be road closure due to the race. Even though the coaches had several meeting with the Sherpa’s on where to go, it did not seem to matter. I still did not park my scooter on the right side of the road of the swim start; thus making it to a couple of cheer stations impossible. Bring Sunscreen. If you think you don’t need it. Think again. You will be burned and not even realize it. If you are a mom and walking around with small babies- cover them up. Please be cautious the sun is very hot when you are just sitting in it. I was smart; this is one of the few things I actually brought with me and I reapplied often. Pack an Umbrella. Bring a small umbrella that folds up to about 6 inches and you will find that when you have it over your head when the sun is beating down it will keep you cool. However, if you are at the race finish line please fold it up as it will block someone’s view and there is a good chance maybe poke an eye or two. This would have been helpful when the pouring rain came in. But, no, why would I bring an umbrella?!?! Pack a twin size flat sheet or large towel. Remember your athlete is going to finish the race and be very sweaty and simply want to lie down immediately. Most areas will be grassy or dirty. Rather than have them get all sticky with dirt, leaves and uncomfortable twigs toss a small sheet down and let them take a few minutes to just regain their strength again. Of course I did not receive this suggestion until I was an Ironman Sherpa, but this makes a lot of sense. Plastic bags/garbage bags are your friends. Not the most eco-friendly suggestion, but bring a couple of gallon zip lock bags and one garbage bag. The Zip lock back...
read moreWhy Stars For Stripes?
With the year coming to a close, some people might be looking for a great organization to donate to and I wanted let you know about a phenomenal organization that does so much good, Stars For Stripes. In my opinion, I do not think that Stars For Stripes receives enough recognition, publicity and/or financial support. Stars For Stripes is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides quality, celebrity entertainment to remote overseas U.S .military bases. In more than 700 such remote bases around the globe that isolation can eat at not only the morale of those stationed there but also their basic psyche which can have a direct impact on their ability to accomplish their mission. Reducing that impairment is the mission of Stars For Stripes. I have learned over the years, if you do not publicize; no one will know. And if you do not ask; no one will give. So here I am doing both. Of course, I can talk about a hundred more worthy causes and a handful that I donate both time and money to that are just as worthy of a blog post, but unfortunately, this would make for an extremely long blog. In full disclosure, I am on the Board of Directors for Stars For Stripes but I have been involved with Stars For Stripes a lot longer than I have been a board member. I met Stars For Stripes President Judy Seale while I was the Executive Director of a nonprofit SemperComm that too supported U.S. overseas remote military bases by providing communications and entertainment equipment to the troops. Right away we clicked. We both were supporters of the military and we both believed that regardless of where service members are stationed and how remote they were that they deserved the same type of comforts that other large installations were receiving. As Judy, states on Stars For Stripes website, “We cannot repay their sacrifices or truly compensate them for their dedication. We can, however, honor them with a glimpse of life back home, with entertainment and with our mere presence, if only for a short while.” Since the inceptions of Stars For Stripes in 2003, they have touched the lives of 1,000 upon 1,000 of men and women who fight every day for our freedom. They have co-produced with MWR, MNC-I, USAREUR and AFE, more than 50 tours entertaining our troops deployed to remote locations overseas. Top name entertainers including Charlie Daniels, Richard Marx, Lee Ann Womack, Little Big Town, Aaron Tippin, Chely Wright, Karri Turner, Dave Price, Craig Morgan, Jim McMahon, Kevin Butler, Dierks Bentley, Diamond Rio, Trick Pony, Mark Wills, the Bellamy Brothers, D.B. Sweeney, Bo Bice and Darryl Worley, and many more. If the videos and the stories compel you to donate to Stars For Stripes, you can do so online at Stars For Stripes website or send a check to: Stars for Stripes 109 Rivers Edge Court Nashville, TN 37214 Phone: 615-872-2122 Fax: 615-882-0204 Any donation, regardless of the denomination is always appreciated by myself and Stars For Stripes. Thank you in advance for your generous contribution. Also, before closing this post, I wanted to thank all the men and women who serve our country and protect our freedom and to their families who support them. Here is...
read moreNo Longer an Ironman Sherpa Virgin
[category_specific_rss_menu] For anyone who has not had the opportunity to cheer someone on during a 140.6 mile event; it is such an inspiring and great experience. But, let me tell you, it’s a long, drawn out day, requiring its own endurance. From dealing with your future Ironman’s stress for two weeks prior to the race, to the day of the race ungodly 4 am wake-up call to the 7am swim-start to the long bike, followed by a marathon, the Ironman Sherpa’s day is every bit as long and in many ways just as demanding as it is for the athletes. I can’t say I logged as many miles in running as my Ironman, but I at least got a good 10 miles in walking. Not to mention the fact that the real work doesn’t even begin until after your designated athlete crosses the finish line, when you must assist them in finding the bike transport – which took me nearly an hour, who knew the bike transport would be located in a dark alley with no lights or signage – while also providing a shoulder for the staggering, sometimes incoherent finisher to lean on. For the record, Brett was not incoherent; he was just sore and had the Ironman shuffle. Then figuring out how get your finisher back to the hotel with a lack of cab service in Cozumel – but, thanks to our new friend Toro we got a cab and my hubby got some very smooth tequila – the dispensing of Advil and feeding my hubby back at the hotel – and after 140.6 miles, this is important work indeed. Over the Thanksgiving holiday, we went to Cozumel, Mexico with Team Z for my hubby’s Brett’s first Ironman, Ford Ironman Cozumel. If you are uncertain what an Ironman is, it is an Endurance triathlon that consists of 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 run (full marathon) all to be completed in 17 hours. Brett was the Ironman and my role as wife, best friend, training partner, and mommy was to be his Sherpa for the weekend. For the past year, Brett has been preparing for the Ironman, but so did our entire family. Yes, he worked extremely hard, but in order for him to be successful, it required my full support as a wife, best friend and a mom to our son. I can’t say that there weren’t days that I didn’t complain; especially the long training weekends where he was biking 120 miles on Saturday and running 20 miles on Sunday. Or that I was never envious of Brett. There were many days and weekends, I wished it was me training for the Ironman. But, as most parents of young children know, it is virtually impossible for both parents to train for an Ironman when both are working full-time as well. So, I spent the weekends trying to fit my workout in while trying to maintain some assemblance of normalcy for my now 22 months old son. But in the end it was worth it, when Brett crossed the finish line and both heard, “Brett Coffee, Listen up Brett, you are an Ironman!” With that all being said, and that this was my first Full Ironman Sherpa duties, I was not totally prepared for...
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