Fun Ideas!

I came across this blog today (of course by blog stalking...thanks Lauren!) that has so many fun ideas to do with our little ones! If you are in a slump at home trying to think of ways to keep the kiddos entertained then click on the link immediately! http://dressesandmesses.wordpress.com/

I am so excited about the whole slew of activities to do...our first one is going to be this fun Sensory Table! My son will LOVE this for that I am sure. I am excited because I think this will keep him entertained for hours;)

Also try this educational activity about The 5 Senses. I did an activity similar to this about 6 years ago for a Primary Sharing Time (church lesson) and it was a HIT!! I had ALL the kids' attention as they each wanted to have a turn to touch, smell, and taste. This one takes a little more planning and putting together but no doubt your kid(s) will love it!

Just thought I would share! When you strike gold it only matters if you share the wealth! (I think I just made up a quotable quote!...haha!)

Cause for Concern

I was sent this article today and read over it and think everyone should take a look. With the recent headlines of teen suicide I think it is good for everyone to become more aware of the problem even if you think this is an issue you don't have to worry about. It takes a village right?

Click here to view the article.


On a brighter note, Happy Easter to you all! Hope you all are having a fabulous weekend!

Want to Help?

Hello Everybody!

I hope this post finds you all happy, healthy, and enjoying the new year!

I am calling all helping hands...or checkbooks:) If you are not all maxed out from donating to Haiti this past week, I want to ask you to consider if helping today is something you can do.

I was contacted to see if Dollars for Diapers could do anything to help this family.

Here is the story (the short version)

In DeSoto County Mississippi two adorable twin boys were born a few days ago. Their mother has four other children and found herself in a situation that she could no longer handle. She couldn't keep her babies. She just couldn't. Her sister stepped in and is in the process of trying to legally adopt the boys. However, due to the situation and having no time to prepare, this lady and the babies are in need of everything. Clothes, diapers, wipes, blankets, lotions/creams, formula, pacifiers, etc...you get the picture.

I verified the situation and wanted to assure you that any donations made will go to TWO deserving little boys...who despite no reason on their part...are getting a rough start in the world.

If you have any clean infant clothing in good repair, diapers, wipes, toys, creams, blankets, etc that you would like to donate please e-mail me and I will send you our shipping address. If you have any funds that you can spare...EVEN JUST A DOLLAR...send me an e-mail and I will get you our address. And of course you can donate through Pay Pal by clicking on the link on the blog.

Thank you all in advance!

Sleep Myth Busters

*Hey All* This is an article that was sent to me and asked to be put on the blog...enjoy!


Sleep Myth Busters: The Sleep Lady Sets the Record Straight
By Kim West, LCSW-C,
Author of The Sleep Lady®'s Good Night, Sleep Tight: Gentle Proven Solutions to Help Your Child Sleep Well and Wake Up Happy

#1 If I skip my child's nap, he will sleep longer at night. Also, the later I put my child to bed, the later he'll sleep in the morning.

Sleep Lady: The more overtired you allow your child to get, the more wired he'll get -- making it harder for him to get sleep and stay asleep.

#2 Children not sleeping through the night for the first year or two is a fact of life.

Sleep Lady: Healthy babies 6 months or older who are growing well can often sleep 11 hours at night. Although teething, illness and developmental milestones can disturb sleep at various times, they're only temporary interruptions.

#3 Newborns sleep all the time and know what they need. You don't need to schedule their sleep times.

Sleep Lady: Even very young babies benefit from scheduling and consistency at night time and nap time. It cuts down on their crankiness and crying and lays the groundwork for learning how to sleep through the night once they're a little older.

#4 Children know when they're sleepy and when they should go to bed.

Sleep Lady: Not once they learn to fight sleep for your company! Children need our direction and guidance with a soothing bedtime routine to help them slow down and transition to sleep. Once you get your child on a consistent schedule, you can plan your own day better and can count on having a happy awake child.

#5 Some children, including babies, don't need as much sleep as others.

Sleep Lady: Very few children need less than the average amount of sleep for their age. They need enough good quality sleep to grow and learn at the incredible rate they do! They need us to protect their need for sleep.

#6 If I let my child "cry it out" at bedtime, I can do whatever it takes (rock, walk, nurse, bottle feed , etc.) to get him back to sleep in the middle of the night.

Sleep Lady: Once your baby is over 6 months of age, you must be consistent at bedtime AND all night wakings. If he becomes accustomed to being fed, rocked, walked, etc. during the night, that is what he will need and expect each time he wakes up in order to go back to sleep. He won't understand why you are doing it sometimes and not other times.

#7 I will have to give up all forms of co-sleeping if I want a baby with good sleep habits.



Sleep Lady: Not true. Consider an alternative middle ground called "room sharing" -- where you keep your baby in your room in a crib or co-sleeper for months or even a year. You can easily feed your baby, its gives you the peace of mind of having her close by and you don't have to worry about the safety challenges of bedsharing. Most importantly you can begin to put your baby down "drowsy but awake" at nap time so she can learn to put herself to sleep independently and you are still near by. This will make the transition to her own crib and room one day much easier!

#8 If I feed my baby late at night, he will sleep longer.

Sleep Lady: A baby will sleep for a longer stretch when he no longer needs to eat at night AND if he knows how to put himself back to sleep without being fed.

#9 Feeding my child formula rather than relying on breast feeding in the evening will help her sleep longer.

Sleep Lady: It may help her sleep longer since formula takes longer to digest, but it won't make a difference if she doesn't know how to put herself back to sleep without nursing or bottle feeding.

Copyright © 2009 Kim West, LCSW-C, author of The Sleep Lady®'s Good Night, Sleep Tight: Gentle Proven Solutions to Help Your Child Sleep Well and Wake Up Happy

Author Bio
Kim West, LCSW-C, known as The Sleep Lady®, has helped thousands of tired parents gently teach their babies and children how to go to sleep and stay asleep. West has appeared on Dr. Phil, the Today Show, NBC Nightly News, Good Morning America, TLC's Bringing Home Baby, and CNN, and has been written about in a number of publications including The Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Parents, Baby Talk, Parenting, the Baltimore Sun, USA Today, and theWashington Post. West hosts the sleep section of The Newborn Channel, played in maternity wards in hospitals across the country. She is the mother of two daughters and a licensed child and family therapist, practicing for over seventeen years. She lives with her family in Annapolis, Maryland.

In addition to The Sleep Lady®'s Good Night, Sleep Tight, West is also the author of 52 Sleep Secrets for Babies and the upcoming, Good Night, Sleep Tight Workbook.

Visit Kim West at www.sleeplady.com.

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Tis' The Season!

Hello Everybody!



I see I still have some followers here, so THAK YOU for sticking around. I have been horrible at blogging...obviously. I have been keeping up Dollars for Diapers and doing things locally but have not made a huge effort in the blogging world. I will try and do better with this!



As the holidays are getting into full swing I just wanted to jot down some ways we can all get out there and make a difference....big or small.



Have you been to your local mall lately? The Angels Trees are up and the tags are hung waiting for you to come by and adopt a child. This is one of my favorite things to do and has been a Christmas tradition of mine since I was in high school. If you are looking for a tradition to start I highly recommend that you consider this one. It is fun to do if you are single, as a couple, or a family. If you have kiddos let them pick a name off the tree of someone their age. Then take them shopping...they are experts at picking the best toys for kids their age!

My sister decided that instead of giving all of us siblings gifts this year that she would adopt an angel in our name. I think that is a fabulous idea!

I also like the Angel Tree because you can give what your budget allows. If you are running on a tight budget you can look through the tags and find an item that would suit your budget for the year and just cross one thing off the child's list....on the other hand...you can take the entire tag and fulfill all the needs and wants of the child...purchasing clothes and toys if you are working with a larger budget. And if you want to go all out you can call your local Salvation Army and ask for an entire family to adopt. You can tell them how many people you can buy for this year and they will place you with a family. When you do this you buy clothing and toys for the kids and can get a gift for the parents as well. You also provide them with food for a Christmas Dinner. Don't worry...if that seems like too much you can ask just to buy gifts and have someone else provide the dinner. Adopting an entire family is something that would be fun to do with your immediate family and extended family that would like to participate. If you all put your wallets together you could really make the dreams of a family come true this year!!



But wait! Now the Salvation Army has made it even easier to give. If you do not have a mall close by or dread facing the crowds then simply click HERE! Adopt your angel online, shop online even, then just deliver the gift to the address that the Salvation Army will send you once you adopt an Angel. The best part is that you can pick a child in whatever zip code you choose.

** A friend posted on Facebook that Toys for Tots is in dire need for more toys this year. This one is simple...if you go into a store and see the Toys for Tots collection bin...add a toy, big or small, to your cart and drop it in the bin on your way out...easy peasy! Not only are you giving a child a gift but you are supporting the Marines! You can be patriotic and have the Spirit of Christmas all at the same time;) Hate Shopping? Go HERE to donate online or learn more about Toys for Tots. A fun part about donating online is that you can donate in honor of someone. What a great way to honor a loved one by donating in their name! (note some stores have Salvation Army collection bins rather than Toys for Tots...but giving to either organization will be a big help)

**What would Christmas be without bell ringers? Make sure to have some change available when going to the store to drop in the collection buckets. This one is great because all of you TAMNs out there can be seen by all of your fellow shoppers being giving and loving...which is what Christmas is all about right? (for those of you who do not understand what just happened here...click HERE to be filled in.)

**12 Days of Christmas/Secret Santa. This is another fun tradition to start as a family, but also fun to do by yourself. Pick out a person or family. This is such a fun thing to do because you can pick someone who you think needs some cheering up, an elderly person living alone, a family in need, or just a friend or family that you really like whether they are financially in need or not. I think there is a lot of focus on financially needy people...which is great...but there are others out there too that would benefit from and love a surprise. It is nice to get noticed no matter what economic class you fall into. When I do this I like the last day of giving to fall on Christmas Eve...so that means that I start on Dec. 13th as the "1st day of Christmas" and so on. But you can choose whichever day you like to start and end. Some argue that if you were doing this correctly that you would actually start Christmas Day and go until New Years...that would be fun too because it would be totally unexpected and carry on Christmas Cheer a little longer. If you are new to this concept Google "12 Days of Christmas Gift Idea" and you will get a lot ideas to get started.

**No Money to give? No worries...lots of opportunities to serve and make a difference. Why not look up your local soup kitchen and get involved. Take your family in for a night to prepare a meal and serve it.

**Visit a retirement/nursing home. Sing carols, have hot chocolate, and pass out homemade ornaments or cards. If you are able to give monetarily call ahead and ask what some of the residents are in great need of...or ask to adopt a resident that does not have family that visits or gives gifts. You can also help serve dinner and eat with the residents. Have your talented children, grandchildren, cousins, friends, etc. perform in a talent show. Bring your well behaved pets to visit (make sure you call ahead for this one to make sure it is okay) but I know that residents living in these homes really miss seeing children and really miss pets. Have plans to watch a Christmas movie together...why not call ahead and ask the staff if you can come and watch the movie with residents. When I worked at a retirement center we had movie nights often. They would love for visitors (especially youth) to come and watch a movie with them. Serve microwave popcorn and drinks or another fun treat. If you can do any of these things this year DO IT!! Residents live for this kind of thing! Oh!...another idea...get some supplies and go and decorate a residents door with them. Put up wrapping paper and bows and maybe hang some Christmas lights. If you have one of those tiny trees help them set it up and decorate it then go back after Christmas and help them take it down. They really need cheer brought into their lives...so please GO and DO! ;)

**Make-up goody plates and deliver them to your friends...but then make a few extra plates to deliver to some unexpected people...ones who may not be getting any visitors or goody plates this year. You can take it in person or knock and run!

**Call your local hospital and find out what kind of help they could use. Other places to think about...your local food bank, schools (you can adopt a classroom and do a fun craft and have treats...that may be all that some of the kids get for the year), fire station, police departments, churches, and other non-profit organizations. The Salvation Army is always looking for volunteers as well.

** And of course ...if all else fails...you can donate to Dollars for Diapers...Woot!

OKAY I WILL STOP...I could go on and on...there is soooooo much good to be done! So many opportunities for us to serve. It does not have to take away from family time because your family can be right there serving with you! The benefits from serving are priceless...in fact I am sure I always get back more than I give. Getting out there and giving will surely make this holiday season one to remember...and who knows...maybe a new tradition will be started that can be looked forward to for many years to come!

If you want to share any of your ideas PLEASE leave a comment. I love hearing new ideas or experiences!

Hey!

Hey Everybody! How is going??? I haven't been updating due to having surgery, then family visiting, and getting ready to jet off...but I hope you are all well! With the economy only getting bleaker there are so many opportunities out there to help. Does anyone have any stories to share, experiences, or a family that you want to suggest that needs our help? Let us know!!

Update!

Wow...it has been a while! I think I am recovered from the holidays and vacationing a bit...now time to get back to real life! Sorry for such a long absence of posting.

I just wanted to let you know Dollars for Diapers was able to make our first donation in December! Yea!!

We were able to donate a couple packages of diapers to a family in Mississippi that fell on some hard times with the shift in the economy. As you know a lot of people are out of work or have had a cut back in hours and that is exactly what happened to this family. They were just having a hard time making ends meet. They just recently had a baby and have 3 other children as well. The small donation was just a little help...a little push to keep them going. They were able to save 30 bucks or so to put towards something else they really needed. While it is not a huge amount of savings or a life changing event...every little bit helps and by small and simple things do great things come to pass.

Thanks to Emily up in Utah and Linda in Mississippi for your donations that went towards this family!! Though this family does not know who you are, they have gratitude in their hearts for you and your willingness to give!

So far this is where we stand. Things are slow but I have been encouraged by the amount of buttons I have seen on blogs of people I don't know...as well as "followers" I have never met. Thank you to those of you have posted buttons and contributed posts to this cause.

I did anticipate this is how it would all start out. Many times I have thought of just pressing "delete" on this blog and pretending I never had it up here. It seems daunting at times. But my sister stopped me and told me I can not give up. And she is right. I have not set out to change the world. I have only set out to do some good where I have seen there to be a need...so press on I will. I hope you will all stick with me and hopefully we will see the numbers grow.

If you have a chance pass the word on again...do a post...send an e-mail...get a button on your site if you haven't already. And then think about how much ACTIVE time you can give...get some donations generated...if you don't do it for Dollars for Diapers then do it for something else! When you think you are at the end of your giving...dig deep and give a little more!