9 month old twins and an economy sized jar of rash cream

You know people like to tell me that one day I'll look back at all of the crazy stuff my kids do and I'll laugh. Maybe in 20 years or so, I'm certainly not laughing yet.

Guest Post - Breaking the Rules of Parenthood

Before I had my son, I had several ideas of what I was and was not going to do as a parent. I’d read online at what parents should do, and vowed that I would do these things by the book.

 It’s funny how most of my good intentions are now out the window!

Broken Rule 1: My son will not watch any television.

Truth: My kiddo’s favorite show is Sesame Street, and he watches 1-2 episodes of it on Netflix each day. Luckily, he doesn’t care about any other shows, or he’d probably be allowed to watch them too! Sometimes, it’s just nice to be able to straighten up the house or use the bathroom with him busy watching Elmo rather than being my shadow.

Broken Rule 2: My son will not eat junk food.

Truth: The kid loves cookies, especially Oreo’s. He doesn’t have them every day, of course, but every now and then, snack time isn’t too healthy. This is especially true when he visits Nana and Grandpa’s house. We do limit junk food consumption at home so he can enjoy it elsewhere without us feeling that all he eats is unhealthy food.

Broken Rule 3: I will have my son up by 8am each morning, so he doesn’t hate mornings like I always have.

Truth: In order for this to work, I have to stop hating mornings so that I will get him up! I should also learn to go to bed before midnight, so that I won’t feel like a zombie because of an early wake up time. Neither of these happens on most days, so he’s usually still asleep until he wakes up on his own (9-9:30am-ish).

Broken Rule 4: My son will always eat meals at the table, so that he learns the value of family meal time and doesn’t make a mess elsewhere.

Truth: Snack time is usually performed while watching Sesame Street, with my kiddo sitting in the living room floor, his Gyro bowl of Cherrios sitting in front of him. Sometimes I even slip and allow breakfast to be eaten in the living room. We always sit down for a family dinner though, so it’s not all bad!

Broken Rule 5: I am going to keep my house clean, even after my son is born.

Truth: That’s probably the most broken rule of them all! I didn’t think one child could do so much destruction on the living room in one day…and when I go 2-3 days without straightening up, it’s like a pig sty. I’ll take away from cleaning time to color with the boy or watch a movie with the hubby any day though…which is definitely more important than a spotless house!

Kecia Hambrick is a work at home mom and wife. She’s been married for 5 years and has a 1 year old son. She owns SouthernGirlRamblings.com, where she babbles on about parenthood, married life, getting healthy, and everything in between.

Wordless Wednesday - Willow and The "Memer"

March Moola Madness - $300 Grand Prize + EdenFantasys Giftcard

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Hippity hoppity Easter's on it's way! Easter Basket Ideas

Can you believe that it's almost time for Easter?! If you're like me you prefer not to fill your kids' Easter baskets with junk. Willow will get a chocolate bunny and a caramel egg but that's pretty much all the candy she'll get. We'd much rather pay a bit more for things that we know she'll use than give her a bunch of candy that will make her bounce off the walls and destroy our house.

This was Willow's very first Easter basket. We stuffed it with rattles, cloth books, baby sunglasses, and even cloth diapers! Now that she's older it's a bit harder, but not impossible! Here are some ideas to help make your Easter baskets candy free!

Wellington the Duck from Scentsy! He's a Scentsy Buddy! You insert a scent pack (each buddy comes with a pack in your choice of scent) into his back and he'll keep your child's room smelling great! His little rain coat is perfect for Spring.

Lalaloopsy Fairy Tale Minis. Willow is obsessed with these things and they're fairy inexpensive. Target usually has them on sale for $4.99. There are lots to choose from but Little Bah Peep is pretty Eastery with her little lambs! Willow is getting the Cinderella & Prince Charming set along with the Target exclusive Easter Mini.

Movies! I know that Willow would love a Dora movie for Easter, but she's getting Puss in Boots instead. She decided to order it for herself when she was using the Kindle Fire the other day. We forgot to turn off the one-click settings so it arrived with overnight shipping! She didn't realize she ordered it (she just turned 3) so in the basket it goes! Movies are great because the whole family can enjoy them. If a movie for each kid is out of the budget consider buying just one or two, wrapping them in spring colored wrapping paper and having the bunny leave them as a family gift.

Books, coloring books, art supplies, playdoh, lipgloss, toy cars, etc are all great additions too! Want to make it extra fun? Do a themed basket!  Summer fun is a great one, use a beach pail for your basket, stuff it with a bathing suit, new beach towel, sunscreen, sand toys, sun glasses and flip flops! Think outside the box!

Have ideas? Share them!

Laundry Tips and Tricks - OxyClean Boil

I hate Mondays because Monday is laundry day in our house. I do somewhere between 6 and 10 loads of laundry on Mondays, and I always have at least one load with really togch stains. My girls are the dirtiest kids I know. I swear that if you just look at them stuff magically starts to appear on their clothes. Willow is the worst, especially when it comes to white but I can't seem to resist those cute spring time shirts in white and pastels. Luckily I've found that an OxyClean boil can concur most any stain!

I take a big pot and fill it about 2/3 of the way with hot water and mix a big scoop of OxyClean in. You want to make sure that you leave enough room for the clothing in the pot. Remember they'll displace the water!

Bring your water to a boil and let it say boiling for 5-10 minutes. Use a laddle or spoon to stir your clothes and make sure that everything is covered.

Turn the water off and allow the clothes to sit until the water has cooled. Once the water has cooled set your washing machine and pour the clothes and OxyClean mixture in and wash as usual! If it doesn't come out on the first try a longer boil may be needed, try letting it sit over night and washing in the morning.

 

Sh*t Mommy Bloggers Say

So I know I'm a little behind in all of these "Shit ___ Say" videos but I saw this one today and I had to share it. I know that we've all caught ourselves saying something in this video!

My Disney Engagement!

When we found out that Disney would be open for 24 hours for Leap Day we made plans to go and take the kids. I had ordered custom outfits for the girls from a Gymbofriend, so while his sister was out the day before she asked if she should get me a Snow White shirt for our trip. I assumed it was because we were dressing up the girls so I told her to go for it. When we got to the park they went up to get our buttons and left me in front of Main Street with the kids, after awhile Lisa came out and was like the line is really long, we should go get a Snow White headband to match your shirt, Zach will finish with the pins. So we went and got the headband, he met up with us and we headed over to Monster's Inc. During the show they put the spotlight on the people next to us and the monster was like "oooh you've been together for 2 years, you better have a ring ready!" Zach was laughing so hard, I had no idea he was going to propose like 10 minutes later! They started making this huge deal about how we had to make it over to see Snow White because she was leaving and the girls had never met her before. I wanted to stop and change all of the kids but they were so insistent that we could wait.

So we stand in line to meet Snow White and Zach tells them that I'm going to take my picture alone with Snow White to show off my shirt, then one with him and then one with all of the kids. So I take my picture and Zach comes over and Snow White says "Oh this must be your Prince Charming." I said yes and then he started talking and took my hand. Of course being me I was like "Are you kidding me" because I thought he was joking, then the ring box came out! Snow White had no idea it was going to happen either! She was so cute when she saw the ring she said "Oh my, I think my Dwarfs helped find those diamonds, look at the sparkle!" Evidently word spreads quickly among Disney cast members because everywhere we went people kept saying "You're the guy who proposed with Snow White!"

The ring!!