No Nonsense Mom

Changes coming....

noreply@blogger.com (No Nonsense Mom) — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 01:00:00 +0000

After a not so brief hiatus, I'm going to continue working on this blog. That is, if my 2 year old will let me.

Anyway, I think I'm going to migrate the site to a new platform soon. So, if you stop by sometime, and the site is not up, it will hopefully be a very short outage.

Why am I doing this? I'd like the site to have a new look, and be able to add some different features. Plus, I'm learning a new technology and it give me good experience. So, in the future, look for a change to the layout, the theme and some new types of content.

In the meantime - for all of you parents of two year olds - hang in there! I'm told it's just a phase!

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What to Get Myself for Mother's Day from Amazon

noreply@blogger.com (No Nonsense Mom) — Thu, 27 May 2010 01:41:00 +0000

For Mother's Day, I received an Amazon gift card. Since then, I've been trying to decide what to get. I am determined not to spend it on the baby. I really need to treat myself to something. I'm considering downloading a Kindle book and trying out the free Kindle reading apps, I might capitalize on the Clothing Sale going on at Amazon this weekend.

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Kicking the Bottle and Other Habits...

noreply@blogger.com (No Nonsense Mom) — Tue, 04 May 2010 03:00:00 +0000

Since my baby is 16 months old, I have been trying to wean him off the bottle. It's been about 4 months now, and I've made zero progress. I have tried different kinds of sippy cups - disposable ones, leak proof hard top ones, leak proof soft spout cups, cups that go with his Avent bottle system and cups with hard spouts in the middle. I can honestly say, nothing is working. He takes one sip and then spits the milk out. It's not like he won't use the cups at all, they are great for juice and water.

My doctor has advised me to just stop giving him the bottle and don't worry about his milk intake. However, what about the soothing factor? He's used to getting soothed first thing in the morning. We have a routine. He's used to being soothed at night, too. He likes that snuggling in my arms with the bottle before bedtime. I'm not sure he'd go to sleep without it. Not only that, he's teething now, so he's generally upset. Some days he won't eat and just wants his ba-ba. Poor boy.

On the other hand, I have been giving this some thought. Maybe it's not the baby that has the problem. Maybe it's me. Maybe I'm the one who is used to the routines. As time consuming as they can be, I like the snuggling, too. For now, we have removed the lunchtime bottle. It's time for some changes. Maybe I'll see what happens if I remove the morning bottle and offer him some milk in a cup. We can still snuggle with a cup.

On another note, we also have to kick the rocking him to sleep habit and the not going back to his crib in the middle of the night situation we have. At some point, I need to be able to go back to my own bed and not sleep with him for the second half of the night.
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1 Year Old Feeding Drama

noreply@blogger.com (No Nonsense Mom) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 02:08:00 +0000

Feeding my 1 year old has been a challenge, but I thought it was settling down, until today. I finally got him to the point where he'll eat just about anything and try to use his spoon. It was messy, but not terrible. We had a routine.

Today was different. For the past week, he has been moving towards a new feeding ritual. He removes the contents of his bowl onto the try and onto his bib with his spoon. Then he takes his hands and eats the piles of food. The food gets everywhere, even under the bib and down around his pants.

He has also altered the drinking ritual. I've been trying to get him away from the bottle, so I give him some milk in a sippy cup at his midday meal. Today he spit every mouthful of milk out and let it run down his chin. It was like some sort of fun game to him. Of course, bibs don't catch this kind of mess, so I had to change his shirt.

All day I have been battling this, and I am going to declare that he has won. It was a messy 3 outfit kind of day. Oddly enough, there was no food in his hair, but it got everywhere else.

I think he needs to wear a poncho instead of a bib. Either that, or he needs to be enclosed in a self cleaning bubble. His suction bowls need to actually stick and his sippy cups need to have fewer parts.

Thus ends a long day of food and drink. Maybe tomorrow will be better. At least he's eating.

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More Once a Month Cooking Resources

noreply@blogger.com (No Nonsense Mom) — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 18:12:00 +0000

Yesterday, I posted about an eBook that teaches the Once A Month Cooking method. After looking around the web, I found some other helpful books on the topic. Everyone learns differently, and it's nice to have several books to use as a resource to learn something new.

Here's what I found at Amazon today:

I found these books and a bunch more on the topic of make ahead cooking techniques. Some are just recipes, and others include a whole system and tools for planning your meals. Some of the books are for once a month cooking, while others are for once a week or whatever interval you like. I think I'll start with once a week cooking and go from there. It would be a major improvement.

Visit the Nononsense Mom store for more selections in this category. Save time and money and support this site at the same time!

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Once a Month Cooking eBook from Frugal Mom

noreply@blogger.com (No Nonsense Mom) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 23:21:00 +0000

Have you heard of Once a Month Cooking (OAMC)? People everywhere are saving time and money by cooking only once a month and freezing the meals so they are ready when you need them. A few months ago I investigated this, and I think I might try it. I have done once a week cooking, and it went well. It would definitely help me free up time during the week if I didn't have to think about cooking.

The method basically consists of creating a menu, shopping the sales and using coupons, setting aside one day a month to do your cooking and freezing your meals. Frugal Mom teaches you how to do once a month cooking with easy step-by-step instructions and tools.
Click here for more information.

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Printing Online Coupons to Save Offline

noreply@blogger.com (No Nonsense Mom) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:12:00 +0000

If you are not doing so already, you should try printing your coupons online to use at your local grocery or drugstore. Many stores happily accept these coupons, but some don't, so be sure to contact the store or check the store's website to find out their policy on printed coupons. I have been able to use them at CVS, Kmart and Walgreens regularly, though.

I've been doing it for about a year now, and I find that I save a lot this way. This is especially true when I combine the coupons with sales going on in the store. Sometimes the coupons even qualify for doubling.

Are you concerned that you can't keep up with what sales are happening? No worries! I'll be sure to post the deals here and share the savings!

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A Welcome Break

noreply@blogger.com (No Nonsense Mom) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 21:21:00 +0000

It's been quiet here lately. I was kinda busy over the holidays. I hope everyone out there had as good a holiday season as I did. We had the first Christmas and first Birthday and it was wonderful.

Due to some minor surgery I had on my wrist, I have a lifting restriction. So, I cannot lift my nearly 25 lb wriggly baby. So, my wonderful mother volunteered to take care of him while I recover. It wasn't easy to let him go after being with him every day for the past 13 months, but, I did it. And now I get to finally relax and get some much needed sleep. It is awfully quiet, though. It's weird.

So, during this break, I'm hoping to get some projects completed. I'm hoping to do some writing for this blog (and the others I maintain). I'm hoping to do some graphic design work for my Zazzle store. I'm also hoping to get some good cooking done. By the time my baby comes back, I need to develop a menu that I can live with - financially and time wise. Lofty goals, but I think they are doable in the next 3 weeks.

For once, I am not making New Year's resolutions. I'm just going to work on my projects...

New Family Board Games That Look Like Fun

noreply@blogger.com (No Nonsense Mom) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 18:00:00 +0000

Lately, there have been some new board games catching my eye. I come from a family who loves to play board games. I can think of many fun evenings spent battling in a friendly game of Scrabble, Monopoly, Uno or our most recent favorite, Phase 10.

This year the new board games seem to all be different takes on the old favorites. For instance, there are card games created from board like Scrabble Slam Cards and Monopoly Deal Card Game. There is also a card game that has been turned into a kind of board game, UNO MOO Preschool Game.

For that matter, there seem to be a ton of variations of games:

Variations of Uno

Variations of Monopoly

Variations of Scrabble

All this talk about games makes me look back longingly on some of my favorite games:

Preschool/Elementary - Hi Ho Cherry-O - I think we were finding cherries in every corner for years! and Hungry Hungry Hippos

Gradeschool - Sorry!

High School - Risk

College - Cosmic Encounter

What are your family's favorite board games? What do you think of these new takes on old games?

It's Not Too Late to Have a Santa Letter Delivered

noreply@blogger.com (No Nonsense Mom) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 15:05:00 +0000

Want to add to the magic of Christmas for you child? An authentic letter from Santa is a great way to surprise your child. Most services offering letters from Santa also offer special bonus gifts, too.

Although it may be too late to do a DIY Santa Letter, it's not too late to order a Santa Letter from one of the websites listed below:

10 Month Update

noreply@blogger.com (No Nonsense Mom) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:17:00 +0000

My baby is 10 months old today. The time is flying. I only have 2 months... that's 8 weeks until his first birthday. And for all of you who are counting, that's 8 weeks until Christmas...I can't believe he's almost 1!

Anyway, what happened this month? Well my baby boy started to walking! He started this while my DH was in the hospital at the beginning of the month, so we pretty much missed his first steps, but we have seen plenty of steps since! He's walking across the room now, and turning around and he's getting pretty good and pretty fast. It's amazing how fast they learn. I remember just recently wishing he would start to crawl so he could get to his toys.

The good thing about walking is that he is very busy exploring. Most people say this is bad, because it's more to keep up with, but I don't mind. I have pretty much emptied my living room so he can do whatever he wants. He's pretty independent, so he plays with his toys and roams around the room terrorizing my dog. It's hilarious. Lucky for me, my dog seems to enjoy this process. I'm really proud of how he's adapting to the baby. I still keep a close eye on him, though... he is a dog after all.

Let's see... what else? The baby is eating plenty of solids and some table food, too. He's not so good at eating meat, but he's great at picking up potatoes, carrots and other cut up bits of food.

Oh... and there are now 5 teeth in his mouth! Those top two teeth came in finally! I think he has 2 more teeth on the way. It's pretty awesome.

So, that's it for the baby. As for me, I'm still trying to balance work and life, but I'm getting better at it. Suddenly my house is cleaner and things are getting done regularly. I'm even getting some of my own projects done, now that the baby goes to bed at 7. Speaking of which, we let him cry it out, and he is so easy to put to bed now. He knows "Night night" and gets nice and calm, so I can just lay him down. I cover him with his blanky and he just calmly goes to sleep. It's awesome...

Privacy Policy

noreply@blogger.com (No Nonsense Mom) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:58:00 +0000

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On a Tight Budget? Find Out How to Stretch Your Household Dollars

noreply@blogger.com (No Nonsense Mom) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:31:00 +0000

Today I stumbled on some handy eBooks to help you stretch your family dollars. Since many folks are interested in saving money these days, I thought I'd post a link to these books. They look interesting, and topics include:

Money Management

Grocery Savings

Cleaning Savings

Kids Savings

How to Have a Debt Free Holiday

Gifts In A Jar

Inexpensive Menus

Using Leftovers

Quick Dinners

Make Overs on a Budget

Moving on a Budget

Go Green and Support Breast Cancer

noreply@blogger.com (No Nonsense Mom) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:09:00 +0000

It's rare that you can do two good things at once and get something nice for your baby at the same time!

Purchase a Think Pink Fleece Blanket (a giggle exclusive!) and 10% of all proceeds will go to the Young Survival Coalition in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Plus, there?s one more thing to feel good about: this super soft blanket is also made from recycled soda pop bottles!

Breast Cancer Awareness Month - Sale at Zazzle

noreply@blogger.com (No Nonsense Mom) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 12:31:00 +0000

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Show your support and purchase Breast Cancer Awareness items from Zazzle!

9 Month Checkup

noreply@blogger.com (No Nonsense Mom) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:47:00 +0000

So, we had the 9 month checkup today. My baby is so healthy! He's 21 lbs and 29 inches. He's a big boy, but doing well. He's almost walking, too. He's doing that funny thing where he lets go of things sometimes and stands with his hands in the air. It's so cute!

I am still deciding what to do about Halloween. I did stumble on this idea for a DIY Halloween costume.

Where Does the Time Go?

noreply@blogger.com (No Nonsense Mom) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:45:00 +0000

Today I'm pondering all sorts of issues with time. I have questions in my head like:

How did I get this old? In addition to needing the usual Mommy makeover, I have been feeling particularly old lately. Maybe it has to do with waiting until I was 35 to have a baby. It really puts your own health in perspective. I know I would feel different if I were 25.

The baby will be 1 year old in 3.5 months. Why do I feel like I've known him forever, while not even remembering the first few weeks he came home? It's all just a blur. I wish I had taken more photos and definitely more video. Who has the time? I need a personal videographer.

Why do I suddenly have no memory of life before him? What did I used to do with all that free time? I can barely get 10 minutes of free time per day where I'm not totally exhausted. What on earth did I do with that time before he was here? I don't remember getting a lot done after I finished school 3 years ago. I didn't have much of a social life, so I know that's not where the time went.

Well, no matter what, time is not stopping for me to catch my breath. I need to find ways to use my time more efficiently, while enjoying life, too. I also need to find some way to get some sleep...

A Bumble Bee for Halloween?

noreply@blogger.com (No Nonsense Mom) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:29:00 +0000

So, since I last wrote about Halloween, I've decided that I definitely need to find a Bumble Bee costume for Baby B (get it? haha...).

So, I'm researching how to do this as cheap as possible.

I've heard stories about being in certain discount stores during the week before Halloween and catching the costumes on sale for as low as a quarter. But, I'm not sure I want to take that chance.

Here are some of the Infant Bumble Bee costumes I found online:
Bumble Bee Infant Costume

Bumble Bee Bunting Infant Costume

Lil' Honey Bumble Bee Costume

I think I might want to make a costume, though. I'm going to look into that.

A Long Teething Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (No Nonsense Mom) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 02:54:00 +0000

So, Baby B is teething hard this weekend. His whole schedule has been disrupted by this. We've had incomplete bottles, night waking, early morning waking and short naps. He's also been grouchy and moody. I feel bad for him. I gave him some Tylenol regularly and I made sure I snuggled with him a lot. It seemed to help. Poor boy. I wish all of his teeth would just pop out at once to get it all over with!

The result of the weekend is that I'm exhausted. Oh well. I hope this week is better.

Halloween is coming...

noreply@blogger.com (No Nonsense Mom) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:45:00 +0000

Halloween is coming and I am trying to decide what I want my baby to be. I'm excited to go trick-or-treating with him, decorate the house (just a little) and whatnot. But, I just don't know what costume to get. I kinda think since he's a lot like Tigger, that's what he should be. But, who knows. Maybe the family should go as something all together. I have to ask DH what he wants to go as.

In the meantime I'm going to try to find the best deals on Halloween Costumes. I know in previous years, places like Wal-Mart, Target, JoAnn Fabric and Kmart have had great sales on costumes if you wait until the last 2 weeks. Here are some places I've found that have a good selection of Halloween costumes:

Halloween Costumes at Amazon

Costumes at CostumeDiscounters.com

Kid's Costumes - CostumeCity.Com offers kid's safe costumes.

Halloween Costumes at Costume Kingdom

Costumes at CostumeCraze.com

C-Section Recovery Woes

noreply@blogger.com (No Nonsense Mom) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:09:00 +0000

It's been 8 months since my C-section and I am amazed that I am still in recovery mode. For the most part I feel fine. I do daily activities with no problem. However, when I do ANYTHING else, I have some pain and weirdness.

The Numbness

There's this weird numbness around my scar. I say weird, because it's actually a burning numbness - burning at the edges and numb in the middle. It's about 2-4 in. in diameter. It's shrunk since the surgery, because it was as wide as my scar. It fluctuates. It's always 2 in. in diameter, but when I do stuff it grows to 4 in. I'm told this is normal and it might last for a whole year. ugh.

Heavy Objects

If I lift, push or pull any heavy objects, I end up in pain. It's usually hours later, but it does happen eventually. I'll either have pain around my scar or around the numb area. Sometimes the scar or the numb spot will itch too.

Included in "heavy objects" is my son. He's about 20 lbs.now. I've noticed that on a day where I lift him a lot, I end up in pain later.

Activity

Excessive walking (even on flat ground) and increased activity cause me pain later, too. For example, if I take the baby on an outing where I walk slowly for a few hours, I'll be in pain the next day. It's irritating.

Last night my bowling league started. Since I had to downgrade to a 9 lb ball from a 15 lb ball last year while I was pregnant, and I didn't practice all summer, I'm still using that 9 lb ball. I intended to go back to a 5 step approach, too, but that didn't happen. I tried it and my knees felt like they were going to buckle. So, now on top of the inevitable pain, my joints (knees and ankles) are extremely weak. I just felt unstable. I wonder if my abs were really holding me up? That's the only conclusion I have made.

So, that 5 inch hole they cut in me is still affecting me in many ways. It's just that I forget that I'm still recovering, because most of the time, I feel fine. I feel like I could go on a very long hike. It's hard for me to remember that I will pay dearly for that, because I don't hurt now, and I wouldn't hurt until a few hours into the hike. It's ridiculous.

Hopefully it goes away at the end of the year. Although, my C-section friends say it might last for the rest of my life. I think this week I'm going to research this topic and write some articles about the solutions.

Sleep...finally

noreply@blogger.com (No Nonsense Mom) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 18:49:00 +0000

So, I got a full night's sleep last night - finally.

Back to the old routine. The baby fussed because I was putting him to sleep, but he stayed asleep all night.

Hooray!

Lunchtime victory:

I went to some yard sales and got him some great stuff:

I got this walker for $3. It's missing the blocks for the shape sorter, but I'm sure I can solve that problem somehow...

I got this dancing tower for $9. I think he'll love it, because he's just starting to stand up.

A long sleepless night...

noreply@blogger.com (No Nonsense Mom) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:51:00 +0000

Since my baby boy was about 3 months old we have enjoyed the luxury of being able to sleep all night for at least 29 out of every 30 days. Apparently, that period is over. He's in a new phase. I don't know if it's the teething, the increased mobility (he's crawling and trying to cruise), his new eating skills or his other new skills (waving... so cute!). All I know is that suddenly, I don't get to sleep all night. For the past week, it had been just once a night that he would wake and need me for a quick change, maybe a small bottle or just some cuddling. I thought I had found a new system - make sure he gets that 6th bottle right before bed. It seemed to solve the problem.

I was wrong. Last night our schedule was like this:

6 pm - eat - carrots and green beans with a side of rice cereal. 6 oz of formula.

8 pm - get tired and wind down (whoo hoo... maybe sleep is approaching)

8:30 pm - meltdown

8:45 pm - 6 oz of formula

9:15 pm - wired. playing on the floor, crawling, cruising

9:45 pm - Mom's had enough. Time to go to sleep. Cuddling, quiet time.

10:00 pm - Baby's in bed.

10:30 pm - Mom is passing out on couch. Mom and Dad are ready to go to bed. Baby starts crying.

10:45 pm - Mom and Dad are trying to comfort baby...

11:00 pm - Mom and Dad go to bed.

11:45 pm - Baby is crying.

midnight - Mom goes to check on baby. Not wet. Not stuffy. Should be ok. Cuddles, attempts to put back in bed.

12:30 am - Baby is still up. 6 oz of formula.

1:30 am - Mom and Baby are cuddled up on Couch. Dad checks in.

1:45 am - Baby is back in bed.

3:30 am - Baby is crying. Mom checks on baby. Changes diaper. Cuddles and attempts to put back in bed.

4 am - Baby is still up. 6 oz of formula. Baby falls asleep in arms.

4:20 am - Mom attempts to put baby back in bed. Baby freaks out.

4:30 am - Mom and Baby are back on couch snoozing (baby is sleeping, somewhat fitfully, Mom is waking every 10 mins). Mom resets alarm for 7 am (an hour and a half later than usual) for sanity sake.

6:30 am - Baby is wriggling around. Dad is up.

7 am - Dad takes baby so Mom can get ready for work.

I'm sure this is not incredibly unusual, but I hope it doesn't continue. It didn't seem like he was in pain, so I didn't give him Tylenol. He didn't seem hurt. His nose wasn't all stuffed up (as it has been for the past 3 weeks). He did nap a lot the previous day, but that's not unusual. He is a sporadic napper - a few days with several 30 min naps followed by a few days of 2 good 2 hour naps followed by a day of no naps. This hasn't disrupted his sleep patterns in the past.

Ugh... I'm tired today. Already a cup of coffee and a Coke Zero. I hope this seminar today is not boring. I apologize in advance if there's loud snoring.

Babysitter Blues

noreply@blogger.com (No Nonsense Mom) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 20:06:00 +0000

Maybe this is not the correct title for my issue with my babysitter.

The babysitter doesn't have the blues. I do.

The other day, I was playing with Baby B, and he started making faces that only my babysitter makes. I realized that he spends more time with her than he does with me or my husband, and he's going to pick up her mannerisms.

Depressing.

It's just another reminder of how awful it is that I have to go to work instead of raising my LO at home.

Today, I wish I was a SAHM....

Clarification - There is nothing wrong with my babysitter or her face. :) I am just bummed at the situation.

My Ride 65 Followup Review

noreply@blogger.com (No Nonsense Mom) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 20:54:00 +0000

Previously, I posted a review of Graco's My Ride 65 convertible car seat. I'm happy to note that I have ironed out all of my issues with the car seat and the straps are now adjusting perfectly. I removed the infant body positioner and adjusted the strap position, and now I can tighten the straps with ease. My son seems to love the car seat because it's soft and comfy.

I noticed a tendency for the straps to get twisted. As long as I pay attention when I put him in, it doesn't happen.

Also, the seat back is tall, and I haven't been able to adjust my mirror so I can see him while I drive. I'll figure something out, though.

So, that's my review. I still give this seat a thumbs up.

Anybody else out there using a My Ride 65? What vehicle do you have it in? Is it Front or Rear facing?

Mine is in an 04 Ford Escape, rear facing behind the passenger seat.