This website caught my attention because of the seasonal fine motor activities that were posted. It looks like fun and will be one of the first sites I check when seeking activities to do with my daughters.

Here is the one of the activities:

https://prekinders.com/2009/10/fall-fine-motor-fun-1/

Are you a fan?  I am totally hooked on the show Cook Yourself Thin on Lifetime Real Women.  I will admit that I am not a fan of the channel, but this cooking show is awesome.  Great REAL recipes with simple techniques to make delcilous foods low cal.  The host claim that if you follow their guidelines that you will drop a dress size in 6 weeks.

The bonus is most of the recipes are online.  Here is the link.  Check it out: www.mylifetime.com/on-tv/shows/cook-yourself-thin/recipes?page=0,1

I just bought the cookbook, and I am hoping to try some new recipes soon.

Have you tried it?  Please let me know if you have.  I'd  be interested to hear your experience.

This morning was the day after my first born's 3 year old birthday.  We had a wonderful day and kept the celebrating going all day long!  We found gluten-free donuts (yippee and yum) to eat with our beef bacon for breakfast, gave the birthday girl her play kitchen, went to our favorite restaurant for lunch, came home for the party with family and friends, and yummy cake that I made from the Gluten-free Baking Classics cookbook.

So, this morning apparently, I was a little tired.  My newborn was waking up and the 3 year old was ready for breakfast.  So,  I got dressed in a hurry.  Later this am, I looked down and noticed the tie strings of my stretch waist cargoes were in the back.  Yes, I am put them on backwards!  I had to laugh.  No one had noticed - including me.  I am wondering - what have you done in your sleep-deprived mamahood that is comical?  Come on, give us a giggle and share!

I have been on cafemom.com for several months and have received TONS of great advice, input from other moms. I recently changed my screen name to reflect my "signature mama" alias, as it truly reflects who I am and will always me to connect with more moms through this blog. The moms on this site are great and offered me tons of advice when my daughter was going through her mystery rash last spring.

Why should you bother with cafemom? Well, there are interest groups by the thousands that will give you tips, advice, suggestions, laughs, etc. You can create polls to see what other moms think (we did those for baby names), post questions, and share your advice with other moms, too. There are lots of fun things to do online. I am still learning it all.

You can connect with me by following this blog, or we can be friends on cafemom! Maybe I will see you there! Please let me know what you think.

This article is from www.askdrsears.com .  It is the single best article that I have ever read about fathering or co-parenting.  Blessed are the children and the mothers that have a father that yields to wisdom of Dr. Sears.  It is well worth anyone's time to read.  Here is the link:

https://askdrsears.com/html/10/t110100.asp

The last month has been a real puzzler for us.  My daughter has had a mystery rash for 30 days.  She has some food sensitivities (wheat, dairy), so I already police everything she eats.  We have had nothing new to our life, diet, environment, etc.  We went to several traditional and homeopathic doctors, did blood work, backtracked everything we could imagine: soap, detergent, pollens, foods - you name it.  No one had any idea what was causing this rash.  Then, the hives started, and seeing my daughter being miserable just broke my heart.  We even went to stay with my sister for a few days to see if there was something in our home causing the rash.  We were desperate!

Then, another signature mama said have you tried taking her off of all gluten? J, you are brilliant, b/c no, I hadn't!  My sister, who isn't a mama yet, suggested changing her to hypoallergenic diapers (thanks, E!).  Another mom from cafemom.com suggested no soy in my daughter’s diet.  Well, all of these wonderful mamas (or mamas-to-be) were right.  ALL of these were the triggers to the rash.  My daughter has used the same brand of diapers since birth.  Gluten has never bothered her, and soy has been one of her main sources of protein since her first birthday.  What changed in her body on May 3rd is a mystery, but thanks to these other ladies, my exhausted fried pregnancy brain needed a boost, and they were awesome to help!

That is the purpose of this site.  Every mama has a signature style and strength, and I am so proud to be part of it all whether I am helping or needing help myself!  Thanks again, Mamas!

Yes, it has been FOREVER since I posted.  We sold our house, moved into temporary living quarters, got pregnant, discovered new food allergies, are building a house - you know, normal life!  :)

So, summer is here, and it is time for F-U-N!  Check out some great products on Amazon in their Summer Catalog.  Oh, you didn't know Amazon had a catalog?  We didn't either!  Here it is:

https://www.amazon.com/b/?node=1267122011&tag=signamamas-20

Looking for summer toys for birthdays, entertainmnent, or the beach?  Look no further...

https://www.amazon.com/Seasonal-Toys-Games/b/?node=359068011&tag=signamamas-20

Ok, I will just be honest.  I used to HATE Halloween.  Ever year on Halloween, my mom would ask us what we wanted to be.  We made do with whatever was there, and it always stressed me out - even as a little kid.  Then, the final straw probably had something to do with the devil-worshippers in my 7th grade class letting me know that my name was on the list of blond-haired, blue-eyed virgins that they keep for sacrifice possibilities.  It seems like it would do a number on one's excitement about the holiday.  Rest assured, no people were harmed, but some farm animals were not so fortunate.  As I got older, it seemed an excuse for young adults to scare the mess out of each other or dress very provocatively - neither of which motivated me to leave the comfort of my couch.

Fast forward to modern day, once I became a mother, I realized that Halloween could be fun.  I did not want to deprive my daughter of fun b/c of my feelings toward the date.  Martha Stewart is very into Halloween, and her website gave me an idea.  So, for my first daughter's Halloween, I decided to try an adaptation of an idea I saw on Martha Stewart's website.  You dress the baby as a spider, and the parent(s) as webs.  Too cute, right?  Well, ummm, I am NOT a great seamstress.  Too even call me a seamstress is making me giggle as I type.  I had some great black velvet that I knew would be perfect.  In Martha's defense, had I followed her instructions, then the Halloween Disaster of '06 could have been avoided.  Did you know that when you cut velvet it sheds tiny pieces of fuzz EVERYWHERE?   I do not know what in the world I was thinking. So, on to painting the webs for my and my DH's t-shirts - the paint fumes were so strong that I knew that we all (including my infant child) would even up with a buzz.  The tears were coming.  At 4pm on Halloween, I am now sobbing b/c my 4 week old will not fit in the spider costume that I made, AND she had massive amounts of tiny, black fuzz covering here.  I just knew that she was about to inhale most of it and end up in the ER.   I was certain that the First Halloween page in her baby book will read "You have a terrible costume because your mother really messed up your first Halloween."   That was my first serious Mommy Meltdown.  So, what ended up happening was a very, very sad excuse of a second attempt of a spider costume that had to do.  My husband insisted that we draw black spots on the costume which made it look even more pitiful.  We lugged her to all of our family (that each live about 15-20 minutes apart).  She slept the entire time and had no clue what her mother had done.  Fortunately, they were just all excited to see her, so no one really cared but me.

Last year, I was much the wiser.  I started shopping for costumes in AUGUST.  Yes sir, I had learned my lesson.  I grabbed a giraffe costume b/c my DD's Grammy is crazy for giraffes.  And while shopping at the GAP a few days before Halloween, I found a duck costume for $13.  Ducks were all the rage for my DD last fall and winter.  She hugged it as soon as it was within reach, and I had to pry it from her at bedtime.  Well, we ended up with two costumes, and my DD still wears both of them often.  Because the giraffe was more weather appropriate, she wore it for Halloween, and my DH and I were trees.

This year, it is two weeks before Halloween, and I just ordered her costume.  Daring, I know, since it was tricky to find her size.  No worries, I will not forget my valuable lesson from her first Halloween.  I caved and went with a character costume.  She will be Cookie Monster, which is her very favorite monster - as of today (Elmo and Glover trade for that coveted top spot often).  Originally, she told me her favorite animal was a pig, so I thought we (the parents) and DD could be the Three Little Pigs.   I got what I call an "Eeyore" response of "whatever" from my husband, so I decided that Cookie Monster would be the sanity saver choice this year.  So, I am breathing a sigh of relief that I have managed to avoid the Halloween Disaster of '06 again.  I can now focus my attention to think about what cookies to make for Cookie Monster to enjoy and share as we visit family and friends again this year.  What kind of Cookie Monster would she be without cookies?  (Please read - it is an excuse for me to consume chocolate!  :)  )

And just in case you were wondering, both of the spider costumes ended up in the trash before midnight of Halloween '06!.

Dr. Sears is well-known to most parents and has written many books that are valuable as new parents. The website has great resources and offers a free e-newsletter full of wonderful articles. 

Here are a few great posted from the site.  Perfect timing for back-to-school and the upcoming cold and flu season.

Brain Foods:  10 Great Breakfasts

8 Foods that Boost Immunity

4 Habits that Weaken the Immune System

Thanks, Sears family, for sharing such wonderful information that we can use in our daily lives!

I can not believe it.  My DD, age 24 months, 1 week, put herself to sleep for the first time in over a year.  Seriously, can you imagine the importance of that?  Just about 2 months ago, I was breaking her of nursing to sleep, which was a deeply formed habit.  How did this happen?

Well, honestly, she has been asked for weeks to lie down by herself.  I let her try, and she was so excited that she squirmed, wiggled, flipped, flopped, and then, popped right up and was ready to play.  Mean mama (a.k.a I) would come in, hold her to help her be still, the crying would start.  Mama would get frustrated.  It was not a good thing.  I would leave fuming and would search frantically for chocolate as soon as I left the room.

Finally, today, I decided to try it one more time. I mean, what would it hurt?  This time, learning from my past mistakes, I demonstrated what each "still" and "quiet" looked like, AND I had her practice a few times.  It sounds so obviously now, but I hadn't really thought of it much before today.  So, I tucked her in and waited while watching the video monitor. She was still.  I went in to praise her for her efforts and quickly left.  More still and quiet.  She moved her hands a little.  I heard her whispering, then singing.  Uh, oh.  Is she winding up again? I said in my firm voice, "O get still and quiet."  She did.  Then, she was REALLY still and REALLY quiet.  After about 3-4 minutes, I tiptoed in to find my DD asleep.

The end of her dependence on me to sleep.  I am proud of her, and a little tiny bit sad for me.  I will miss those snuggles, but what a great reason to snuggle more during the day!