About a month ago I was reading one of my many monthly magazines I subscribe to and I came across an article about saving on groceries. So, of course, this piqued my interest since I’m always up for saving money!

The article talked about a website started by a single mom of two. She tracked categorical sales of supermarkets and drug stores and paired coupons, mostly from the Sunday paper, with the best sales.

Teri Clark, the mom who started www.thegrocerygame.com, has a different method of shopping than most. She creates a list that is color-coded. Black items are to be bought only if needed, blue items are stockpiling items, and green items are free! She states that you won’t see all of the true savings until you’ve shopped using her lists for 12 weeks because that is when you start to see the real payoff of stockpiling.

Since I have always budgeted for groceries I was curious to see how much this could save our family. So I did a trial 4 week subscription for just $1.00. And now I have continued my subscription, which costs $10 for eight weeks. I’ve found that it’s well worth it after you see how much you save!

At this point I have been shopping with Teri’s List for five weeks and I am already seeing great savings. I have spent $437.89 on groceries and saved a total of $220.71 between store savings/sales and coupons. This averages to just under $90 a week in groceries for our family of four. This is not drastically lower than what I was spending before (I was spending maybe $20 more a week), but I am purchasing more food for less money due to Teri’s stockpiling idea.

If you want to start budgeting better on groceries or already do but want to save more, then I would definitely suggest checking out www.thegrocerygame.com. You’ve got nothing to lose and lots of money to save!

My daughter is now a little over 7 months old and right at the beginning of my favorite age. Well, at least it’s my favorite age thus far in my journey through motherhood.

I absolutely love the 6 months through 18 months stage of babyhood. It’s the age where they are still very much babies and dependent on you, but then, little by little, you watch them gain independence and learn things on their own. There are so many amazing firsts during this time – first tooth, crawling, pulling up, taking those first steps, first words, first haircut. It’s really just such an exciting time.

I can remember all of my son’s firsts like they were all just last week. This time of his life went by so quickly – much quicker than I could have imagined. Now he’s 2 and that is a whole new stage. There are plenty of new discoveries now, but most involve fights of will. (And I know this only gets harder!)

So, I am very excited that my daughter is at the beginning of this age of firsts. She is on the edge of learning to crawl and will only get more mobile with each day, so for now I’m relishing the fact that she’s a stationary sitter. She’s trying new foods and, like her brother, likes most everything. We haven’t seen a tooth peek through yet, so she’s still got that adorable, gummy smile. She’s also really into saying “Mama” and “Dada” and, even though she’s using these words indiscriminately, my husband and I get just as excited as if these were her real first words.

I already realize at this point in my “motherhood” that there’s nothing I will miss more than those firsts of babyhood. So, for the next year I will enjoy my daughter’s firsts, just as I did my son’s. And, just as my son’s did, I’m sure these moments will go by in the blink of an eye. I also know there will be many favorite ages and stages to come in my children’s lives and that, short of stopping time, the best thing I can do is enjoy the beauty and happiness of these moments because they only come around once.

We have a 3 and a half-year-old black Lab/Border Collie mix named Cosmo. He has been a part of our family since a few months after my husband and I got married. We used to joke that he was our first “baby” and, at times, it’s like I really do have three kids instead of two when you throw him into the mix.

We decided to get a Lab because of their reputation of being so good with kids. We ended up getting a Lab mix rather than a purebred because we found Cosmo through a Lab rescue shelter and he needed a home.

When we brought my son home about 7 months later there was never a jealousy problem. Cosmo accepted him and was very protective and watchful of his new brother. My son loved him of course – licks, wet noses, fur, and all.

Now the two little ones both love Cosmo and he loves them just the same. He has behaved just as Labs are said to behave around kids. And, most importantly, he is patient – despite his fur and ears being grabbed by little hands, despite being pulled-up on by beginning walkers, and despite being woken up by curious, poking fingers.

I have seen such joy in my children’s faces from our dog that I can’t imagine our life without him. There is something unspoken between dogs and kids – they just get each other. My kids light up when they see Cosmo. He thinks he is their protector and “big brother” and, really, he is. We definitely couldn’t have asked for a better tempered dog.

I really hope my kids will remember the joys of dogs when the time comes for them to decide whether they want a puppy as an adult. My husband and I always had dogs while growing up and we wanted the same for our children. We realize that there are great lessons to be learned from our furry, four-legged friends. We learn about loyalty, unconditional love, and that there’s nothing more fun in life than going to the park.

Lorraine Allard of St. Olaves, U.K. is as selfless as they come. According to Fox News, while expecting her fourth child Allard learned that she had advanced liver cancer.

Allard’s choices were either to delay treatment of the cancer, which would save her baby, or end her pregnancy, saving herself. She chose to save her baby and, therefore, possibly lose her own life.

“If I am going to die, my baby is going to live,” Allard told her husband, Martyn.

A week early, on November 18th, Allard gave birth to a healthy baby boy named Liam.

Doctors said they were unable to do anything for the cancer because Allard was pregnant. They believe she had bowel cancer which, gone undetected, had spread to her liver. Allard was suffering from stomach cramping when the cancer was discovered. Doctors then found that her liver was taken over by malignant tumors.

Sadly, only two months after Liam’s birth, Allard lost her battle with liver cancer. She had begun chemotherapy after her son’s birth, but it was too late to rid her body of the cancer.

Lorraine Allard was able to hold her newborn son several times before she died. Liam is the Allard’s only boy. Their other children are Leah, 10; Amy, 8; and Courtney, 20 months.

Allard’s husband says, “Towards the end we knew things weren’t going well, but she was overjoyed that she had given life to Liam.”

Allard was only 33 years old.

I think if I was placed in the same situation as Lorraine Allard I would have taken the same path. I would do anything for my children and being a mother means lots of little sacrifices and sometimes huge ones as well. Judging by this mom’s humble actions I’m sure she’d say that she was just doing what she should as a mother. Times like these make all of us truly proud to be mothers.

My two-year-old son is a parrot – you say something and he repeats it. Actually, not only does he repeat it right after you say it, but he stores it away and says it at the most inopportune time. Ahh, the joy of toddlers…

Just to get things straight, my husband and I by no means walk around the house spewing “bad” words. Have we let them slip sometimes in front of him? Yes, unfortunately, we have. It’s the most frustrating thing when we’ve told him a million times not to touch outlets and he’ll do it a million times more; we say a bad word once and he remembers that forever.

As my son gets older and more outspoken we are more and more careful about what we say around him, as it is likely to be repeated. Rather than say a bad word, my husband and I will now say a variation of a “bad” word like darn, shoot, or something along those lines. Of course, my son doesn’t parrot those words like the few true “bad” words he’s heard.

There are also other “bad” words that aren’t allowed at our house. These are words like stupid, shut-up, or any name calling. These words, we believe, are either rude or mean if spoken to another person, so they are a no-no. We figure if we instill these rules at young ages they will stick and become habits, hopefully.

Sometimes I think to myself that words are just words, right? So, why not let our children say these words, even if they’re “bad” words, as long as they are used only in exclamation and not towards another person? But, I recognize that there’s something instilled in me that says it’s not okay for a child to say these words, even in exclamation. If they use these words when they’re older and all grown up, that’s fine, as it is beyond our control. But while they’re our children in our house, they’ll follow our rules of respecting others. So, it’s too bad, I guess they’ll just have to be nice, well-spoken and well-mannered children!

My son has recently started becoming jealous of his 7-month-old sister. My husband and I were prepared for this when our daughter was born, but are surprised to see this jealousy pop up now.

We have tried what seems like everything in the book. We’ve tried extra one-on-one time with him. And, since part of his jealousy involves poking and/or prodding his sister, we’ve done time-outs and we’ve reinforced good behavior so he doesn’t try to get attention with bad behavior. Now, at this point we’ve run out of ideas.

I’ve pretty much resigned myself to the fact that this is a stage and is one we’re just going to have to ride out. What I’ve been doing lately is distracting him whenever I catch him picking on his sister. This gets him to stop for the time being and he becomes involved in another activity.

Still, there are some days where I near the end of my patience with him grabbing and poking his sister. Maybe this is just a preview for future bickering between them and I’ll be at the end of my rope then too. Maybe I’m just being pushed to test my patience because I’m going to need plenty for this type of thing in the future!

I have found that having two kids has required that I have twice as much attention for them. The love expanded with no problems with my daughter’s birth, but the attention has been harder to multiply.

It was easy when my daughter was still breastfeeding and I could read to my son so he didn’t feel left out and keep him occupied while I was feeding his sister. I also found out fairly quickly how many things you can do one-handed while breastfeeding, like pour milk or juice into a sippy cup, make Spaghettios, or find a lost toy. You become pretty resourceful when you’re breastfeeding an infant and you also have a two-year-old whining and tugging on your sleeve asking for chocolate milk. But, as my newborn daughter gets older it has become even harder to have enough attention for both of them at the same time.

For example, it is inevitable that my son needs a snack or drink as soon as I sit down to give my daughter a bottle. Unfortunately, I can’t bottle-feed one-handed, so I’m stuck – unable to do both things for my kids at once. So, since my daughter can’t quite understand “Hold on one second,” my son has to learn a little patience. And, in case you were wondering, this is not an easy concept for a two-year-old to learn.

Although I stress about this and wonder whether my children are significantly affected by my inability to duplicate myself and satisfy both child’s needs at once, I think in the end they will be okay. After all, they are learning (at their young ages) that you have to wait for things you want sometimes and that things you want don’t come to you immediately.

In the meantime, I’ll still wish there were two of me at times, but I’ll multitask to the best of my ability. I’ll also be relishing those very rare occasions when both children are napping and I can focus my attention on what I want to do – you know, like laundry, dishes, vacuuming….

Last week my kids both came down with bad colds. Having both kids sick at once was a first for us and it was, unfortunately, also my 7-month-old daughter’s first cold. Needless to say, it was a rough week at our house!

One night I was up ALL night (literally). My two-year-old son would wake up coughing and I’d go to his room and get him calmed down and back to sleep. No sooner had I gotten back into bed than my daughter would wake up, so I would go and get her settled down and back to sleep. This continued all night long. I don’t think I need to elaborate on the fact that I was a zombie for the entire day after this. (I didn’t think there were worse nights than those first ones back from the hospital – boy was I wrong!)

My kids are finally starting to get better now, thank goodness. Having two kids sick at their ages at the same time was a whole new experience for me and I hope I never experience my kids and me sick all at once (although, I’m sure at some point I will). This time was definitely enough of a challenge!

The thing I realized during their colds was that Moms may not be Olympic athletes or world leaders, but we are strong in our own right. Moms wipe runny noses, are up in the middle of the night consoling sick babies, and we dispense medicine to unwilling children (this is no easy task, as I’m sure you well know!). It takes a tough and selfless person to take care of a sick child and the more children you have, the harder it gets. So, to all of you Moms out there who are fighting a sickness with your child or children – I salute you. We’ve all been there and we know that battle is a tough one – may you come out better for worse or wear.

I am not the most patient person in the world by any means. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m trying, but I’m also constantly being tested….by my two-year-old.

For instance, I love that my son wants to know about everything. I love that he’s extremely curious. But there are some days when I want to put in earplugs and never hear “What’s that?” again!

I love that my son is so active (and hopefully into athletics in the future!). I love that he has so much energy and enthusiasm. But some days I wish I could buckle him down in a chair for a short while so I could rest and maybe (gasp!) TAKE A NAP!

Of course, I love that my son is so articulate. I love that my son is so opinionated and talkative. But there are days when I wish he would quietly play with puzzles and color rather than yelling and running rampant all over the house.

On these days I wish my son would be a little more reserved, quiet, or subdued I remind myself that one day my house will not be full of tiny running feet, nor will they echo with my child’s laughter. One day I won’t have little ones under my feet while I vacuum and I won’t answer “What’s that?” what seems like a million times a day. One day I’ll wish my son was just 2 again. So, now, while he’s two, I smile at the clutter of toys, I answer “What’s that?” a million times a day, and I trail my son from one end of the house to the other – just because I can.

Hi Moms, Dads and all of those TTC and soon-to-be parents! I am a 25-year-old married SAHM (stay at home mom) of two, ages 2 1/2 and 7 months. I am also a chef, laundromat, cleaning service, and financial planner. (You should see my paycheck – I get paid way too much!)

This is my first entry in a series I’m starting about the life and times of a SAHM. Now, as you can imagine, my days aren’t full of heart pounding excitement, nor are they similar to a high-powered CEO who makes company decisions all day, but they sure are interesting and BUSY. So, I decided to write about them. I will share the frustrations, joys, chaos, and the ins and outs of everyday life that come with being a mom. I’m sure you will find things similar to your own life here, after all, we are all parents.

And now, to share a little bit about myself.

I decided to have children young because I knew I wanted to stay home with them before working out of the home. My husband and I were lucky enough to get pregnant with a son right after we were married. Two years later we had our daughter and now here we are – together 9 years, married 3 1/2 with two kids and two dogs. There’s lots of chaos at times, the house is by no means spotless, and laundry piles up seemingly endlessly, but that’s life!

In the past two and a half years I have found that I thoroughly enjoy staying home with my kids. I love seeing them grow, learn, and discover new things each day. I also realize how fortunate we are for me to be able to stay home – I know that many parents don’t even have the option.

So, here I am four years after graduating college, home with my two little ones. Not many (actually none) of my friends from college went the same route I did in choosing to become a young mom and a SAHM too, but I love it. I have found that I’m learning and growing as a person just as much as my kids are.

So, hello again to all of you here on the babiesonline.com blog! Be sure to come back and read more of A Day in the Life of a SAHM! This life gets more interesting with each passing day!

Let me know what you think about the series – reply in the comments section below!

When my husband proposed to me we had been dating for several years, throughout all of our college years, and since we had been dating for so long we decided we wanted a short engagement. So we set our wedding date three months from the date of the proposal, which left us a mere three months to put everything together.

Here’s what we did to create a small, personal, yet classy, wedding that we still cherish to this day:

1. Location, location, location: My advice is to think outside the box on this one! Initially I was thinking of typical wedding sites when my husband’s aunt suggested a historical and beautiful building. The rental fee was a steal compared with typical wedding sites and it was absolutely perfect for our day.

2. Music: I splurged a little on this one because I really wanted live music for the ceremony. We hired two professional orchestra players to do the prelude, processional, and recessional music. Total time 2 hours; charge $350. For the reception music we borrowed a family member’s equipment (he’s in a band) and he also acted as our DJ.

3. Flowers: The only flowers we had professionally done were the men’s boutonni?res. I did the women’s corsages (mothers and grandmothers) and used artificial (but real looking!) flowers so they were able to keep their flowers as mementos of the occasion. The bouquets for my maid of honor and myself were elegant bunches of white roses tied with ribbon, which I did myself. These are very easy to do! The tables had simple glass vases filled with white roses. The roses were bought in bulk at Sam’s Club online – this saved a ton of money!

4. The Dress: When you see THE ONE, you’ll know. My ONE happened to be on a mannequin in the store (it was the only one in my size) and because it had a small fabric blemish in the train we were given 40% off upon request. If you find a small flaw you can fix or have fixed, definitely ask for a percentage off! We were able to get the seamstress who did my bustle to also fix the blemish in the train.

5. Cake and Food: We did pay for a wedding cake from an excellent caterer, but for our small wedding we bought and set up all the hors’ dourves and drinks ourselves. This saved us a lot of money!

6. Invitations or announcements: We bought an invitation kit at an office supply store and made ours using our printer at home. These looked every bit as detailed and elegant as professionally printed invitations at a fraction of the cost!

Remember, you can have a beautiful wedding on a small budget – you just have to look for bargains and do some of the work yourself. Your wedding should be one of the best and most memorable days of your life, but it doesn’t have to be the most expensive!

What are some of the ways you saved money while planning your wedding? Share in the comments section below!

Two-year-olds have many ways of testing their parents. My husband and I handle on average about two tantrums per day with our son (most are due to the need of a nap). The ones I usually handle alone are in a store because I have dared to go out with him and my 6 month old daughter.
One such tantrum happened today in a store. My son wouldn’t stay by the stroller with me as I had asked him to do, so I told him that if he didn’t stay by me we would have to leave. He strayed off again and got a second warning. The third time I gathered him up and told him we were going home – and we did. Of course he cried on the way out and people stared, but my son learned that I meant what I said and that I was going to go through with my warning.

It’s very tempting to threaten and threaten and not follow through because I need to get shopping done or finish whatever I’m doing, but I know it’s more important to follow through with my threat because my children will learn that I mean what I say. If you don’t do what you say you’re going to do, whether it’s leave a store or take away a privilege or toy for a while as a punishment, your child will learn that you aren’t going to actually do what you say you’re going to do. So, why would he or she obey you when you’re full of empty threats?

As inconvenient and frustrating as it is to leave a store in the middle of something, you need to teach your child that you will do what you say. It should only take a few times before your child realizes that you will really follow through and then they will start to listen so that they don’t lose a privilege or have to leave a store.

Remember, leaving somewhere with a screaming, crying toddler is not fun but, despite the many stares, you have to remind yourself that this is preventing future behavior problems and is really best for your future sanity!

We purchased a Baby Trend Flex-Loc car seat before the birth of our second child mostly because of the Consumer Report story on how well it did in safety tests. The tests turned out to be flawed and instead of testing the infant seats at 35 mph, they were tested at 70 mph. Even after we found out the safety test was skewed we were still glad we purchased the Flex-Loc seat – it was even better as far as we were concerned. Who wouldn’t want a car seat for their child that performed great in a crash at 70 mph?

As far as ease of use, we found the base very easy to install using LATCH and it was very secure once in the car. We did initially have trouble figuring out how to adjust the tilt on the base, but once we figured it out it was easy to adjust from there.

The infant carrier was great and was a bit heavier than the Evenflo carrier we had used for my son, but that wasn’t a big issue for us. The little bit of heaviness just made it seem like the car seat was more sturdy as far as we were concerned.

We loved the fabric on the seat and most of it easily wiped clean if anything got on it, which of course always happens with kids! We bought the navy and blue Chatham print, which, at the time, was the most neutral print. I believe there are now more choices in fabrics than there were earlier this year when we purchased ours.

We also purchased a Baby Trend Snap N Go Stroller, which is a universal stroller frame that you can snap infant carriers onto. Since it was the same brand as our seat it was a breeze to use and because it’s just a frame it is super lightweight. The stroller features cup holders and a basket underneath for personal items. This was a steal for us at just $12 on clearance at Target!

If you are in the market for an infant or toddler seat, my bit of advice is to find one that fits your vehicle well – experts now say this is of the utmost importance. Also, if you can, shop in January to find great deals since most stores are trying to get rid of inventory at this time. A great price on a safe seat for your baby – you can’t ask for more than that!

What car seat is your favorite and why? Share in the comments section!

When my first child was born we, like a lot of new parents, tried out many baby seats hoping to find one that had it all. We tried bouncy seats, rockers, vibrating bouncy seats – you name it, we tried it. Thank goodness our son was so laid back because he was definitely our guinea pig for lots of baby gear!

So, with the birth of our second child rapidly approaching I researched seats online and found a lot of great reviews about the Fisher Price Baby Papasan chair. So, we tried it….and LOVED it!

This wonderful baby seat features a super-soft removable and WASHABLE seat that comes apart from the frame. The fact that the seat is removable and the frame folds flat makes it super easy for packing and during travel. It also vibrates and plays soothing music, both alone or together. There is even a detachable and reversible blanket that was the perfect size for our newborn daughter.

We especially liked the angle of the seat because we found that a lot of bouncy seats sit up at too much of an angle for a newborn or young baby. We used this seat until my daughter was about 4 1/2 months old, at which point she wanted to sit up and see everything, so we then purchased a Bumbo seat (another great baby chair!).

Overall, we loved the Papasan seat and would highly recommend it to new moms and dads searching for the “perfect” chair. I would also absolutely suggest looking for deals on baby gear like this on Ebay or at a children’s consignment shop. I found mine on Ebay at a great price and in like new condition. This seat was definitely worth every thrifty penny!

As a parent, what has been the one piece of baby gear you couldn’t live without? Tell everyone about it in the comments section!

My husband and I came up with this recipe during our first year of marriage. It’s super easy and our 2 year old loves it. It’s much better than ordering take-out when it comes to cost, taste, and health. Try it out on your family instead of ordering out next time!

Sweet and Sour Chicken with Rice

Prepare white rice according to package directions and how many servings you need.

2 eggs, beaten
1 cup flour
1 1/2 lbs cut up chicken breast or tenderloins
1 jar of sweet and sour sauce (we use La Choy)
Canola or vegetable oil for frying

1. Pour about 1 1/2 to 2 inches of oil in a deep skillet and heat on medium high heat. Beat eggs in a shallow bowl and place flour in another shallow bowl. Warm sweet and sour sauce in a saucepan on low heat.

2. Cut chicken breasts or tenderloins into bite size pieces and dip into the eggs first and then the flour. Place flour-coated chicken into oil carefully. Turn pieces so they cook evenly, about 4-5 minutes per side. Don’t crowd the skillet; otherwise the pieces will not cook as quickly or evenly. Remove chicken pieces and place on paper towel to absorb oil.

3. Serve completed chicken over white rice with sweet and sour sauce on top.

This recipe serves about 4 people.

We love this easy Chinese meal and usually add egg rolls from the freezer section to complete the meal. Dessert is fortune cookies, which, of course, is my son’s favorite part!

Do you have an easy meal that is an alternative to take-out? Share it in the comments section!

Earlier this year my husband and I made the decision to move halfway across the country to be closer to our families. We had our first child while living far away from “home” and were now pregnant with baby number two, so we decided we wanted our children (and us!) to be closer to family while they were growing up. It was important to us that they be close to their grandparents, just as we were.

My husband “assigned” me as the packer since I was pregnant and wouldn’t be able to help lift anything during the actual move. I spent several weeks before the big move buying UHaul boxes, collecting boxes from people who had just moved in down the block, and finding and coordinating hotels we could stay in with our dogs during the move. Oh, did I mention I had a two year old at home to take care of AND that we had our house up for sale AND we were also buying a house long distance before we moved??

Yes, I was very busy and very thankful I was in my second trimester where I had passed the morning sickness and dog-tired phase of pregnancy. So, I took a deep breath and jumped in, taking the moving project head on by booking the UHaul truck and trailer we would need for the move and then finding pet-friendly hotels as stopping points for each day. Packing seemed extremely overwhelming at first, but I just dove in and started with things we didn’t use each day. I packed a little each day in between meals, errands, housework, showing our house, and playing with my son. Once I got started it became much easier – it was less and less scary with each passing day.

Another thing I did before the move was have a talk with my doctor about lowering my risk for blood clots. Pregnant women are especially at risk for clots during long car or plane rides. I was concerned because of the long 10-12 hour days I’d be driving our car during our two-day move. His recommendation was to stop every 2-3 hours, get out of the car and walk around and take a break for 5-10 minutes.

Upon learning this, my first thought was, “How will I do this by myself with a toddler and a dog in the car with me?” I knew that my husband would be driving the UHaul and towing our other vehicle and, because of the slow speed he had to maintain for safety, we had decided to split during the days and just meet for lunch and at the hotels. So, what did we do? We called our families! We flew my mother-in-law out (via my husband’s frequent flier miles) a day before the move and she rode with me and helped entertain my son, keep me company (and sane), and helped out during the breaks I needed to take. We ended up stopping about every 2 1/2 – 3 hours and, surprisingly, that actually ended up making the trip go by quicker and easier. We were just focusing on getting to the next break time, rather than thinking about making it to the end of a very long day.

My son did terrific – I’m still amazed at how well he did cramped in a car for two entire days. My mother-in-law brought lots of little toys to entertain him and I think just the excitement of Grandma being there also helped tremendously.

Somewhat surprisingly, we made it to our destination in one piece, still sane (at least as sane we were before this crazy move), and just in time to close on our new house bright and early the next morning, only two days after we began our adventure. Would I do it again? I’ll let you know next time we’re expecting….

Do you have any tips for staying sane while moving when pregnant or with young children? Share them in the comments section!

Children go through clothes so quickly, especially in their first two years of life. You have no sooner bought them a few new pieces when you find the pants are too short and the shirts are too tight. So how do you dress your children during this time without draining your bank account?

I have found that you can get great deals on new or slightly used kids and baby clothes at consignment stores, thrift shops, and on Ebay. I can usually find excellent deals on brand name clothes like Gymboree, Children’s Place, GAP, and Old Navy. I also shop clearance racks online and in store in the off-season for summer clothes in the winter and vice versa. The key to this, however, is to make sure you know they will fit your child in that future season, otherwise you’ve essentially wasted that money, clearance price paid or not.

Buying clothes, even name brand, at the low prices found on Ebay or at consignment or thrift shops means I don’t get too upset if they become stained after being worn for a while. After all, I didn’t pay an arm and a leg for them! An added bonus I found is that if the clothes make it through your child and are still in decent shape you have the option of reselling them, so you get an even bigger return on your money!

This means of shopping has been great for our family as a way to save a little money and still purchase name brand clothes for our children. As a stay at home mom I feel that finding ways to save money is part of my “job” – it’s one of the ways I contribute since my pay comes in hugs, kisses, and smiles from my children.

I recently took a look at what ways our family could save money and I stumbled onto the idea of cloth diapering my 6 month old daughter. No, I’m not insane and no, cloth diapering certainly isn’t the same as what we all remember! Diaper pins and vinyl diaper covers are no more the standard.

We had been spending roughly $20 a month at a minimum on my daughter’s diapers alone (this doesn’t count my son’s diapers – who we’re hoping will potty train soon!). So from now until she’s 2 years old I realized we’d be spending at least $400 just on diapers. Then I did some cloth diaper researching and realized I could spend roughly $150 and have all the things I would need for diapering her from now until 2 and beyond (but hopefully not too far beyond).

There are so many options in cloth diapering now it’s mind boggling. There are AIOs (All-in-ones), pocket diapers, fitteds, prefolds, diaper covers, wool and fleece covers and soakers….the list goes on. I determined that prefolds were the cheapest and simplest way for us to go. These diapers are what you probably remember your mom using on you or your siblings or what you picture when you think of cloth diapers. They are “pre-folded”, which means they have layers already sewed together for absorbency. They are rectangular, have 3 panels and, for infants, are either 4×6x4 or 4×8x4. They can be folded various ways and secured using the good old diaper pin, Snappis, or just folded into a diaper cover.

We decided to go with prefolds folded into a diaper cover, although I have since purchased Snappis for a more secure fit since my daughter will only become more mobile as time goes on. And by now I’m sure you’re probably wondering what the heck a Snappi is. They are a stretchy fastener used to secure diapers instead of using a diaper pin, therefore, there’s no risk of poking the baby with a pin. They have three ends that hook into the diaper threads without reaching through to baby’s skin and are much easier to use than diaper pins.

So far I am head-over-heels in love with cloth diapers. I have enough so that I only have to do laundry every third day and that’s great since I hate laundry. (That’s also why my husband thought I was crazy when I told him about my cloth diapering idea!) They are so easy to change when you find a fold you like and get the hang of it. You really can just toss the wet or rinsed-off soiled diapers into a diaper pail just as you would disposables. Washing them is easier than I would have imagined and my daughter was fine with the detergent I had already been using on her clothes, so I didn’t have to get a different one just for the diapers.

Washing seems to be the scariest thing for people and is also what I researched a lot. Some people make it seem like a science, but you really just need to rinse soiled diapers (in cold water so stains don’t set) and then toss them in the diaper pail. Wet diapers you can just toss in. For a diaper pail I just bought a regular pail with a locking lid at Wal-mart and it works great. When I’m ready to wash I just toss the diapers in the washing machine on a hot wash and cold rinse with only about 1/3-1/2 amount of detergent you’d use for a regular load. I do add an extra rinse at the end to make sure all the detergent is washed out of the diapers. I then dry everything but the covers and the micro fiber (those I line dry) on high heat in the dryer. It’s that simple – definitely not rocket science!

I also purchased other accessories aside from the Snappis. I bought fleece liners – these are wonderful and I definitely recommend them! These are liners you put on top of your prefold and they work by keeping baby’s skin dry since the urine goes through the fleece into the diaper and doesn’t sit next to the baby’s skin. I bought a dozen online, then realized I can go to a fabric store and just cut fleece into rectangles and they work just as well. I also purchased about 5 micro fiber doublers, which have worked great. These are good for heavy wetters and are excellent during naps or through the night. You just lay them inside the prefold before folding and it adds a great amount of absorbency without a lot of bulk. I love these for nighttime!

As for diaper covers, we got Thirsties brand diaper covers – they have Velcro closure and even have laundry tabs that you can Velcro closed for washing and drying. They come in great solid colors and we’ve yet to have a leak with them. They are excellent and I’ve heard nothing but good things about them from other moms online.

All in all, I can’t say enough great things about cloth diapering. It’s working great for us and it’s great for the environment too – we’re producing much less waste since we’re no longer throwing out disposables! Since I am a stay at home mom it’s definitely been easy for me to do this at home. Only time will tell how they will do on the road and away from home. I do know that I’m hooked and, crazy or not, I’m in for the long haul, even if that means a little more laundry!

One of the things I was most concerned with during my pregnancies was losing the weight I’d gained. When I was pregnant with my son I gained 36 pounds, despite my obstetrician’s scolding remarks. I walked during my pregnancy to keep in decent shape, but I still ended up near the high end of the recommended 25-35 lb weight gain for a healthy woman.

After my 7lb 4oz son was born I didn’t know what to expect since this was my first child. I am an athletic person and have played sports all my life so I felt like a prisoner for those 6 weeks of recovery when you are told not to do any exercising. I was convinced that the longer I waited, the harder it was going to be to lose the weight. It also didn’t help that at 8 weeks postpartum I had someone (a man, no less) tell me that if you don’t lose the weight in the first 6 weeks then it’s really hard to lose it at all. I know I looked at him as if he had two heads – you can’t even work out in those first 6 weeks! I thought, that’s just what I need to hear when I’m still trapped inside this unfamiliar, larger body, overwhelmed with a new baby, and deprived of sleep!

After the 6 weeks of recovery my husband and I started working out together. Being an athlete, I had always lifted weights for sports and knew that working out with weights would build muscle, tone my body, and increase my metabolism. I didn’t concentrate on scale numbers, but rather on getting my body back into shape and back to pre-pregnancy size. My workout consisted of lifting weights to strengthen, but mostly tone, my body, which meant using lower weight and doing high repetitions. I did this 3 times a week and also jogged 2-3 times a week for a cardio workout.

I found that this workout really helped me get back to my healthy pre-pregnancy weight quickly, but safely. I will mention that I was in my early 20s, so obviously that helped since my metabolism was still up there.

I took the same approach after my daughter’s birth. During that pregnancy I gained only 25 lbs so I had less to lose, but I still followed the same type of workout. This time I used a Pilates workout DVD instead of running and found that I loved it. It was great for toning and strengthening in combination with weight lifting. The DVD I found even had a section called Pilates Burn that got your heart rate up and burned extra calories.

No matter what type of workout you decide upon to help shed those pregnancy pounds, make sure it’s safe and suits your ability. In my experience, making time to exercise will make you feel better, so do it, despite being sleep deprived! Remember to stick with the workout and slowly but surely you’ll start to see your old self. And yes, the baby will eventually sleep through the night!

Any tips on losing pregnancy pounds are welcome in the comments section! Share with your fellow moms!