Car Seat Covers

CAR SEAT COVERS FOR SALE.

At my baby shower I received the cutest car seat cover as a gift. I was so excited about it I decided to make a second. I realized that these car seat covers are so useful over the last 6 months. When we are out and about and Malia is tired I can just cover her car seat and it instantly becomes a traveling crib.

I have decided to start making these cute covers for other moms! I can do what ever color scheme you would like. I can have your car seat cover to you within the week. These car seat covers will only be $40.00. Which is a great price for the market! Leave a comment or send an email shannonmarierose@gmail.com to place an order or if you have an questions.

Clothing

When I started to purchase clothing for Malia while I was pregnant I realized that baby clothes are way more expensive than they should be. I mean some stores charge $20.o0 for a little baby shirt! Ridiculous! I have found ways to save money while still dressing your baby cute!

Ross: Ross has some good deals on things but you have to know what you are looking for. You can get great deals on Carter clothes. DO NOT try to find cute dress's at ross. I mostly go to ross for onsies or pants.

Gymboree: Twice a year gymboree has a grab sale where you can get dress's for only $5.00. I bought a bunch of summer things at this sale in December. I got 6 hats, one dress, a matching shirt and pant set, and a swim suit. The end total was only $20.00

Buy off Season: The key to getting really cute stuff that is normally expensive is to buy off season. Recently I decided to start looking for Malia's winter coats for next year. I got her a purple coat that is adorable. Normally $100.00 it was at an upscale boutique I got this adorable coat for only $20.00. I also bought a snow coat for only $5.00. Normally I wouldn't have been able to afford both coats together I would have had to choose between the two.

Just a little advice from a mom on a budget.

The Industry Has Got Us Duped

There are a lot of useless things on the baby market. Some of them are obvious and some are things we believe we need.

While I was pregnant I shopped and shopped for the perfect bedding set. I bought one online and was convinced this was the one. I then decided 2 weeks before having Malia that this one did not feel right. I purchased another set. I could not return the other set so I was stuck with two sets. I just couldn't imagine bringing Malia into the world with out the perfect bedding set. This was most likely my nesting hormone but still.

When Malia was a newborn she slept in a bassinet at the end of our bed. No need for a bedding set. So weeks went by no need for this bedding set I had shopped and agonized over.

She was two months it was time for her to go to her own crib. We had a doctors appointment and I was talking about her being in her own crib. Then my pediatrician informed me that bumper pads were not safe in her crib.

Crib bedding without bumper pads is basically a dust ruffle and a crib sheet. You pay ridiculous prices for these sets and in the end all you use is a dust ruffle and a crib sheet. I just don't see how this is worth it.

My advice to all you expectant mothers just buy a dust ruffle and a crib sheet and save the money! THIS IS NOT SOMETHING YOU NEED IN THE END.

Malia Against the Machine

Toy: The perfect ball machine. The balls are clear and have objects for her to look at. You push a lever a ball falls out and it lights up and sings. By far the best one on the market.

Malia received this toy for Christmas from Tyler's parents.

The way Malia plays with this toy:

I realize eventually she will learn how to play with this toy but for now here is to entertainment.

The Doctor is in

I don't know about you but me and my pediatrician don't always get along. I guess the reason why is because I call her for advice on a problem Malia is having that day and she decides to not call me back for 5 hours to 2 days you never know. So to solve this problem I left this headache behind and switched pediatricians.

We arrive at the new pediatricians office 15 min early to fill out paper work and then proceed to wait a half an hour for the doctor. Why do they tell you to come 15 min early if they aren't even going to see you until a half hour after your appointment time! So after the wait we finally saw the doctor. To my surprise even after the wait I LOVED THIS DOCTOR. I guess maybe it was because he answered my questions instead of telling me where to research it ( I am asking you as part of my research!).

So we went through all the normal checks height 25 inches., head 41 cm, and weight 12 pounds 9 ounces. That was only one more ounce then her four month check up! I started to panic. So now I have to go in and weigh her every two weeks to make sure she isn't losing weight. Usually after a doctors appointment I am calmer than when I came. Not so this time I start freaking out. I mean I don't understand why she is not gaining weight she eats so much every time I feed her.

Well I have come to this realization :

NEWS FLASH MALIA IS SMALL BECAUSE HER PARENTS ARE SMALL.

I mean lets think this out logically I am 5'2'' and Tyler is 5'6''. Tyler weighed 18 pounds at three and I was in toddler sizes for longer than I should have been. I have talked to so many moms that say that their kids stopped gaining weigh at one point or another. The doctors worried ran them through all of these tests and they just ended up being small kids.

The Question: My question to all of you is should I freak about Malia not gaining weight? Or is my realization logical?

Does Indoor Swimming Have a Season?

Yesterday I decided I was going to take on the adventure of taking Malia swimming. We tried swimming while we were in Hawaii visiting my parents. It didn't go as well as planned. We put her feet in the water she retracted them and cried. Almost the whole trip she cried if we even pretended to put her in the water. The only time she did not scream was when we took her to the natural warm ponds. The water at the natural warm ponds is bath tub temperature or better. So I did not have high hopes about our outing.

We started off the day shopping and getting all of our errands done. We had to stop and get some swim diapers and rubber pants to go over them (ridiculous). This is what I learned.

1. One size swim diapers don't fit all.

I do not understand why diaper companies think that babies should not get in the water until they are at least 18 pounds. My husband wasn't 18 pounds until he was 3! The size smalls are 18-24 pounds. I guess they just assume that babies don't come smaller than 18 pounds. So Malia is 12 pounds and these swim diapers are huge on her and it is my only option. I just don't see how a huge swim diaper and rubber pants is going to protect any of us if she decides to go.

2. You obviously don't have kids.

I did not understand the statement " You obviously don't have kids" until today. I went looking for swim diapers at Walmart first- they usually have everything. I asked a lady working at Walmart where I could find them (after not finding them in the diaper aisle). She told me they were in the clearance section. Confused, I went and looked and all they had were mediums and larges. I went back to the same lady and asked if they might have any in the back. She then turned to me and said " Why, its not swimming season?". This comment surprised me and all I could think was " Does Indoor swimming have a season?". I realized then that this lady definitely didn't have kids.

Malia did like swimming and we start swimming lessons next month. Hopefully she still likes it then.

Sitting Up

In Theory: Children practice a new skill slowly and then they are able to do that said skill.

Reality: They have no interest in said skill and you try and try to get them to do it. Then one day when you least expect it they just do it. Sometimes at the worst time possible.

Example: For the last couple of weeks I have been trying to get Malia to at least try to sit up. Every day we would try to get her to unlock her legs and sit. She would squirm cry and tip over. Repeat next day. I had given up. I decided my child would never learn to sit and we would have to make her special desks that she wouldn't have to sit and so on. Then one morning Tyler decides he is going to give it a shot. I of course was not excited at the idea. He props her up no squirming no crying and she sits no tipping over.

At this point I have given up on any books that could give me advice on my child's development. My child is stubborn and only does things on her time table. She especially won't do things if its what you really really want her to do. My advice this week throw out all those stupid milestones and just laugh at the experience.

Yummy in her Tummy

Malia has started solids this last month. This has been a learning experience for the two of us. I would like to warn all new moms of the trials of starting solids that no one wants to tell you.

1. The back up in the back end.

When Malia first started solids I had read everywhere that you should start with only rice cereal for the first little while. Well the one thing they didn't mention that some babies have a hard time popping if thats all you feed them. Looking back on this it should have been common sense. I mean come on its rice cereal there is no fiber in rice it becomes a glue! So a week after Malia had started solids she still hadn't pooped. To top it off we were on vacation visiting my parents in Kona. So I worried and worried about why she wasn't pooping. I was used to poop every 2 min now we were going days. So on the 7th day I finally freaked and rushed her to the doctor. Since it was out of area it was going to be a pricey visit. While we were waiting for the doctor in the waiting room. MALIA FINALLY POOPED. My child has the tendency to wait until the last minute for everything.

My advice for this problem is don't freak out. They just started solids of course it will take a while to get used to this. After the first two days of rice cereal introduce a little prune juice in their milk this will help regulate things. Think about what food you introduce first also. Choose something with fiber. Apples or Bananas are a good choice. CAUTION: Carrots will make constipation worse. Add apple to your carrot mixture.

2. MMM Fruity

So I always hear moms saying they didn't feed their kids fruit until they had all their vegetable tastes first. This is to avoid them only wanting fruit in theory. Well news flash not all children like fruit my child hates apples and is not a huge fan of bananas. I have to hide fruit in vegetables. She is a huge fan of Sweet potatoes and carrots on the other hand.

My advice don't worry about it. They will like what they like no matter when you introduce it. Don't give up on foods after one try they will get used to it.

The List

1. Apples

2. Carrots

3. Bananas

4.Sweet Potato

5. Avacado

New Foods this week will be:

Pears

Butternut Squash

Heres to hoping that Malia will like pears!