Tip of the Day

Do you love Robeez's shoes? I love them and so does my daughter. It's the only shoes that she doesn't try to take off and they have such cute designs. For a limited time you can get 20% off any purchase of $50 or more. Use coupon code MOTHERS20 at checkout. Offer expires May 12, 2010.

Sew Mama Sew is turning 5 this month and they are offering 15% off your entire order. As always, shipping in the US is only $5 no matter how large your order. Enter the code 15SMSISFIVE when you checkout. Offer good through Monday, May 17, 2010.

My Preemie Experience

My daughter was born at 36 weeks. She weighed only 4 lbs 6oz at birth, she was a tiny baby. She was so much smaller than all the other babies and our top priority was to keep her healthy. Our doctor told us how important it was to keep her healthy. At her age and weight if she got a cold she would need to be hospitalized. I wanted to share some of the useful things I learned about having a preemie. The hospital nurses told us it would be best to limit the number of guests we had come to see the baby. Not only were their germs to think about but they also warned us that having to many visitors often fatigued newborns. We followed the nurses recommendations and only our immediate families were able to see the baby. All other family and friends were turned away nicely. This was hard for some people to deal with but our daughter only lost 4 ounces during the first week and that was a great start. If possible I also recommend breastfeeding. Even if you don't plan on breastfeeding for long, any amount of breast milk is a great help. Our pediatrician had us supplement with formula for preemies and at first I followed that. When my milk came in though I only gave her breast milk and during that time she started gaining lots of weight. Breast milk also helps your babies immune system and much more. Make sure that anyone who is going to touch the baby washes their hands first. I know this sounds like common sense but you must be vigilant about this. Don't expect everyone to just know that they should have clean hands before they touch your baby. Another good idea is to get a car seat sign. When your out in public people WILL touch your baby without asking first and they will have germs on their hands. Once I put this sign on my daughter's car seat no one touched her again. I didn't take the baby out of the house until she was 2 months old. I know how hard this was on me but it was cold season and I didn't want to risk catching a cold. Another wonderful tip the hospital gave us was to have lots of skin to skin contact. They mentioned studies that showed preemie's do better quickly with skin to skin contact. I would suggest using the Moby Wrap. It is safe for preemies to use and it makes skin to skin contact easy. My last piece of advice would be to stay positive.

Mother's Day Gift Ideas

Mother's Day is almost here, it's May 9th for all those who don't know. I decided the best gift to give my mom and mother-in-law this year was a framed picture of their kids/grandkids. I found and printed the cutest pictures and I found some cute cheap frames at Target. I love Target they have such good stuff! To make the gift extra special my little sisters and I are getting together this weekend to make our Flower Card and personalized Bookmarks. I plan on changing the bookmark slightly. Instead of using fabric we will be using our favorite school picture or any wallet size picture will do. You can use any scrap fabric you have aroundt he house to make the flower card. Any mother will truly love these gifts!

DIY Invitations and Book Labels

My daughter's first birthday is fast approaching and I am trying to start her birthday planning early. I wasn't sure what theme I wanted to do for her first birthday, do you even need one, but a good friend suggested a princess theme since that's her nickname. I came across some great FREE printable invitations that are breautiful, Free Invitations.They have a wide variety and they even have a cute recipe card template. I think I will be using the Frame Monogram invitation but I haven't decided yet. They add new invitations frequently, I LOVE the peacock feather invitation. I also came across cute templates for This Book Belongs To labels. These labels are an image file so you have to print the whole block and not just the ones you like but they are still very cute. They can come in handy for school books and gifts.

Conquer Losing Your Temper

We all have moments where we lose our temper and usually you feel horrible for losing your temper once you have calmed down. I read a great article that had some great tips on lowering your stress level so you don't lose your temper. First think about your normal daily routine. What part of the normal day causes you the most stress? What part of the day are you happiest? For me the most stressful part of my day was when I got home from work and picking up my daughter. I am trying to get all my chores done but my daughter never lets me get anything done. I usually end up getting very frustrated at this part of the day. The happiest part of my day is playing with my daughter and then getting her ready for bed. In order to make the best of these times you need to evaluate why you are happy/stressed and figure out what you can do to improve them. I realized that I was trying to do to many chores when I first got home. I really only needed to clean my pumping equipment, all my other chores could wait until after my husband got home. So I changed my routine. I now only clean my pump equipment and then I spend the rest of the time playing with my daughter. Not only has this removed my stress it's given me more free time that I can spend with my daughter. Now the happiest time of my day has gotten better because I have more time to play her.