Just for Fun - My Fave App Part V

My newest fave app is The Weather Channel app.  It is very user friendly, nice looking and has all the pertinent information that I need.  You can choose an hourly forecast, a 36-hour forecast or a 10-day forecast.

It has also helped us tremendously with my son who is thunder-obsessed.  For the last three summers, we haven't slept through a single night because if there IS thunder, he runs in to our room frantically.  But even if there isn't thunder, he would still wake up anticipating it.  We had tried everything - positive reinforcement, taking things away, and maybe some yelling.  When his pediatrician suggested that we check the weather before bed, I decided to let him check it himself on my phone.  This was a big deal for him because he typically isn't allowed to play with my phone.

Ever since we started this ritual of checking the weather, his anxiety has been tamed.  For some reason, if he knows that it might happen (it usually says "30%" chance,) he can go to sleep peacefully.  And he knows that any time he hears thunder (or sees lightning,) he can come sleep in mommy and daddy's bed.

Toddler Advice - Potty Training Potty Kit

One of my friend's is in potty training H-E-L-L right now.  After giving her a pep talk because her little girl had 7 accidents on day one, I remembered that I carried a Potty Kit everywhere we went while my son was newly sans diapers.  I took it to Target, the art museum and on the airplane when we flew to California for a wedding.  It helped tremendously - and what I mean by that is it helped my son go the bathroom in public, and it helped me be at ease during this stressful period!

Potty kit:

Washable, water-resistant, lightweight bag. Our Envirosax bag worked perfectly. Its nice to keep all of the below items in a bag while traveling. Keep it separate from your diaper bag and especially when at an airport. I would put it in my carry-on, and then grab it, take my son to the bathroom and leave the carry-on with my husband.

plastic grocery store sack (for a dirty diaper, or wet wipes, etc.)

Change of clothes and undies

Diaper (just in case!!) and wipes

Diaper cloth or wash cloth (my son peed all over a sculpture garden outside.)

Hand sanitizer

Mini toilet ring stored in a Ziploc bag (it can get gross if you are using it all day on a trip or in an airport, so keep it in a gallon-sized ziploc.)

This is the one we had, it folds into a 1/4^th of the size shown –

http://www.amazon.com/Sesame-Street-Folding-Travel-Potty/dp/B00076SL0I/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1338515324&sr=8-2

Just for Fun - Refreshing Summer Salad

I am a decent cook and I don't HATE cooking.  But I don't love it and I am not great at it.  And as I have mentioned before, I only follow recipes.  Well, last week, I was at Trader Joe's and tried a sample of this yummy veggie salad.  The sales associate told me it was just 4 ingredients, plus a bottle of their vinaigrette.  Last night, I decided to make it.  But, I didn't want to use bottled vinaigrette, and have my salad floating in Xanthum Gum.  Soo, I made up a dressing, and it was delicious!

This is so refreshing for summer, I served it alongside some yummy baked chicken.

Mix in a bowl the following four ingredients.

1 can corn, already drained and rinsed

1/4 chopped red onion

1 red pepper, chopped

1 box frozen asparagus, thawed and rinsed *

* I put the box of frozen asparagus in a colander in my sink and left it there for about 5 hours.  Then rinsed them and put in the salad.

Here is what the salad looks like before the dressing is mixed in.

Then add the following, stirring as you add.

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

1/2 tsp. Italian Seasoning

salt and pepper to taste

Serve and enjoy!

Just for Fun - My Summer Reading List 2012

Last summer, I posted a reading list that included books from various categories, including my all-time faves, some easy reads and what I was hoping to read over the summer.  I enjoyed doing it and liked hearing from readers that picked a book to read from my list.  So I'm doing it again!

Memoirs:

Infidel - AMAZING!!!

Lit

Tender Bar

Historical Fiction:

In the Time of Butterflies

Thought-provoking:

Bringing up Bebe

Sense of an Ending

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Locks

Classics:

Sherlock Holmes
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Just for Fun:

Paper Towns

Dandelion Summer

Carrie Goes Off the Map

Minding Frankie

Girl in Translation

Home by Morning

Fifty Shades of Grey (3-book series) - I need to explain this rec.  I didn't like the first book.  I thought the writing was poor, the lead male character was despicable and the sex was GROSS - too graphic, and so nerdy!  But my friend told me to persevere, so I did and the lead character became like Don Draper or Tony Soprano.  You root for them because they are damaged and just can't help the way they are!  And I just skipped over the gross (and so not romantic) sex scenes.

All the Books I Hope to Read this Summer:

The Expats

The Violets of March

The Slap

The Miracles of Santo Fico

Skinnydipping

The Night Circus
Most Talkative

Recent Books I Hated or Could Not Finish (a new category!)

Under the Banner of Heaven

When Everything Changed

Let the Great World Spin

State of Wonder

Little Bee

Wicked

 

And here is the link to the list from last summer.

http://mommywisdomblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/just-for-fun-my-summer-reading-list.html

Happy Reading!  And like last year, please tell me your newest fave, I always need new book ideas.

Techy Advice - My Fave App Part IV

This might be the silliest app ever.  And what's MORE silly, is how much joy it brings me!  My friend Cris introduced it to me on St. Patrick's Day.  He sent me a Happy St. Paddy's text with a shamrock emoticon.  I am Irish, so I got very excited.  Where did he find a shamrock emoticon!??  

The app is called Emoji.  And by downloading it, an additional keyboard appears on your Smart Phone (right alongside your alpha-numeric keyboard.)  It has oodles of screens with all kinds of icons including buildings, faces, flowers and food.  A few of my favorite emoticons include the hands praying, the smiley face wearing a surgical mask, the pile of poo with eyes and the mustached-man.  And there are several that remain a mystery to me.  I'm sure you probably already guessed, but it was created by a Japanese group!

And side note: all the apps I recommend are FREE.  Sooo, enjoy!  And send me a text with your favorite Emoji Emoticon!

Baby Advice - Six Months: Almost to the Light

I have a 5-year old son and a 5-month old son.  And with my second baby, it is ALMOST like he is my first, because he is so different.  Due to severe reflux, he slept in his swing and car seat for the first four months of his life.  I moved him into his crib 3.5 weeks ago.  And it has been my definition of hell.  Most nights he was up 3 times.  And some nights 4 or more times.  And absolutely nothing but nursing calms him down.  I guess I should feel lucky that I DO have something that puts him back to sleep right away.  But I would have liked it if my husband's attempts at shh-ing and rocking him would have worked.

Because he is my second, I knew that 4-6 months was a tricky time because babies can't quite self-soothe, but they aren't in that newborn phase where they can sleep anywhere either.  So I persevered.  

I THINK we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Since I moved him to his crib at four months, I have had to nurse and rock him into a deep sleep for every nap and throughout the night.  But then, about 5 days ago, he just wasn't falling asleep while nursing, so I set him down in his crib, slightly fed up, and walked out for a breather.  He cooed and kicked AND FELL ASLEEP on his own!

And then, last night, after getting up every night with him at least 3 times for the last 3 weeks, he only got up once, at 3:30am.  Yahoo!   PLEASE keep it up little one!

Techy Advice - My Fave App Part III

If you like to (window) shop online for AMAZING deals like I do, but hate those pesky daily emails, there is a solution!  Many of the daily deals web sites now have really outstanding apps.  So you can just open it whenever you want on your Smart Phone and start (window) shopping.  My very fave is Gilt, followed by One Kings Lane and eBay Fashion.  I am less impressed with Stylebop, Etsy and Nordstrom.    

Please enlighten me with your favorite (window) shopping apps, so I can do some more imaginary damage to my credit card!