Stocking Stuffers for Babies and Toddlers

So, you're excited that it's your babies first Christmas, but really... What do you get a 3 month old baby? 

Heck, what do you get a toddler?

Here are some practical gifts that you can put in your little one's stocking and not feel like you're throwing money out the window:

(Below each item, I will post my favorite)

 

For your Baby:

Teethers

 Braxton especially loved this teether, obviously because the tiny bristles felt good on his gums. I liked it because it comes in a carrying case and you don't have to worry about disgusting germs when your baby decides to hurl it across the room and then scream for it three seconds later. You can clean it and store it and I love it. You can find these teethers at Wal*Mart. 

Feeding Spoons

 Honestly, I don't think that your child is going to be picky about which spoon you buy for him. In this case, it is all about parental preference. I seem to like these spoons because they are transitional. We were able to use them while Braxton was a baby and we are able to use them, still, while he is becoming a little man. On a side note, we did buy some of the Gerber spoons that have the metal handle and the rubber tip. I liked those as well. 

Bibs *cough, BibdanasByBraxx*

 What is the purpose of a bib? Bibs are not only useful when you are first feeding your baby, they will be awesome when they start feeding themselves. Also, bibs save tonsssss of clothing when you have a drool monster with lots of teeth coming in. Obviously, my favorite bibs are my own. They're way more stylish than a bib and serve the same purpose. 

Baby books

 I like the books that interact with babies. I think books are important in child development and I think that starting them off young is the best way to dive into reading. Like I've said in my last blog post, when you make something fun for your child, it makes a lasting impression on them. 

Baby treats and snack

 These little puffs were Braxton's favorite! They dissolve fast so you don't have to worry about your little one choking and they smell and taste divine! 

Socks

Personally, I like Old Navy's socks for my little man. I like that they have grips on the bottom and I like that they aren't boring ol' Hanes socks. OH! AND I approve of their thickness. What's the purpose of a sock? To keep your feet warm. We live in NY/PA where the weather is known to get crappy... Warm socks are a must. 

Baby Bottle Buddy

Why? Because it's stinkin' cute, that's why! You put the bottle through the buddy's belly and BAM your baby loves it. These bottle buddies are easy for your little one to hold when they're just learning how to grab things. Later, when your baby still loves their bottle buddy, the ears are teethers! Two birds with one stone. Genius. 

Fun Binkies (if you're using one)

I did not use binkies with Braxton, simply because he didn't really take to one. BUT, if he did I would definitely be the awesome mom to provide him with fun binkies. 

 

For your Toddlers:

Finger Puppets

 Finger puppets are fun. Your toddler is now at the point in his life where everything fascinates him. When you are hiding behind the island and there is a puppet talking to him while he is sitting in his high chair, I can assure you there is laughter. I mean, don't go crazy and buy scary monsters... Get the finger puppets that you can have fun with and also teach him with. If you get animal finger puppets, you can eventually teach your toddler which animal is which. 

Baby Phone

Every child is fascinated with your phone, right? Why? Because it's 2013 and we're always nose deep into it ourselves. This baby phone actually looks like ours! Not only does it appear to be the same, there are fake apps on it that are just like ours! Like what you ask? Angry Birds. Mickey Mouse. You name it, it's there. 

Bath time water flutes

Bath time isn't meant to be a chore. Let your baby enjoy the time he has in the tub! When you fill these bad boys up, they play a different tune. Your baby will enjoy making music on their own!

Crayons

Alphabet Magnets

Hair Accessories 

Potty Watch 

Let your child feel totally "adult" by wearing one of these. Not only do they feel cool, you'll feel cool by teaching them to use the potty. Set the timer for thirty minutes. Every time it goes off, you and your little one both know that it's time to stop what you're doing and go try to use the potty. Can you say AWESOME. 

Silly Putty/Playdough

Stick-on Earrings

Mini Dinosaur toys 

Hot Wheels Cars

Food Face Plates

Okay, this does encourage your child to play with their food, but what if your child is one of the difficult ones and they don't "like" to eat... PERFECT. Have your kiddo slowly eat the hair, or build a mustache... I dunno. They're cute and funny! You don't have to be so serious all the time. 

Stickers

Reusable Snack Bags

See, all of these things are perfect for stockings and they're not too expensive. I know that some parents are hard on money and cannot afford all of these items, but take these creative things and go to the dollar store with them! You can find a lot of cheap things that will fit in your little one's stocking and it won't break your bank. You might know that it's from the dollar store, but your baby won't! 

Happy stocking stuffing!!!!

 

 

Five Tricks To Get Your Toddler Talking!

So, I don't know if any of you are anxious to hear your little one talk or if you are annoyed because they won't STOP talking. But, either way, I wanted to make a post about how to get your toddler to start talking more. 

It seems to me like Braxton is talking more and more, every day. I swear he says a new word if not two new words a day. It all starts with the "mama," "dada," and "baba," then you're trying to get them to say sentences, it seems! 

Right now, at 15 months, Braxton can say about 15 words (I know I'm forgetting some on this list):

Momma

Dada

Baba

Eat

Hi

Hello

Please

Cheese

Bite

Up

Ball

Down

Go

"Turbo" (our dog)

 Thank You

Bye

Yum-Yum

& our least favorite, No.  

Here are some ways that you can get your little toddler more talkative:

1. TALK

Let's be honest, if you are not talkative around him, he is not going to learn how to talk himself! Sounds crazy, doesn't it? Talk. Narrate. If you feel silly talking to your child, well... that's silly. An easy way to make a conversation with someone who doesn't know how to converse is by taking what they say and making it longer. If your child says, "Bite," reply to him with "What would you like a bite of?" Or if your child says to you something nice like, "Please," simply say, "Yes, of course you can." Another easy way to do language expansion is to make noises! When your child says to you, "Ball," make noises of what the ball does. For instance, "Boing, Boing, Boing." Watch your child giggle and try to imitate the crazy and funny noises you can make. When you make talking fun, your child will want to learn how to do it. 

 

2. Listen

Interesting concept, eh? In order for you child to grow confidently with his speech, you have to positively reflect your listening skills. There is nothing more discouraging than being ignored, and to a child, a toddler, if he thinks that you're not listening to him, he will quickly stop talking. When you display good listening skills, your child sees that listening is an important thing to do. Monkey see, monkey do; know what I'm sayin?

3. NO BABY TALK

Honestly, to me, there is nothing more annoying (besides eating with your mouth open) than baby talk. Who in the heck said that babies need to be talked to in the most obnoxious way like that. Yes, by "that" I mean adding a 'y' after absolutely everything that you do: cupp-y, drink-y, tub-y, napp-y... NO. Don't do that! Or how about when you talk to babies/toddlers with that super high annoying voice...NO. Don't do that! I mean, I only talk to my dog like that and even then I feel like a moron. You do not need to enforce your child with these made up words. Part of children's linguistic development is putting together forms of words that make sense to them. It does not mean that we have to say them, as adults. For instance, if you baby says "ba-ba," you should reply with "Bottle? Do you like your milk?" Be realistic. Your toddler isn't going to hop out of the womb reciting Shakespeare; however, by repeatedly enforcing "bottle" instead of "ba-ba" your toddler will eventually learn how to pronounce things the way they are supposed to be pronounced. 

4. Be Animated

 Like I said in the first tip, if you make anything fun, a toddler/child will want to join. Make funny faces with your child. Change the volume of your voice. Sing and dance. Clap your hands. This makes your a lot more fascinating than you are. Your baby already thinks that you are the most interesting thing... Make him really believe that. 

5. Limit screen time

TV does not teach your baby language. 

Not Sesame Street. Not Baby Einstein. Not Mickey Mouse. 

It doesn't. 

Not iPads. Not Leapsters. Not video games. 

IT DOESN'T. 

Those things are all fine in limits, but they do not teach your child how to talk. Those things teach your child language concepts. They can teach you shapes, colors, new vocabulary, letters, and how to count, but they cannot teach your child how to talk. 

Your mother, your brother, your father, the neighbor, other moms, the weirdo that makes funny-faces to your child in the check-out line... THESE are the things in your baby's world that teach. 

Remember that. 

Shut the TV off. 

With these tips I will also add a bit of caution.

Brace yourself for the "Whys?"

 

The story behind Braxton's Name

Braxton Michael Church

Everyone likes to share the story of their children's name. If you are someone who doesn't like to hear the monotony of something glorious, you can kindly stop reading right now! :) For all others who are interested in knowing, please... continue. 

You know that feeling that women get when they feel like "something isn't right?" Or maybe, in this case, everything was right and everything else was wrong... Who knows. The facts are that around December 16, 2011, my boyfriend, Chad, and I found out that we were soon to be expecting the best gift that life was going to deliver. 

Knowing that "it" was soon to happen without the proper use of contraception, Chad and I were still a little baffled. I took a total of 5 pregnancy tests before I was convinced. The first two were cheap Wal-Mart brand and I felt like it was giving my a false positive. The other 3 tests were "First Response" (if the clear reading on those weren't good enough I don't think any other test would have been!). After taking everything in and sitting awkwardly silent in our room, I called my mom and told her that I had missed my (*whisper*) period. She told me to inevitably call the doctor and set up an appointment. I was saddened to find out that the doctor wouldn't be able to "take me in" for another 3 weeks! 

(......3 weeks later....)

Chad took me to the doctors and this is what we found out...

   There he was... in the flesh. Well, kind of, but not really. 

Stoked on life, literally, Chad and I started brainstorming names for our little alien. Chad had picked Bentley Michael and I had picked Alanna Lynn, which was later changed to Bailey. 

The only people that knew about our pregnancy right away were my parents and my brother. Further along the way, we told Chad's family and then we announced it on Facebook to make it official. Although some people might think that, that was rude of us, we felt like it was appropriate. We wanted to wait until we were out of our first trimester, which is when most miscarriages take place. :( 

 Then we got to see "the baby" again. 

We were eager to find out the gender of our baby! I know some people say "it shouldn't matter" and no, it didn't... But we still wanted to know! It's easier to plan for pinks and blues than it is to plan for yellows and greens. We were told that the next appointment would be our opportunity to see if we had a "dinker" or a "v." Little did we know that we would have one of the most stubborn children that God has ever created. We tried and we tried and we tried to see the gender. Eventually, we had said to ourselves that maybe we weren't supposed to know. Maybe it wasn't meant to be and God wanted us to be surprised when birth-time came. 

That wasn't good enough for me. 

I wanted to know. 

Finally, on July 18, 2012, Mr. Man showed us his goods!

The ultrasound tech had previously predicted that "he" would be a "she." Silly tech, that ultrasound definitely shows a dinker. 

After finding out that Baby was a boy, I started thinking about what his name was going to be for sure. Even though Chad really loved the name Bentley and had chosen it from the get-go, I was not sold. I started to look through the baby name book and not only realized that some of the names were just stupid, but that some of them were so boring! I decided to look under the BR- section because my dads name is Bruce. I stumbled upon the name Braxton and instantaneously fell in love. 

At the time, Chad was working out of state. I drew his name on a piece of paper all cute like and sent a picture of it to him. His response was, "What is that?" I replied with, "The name of our baby." 

Ever since that conversation took place, we knew what we were going to name our little guy. When people asked us, "Do you have any names picked out," we had absolutely no hesitation to respond with, "Braxton Michael." 

(Michael is Chad's middle name). 

"Braxton Michael." 

It felt right. 

Thoughts on Co-Sleeping

To Co-Sleep, or not to Co-Sleep

There are so many people out there who bring up the controversial topic about whether or not co-sleeping is okay. Want to know my opinion? Keep reading. 

I think co-sleeping has it's pros and cons, just like any other topic. I think Co-sleeping can be advantageous and I think co-sleeping can be the most annoying thing in the world. For instance, lately all Braxton wants to do is sleep in our bed. While we've grown to be used to it by now... I am SO over it. Okay, my boyfriend is 6'2"... We have a queen sized bed. Along with my tall boyfriend we have a small dog at the end of our feet and let me tell you something. If you don't find a dogs nails scratching you in the middle of the night, NOT annoying, you are the happiest person I know. On top of the little room that there already is, we throw a baby into the mix. He is about 30 inches tall, give or take, and weighs about 27 pounds. Sure, it sounds cute and cuddly... But when that 27 pound baby is suddenly laying on your face in the middle of the night the cuteness wears off really fast! Or how about when 3 am appears on the clock, that cute and cuddly baby decides its time to learn how to break dance and you get the tastiest mouthful of foot you've ever had (aside from the foot you tasted the night before). If we are going to do this "Co-Sleeping" thing... we're going to need a bigger bed. *hint hint*

 Beside all the reasons NOT to co-sleep, there are also the sappy, lovey-dovey ones. For instance, when your little one wakes you up by kissing you. Or when your bundle of happiness wakes you up with that cute little laughter you've grown to love so much. Co-sleeping can be really sweet in the morning AND at night. Wouldn't you rather fall asleep knowing that all of your life is laying in the same bed with you? Wouldn't you rather fall asleep peacefully rather than having to put your baby in a crib while he screams his head off? Sometimes, I do. Sometimes, I don't. All I know is that everyone does everything differently and there is no "right" way to do anything. You do you and I promise I won't judge. :) 

Look what I get to wake up to, everyday! 

I'd much rather wake up to these two, than to wake up laying in bed alone. 

 

 

 

My Story

The Girl Who Created This...

Back in 1992, on June 29th to be precise, a legend was born. Just kidding; it was just me, Oriana Lynn.

Im a small city girl  that was raised by the most gorgeous woman on this planet and one of the hardest working man I know. Before you jump to conclusions, don't it twisted. My parents didn't raise just one awesome child, they raised my older brother who, I'd like to think, is a pretty solid character. My entire childhood was written in Olean, NY, Home of the huskies and the squirrel statues on every corner.

...I wonder if you're contemplating where Olean is...

Don't feel bad if you can't put a finger on it, not many people do...

Not that you'd want to know where it is anyway... Everyone knows everyone and if you have a secret, your neighbor will hear about it later that evening. 

Hmmm, what else should I tell you?

I play the violin. Although, I haven't had much time lately to even touch "Penelope's" case. 

I have a Boyfriend and obviously a son, named Braxton Michael (09-11-2012), and a Boston terrier puppy named Turbo (10-15-2011). Without a doubt, I am obsessed with my little family. 

I enjoy baking. If you give me the ingredients, I can more than likely create the most delicious sweet you'll ever place in your mouth.

Currently, I'm a Stay at home mom (we can get into that later), but I have started my own business called Bibdanas By Braxx (Click the picture on the sidebar). 

I have pet peeves, just like any other person that I know... Want to know how to annoy me?

Chew with your mouth open and make the nastiest noises you can create.

Oh. And I hate wearing socks and shoes.

That sums up my life. Interesting, eh? There's a lot more where that came from ;)

Snuggles and Smooches,