The day has finally arrived. Today is the day you turn 4. I can’t hardly believe that my little baby is already four year old. And I bet that you can’t believe that after asking several times a week for the past three months if it is your birthday or if you are four yet, I can finally say “Yes!”

Earlier this week we celebrated your birthday with family in Texas and confused the heck out of you. After an exhausting day at Sea World your Aunt Heather and Grandma decided to go pick up a cake for you since they wouldn’t be able be here with you on your big day. You thought that we went the whole day without telling you that it was your birthday and the amazing part was that you didn’t care. You even loved those trick candles that everyone thought was so funny.

You were so stinkin’ excited that it you couldn’t contain yourself. You just had to start singing. And what do you love to sing? ACDC….

If the line at 1:07 doesn’t make you crack a smile or giggle I don’t know what will!

Warren is my two year old, my little monkey. He is stubborn, high energy and fearless. But he is also incredibly sweet, a great communicator and absolutely hilarious. Here are just a few things this week that had me shaking my head in amazement or rolling with laughter!

Warren is obsessed with all things Toy Story, especially Buzz Lightyear. Unfortunately his biggest Buzz is really meant for an older child and is a bit heavy. Consequently Warren drops him often and while my husband Joe has fixed him many times (yeah, with a soldering iron!) I think Buzz might have permanently lost his arm.

Warren (handing Buzz out to me): Buzz’s arm broke, mommy. Fix. Fix Buzz.

Me (inspecting) : Oh no, what happened? Uh-oh. Warren, I can’t fix this. He arm is completely off now and I’m not sure even Daddy can fix.

Warren: Dat ok. Wonder Pets fix. They fix Buzz arm.

Over the weekend Warren sees his cousin loose a tooth and gets to hold it. So next day he decides he needs to inspect my mouth.

Warren (grabbing at my mouth) : Mommy, I look in your mouth. I check your teeth.

Me (playing along): Um, ok.

Warren (trying to grab a tooth) Mommy, I hold your tooth. I hold this one. Pease?

While drying Warren off after his bath I noticed that his second toenail was completely white. I checked to see if it coming off and sure enough, it was really only attached at the bottom. I couldn’t help but feel bad wondering how long it was like that and how it happened. Joe being a runner has lost plenty of toenails so he trimmed it a bit and put a bandaid over it. Warren only said “ow” in his normal voice.

Next day Warren is sitting very quietly in timeout. I go to release him him and he innocently and nonchalantly says “Here, mommy.” and hands me the rest of his toenail before running off to play.

Warren has been on a big kick lately to do things himself, specifically climbing up into our van and into his carseat. Only, he can’t really get into the carseat by himself and has tried many times. So tonight I tried to help him yet again.

Warren: No Mommy, me do. I climb.

Me: Ok, you try.

Warren (struggling to get up then stops): Mommy, I can’t.

Me (offering him my hands to stand on to give him a boost): Mommy help.

Warren: No I climb. I do.

Warren (struggles again): Mommy I can’t.

I offer him my hand.

Warren: No I do. I do!

Me: I’ll help you.

Warren: (reluctantly): ooookaaaaay.

Lucian: Mommy, do worms have tongues?

Me: No, worms don’t have tongues.

Lucian: But Slimey does and he is a worm.

Me: Honey, Slimey is just a character on Sesame Street. So while he has a tongue, real worms do not. Slimey is just special that way.

Lucian: Slimey is an inchworm.

Me: Is he?

Lucian (matter of factly): Of course he is.

Pause…

Lucian: We have inchworms all around our house! All around, mommy.

Me (smiling): Wow, that is a lot of worms!

Lucian (nodding his head): Yeah, mom.

Yesterday Lucian and I went to the grocery store together and I picked up a yummy rotisserie chicken since the whole family loves them. On the way home this was our conversation:

Me: Lucian, we have to get home so we can eat our chicken. Daddy and Warren are waiting for us.

Lucian: Mommy, does it have bones? Do I get to touch the bones?

Me: Yes, the chicken has bones and you can touch them.

Lucian: What sound does a chicken make?

Me: They cluck. It kind of sounds like this: brrk, broock, broock, brk-ooock

Lucian: Does our chicken do that?

Me: Well, honey, I’m sure it did before but it won’t anymore.

Lucian: Why doesn’t it do that anymore?

Me: Honey, our chicken isn’t alive anymore.

Lucian: Why is our chicken not alive?

Me (grasping): Because it dies before we cook it and this chicken is already cooked.

Lucian: Why did it die?

Me (gulp): Because someone killed it so that we could eat the chicken for food. Chicken is very good for us and will help you grow.

Lucian (pondering this): Oh.

Ugh. I really love having open conversations with Lucian and I don’t ever want to lie to him. But I’ll admit I was put on the spot with his questioning and wondering the proper way to handle it. Lucian is very smart and always curious and I knew that if I bypassed the question he would just ask it in a different way later. I don’t ever want to discourage him from being inquisitive.

Has your child every asked you something you weren’t exactly sure how to answer?

Last weekend when I did my own little mini fashion shoot I had a little helper.

The photo shoots I do are super glamorous. I set up my 10 second timer on my camera, prop my camera up on my desk in the dining room just so, click the button and quickly run to the other side to position myself in my rather sad catalog pose to get a shot. (You can see what ended up using in my T.J. Maxx Review and Giveaway post).

Apparently my two year old Warren thought what I was doing looked like fun. So he joined me in standing by the wall and giving a smile to the camera as well. Which is actually ironic since I can’t get him to sit still long enough to get a good shot of him under normal circumstances.

He looks so tiny in that picture. I have my own little mini me.

(And don’t you just love those socks I’m sporting?. I know, I’m cool like that.)

A few days ago my parents stopped by for a visit and I thought it would be cool if Lucian showed them how well he can sing his ABC’s. He has known them for a while but for whatever reason, our usually super outgoing son gets bashful when you ask him to sing anything in front of a group. So I wasn’t really surprised when I asked him that he turned his head and got quiet.

No big deal, we moved on to something else. Until all of a sudden he says, “Stop! You have to listen to me!” Umm, ok. And then he starts saying his ABC’s in a way I’ve never heard before, super fast and without the usual singing! He got excited by how fast he went and our reaction to it I’m sure that he kept doing it, over and over and over again. We were cracking up so of course I couldn’t resist grabbing the camera to capture the moment.

So without further adieu, this is Lucian saying his ABC’s, super fast!

When I asked him to keep going on the video I meant to finish it with the “Now I know my ABC’s” part but he started over from the beginning instead.

My kid is such a ham.

Does your almost never shy child also get embarrassed to sing in front of people too?

We all know with certain holidays comes the over abundance of candy.  Easter (along with Halloween) is one of the most notorious for causing a whole lot of sugar overload for kids.  And yet how could we possibly fill an Easter basket with goodies and not include traditional Easter candy?

Here are just a few great options that are actually healthy and can limit the sugar shock.

Annie’s Homegrownhas a huge selection of organic and natural foods and snacks, most of which feature their adorable bunny. The bonus is they contain no additives, preservatives or nasty high fructose corn syrup. I just discovered them last week at my local Target on a price cut. You can find them in the snack sections very low (almost hidden) on the shelf. I got the Bunny Graham Friends and Bunny Graham Honey for only $2 for a 7oz box. My family loves them!

Leave them in their cute box or add them to a poly bag with ribbon and you’ve got an adorable Easter basket snack. Healthy and yet your kids won’t know the difference!

Buy it: You can purchase these at Target, Costco, Amazonor use their store locator to find a location near you!

I know I mentioned this on a giveaway post recently but it certainly worth mentioning again. Peter Rabbit Organics fruit pouches would look absolutely adorable in an Easter basket and my boys consider it a rare treat and more exciting than candy. (Seriously!)

Peter Rabbit Organics 100% Pure Fruit Snacks contain a full serving of organic fruit with no added sugar or artificial ingredients. This a healthy and delicious snack perfect for babies and children and would be a great alternative to candy in an Easter basket.

Buy it: These fruit pouches can currently be purchased for around $15 for a case of 10 from Amazon or check their store locator to find the nearest location near you.

Being a huge fan and very regular shopper of Target, it is no surprise that we are familiar with the Archer Farms brand. Two of our favorite products are the organic real fruit strips and real fruit bars. My boys love them so always have them on hand as a quick snack on the go.  Since they come in many great flavors and are individually packaged, you can easily divide them up among multiple baskets to give each child a variety!

Buy it: Archer Farms fruit strips and fruit bars can be purchased for $2.99 (regular price) at Target. The fruit strips come in a 10 count box and the fruit bars in a 6 count box.

Disclosure: This is not a paid post. I received samples for the purpose of the original review last year for Peter Rabbit Organics only and this did not influence me or persuade me to write this post. I only wanted to provide you with some healthy snack options that I have personally tried. The opinions and experiences I’ve shared with these products are my own and yours may differ.

Every day is an adventure with my three year old Lucian. He is smart and curious about his world so I just never know what might pop out of his mouth.

One of our challenges has been getting him to poop consistently on the potty. Sometimes he does but many times he won’t tell us he needs to go.  He’s fully capable, he just doesn’t want to. Yesterday I caught him with that look while we were both in the dining room and I immediately asked him if he was pooping. With a sheepish grin he replied, “Yep.” Great, another round of poopy pants to clean up. Here the subsequent conversation.

Lucian: Oh, look. It is a little poop. Just a little one though mommy. Not a big mess, just a little poop.

Me: Did a poop fall out of your pants?!

Lucian: Yes, but just a really little one. It came out my leg mommy. Just a tiny poop.

His legs are open wide as he avoids squishing the poop still in his pants

I look and see that it is very tiny and looks solid so I decide to have him clean it up. We’ve been having him help with his messes so it isn’t so easy for him.

Me: Well, here is a napkin. You can clean it up but don’t squeeze it. Wait. No, don’t put it on the TABLE, Lucian ! Argh.

I reach over to clean it up.

Me: (laughing a big belly laugh) Ha! Lucian, that isn’t a poop. It is just a raisin!

Lucian: NO! It IS a poop mommy. It came out of my butt.

Me: No, honey it is a just a left over raisin from snack time.

Lucian: Nope, it is a poop.

I could have ate it to prove it but I thought that might be a bit much.

Less the an hour later I’m sitting at the dining room table with Lucian and Joe (my husband) who just got off work. I see on my laptop that I will be receiving a Dyson for review (SWEET!) and of course I have to show him all the cool features.

Lucian hears about the new vacuum and asks:

Does it suck up poop?

Ah, these are the days. I’m certain I won’t be using it to clean up poop but I’m thinking it will be fabulous for those dropped raisins!

A couple of weeks ago I caught Warren river dancing with Sesame Street and I just can’t resist sharing. This kid cracks me up daily.  Enjoy!

As every mother will say, I can’t believe how fast the time has gone. Every day you never cease to amaze me with your energy, words, curiosity, understanding but most of all your sweetness. I love you for all that you are and all that I know you will one day be. You will always be my baby, my angel, my most wonderful surprise.

Happy Birthday my sweet little boy.

Traveling with kids is never easy but over the past few years I’ve learned some tips that make for a better travel.

Top 10 Tips for Vacations with Young Children

1. Have some small (can be inexpensive) toys that they have never seen before. Don’t give them out right away. Save this for when your child is stir crazy and about to loose it.

2. Pack educational toys that work their brain. I highly recommend It’s a Match from Discovery Toys. Great travel toy for preschoolers.

3. Have activity toys to keep them busy. Some options include a magna doodle, coloring books, lacing, smaller puzzles. Be sure to bring a flat surface if necessary.

4. Bring small snacks which are healthy but that kids love such as mini boxes of raisins. My kids love the box itself and it takes them so much longer to finish them. Other favorites are graham sticks, fruit bars, fruit strips and goldfish crackers. Engage them goldfish in imaginative play.

5. Save the juice box for total meltdowns. Nothing makes my kids happier than a juice box because they don’t get them very often. When they go into meltdown mode I hand them a juice box and all is right with the world. I put the juice box in a small cup to keep my youngest from squeezing juice everywhere.

6.  Engage your children in stories, conversation and song. Have a fun CD in the car and sing along. Don’t let yourself get distracted and enjoy the view and quality time with your children.

7. Visit family friendly restaurants. Nothing stresses me out more than taking my kids to fancy restaurants where others might be disturbed by them and kid friendly food may not be available. It is also cheaper.

8. Come up with fun activities to do as an entire family.  If your children are older be sure to let them really have a voice in what to do so they enjoy themselves and aren’t tempted to turn to the usual distractions.

9. Unplug. If you simply must bring electronic devices make a rule that they can only be used during certain times of the day such as at night and stick to it. You are on vacation and missing out on quality time and great experiences if you are attached to a laptop, cell phone, portable dvd player or a DS.

10. Be sure that your children are getting enough sleep. If they have troubles sleeping at night, make time for good nap during the day. Notice when your kids are getting tired and go back to the hotel. Nothing is worse than vacationing with a child who has lost the normal daily routine and is tired to boot.

To learn about this campaign and to share your own travel tips, visit this discussion page on TwitterMoms.

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Visiting a public bathroom has never been my idea of fun. Now that I usually have two young kids in tow when I do visit the restroom, I have come to realize one thing.  Clueless men and women without children are designing many of the public restrooms I frequent.  This must be true as no mother in their right mind would equip bathrooms would certain features if they had young kids.

Top 10 Reasons A Public Bathroom is Not Kid Friendly

1. Stall doors with an actual door handle and an easy unlock feature. Turn the handle once and the door is instantly opened.

Try going to the bathroom with a 3 year old and an almost two year old. Invariably one of them (usually the youngest) will want to pull on the door handle which in turns opens the door. This is not good when I’m in midstream with my pants still down and a woman waiting on the other side. This just happened to me last week.

2. Stalls with very short partitions.

Do not give my kids any extra incentive to sneak a peek under the stall or even worse, try to escape while I’m indisposed and can’t chase after them.

3. Loud and overly sensitive automatic flushing systems

Don’t get me wrong. Anything that keeps my kids from touching that horrendous handle on the old style toilets is great. I like to flush those with my foot and it is comical to watch my oldest try to mimic this action. But there is no reason that the automatic flush needs to be freakishly loud or go off when they are still using the toilet and scare the bejesus out of them.

4. Sinks which are too high for a child to reach the water. (I don’t even mean the faucet handle, I mean the stream of water itself.)

5. Soap which is in an awkward position and hard to dispense.

6. No step stool for kids to stand on.

Because of number 4, 5 and 6 I am invariably lifting one of my kids up with one hand while trying to push the button for soap with the thumb of my free cupped hand and catch it just so I can give some to my kiddo. I then have to hold my kid over the sink while he slowly washes then takes forever to rinse his hands. Never fails that they he wants to touch the bubbles that have formed at the base of the sink and I’m stuck rinsing them yet again. While I’m busy with my oldest it is a prime opportunity for youngest to get into trouble.

7. Hand dryers are the only available option.

While I realize that this is meant to be earth friendly, try getting two squirmy kids to wait long enough under a dryer to actually dry their hands. (Not that I can blame them, these drive me nuts too.) Hand dryers are also scary for some kids. My three year old honestly asks to dry his hands on my pants. Hmm…I wonder where he got that idea from? Paper towels are quick and easy and I get to leave the bathroom with dry pants.

8. Hand dryers which are too high.

Even though my youngest enjoys having his hands under the dryer, unless I pick him up he is getting a full blown blast of hot air into his face. If it is automatic and only turns on when his hands are underneath it is constantly turning on and off as he isn’t consistently holding his hands in the proper spot.

9. Diaper changing station out in the open.

I love it when these are located within a stall. While you may have to wait until that stall becomes free, you get to change you child with a little privacy. Most other bathroom guests I would assume do not really enjoy looking at your child’s poop smeared butt. As a mom who is occasionally stuck doing this I hate the feeling of all eyes on me as I change my son’s diaper.

10. Swinging doors.

Seriously what are some people thinking? That is just a recipe for disaster with a young kid who is attracted like a magnet to a door that swings open. Either it knocks back into him or he gets whacked as someone is coming into the restroom.  While I appreciate not having to touch a door handle and the nasty germs it collects,  it definitely isn’t kid friendly.

Who passes and fails this test for me locally?

FAILS MISERABLY: McDonald’s

Ironically it is my local McDonald’s that was the inspiration for this post. While the bathrooms are very new and you would assume kid friendly, I am driven insane every time I’m forced to use them. My McDonald’s violates more than half of the complaints listed above.

PASSES AS THE MOST KID FRIENDLY BATHROOM I’VE ENCOUNTERED: Barnes & Noble.

They have a small step stool available along with paper towels easily in reach next to the sink. There is even a diaper changing station and diaper genie located in their handicap accessible stall. It is the only bathroom I’ve been in that included a step stool and now I find every bathroom that doesn’t have it lacking. Since we attend a weekly story time and use the bathroom with each visit, I certainly appreciate these small conveniences.

Now it is your chance to spill. Anything in particular drive you nuts when you visit a public restroom with kids?

Old homes have a ton of character. Our home was build in the early 1930′s and has character up the wazoo. From the breakfast nook and alcove to the arched doorways and built in shelving, our house definitely has charm. It also has some very strange features. A great example is the random white porcelain sink residing in our guest bedroom.  While guests can wash their hands in the comfort of their bedroom upstairs, there is no toilet, no shower or bath, no bathroom to speak of at all on the second floor. No, there is just a random sink, completely and totally out of place on the far wall.

Another oddity is the, shall I dare say, creative light fixture above our stove. Are you wondering if your eyes are deceiving you? Isn’t that a bathroom fixture? I would say so but apparently the previous occupants thought it would work beautifully above the stove in the kitchen. The kitchen that is completely lacking cupboard space and no has ventilation whatsoever. And of course it is totally dwarfed on a large wall behind the stove.

A real beauty isn’t it? The only good thing about this thing is the light actually works. So while I do get some light above my stove while cooking, I do have to put up with the strange looks I get when guests visit for the first time.

My husband and I decided once we purchased the home this was one of the first things we wanted to fix. Kitchen hoods really aren’t all that expensive, especially if are good at shopping deals and comparing shopping prices like I am. The obstacle has been how to actually accomplish the whole ventilation aspect.  Why can’t we just slap one up there and call it good? At this point to heck with it actually ventilating anything. I just want something with a light that looks like it belongs in a kitchen and the aesthetics that a beautiful kitchen hood provides. Geez.

Since I’ve been in this house almost seven years I am thinking it will be a while before a kitchen hood is installed. Until then, I’m just a mama with kitchen hood dreams. Sigh…

This is a sponsored post. The opinions and stories shared are 100% my own.

1. Visit our local festival of lights. It is truly an amazing display and I’m hoping this year will be a little warmer so the kids can handle it! The past couple of years have been brutally cold during December.

2. Decorate our tree together. We like to do this the week after Thanksgiving. I’m excited that both our boys can participate this year!

3. Bake and decorate cookies together. Yummy. This is such a fun activity with great rewards at the end! (We get to eat the cookies of course!)

4. Pick out Christmas presents with each child for Daddy and for their brother. This is a special, quality time and I look forward to seeing what they pick out!

5. See Santa. Amazingly my kids are not afraid so we enjoy this!

What do you like to do with your kids? Visit Twittermoms and enter a win the contest too!

My husband and I had been looking for a couch for about a year and weren’t finding what we were looking for in terms of style, comfort and affordability. Finally a couple of months ago I discovered a very affordable and comfortable microfiber couch from HOM Furniture. My husband hadn’t had a chance to see the couch so when the subject came up again this past Saturday, we decided to go take a look with the kids.

As we were walking in the store, signs were plastered all over with Ice Age 3 characters that read “FREE ICE AGE 3 GIFT PACK with ANY $499 purchase!”

And while we weren’t necessarily ready to commit, I pushed the issue. If we are going to buy this $600 couch anyway, why not buy it when we can get the Ice Age 3 gift package with a $92 value?? Since it is on sale as well it seemed like the perfect time to buy.

So we took the plunge and purchased the couch. At the end of the transaction I asked about the Ice Age 3 promotion items and was told this purchase was not eligible because it was listed as a “Colossal Buy”. Which of course means nothing to me. I would have assumed perhaps clearance items or gift cards weren’t included. But given that every sign in the store said ANY purchase, I assume that means ANY purchase. Any does mean any right? Any does not mean only some $499 purchases. It does not imply your $499 may be eligible. It implies that if you make a $499 purchase, no matter what, you get the Ice Age 3 promotion items.

But I must be mistaken. Maybe I am not clear on the definition of any since that is exactly how it was advertised in their store signage.

According to Webster’s Dictionary, the definition of any:  unmeasured or unlimited in amount, number, or extent

Hmm…that sounds like I should have walked out of Hom Furniture with an Ice Age 3 gift, does it not?

Now, to their credit, I did find in their ad in the teeniest, tiniest print that Colossal Buys were not included in the promotion. But that exclusion isn’t what is really irking me here. What really started to piss me off as I left Hom Furniture is that all the signage says ANY and there is no verbage indicating exclusions. While there was an asterisk with “see store for details” or “see store associate for details” they left out anything that would tell a consumer that not every (which is implied by the word any) $499 purchase or more was eligible.

To not be deceptive to the consumer, the word any should not be used. They should have simply stated that with a $499 purchase you can get a Ice Age 3 promotion package and included the following, “*Some exclusions apply. See store associate for details.” That’s it. That is all that I would expect from a company that is upfront and honest in their advertising. It indicates that if I am to make a purchase perhaps influenced by this free gift, I should probably double check to be certain I qualify. But leaving out the this disclaimer and using the word “any” in their verbage is clearly deceptive marketing practices. One that made me angrier and angrier after I left the store. At this point it isn’t about the free gift I thought I was getting and now am not. It is the principal of false advertising.

My couch is currently on order and I am seriously contemplating not continuing with the purchase. Which is actually sad since it took so long to find what we wanted. At the same time, I loathe companies using shady marketing tactics and cringe even thinking about giving my business to these types of companies.

I can’t be alone in being sick and tired of being treated in this manner. Lure me in with a special or deal and then take it away. HOM Furniture, you should be ashamed of these practices!

Update: HOM Furniture did reach out to me on 11/16 offering their regrets about my experience and offering me the Ice Age 3 Gift Pack.

Anyone who has been reading my blog knows I talk about all the cute and silly things my 3 year old Lucian says. But what I can’t convey is how blasted adorable he looks and sounds  when he says those things. So I just couldn’t resist capturing my son’s excitement to a particular episode of the show Kipper and sharing it with you.

Hope you smile and get a chuckle of this like I do. Enjoy!