The Mom Crowd

Check out this collection of Scared of Santa photos at the Sun-Sentinal.com. Not all kids are happy to tell Santa what they want. Some of those photos are scary and hilarious at the same time!

I seriously love del.icio.us and I use it all the time. Del.icio.us is an easy way to bookmark all your favorite webpages online in one place. Sometimes I come across a site or a webpage that I will want to come back to later, so I will tag the page. You can tag pages when you are shopping online, researching a topic or a vacation, or saving cool recipes.

Del.icio.us works by integrating two buttons into your web browser. Don’t worry, installation is easy! I promise. One button is your “My del.icio.us” button that displays all your tagged webpages. The second button is the “Tag this” button that you click when you want to tag the webpage you are displaying. Using del.icio.us is cool, because it takes two seconds to tag a webpage after you have installed the buttons.

Bookmarking online is better than using your web browser’s book marking system, because you can bookmark all you want and it won’t fill up that menu window. I currently have 190 webpages bookmarked; that would be a really long menu window! Also, you can easily make notes, change the title of the bookmark, and specify tag categories.

Your homepage with all your tagged sites go with you wherever you go. They are always online. If you are at a friend’s house and you want to show them that really cool purse you were considering buying on Etsy, you could have bookmarked the page, and open the link from your del.icio.us account.

Setting up del.icio.us is incredibly easy. One of the things I really like about del.icio.us is that all their instructions are simple to follow.

The first step is to register with del.icio.us. After you fill out the six blanks on the registration form, you will then be instructed to install your two del.icio.us buttons. You will have to re-start your web browser after they are installed. Then, you can start using the buttons and saving the links to all your favorite sites.

Take a few minutes and set up del.icio.us. You will be glad that you did!

Del.icio.us homepage
Register
Installing into Internet Explorer
Installing into Firefox
A Guide to Saving Bookmarks

I recently went to a baby shower and they asked everyone to write a piece of advice for the soon-to-be-mom. I wrote, “Trust your instincts.”

This was the best piece of advice that I received. Two weeks after I brought Ace home I tried Baby Wise for two days and I was in tears at the end of the second night. Daniel and I were discussing our next steps and he told me to trust my instincts, because he said that deep down I knew what Ace needed. That advice lifted all the guilt I had from not being able to live up to certain standards. I was now able to set my own standards, it was freeing. So now every time I am asked to give advice to new moms I was always say, “Trust your instincts!”

What is the best piece of advice that you have received?

As I shop for Christmas presents for the children in my family I have been reflecting on what toys really get the most play at my house. Here’s a list of the top toys we own (we own A LOT!)

1. Leap Frog Learn and Groove Musical Table – If we had to go to a desert island and could only bring three things, this would be one of them! This toy was the best toy purchase we have ever made and I think every child should own one. We have had ours for three years, and it has always been the “hot toy” in our home. It really grows with your child and I highly recommend this toy!

2. Plush Bunglie Donkey by Jelly Cat – You can’t get the donkey very easily anymore since he is now officially retired, however Jelly Cat makes the most adorable stuffed animals. Darah has been sleeping with her lovey for three years and will not go to sleep without him. They are incredibly soft and cuddly and a must-have in our home!

3. My First Stacking Cups – These classic stacking cups are a hit in our home and have had multiple uses. They’ve been everywhere from the sandbox to the bathtub to the kitchen. Connor loves crawling around with one in each hand and one in his mouth and Darah likes to stack them up high and knock them down. They’ve been great for all kinds of fine motor activities (stacking, sorting, pouring, etc…)

4. Swirlin’ Surprise Gumball Machine – This is just a really cute and really fun toy. Darah received this toy as a first birthday present from a friend and it has been very loved. The music it sings is cute and it has a volume control adjustment (so great!) I really liked it when we were working on teaching the concept of “cause and effect” with Darah and she was very attentive with this toy!

5.Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? - My kids love this book (and so do I!) The pictures are really bold and crisp and it’s a fun book to read with the kids. Darah knows it so well that she’ll start signing the name of the next animal to come before we even turn the page. In the kids’ stockings this year, they are going to be receiving Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?”

6. Baby Signing Times and Signing Times DVD Series - We love these dvd’s! Darah’s vocabulary has increased so much since she started watching Rachel, Alex, Leah, and Hopkins on Signing Times! Signing has been such a great communication method for Darah and now Connor and I know your little ones (or even bigger ones) would really enjoy this series. My 5 year old brother very proudly told me the other day, “McKenna, this means ‘be careful.’” Very cool!

What are your favorite toys for your little ones? What will Santa be bringing this year to your house?

What is it with babies and Hip Hop? When we are driving around in the car Ace either gets quiet from crying or starts talking whenever Sean Paul or Kanye West come on the radio. I talked to another mom about this and she said that she has experienced the same thing.

Do your kids like Hip Hop?