A Few of My Favorite Things

Happy Monday! Can you believe we're already almost two weeks into July? Every year, time goes by more quickly! It has been a while since I shared a few of my favorite things, so I figured it was time to jump back in!

We are over one month into summer break, and thoroughly enjoying a more relaxed routine. Don't get me wrong - my kids still want driven everywhere, Liam had a week of summer school, Lily has tumbling, and Liam is taking swim lessons. BUT...we are staying up late and sleeping in most days, which is awesome after 9 months of really early wakeups, and constantly being on the go. Summer is DEFINITELY one of my favorite things!

Over the past few weeks, I discovered a few items to add to my rapidly growing list of favorite things. From apps to travel blankets to everything in between, I've got it covered! Here's what made my Love List in June...

How To Help Your Baby Sleep Better With Little Ones

This post is sponsored by Little Ones and we received product in exchange for this honest review.

Our fifth baby will be celebrating his first birthday in just a few short months, and he still isn’t sleeping well! Needless to say, this mom of five is exhausted. I knew something needed to change - SOON - and I had to find a sleep method that would help Coen sleep better!

After having four other children you would think I would have figured this sleep thing out by now. Coen, however, is our first fussy baby, so this is new territory. I have a few theories about why he isn’t sleeping well: 1) I walked so much during my pregnancy that he got used to the constant rocking motion, and needs it to fall asleep. 2) He’s our fifth and final baby, and is very spoiled by his siblings and the rest of our family. Everybody wants to hold him all the time! No matter the cause, I’m tired, he’s tired, and we need to get some sleep!

That’s exactly why I turned to Little Ones for help! Little Ones is an online sleep program that gives you detailed sleep and feeding schedules based on your baby’s age, along with lots of information on sleeping, nutrition, self-settling methods, and much more. We’ve been using it for a few weeks, and we’re starting to see some progress! Here’s why you should consider Little Ones to help your baby (and you) sleep better...

The Best Tools To Organize Your Life

As 2019 begins, I'm really focusing on staying organized. Juggling the schedules of 6 - soon to be 7 - busy people can be very overwhelming! I always seem to start the year off strong, and end up slacking at some point along the way. This year, I'm determined to organize my life, and stick with it so I'm not as stressed and overwhelmed!

I know many people prefer everything to be digital, but I'm a bit old school. I prefer a mix of digital organization tools and physical tools. I'm not ashamed to admit that I am firmly on Team Paper Planner and Wall Calendar! There are definitely some apps that I absolutely love, though!

Here are a few of my "Organize Your Life" favorites right now...

The Perfect Game App For Busy Moms

This post is sponsored by Jigsaw Puzzle but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

As a mom of four, my life is chaotic! If I’m not chasing kids around, I’m driving them around. So much of my day is filled with waiting, and sometimes I just need something to occupy my mind while I wait, other than mindlessly scrolling through social media. Now I have Jigsaw Puzzle in my life! This app keeps my mind sharp, and helps to pass the time while I wait. It’s the perfect game app for busy moms who just need to relax or keep busy during all those hours of waiting!

Other than helping my kids with their puzzles, I haven’t put together a puzzle of my own in MANY years. Growing up, my beloved Grandma lived next door, and we used to spend hours working on puzzles together. Unfortunately, those days are long gone.

I was fairly young when I became a mother, and because we spaced our children out, we always had curious little hands in our home. I simply couldn’t leave a puzzle out, because it definitely wouldn’t go undisturbed. As soon as I downloaded the Jigsaw Puzzle app, I instantly remembered just how calming it can be to work on a puzzle!

A Healthcare App for Busy Moms #AnywhereCare

This is a sponsored post in partnership with The Motherhood on behalf of UPMC.

Whether you are a working mom or a stay-at-home mom, have one kid or 10 kids, life as a mom is busy! As a mom of four, wrangling chaos and juggling kids and schedules is my norm. I don’t have much time to worry about anything else. Worrying about arranging healthcare, especially for sick visits, shouldn’t top my list of worries!

Thankfully, there’s an app for that! UPMC Anywhere Care allows you to have a face-to-face visit with a doctor right from your mobile device or computer! The app is free to download, and it’s also free to sign up for an account. The visits start at $49, but for those with a UPMC Health Plan, the cost is similar to a copay.

If you live in Pennsylvania, you will be able to visit with a UPMC doctor during your video consultation. For those outside of Pennsylvania, you will be able to visit a doctor from American Well, which is an online care group. All video consultations occur in real-time.

The flu seems to be hitting everybody this year, and it can be very serious. Now you can see a quality health care provider with a UPMC AnywhereCare virtual visit without leaving your home! And if you sign up at http://upmchp.us/MHUPMCAnywhereCare by March 5, you will have a chance to win a digital thermometer!

When one of my kids gets sick, it’s a lot of work just to schedule an appointment with their pediatrician. Not only do I have to work around five different schedules, but I also have to arrange childcare for my other kids, unless I want to bring my entire crew to the sick visit.  If that doesn’t work, we end up at Urgent Care after my husband gets home from the office. Although necessary, it does cause added stress for all of us. And if there’s a sick parent? Those appointments rarely happen!

Mom Life Must Haves: Things I'm Currently Loving

DISCLOSURE: A few of the featured items were sent to me free for review. I only share the things I truly love!

Happy Thursday, my friends! I can't believe we are over halfway through October, and that Halloween is less than 2 weeks away. This year flew by faster than ever before! It has been a few weeks since I last shared the things that I'm currently loving, so I figured I would put together a Mom Life Must Have list!

Life with four kids is non-stop, and I feel like we completely missed out on Fall fun due to our busyness and, well, the lack of Fall weather. Other than a few chilly mornings, it still doesn't feel much like Fall here. We've even had a few 90 degree days this month, which is unheard of for Pittsburgh this time of year. It feels more like late Spring than Fall. Most of the leaves fell off the trees weeks ago, due to lack of rain, so one of my favorite things about Fall never really happened. If you can't tell, I'm kind of bummed about this!

As every mom knows, motherhood isn't always cupcakes and rainbows. Sometimes it's just plain tough! Sometimes you just need to escape or spoil yourself with something that helps you feel like a normal human being again. (I've been there...often.) And sometimes, you just need something to keep your little ones busy so you can breathe! I put together a fun list of the things that help make mom life just a bit easier! And if you're NOT a mom, there are still a few things on here that you might like. Clothes and books, anyone?

KidloLand App Review & Giveaway (3 Winners!)

This post is sponsored by KidloLand. I received product in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Early Education has changed so much over the years! When I was a young child I learned the basics from workbooks, Sesame Street and good old fridge magnets. These days, electronics play a big role in early learning.

There are a LOT of apps available that are geared toward young children. Some are great but some... not so much. It's difficult to know which app to choose! As a mom of a child who just started preschool AND has special needs I am constantly trying to find ways to boost his learning. 

Recently I was introduced to an amazing app called KidloLand!  KidloLand is an interactive learning app for children in the 0-5 age range. It is perfect for toddlers and preschoolers (my young Kindergartener even loves it)! This app includes over 700 nursery rhymes, educational games, songs and phonics.

 

The KidloLand app covers it all!  The wide variety of interactive activities, games, stories and songs encourage children to learn their ABC's, 123's, animals, shapes, colors, months, days of the week, seasons, beginning letter sounds and more. After using this app for a week I ended up deleting most of the apps I previously downloaded for Liam. There's truly no need for them!

Liam never showed any interest in electronics prior to being introduced to the KidloLand app. I downloaded all the apps that were recommended and still didn't have any luck. There was one BIG factor missing from all those apps: music. The KidloLand app has plenty of that and Liam LOVES it! (Notice the Itsy Bitsy Spider moves?)

Thanks to the KidloLand app, Liam's early learning skills are being boosted through fun learning songs, games and activities.  This app is the first one to keep his attention and he's actually singing along and learning new words.  For a child who is delayed in speech that is a HUGE benefit!

 

I truly can't say enough good things about this fun learning app but if you're not convinced yet, here's a sneak peek at all the interactive activities it has to offer:

KidloLand offers 20 categories full of fun learning songs, stories, games and activities!

Nursery Rhymes 

The Nursery Rhymes category was a hit with toddler! It contains almost every nursery rhyme you can think of. Liam's current favorite nursery rhyme is Itsy Bitsy Spider so he played it over and over again while acting it out!

Stories 

The Stories category is a very expansive. It contains sub-categories which include Fables, Early Reading, Animals and Bedtime. When a story is chosen you are given the option to have it read to you or to read it by yourself.

Phonics

 

My 5 year old actually uses this category. She loves to review her letter sounds through these fun phonics songs for each letter of the alphabet!

ABCD Songs

This is a great category for my 3 year old. Each letter is accompanied by a fun song that helps teach letter recognition and beginning letter sounds!

Games

This category includes a wide variety of games geared toward the younger crowd. Liam loves Pop the Numbers, First Words Coloring, Musical Petals and Train Adventures!

Activities

 

This is another fun category! The activities are organized by theme such as Farm, City, Marine, Space, Vehicles and more. Each theme includes a wide variety of activities. The Farm activities were Liam's favorite!

Create & Play Occupations

This category contains so many occupations. The first step is matching pictures to their shadows to create the scene. After the scene is complete it "comes to life" to teach the child about the profession.

Wheels On The Bus, Weather & Seasons, Dinos, Row Your Boat, Numbers and Lullabies

Each of these categories is filled with catchy songs! Liam, who has special needs, is very much in tune with music. He loved the Wheels on the Bus, Row Your Boat and Lullabies Categories. The Weather & Seasons, Dinos and Numbers categories were also hits with their fun learning songs!

Christmas Songs

I loved the fact that the KidloLand app includes seasonal songs. This was the first category that Lily noticed and she started singing along to the Christmas Songs and Christmas Carols right away!

Vehicles, Old MacDonald Songs, Months & Days, Colors & Shapes, Animals and Fruits & Vegetables

These six categories contain fun learning songs! Learning about animals, months and days, colors and shapes, and fruits and vegetables is so much more fun when there's a song to go with it! Who would have ever thought that there would be songs about all the different types of fruits and vegetables?!?

The KidloLand App was a HIT with Liam! It is, without a doubt, the most used app on our iPad right now!

 

KidloLand is available for download on:

•  ios (KidloLand)
•  Google Play Store (Nursery Rhymes For Kids)
•  Amazon Appstore (KidloLand)

GIVEAWAY!!!

KidloLand has generously offered to give away a three month subscription to three different winners!

*This giveaway is open to readers worldwide. It will end on October 20, 2016 at 12:00 AM EST. Winners will be notified by email. Enter on the rafflecopter widget below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you to KidloLand for sponsoring today's review and giveaway and introducing my family to this fun learning app!

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How I Get My Kids To Do Chores Without Complaining {GUEST POST}

Happy Monday, my friends!  I'm currently enjoying a family vacation at the beach so some fellow bloggers are covering my blog posts this week!

The first guest post is from Loving Little Dixie. Sarah is sharing how she gets her kids to do chores without complaining. I'm sure most parents would gladly accept some help in this department!

MEET SARAH:

I'm a Bible reading, coffee drinking mom of three learning to love life in a small town. I'm married to a general contractor and, together, we love turning houses into homes. We lived in seven houses in four metropolitan areas before moving to a small town to start our own construction business. I blog at Loving Little Dixie, where I hope to inspire others to step into the role for which they were created, live life with purpose and focus on what matters most - wherever they are planted. I am learning to do the same.

I am the kind of person who has to do it all and do it perfectly.

My husband graciously reminded me one morning after I had a complete meltdown that I do not have to carry the weight of the world on my shoulders, and I have two sets of extra hands that need to be utilized.

When you have three kids living in your house, the amount laundry and trash and dishes {to name a few} multiplies exponentially.

My kids typically start helping around the house at age 4, doing things like making their beds, picking up toys, putting away laundry and brushing their teeth. At this age, they are eager to help.

As they get older, they become more difficult to motivate, which leads to me trying to do everything myself.

Enter REWARDS EXPRESS.

This app changed my life. We’ve been using it for several months now, and the system still works. My kids, who are ages 7 and 9, now do multiple chores a day without complaining. They even ask to do extra chores on occasion.

You can assign points to specific tasks and assign those tasks to the child of your choice. Once they earn a certain number of points, they can redeem their points for rewards.

 Everything is completely customizable. You choose the tasks, the rewards and the point values for both. The app takes care of the rest.

Anything that simplifies life at home is a win in my book. How do you motivate your kids to help out around the house?

Disclosure: There are no affiliate links in this post. This is not a free app, but I will not make a commission if you choose to purchase.

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Thank you so much for sharing this awesome app, Sarah. I can't wait to try it for my older kids!