Hey, everybody! I’ve been MIA over the holidays “enjoying some quality time with my family.” Now that that’s over, I’ve compiled a new list of “Adorable Crap My Kids Say” post. Here are the top 10 most adorable things they mispronounce.

1. Porkins = steamed dumplings from Chinese take-out

   

2. Henbains = headbands

   

3. Poopah = their maternal grandfather, aka my dad

   

4. “Waddle my baby up” = swaddle

   

5. “On that farm-y had a horse…”

   

6. They are also still calling band-aids “bain-bains.”

   

7. Chewbockis = Hubs’ Chewbaca slippers

   

8. Kep-chup = ketchup in Lillese

   

9. The “Binch” who stole Christmas

   

10. “Mom, do you bemember ______?”

    

    Do your kids have any cute mispronunciations? Hit me with them in the comments!

I’ve been using essential oils to keep my family healthy for about a year now. I recently went to a class at a friend’s house and my passion for essential oils was reinvigorated. I thought I would share some of my favorite oils and their uses with you guys in case you were interested in what they can do for your family.

Helichrysum
From the YoungLiving website: “Helichrysum essential oil has a clarifying, stimulating, and grounding fragrance that makes it ideal to diffuse when studying or doing homework. Helichrysum can be applied topically to improve the appearance of tender skin.”

I love to diffuse this oil when working on a difficult task or powering through a challenging blog post. It makes me feel focused and helps me to complete tasks.

Lavender
Everyone knows that lavender is soothing and calming. I use this in my kids’ laundry, I diffuse it before bedtime when they are especially cranky, I put a couple of drops in my bathwater when I am stressed, and I also place a drop on my kids’ pillows when I change their bedding. No home is complete without lavender.

Lemon
Lemon is energizing when diffused, it can be used in cleaning solutions, and you can even add a drop to water or tea for a flavor boost. It’s a very versatile, fresh-smelling oil.

Malaleuca
AKA Tea Tree oil, has antiseptic properties and a very fresh scent. You can add a few drops to a spray bottle with water and lemon oil to make a great household cleanser. It is also great for clearing skin blemishes and mild eczema.

Thieves
Thieves is a blend exclusive to Young Living that contains eucalyptus and clove oils, among other things. It is great to diffuse to give your home a cozy feeling and it is also great to diffuse if someone in your family has a respiratory illnesss, as it helps to open up the airways. YoungLiving has a whole line of household cleaning products made from Thieves oil.

So how can you get started? One of the best ways is with the YoungLiving Premium Starter Kit. In the kit, you receive eleven of their most popular essential oils; a diffuser; sample packets of NingXia Red; and shareable materials, including sample packets, a roller ball, and more. It’s everything you need to discover the products for yourself and get immersed in the Young Living lifestyle. If you love Young Living oils, you can sign up to be a distributor and you will receive 24% off reatil price with each purchase, among other benefits. Click here to find out more information and start on your family’s essential oil journey.

Gabby wants everything she sees on tv, so in order to evaluate what she really wants for Christmas, I thought I’d give her another catalog. This time it was The Land of Nod (another crazy expensive venture). 

Let’s take a look at some of her choices…

  
She circled a TON of tents, thanks to her dad’s recent introduction of indoor camping. Also, there’s no way she’s passing up a doll bed. 

  
She picked this rocket ship tent for her BFF, Danny. 

  
This fabric dollhouse is beautiful and she would totally love it. I’m considering it as a splurge gift. 

  
Surprisingly, she wants this tool belt and workbench, so she can “be a builder.” I was thinking maybe a Lego junior set might fulfill that wish. 

   
 
The boat is for Gabby’s house and the car is for Danny’s house. So they can play together and share them. I’m dying from her sweet, giving heart. 

The astronaut one is for Gabby, the bear for  Lillian. Again with the camping obsession. 

  
Apparently she also needs a camper for her babies. I guess you can’t go camping without all of our kids. 

   
 
This was my favorite. Gabby picked some ornaments for her, Lillian, and Danny but then she also picked a menorah and dreidels. I guess the more holidays, the better!

“Circle anything you want!” I routinely do this with catalogs that come. Pottery Barn Kids, Hanna Anderssen, Mini Boden… I hand it over and let her go to town. I thought twice about doing it with AG, but for some reason, Gabby seems to be satisfied with fantasizing about having all of the things without the promise of ever getting it. Maybe because she’s three. 

Once she was done and went to bed, I went through and the results were SUPER interesting. Originally, I wanted to total up all of the crazy stuff she’d want and post about how AG is financial poison, but Gabby’s picks were not only frugal, but really intentional. 

For instance:

She completely skipped the “design an AG doll that looks like your clone” section and went right for the pet accessories. This was her first pick:

  
A dog bed and dog leash. Merely $38. No big whoop!

She also wanted all of the clothes. Luckily, she is still to small for the size requirement. 

  
But, really, who circles clothes in a toy catalog?!? I kind of envy this kid!

Next up, a very specific doll and all of her outfits:

  
Even $500+ later, I’m not mad. That’s the first “baby” she wanted and clearly, my child is a fashionista, so of course she wanted some wardrobe options. I totally get it. 

And finally, another girl, but only one outfit. No bed, no food, no pets, nothing crazy!

  
Either letting her go through catalogs satisfies her needs to express what she would really like to have, or I just have an awesome kid. I’m not going to stop this practice of window-shopping. It’s fun for both of us!

I received free Pampers Cruisers to test for this post from Influenster, but all opinions are my own.

When I was pregnant with Gabby, I did a lot of research about cloth diapers, because I didn’t have a plan to go back to work immediately I figured it would be a good way to save money. I did receive a ton of disposable diapers at my baby shower that I totallly appreciated and used, but once we blew through those and whenever we were home, we used cloth.

We started out with Gdiapers, a brand that was moderately priced and is actually a hybrid diaper. This means you can either use cloth inserts or disposable/biodegrable inserts. I liked the Gdiapers for a time, but I realized there were more economical options. Gdiapers come in sizes XS-XL, but you have to keep buying new pants as the baby grows. Once Gabby grew out of the mediums, I was on a hunt for a better solution.

A friend gave me a variety of pocket diapers. The brands were Alva and Sunbaby mostly, but they were all “one size” diapers, so I knew they would last a long time. I found the pocket diapers to be easy to use and easy to wash. I stocked up, mostly buying used lots on ebay.

Then I found out I was pregnant again. Gabby was 10 months old. Potty training was nowhere in sight and I knew I was going to have two in diapers for a good, long time. I found some good-priced all-in-one diapers on Nickisdiapers.com and Diaperjunction.com and braced myself for the onslaught of laundry.

With two in diapers, it didn’t necessarily get harder. It was just the constant laundry that was getting me down. By the time Lillian was born, no cloth diaper could contain Gabby’s pee and we switched her to disposables. By the time Lillian was one, the daycare started having stricter rules about cloth diapering and that was my out. So after 2 1/2 years of cloth diapers, we were on the hunt for disposable diapers that would be good for growing toddlers, day and night.

That’s where Pampers Cruisers come in. We started using Crusiers when Gabby was a toddler at daycare. They’ve always been our go-to diaper for mobile babies. But the new Pampers Cruisers are even better. Lillian has gone from #SagToSwag. The new Cruisers are more absorbant and have channels for the moisture to go, so we do not wake up to a baby buttcrack anymore. I was thinking about switching her to pull-ups before we got the Crusiers, because it would take her two seconds to just undo the velcro on her saggy diaper and just leave her diaper on the floor. No more. I can actually have a few sips of coffee before I start diaper duty in the morning. What a relief!

So, that’s been our journey. Where have you traveled to in diaper land? What are your favorite brands of cloth or disposables? I could talk about this all day!

Well folks, it’s time for Gabby’s transition from Toddler World to Preschool. The pros: she’s been bored for months, she misses her BFF Danny, she’s still clutch-holding a pen and nobody cares. The cons: Change + Gabby = Emotions^17. 

That said, here’s how it’s going…

Day 0: The night before transition month… She just kept stalling bedtime! Mommy lay in my bed. Why? I just need you. Okay, baby. Mommy, I am just sad because so many things are changing! Oh honey, life is all about changes. Cue more tears on both our parts, my eventual need to leave, and Gabby whining herself to sleep. 

Day 1: She visited for one hour. She got to be a weather watcher and participate in music club. When she entered the room, Danny shouted, “My best friend Gabby is here!!!” She had the best day. 

Day 2: her teachers had to drop her off and leave her to attend a meeting. They returned after the meeting and she asked to stay. They asked if she wanted to eat lunch there and she aid no and returned to toddler 1.

Day 3: I receive a report that she ate lunch and participated in every activity in preschool and had to be forcibly returned to toddlers for nap time. 

This progress is so anti-Gabby. At this rate she’ll be fully spending her days over there by Monday. God-willing. My girl needs a change. 

  
Only 5 weeks til Lillian goes to Toddler 1…