Babies

amazon.com For cute presentation, this sweet pea bundle of baby layette essentials gets a gold star. A woven basket is filled with organic cotton baby basics, including a baby blanket, footed pjs, a cap and bib, and a peas in a pod shaped rattle. The color is a natural beige throughout, with the sweet pea motif of a baby bundled in a pea pod decorating each item. The basket could be re-used again and again by the new mother too, either for keeping baby toiletries in, or giving gifts to the next new mother, so it doesn’t need to be a waste of resources. For elegant mothers who love the quality of organic cotton, as well as its chemical free benefits, this Baby Aspen classic gift set is sure to be a hit at baby showers. The set costs $54.99 at amazon.com.

I never liked liver when I was little. Where we lived, the whole animal was used in food prep, nothing wasted. Nevertheless I attempt to make it palatable for my kids, it's so healthy! So this is yet another try which my husband and I absolutely loved and my kids wanted nothing to do with. Okay, so at least Baby T gets some of the vitamins and minerals through breast milk. Baby E though - who really needs it for remineralizing teeth, can't even smell it! It was worth a try though.This is relatively easy to make, especially because you save time by not taking the film off the liver the way you would need to if you were just sauteing it. You will need a food processor, high powered blender, or meat grinder. I borrow my moms Ninja because yes, my friends, my real foods kitchen does not have a food processor, yet [gasp!]. It worked okay, but I had to stop it several times to scrape the sides and mix the contents because the top wasn't getting ground up. Though an easy recipe, it is a little time consuming, so plan for a solid hour to make it, it is best made a day ahead and eaten cold out of the fridge.There are many ways to eat the pate: as is, as a 'meat' for dinner with a side and salad, on top of toast, with some homemade crackers, in your lunch sandwich, whatever you can imagine. We love it on some sprouted bread. This recipe serves 6-8 people as part of a dinner, or more if used as a toast topping or part of an appetizerIngredients:1 lb grassfed beef liver (optionally soaked in milk overnight)1/4 cup grassfed butter or ghee, softened1 large sweet onion6-10 garlic cloves1 cup carrots, grated 2 cups mushrooms1/4 tsp real saltpepper1 tbsp ghee or coconut oil for sauteing Directions: 1. Optionally, soak liver overnight in milk to make the taste more palatable. 2. Cut liver into 1-2 inch pieces and fry in pan on medium-high until it's brown on all sides and no longer bright pink on the inside. Make sure to cook it through so you don't end up with raw liver pate and the potential for it to spoil quick. 3. Slice onions, garlic, grate carrots and slice mushrooms, saute in one skillet adding them in that order until soft in texture.4. Place the liver, sauteed vegetables, softened butter, salt, and pepper in blender and blend until it all incorporates into the pate. Scrape sides if necessary. 5. Let it cool if it's still warm, place in container and refrigerate.6. Enjoy with dinner, on toast or crackers, in a sandwich, or by the spoonful! If you make this recipe, we would love to know what you served it with or if you put a different spin on it! If you adapt this recipe and post it on your own blog, please link to Eco-Babyz, we would appreciate it :)Contains affiliate links to where we usually shop, your purchase supports Eco-Babyz at no extra cost to you. Thank you!Top Mommy Blogs - Vote for us @ TopMommyBlogs.Com!

This sophisticated nautical boys nursery room was designed by Erin Feasby for her baby boy. She designed it while keeping his future room in mind. You can see that much of the furniture in this room such as the twin bed can be used when he gets older as well or for guests. The boat blueprint wallpaper is such a great idea for adding to the ship theme of the room. Even the toy storage has some coordinates labeled on them for some nautical flavor.  Style at Home featured this stunning room. Through the white crib you can see white and blue striped bedding which are the ultimate boating colors. The vintage car toy is a fun addition to the room. The alphabet on the wall has been a trend in a lot of nurseries. The clean pictures and frames are perfect for the nautical theme. The white shelves are simple and really lends themselves for embellishments like the lamp and model ships. Organize your books and toys that you want on display for your boy.  The boys bed is set up for when he gets to big for the crib. It will be able to fit him well into his teens. You can also see the dresser with the changing pad on top. It is timeless and when he grows up you just take off that changing pad and it is ready for a big boys room. The post Nautical Boys Nursery Room appeared first on Design Dazzle.

For many years now, only Seattle and Chicago have been able to enjoy an actual bricks and mortar Land Of Nod store. Well that ends next month. As you can see from the above picture, South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, CA will be getting their very own Land Of Nod store. The shop will open on Level 3 of the Crate & Barrel Wing on Bear Street. The official opening date is May 31.

Modern Kids by Atlanta Interior Designer Cristi Holcombe Such a fun tween/teen girls room by designer Cristi Holcombe of Charm Home.  My favorite part is the yellow striped ceiling! Find out what your child enjoys e.g colors, hobbies, styles and create a room around that. This modern stylish room can transform from a tween room into a teen room very easily.  The bright pops of color against the white walls adds charm to the room. And how about the darling pillows? Super cute! Modern Kids by Atlanta Interior Designer Cristi Holcombe Is this not the best ceiling?? What other colors would look great? The post Fun Tween Teen Girls Room appeared first on Design Dazzle.

For your Thomas the Train loving kids this Choo Choo Train birthday party has some neat ideas! The red, blue, and light blue theme was carried through out the whole party for some finishing touches. This sign above was posted so that all the guests were greeted with an “All Aboard” and a promise for some fun adventures inside. The use of the Thomas the Train images and places on the signs would make the little guests feel like they were really in Thomas the Train. The red and blue balloons covering the door way are definitely eye catching for a little boy. You can see there is some fun waiting ahead at the train table or “Brendam Docks” as the sign says. The food table is labeled “chew chew” what a funny play on words. The food all looks deliciously healthy with a fun train full of goodies running down the middle. These veggie cups have ranch in the bottom for the perfect no mess dipping solution. The party guests can just take a cup to go for some healthy snacking. The sticker with the number two is a good way to display what age your little boy is turning. Here is another clever play on words “chugga chugga” station where you can chug on some water or soda. Notice the blue and red cups to match the color theme. And to top it all off here is this fabulous Thomas the Train cake. Its so yummy looking but it almost looks too good to eat. I’m sure your little party guests will be excited to “chew chew” on a piece of that cake. Thank you to Highlands Ranch Mom for sharing her great birthday party ideas with us. If you want more pictures of the party you can check out her blog and more of her ideas. The post Choo Choo Train Birthday Party appeared first on Design Dazzle.

Still no baby although I am not due until May 29th I feel like this one may be early. Probably just wishful thinking on my part. In the meantime here are some pics from the last month or so. The first few are from his "Halloween" birthday party and the rest are from last night. We had our first fire in the firepit and made s'mores. Yum.

Can you tell he's so stinking proud he snagged his sister's juice? Oh yeah, he thinks it's hilarious! The most beast swingset ever Did you take the picture already??? Multi-tasking T.R.O.U.B.L.E. Emma & Axl Random ghost like picture of Natalie running after Uncle Daniel's truck Corbin & Aunt Anna We got to watch our neighbor make hay today. It's so cool that we live out in the "country", yet a half mile away from every type of shopping center imaginable.

Ruffling feathers. Hold on a second, I do understand that sometimes both parents MUST work just to pay the mortgage/rent and get food on the table. We all know that. Sometimes one parent doesn't make enough to cover necessary expenses, bills, student loans, sometimes you are the only provider and a brave single mom or dad. Things happen. Life happens.If you are that parent and daycare is the only way out for you, please close this. Stop reading. I don't want to make you feel any more guilty. Do what you need to do. Carry on. I want to talk to the rest of us. The parents that rely on a second income for stuff. To pay for a second car, a nice house, for cable, the latest electronic gadgets, a decent wardrobe, dining out, for shopping organic, nice vacations, for having your kids well-dressed. For your kids' piano class, ballet, gymnastics, martial arts, art class, private school, and Lego club. The parents that need a second income for things that aren't necessarily necessary. Something made me think today about how we spend the time with our children, how I spend time with my children. Mothers all over the world loose children every day. Due to accidents, illness, or unfortunate events. If you were to ask such a mother what she would have done differently, what would she say or think?"I wish I spent more time with my children.""I wish I was more patient with my child.""I wish I didn't devote as much time to work.""I wish I told them 'I love you' more often.""I wish that time by the lake on a weekday I smelled the flowers with them, soaked in the smell of their sun kissed skin, and hugged them tighter instead of thinking of my 'to do' list."Ask any empty-nester if they regret not working long enough hours when their kids were younger.Do you see where I'm going?Of course, it doesn't have to be all or nothing. I know many moms, myself included, that find a way to be present in their kids' lives and make an income - whether it is part time or from-home. Moms are the most entrepreneurial bunch I know! There are mom-owned businesses spring up like mushrooms everywhere. In the throes of raising children - we're forced to be inventive and it pays.We gave up a lot for me to stay home. We've also gained so much more - so much that cannot be measured in dollars. I'm mindful of what my children will remember me to be when they are grown. I don't want them to remember me as always busy, rushing, impatient, distant, consumed with work. I want to be present, patient, facing them when they speak, and not constantly saying "not now kids".I'm not here to make you feel guilty. I'm here to inspire a life worth living. I'm here to tell you there is more to life than the rat race and you know that. I'm here to remind myself that sometimes work can wait and there are things that matter much much more. I'm here to tell you that you can do just fine without all the 'extras' that the society around us tells us we must have. Stuff will not make us happy. Stuff does not make for a life worth living. Let's leave our stuff for building blossoming relationships with our children to impact the world through them or to just impact their world. We are the world to them.Are you willing to give up something today to spend more time with your children? What can you do to stop running through frantic schedules and pause to enjoy life more than just on the weekends or vacation?Does your family thrive more when you are a working mom? Do you find you need to work to stay sane?What's your ideal work/life balance situation?Top Mommy Blogs - Vote for us @ TopMommyBlogs.Com!

Today was the girls' last day of K3. Their teacher made the most adorable movie of all the kids throughout the year, and gave each child a copy. How special! I really need to buy each kid a little memory box to store some of the things that they make each year in school. I still have my ceramic bust of George Washington from Kindergarten, lol. Anyway, we also got to eat a picnic with their classmates, but since it started at 10:30, I thought cupcakes would be more appropriate (and yummy!).