How I Learned to Fully Appreciate the Last Year of Firsts

How I Learned to Fully Appreciate the Last Year of Firsts

“This post was sponsored by WaterWipes as part of an Ambassador Program for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own. I received complimentary products to facilitate my review.” When you have kids with a significant age gap, parenting changes. Having your first child in your teens and you last child in your late 20s will do that to you, apparently. Or at least that I’ve found. Having two children with special needs and one who is developing typically; also gives you a different perspective. Squeaker is my last child. That has been decided and she will remain the youngest in our family of 7. Knowing that she’s the last and youngest, has also helped me to appreciate the first year…

How to Introduce Your Child to the Idea of Santa Claus

How to Introduce Your Child to the Idea of Santa Claus

Squeaker was supposed to be a Christmas baby. And by that, I mean her due-date was actually December 23rd. She chose to make her arrival a little bit early by coming on December 5th instead. Last year, 2015, however was the first year that she was really introduced to the concept of Santa Claus. As you can see here, she really wasn’t impressed: This year, we are making more of an effort to introduce the idea of Santa Claus as a part of exploring Christmas. I’m also trying to be proactive about balancing Christmas and learning about various traditions around the world. I don’t want Santa Claus to be the primary focus of our Christmas celebration and traditions. But I also want Squeaker to understand…

How to Create a Related Posts Table for WordPress Without a Plugin

How to Create a Related Posts Table for WordPress Without a Plugin

I’ve been reading a lot about how plugins increase your load time. And with Google constantly changing and making updates to their algorithm, this is important to understand as a blogger. Now, let’s also be real here: sometimes trying to understand the Google updates is like trying to read a foreign language. Unless you understand all of that tech talk? Well, it can be downright confusing. So instead of trying to figure it out from Google, I look for other places that can explain it to me. Websites like Moz, Neil Patel, and SEMrush. Much easier to understand and process. And in turn, I can apply that better. With page load time, in particular on mobile, becoming increasingly more important; I want to reduce the…

The Ultimate LEGO Star Wars Gift Guide for All Occasions

The Ultimate LEGO Star Wars Gift Guide for All Occasions

Star Wars is an epic series of movies created by George Lucas. In addition to the movies, it has generated comics, toys, books – and of course, LEGO sets! These are among the most popular sets in the LEGO line. The sets sometimes depict a certain spacecraft – and other times emulate a certain scene from one of the movies. They come from all of the movies, not just a few. In addition to the vehicles and environments you can build, you’ll also get a variety of Star Wars characters – from Darth Vader to Luke Skywalker – and even some of the less significant characters. Some fans like to build the exact replicas using the instruction manuals that come with these sets, while others…

5 Cooking Appliances that Millennial Moms Need

5 Cooking Appliances that Millennial Moms Need

I love to cook. It’s one of my favorite things to do and I’m so thankful that my mom taught me. I also acknowledge and realize that it’s not everyone’s favorite thing. And that’s fine. Still, I wanted to start sharing cooking tips for millennial moms that anyone can use. Whether you’re looking more for basic cooking tips or know your way around the kitchen. Let’s start with a few appliances that will help simplify the cooking process! This post contains affiliate links and while you are under no obligation to use them, by purchasing something through my affiliate link you are supporting this site, thanks! In order to cook healthy meals with your busy schedule, you need to have the right tools in the…

How to Build a Blog That You Love and Make Money

How to Build a Blog That You Love and Make Money

When I first started making the transition to being a professional blogger; I had no clue as to what I was doing. My blog was all over the place and I was probably using the wrong methods to grow my traffic. My social media numbers were not growing organically and I was in over my head. Maybe two months or so in, and I was ready to give up. It was difficult for me to see how someone could possibly make money blogging. But I knew it was possible because I saw it. I was surrounded by it. It was something that I was watching and a part of. And it was something that I wanted for me. My goals, when I finally made up…