When your baby is born at 37 weeks (or more), they are considered full term. But if they are born before that, they are considered premature or preemie.

What Does It Mean When Your Baby is a Preemie?

If you’ve been here before, you might know that two of my children were born premature. My oldest was born at 24 weeks gestation and my second child was born at 31 weeks gestation. They spent almost 4 months and 1 1/2 months in the NICU respectively. I was almost going to just update my previous post about parenting in the NICU when I realized that I should break this up a bit. So I’ll have another post about NICU parenting but first, let’s talk about what it means to have a preemie. “Preemie” is the common term used when referring to a premature baby. The dictionary definition of a preemie is “a prematurely born infant”. A preemie is born before 37 weeks gestation while…

Top Summer Travel Destinations for Families in the United States

Top Summer Travel Destinations for Families in the United States

Summer is usually when most families make plans to travel. Sometimes it’s out of the country and sometimes it could be a destination nearby. It might be a favorite family camping trip or an adventure to a new city. Whatever the case may be, summer is definitely a busy time when it comes to making vacation plans. And why not? Kids are usually off from school and while it may seem like a competition to see who can request time off first; working parents make the best of it as well. So what are our top picks for summer travel destinations in the United States? Have you ever considered a family road trip through the United States? You don’t have to leave the country to…

Bring a little bit of sunshine inside with these 10 easy sun craft ideas for toddlers and preschoolers.

10 Easy Sun Themed Crafts for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Though it’s officially spring, it certainly hasn’t felt like it every day. Sure, sometimes the sun shines brightly but more often than not there’s cloudy skies to be found. We’ve taken it upon ourselves (we being Squeaker and I) to bring a little bit of sunshine indoors. We made our “You Are My Sunshine” craft for Mother’s Day this year and on that same day, we did three more sun themed crafts. Maybe we’ll turn this into a Sun and Moon unit in the future and use some of these sun crafts for preschoolers. For our part, we did the following three: Tissue paper sun (using pink, orange, and yellow tissue paper) hand and footprint sun (with yellow construction paper) Do a Dot marker sun…

What Are the Benefits of Sending Kids to Summer School?

What Are the Benefits of Sending Kids to Summer School?

As part of her IEP, Sweet B participates in an extended school year program. This is almost the equivalent to summer school, though it’s in a more informal setting. She still receives some services and those are mainly in place to ensure that she doesn’t regress over the summer. This is also the time of the year that I start planning for her afterschooling and we also look into autism-friendly options around Albany. But, for kids who don’t necessarily need to attend summer school, is it really beneficial to send them to summer school? For that matter, what are the benefits of sending kids to summer school? Why would your child need to go to summer school? I’ll give you one scenario. After I had…

What This Mom Blogger Really Wants for Mother’s Day

What This Mom Blogger Really Wants for Mother’s Day

Ah Mother’s Day… the one day of the year that mom is supposed to take off and enjoy. Except, not so much. Yes, I would love to tell you that Mother’s Day means a day of relaxation or doing something that I really want to do. But in reality, it’s not and I’m perfectly okay with that. I always say that I just want some time to myself for Mother’s Day. But that’s a lie. My kids, after all, are the reason I celebrate Mother’s Day. Not that I don’t honor and appreciate my own mom- I do. But I’d rather show that 365 than just one day of the year. Sure, I made her handmade gifts and bought her cards. But now that I’m…

Wanting to coupon but overwhelmed with where to start? Here are a few tips from a disorgnized couponer.

Couponing Tips for the Disorganized Couponer

My life, at times, is what I like to call “organized chaos” … and by that I mean, sometimes I almost have it all together and other times I wonder how I’m making it all work. And no matter what, somehow it all seems to balance itself out. Still, I thrive with organization and it’s something that I’m working on over the course of this year. To take a little bit of the chaos out of my organized chaos and that extends to everything. I’ll admit, one of the reasons that I’ve shied away from couponing and using coupons regularly is because I’m not organized enough for it. The very thought of using a coupon binder makes me cringe. I mean, who has time for…