+J.M.J.+ We were graciously given lots of hand-me-down clothes from friends when we had Philomena. I needed to buy a few items here and there to fill in the gaps, but overall for the last three years she has been able to wear the clothes we were so generously gifted. Size 4 has approached though, [...]
+J.M.J.+ Thrift stores, consignment shops, the Facebook marketplace, and sometimes garage sales are all wonderful spots to get clothes, baby gear, and kid's shoes at deep discounts. But when I was pregnant with Philomena a friend from church introduced me to the magic that is children's resale/consignment events. I had never heard of these before, [...]
+J.M.J.+ In this world of Baby Einsteins and Netflix for Kids, Philomena and Zelie have never watched a t.v. show or movie before. They've never played with an interactive book or game on a tablet. They don't know children's digital entertainment exists, and while screens could definitely occupy them during the day, not letting the [...]
+J.M.J.+ Today marks one year of blogging, and I'm quite shocked this anniversary is already here. This little venture is literally the result of a lady in a group I admin on Facebook asking if I had a blog. Ethan had mentioned before that he thought I should try writing one, and so I ran [...]
+J.M.J.+ I can't believe it, but we did it! We did the Whole30! I went into a full explanation in this post here, but in case you're new to this, the Whole30 is a 30 day elimination of the most common inflammatory foods from your diet and then slowly adding them back in one at [...]
+J.M.J.+ It's here! Lisa Leake has done it again; developing a mouthwatering collection of real food recipes for us to enjoy, this time focusing on clean eating with a budget in mind. Disclosure: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us [...]
+J.M.J.+ Vidangel is not the latest news, yet I know there are still a lot of people who haven't heard of it or used it before. This is an awesome streaming service that allows you to filter out any content you find objectionable in one of their available t.v. shows or movies. This includes everything [...]
+J.M.J.+ One of the biggest things that I have gathered from reading Janet Lansbury's books (find them here on my parenting resources page), is that we should always try to set our kids up for success. Eating out is one of those activities that can be really hard with (and for) children. I also believe [...]
+J.M.J.+ People online are crazy. Seriously, sometimes I feel like they've lost their minds, and I fear I myself have been that person more than once. But still, it never fails to amaze me how people on the internet can be so mean. And I'm not talking about simply disagreeing with someone and having a civil [...]
+J.M.J.+ Philomena is three and just now using the potty and always wearing underwear outside of sleeping at night. (And she actually wakes up dry every morning and goes potty first thing, but I still use the diaper in case). In the world of potty training she is "behind" the average 18 to 24 months [...]
