Request a baby birth greeting from President Obama! With this being a historic presidency I thought it would be a great keepsake to add to Little Peanuts scrapbook. I do have to admit I was a little underwhelmed when it arrived but it’s neat to have none-the-less.

You can also request them for weddings, 80+ birthdays and retirements.

Here’s how you can get one too.

Send a letter to:

The White House
Attn: Greetings Office
Washington, D.C. 20502-0039

Include in the letter:

-baby’s name

-birth date (dd/mm/yyyy)

-baby’s address

-your name

-your phone number

Just make sure you send it within the baby’s first year and that the recipient is a US citizen.

More info here.

On Tuesday night, I was beginning to feel a little under the weather and thought to myself  “I cannot get sick right before Thanksgiving…I have too much to do!” So I decided that I better nip this thing in the bud and took out my ever-so-dependable Neti Pot. “What’s a Neti Pot?” you ask? It’s a nasal cleansing pot that irrigates your nasal passages with saline water (the Pot comes with a special salt). I started using Neti Pot years ago at my husband’s recommendation and have been a non-paid promoter of it ever since!

The first time you try it, it’ll feel a little awkward because you have to tilt your head, put the tip of the pot into one nostril and let the saline solution run out the other. I usually do this when my sinuses start to feel a little tender or if I’m suffering from allergies. It’s a great natural remedy…I haven’t taken sinus/allergy medication in years!

Another tip: When I feel a sore throat coming on, I do something similar by gargling with salt water. It sounds horrible, but the results (for me anyway!) are fantastic! I recommend doing this right before you go to bed. Just mix about two teaspoons of salt with about 4-6 oz. of warm water. The salt water cleanses your throat much like the saline solution does for your nostrils with the Neti Pot. I gargle for about 10-15 seconds and repeat two more times. You might feel a little burning, but I like to think of it as the start of the healing process.

So today, I feel great and I truly believe it’s because I was able to nip it in the bud. A positive attitude and keeping busy helps me too!

When I was pregnant with Isaac, I did a lot of traveling. If I counted correctly, I flew at least seven times for both work and to visit family in Texas. Perhaps that was his initial “training” because he’s been quite the easy traveler ever since. This last trip to Texas was probably the most challenging but only because Isaac with curious about EVERYTHING – buttons on the plane, the airplane windows, strangers’ laptops (he’d walk right up to them and take a peek, hehe!) and so on.

I decided it was worth it to share some of my tips for traveling with the little one in your life! I suppose my #1 tip would be to travel with your spouse or someone who could help you with the baby and/or luggage! I traveled once with just me and Isaac and was lucky to have a pleasant experience. I don’t think that will ever happen again!

PACKING:

1) Have easy access to essentials – pack the must-have items in the diaper bag and make sure they’re easily accessible. This includes diapers, wipes, changing pad, pacifiers, toys (that won’t irritate other passengers), and food!

2) Pack extra outfits – babies tend to get irritable when they’re wet or dirty so make sure you have an extra outfit just in case there’s spillage!

3) Bring plastic bags – make sure to have extra bags (or Ziploc bags) available for soiled clothes. 

4) Borrow a car seat at visiting location - as mentioned, we’ve traveled with Isaac quite a bit and this last occasion was the first time we’ve ever had to bring his car seat. Before, we were able to borrow one of my sisters’ child’s car seat that they saved just for us! It was great not to have to lug that thing around! But if you’re not as lucky to have a seat waiting at the other end, it’s NOT considered a check-in item that would require you to pay that $20 or so fee.

5) For moms – if you’re breastfeeding, I highly recommend bringing a manual pump. I was never one to breastfeed in public so a manual pump was compact enough that I could have in the diaper bag and pump in the restroom if need be.

FOR THE AIRPORT:

1) Wear comfortable shoes – slip-on shoes preferrably! It’ll help you get through security faster and your feet will thank you after having to carry both your baby and your luggage through the airport terminals!

2) Use a baby carrier / toddler harness – before my son turned 1, we put him in a baby carrier at the airport. It was great because it allowed our hands to be free to get through security and it also gave him a great view of the airport! Now, we use the toddler harness to keep him close by our side as he tends to go “exploring”. I’ve seen those travel backpacks that can actually carry a toddler so I’m going to have to check that out for our next trip!

3) Check in baby food/milk – airport security will need to screen your child’s food to make sure you can easily access them when you go through security. As long as you declare them, they shouldn’t give you a hard time (and it can be more than the 3 oz. liquid limit that they put on other items such as toiletries).

4) Time your kid’s meals – it’s a good idea to get your kid eat either right before you board or once the plane takes off. In my opinion, they’re less likely to be fussy if they have a full tummy. And if you’re lucky, they’ll fall asleep during the flight too!

5) Choose the right seat – when my son was a baby, we opted for the aisle seats so that we could have easy access to the bathroom. Now that he’s older, we choose window seats so that he can look outside. Also, we prefer sitting at the front of the plane vs. the back because we get off the plane faster!

6) Ask to pre-board – every time we’ve asked, we’ve been able to board before our group was called because we were traveling with a kid…there are some advantages afterall!

ON THE PLANE:

1) Prepare your baby for take-off/landings – my son really never had a problem with this, but we made sure we had his pacifier handy just in case the take-off and landings made his ears hurt. Another good trick is to get them to eat during this time to move their jaw muscles and also to distract them!

2) Make sure your baby is entertained – bring his/her favorite stuffed animal, books, quiet toys, etc. Although we haven’t had the need, I’m sure we’ll have to look into bringing a portable DVD player in the near future (don’t forget the headphones!).

3) Keep your baby comfortable – regardless of how or where I’m traveling, I make sure my son is dressed comfortably and in layers if possible. That way, if he gets too warm, I can remove clothing or if he’s cold, put him in a jacket.

4) If breastfeeding, be prepared! Bring a baby blanket or a nursing blanket if you have to feed your kid. It’ll make it more comfortable for you and the person sitting next to you

5) Be courteous to other passengers – if you have a fussy baby or a baby that won’t stop crying, offer earplugs to those around you. It might not help, but maybe they will be empathetic to your situation.

Which brings me to my #1 tip for the “other” passengers: It’s not easy traveling with kids…especially young ones. It’s hard to predict how kids will behave (maybe they’re scared or it’s too warm on the plane). So try to be empathetic to the parents/caregivers and cut them (and the kid) some slack. Who wants to have a crying child on the plane?!

Before my son was born, I had so many ideas on what I would do to capture those precious moments and milestones of his life…taking lots of pictures and videos, writing in my journal to record special moments, sending monthly updates to family and so on. Now that he’s almost 17 months, it’s hard to believe that I got a lot of those memories – his first year in particular – pretty well recorded. Here are a few things that I did/am still doing that you could do too:

1) “First Year” album – if you have a digital camera, it will be easy to organize your child’s pictures (from birth to present) by month so that you can pick and choose which ones you want to print for your album. And if you use a scrapbook album like I did – the one where all you have to do is add the pictures (believe me, by the time you get to putting the album together, your kid won’t let you do the real scrapbooking with all those embellishments!) – this project will be a cinch! Every now and then, I’ll flip through the album and be amazed how small my son was…and now that he’s older, he can actually recognize himself!

2) Birthday letter – one thing my husband and I started doing and that we hope to continue doing is writing our son a letter each year for his birthday. It’s a great way to tell him what he means to us and maybe even highlight those extra special moments of that year. We’ve only written one so far, but when I do get to reading it again (I included it in his “First Year” album), it takes me back and gets me all emotional! When he’s older, we’ll read it to him and when he’s a lot older, we’ll give him all those letters for posterity.

3) “First Year” movie montage – if you have time on your hands, this is definitely something you should consider doing. I’ll admit I spent countless hours making a 4-minute montage of of my son’s first year, using one of my favorite songs (‘My Eyes’) from one of my favorite bands (Travis) as the soundtrack. Having so much family back home in Texas who don’t get to see him often, I really wanted a special way to capture his first year for all to share.

4) Christmas ornaments – we bought our son his first Christmas ornament last year. It was a cute little angel. We paired that with a snow globe. In a couple of months, we’ll be looking for his next ornament and will hang it with last year’s. It’s a cute little thing to do as your child grows…and each ornament will change based on your child’s interests.

5) Growth chart – my idea for making growth charts actually came from a gift idea for my aunt’s child who is my son’s age. It was so cute that I had to make him a boy version (hence the Isaac and Sophie growth charts!). He’s been extra curious about the chart lately, especially when I added his new height markers. I’m glad I re-designed them b/c now he can’t pick them off! Anyway, it’s a great way to track your child’s height progression and something to add to the next idea!

6) Keepsake chest – after listing items 1-5, I decided that I need to create a keepsake chest for my son! I know there will be a ton of things that I’ll want to keep and hold on to, like his first real art piece, school projects, trophies and awards (no pressure kiddo!). And when he’s an adult, it will be something I’ll give to him to go through and reminisce. That won’t be for a long time so no need to feel sad yet!

7) Family Web site – I use Shutterfly create our own personal Web site to post pictures, videos and write updates to send to family. It’s a good way to keep everyone in the loop.

Anyway, this should give you a good start to building and recording memories for your kids. I just hope that I can do the same thing for my next child!!

When my husband and I had our house built, we went with tile flooring on the main floor. We thought that wood flooring would require more upkeep and seeing visible scratches and dust bunnies just didn’t appeal to us. For the most part, we’re happy with our decision–it looks nice, it’s durable and the dust is not so visible. I bet my son would say otherwise! When he started crawling, we noticed that once he’d get to tile area, he would just stop. And then when he decided that he didn’t want to limit his crawling area, he developed what I would describe as this “crab crawl”. He’d crawl with his right foot planted on the floor while his leg was underneath. It looked quite funny, but then I decided that my son was very smart for adapting to the harsh surface! I felt really bad so I brainstormed what I could do to make his knees feel better when he ventured out onto the tile floor.

What I did was this: I took a pair of tube socks my son no longer wore and cut the foot part out, leaving a tube with both ends open. I slid it onto his knee which fit snuggly and inserted a nursing pad onto the knee area and voila! I made some knee pads from existing materials I had in the house. My son thought it was a little weird at first, but he soon adjusted to wearing them. Now that he’s walking, it’s great for cushioning his falls too. Now I know I can’t prevent all his bumps and bruises, but I’ll do what I can while I still can .

My daughter recently discovered my stash of beauty products under the bathroom sink. Don’t worry, I’ve moved it now that she’s found it! I keep them  in a small basket and it houses things such as lotion, hair products, nail polish remover, hair clips, brush etc. I would have thought with so many things available for her to get into she would go from one thing to another, but nope, she went straight for the blue nail polish remover.

I watched as she shook it and passed it from hand to hand mesmerized by the blue water moving back and forth. Until now we’ve only given her water bottles to play with (which she loves!) Watching her stare at the colored water inspired me to add a little color to one of her favorite toys.

I filled the bottles to varying degrees and added two to three drops of food coloring in each. Instant new toy! Giving her a new color each day makes the novelty last a little longer.

As a proud new parent we always have the camera on hand for those firsts. Ideally I would love to put all those photos into scrapbooks but it’s hard to find the time – and the space – to do it. By the time I get all my supplies laid out it’s time for a feeding, nap or my own bedtime.

Enter in Scrapblog.com – an online scrapbooking website. You do everything online and don’t have to worry about cleanup! It’s great to work on during naptime (when I’m not napping myself!) or when my little one is playing nearby.

There are dozens of themes to chose from or you can mix and match from various themes. With the abundance of backgrounds, stickers (elements you can put on the page) and frames the possibilities are endless.

My current favorite are the Baby Enstine themes. They feature the puppets and stickers for a lot of baby firsts and activities. The perfect thing for making a first year scrapblog.

Just recently Scrapblog added a printing service where you can order books and cards of your creations. While I haven’t ordered any myself I plan on it once I finish the first year album for my little one.