Have you ever attempted to make hard boiled eggs only to have the middle uncooked or have them crack?
Easter was last weekend so I was on a mission to find the recipe that would tell me how to make hard boiled eggs perfectly – cooked all the way through without cracking and easy to peel.
I found it! Our Easter eggs were both delicious and beautiful! Yes, above is a picture of our easter eggs. Here are step by step directions on how to make perfect hard boiled eggs, every time. …

There are many easy crafts that you can do with your toddler this Christmas. You can find Toddler Christmas Crafts and Kits on Amazon. And below are a bunch of ideas from snow globes to ornaments. Christmas crafts with toddlers is a fun way to get into the spirit and create unique décor that will be around for years to come.
Free Toddler Christmas Crafts Ideas:
Holiday Card Prints
Letting your toddler sign this year’s holiday cards in a unique way will spice up holiday greeting cards and get them involved in sending …

So after a few days of sleep training, we decided that it wasn’t for us. Lily began acting differently in other areas aside from sleep. Also, just putting her in the crib for any reason or anything related to sleep immediatly led to crying. I think we subscribe to the parenting style in which crying is a form of communication. Therefore, when we started ignoring her she started acting out in other ways. It just didn’t feel right to me and my new parenting rule #1 is go with your …

Read the first post on sleep training and what happened on day one here.
Here is what happened today:
After waking up at about 8:20am, she was ready for a nap at 11:30. We went through our process for nap time. I put her in the crib and left the room. She stood up and started crying immediately. I went back in after about 2 minutes, laid her down and left. She cried, but it wasn’t real crying. It was off and on and very light. She didn’t get up again. …

At Lily’s doctor appointment on the 8th, I was told that Lily should be sleeping through the night already (and could of been 4 months ago)…
Epiphany: Babies reach a point where they do not need to wake up to eat at night, which means parents can sleep a full 8 hours (this alone makes me want to jump and scream in utter happiness). This is that same point when babies stop training parents and parents start training babies. This unspoken point of reversal will sneak up on you. End Epiphany.
Apparently …

Lily loves watching movies like Baby Genius and Baby Einstein but recently I ran across a similar set of DVDs called Little PIM. Little PIM is a DVD series that teaches children different languages. They have French, Spanish, Chinese and English. Lily (and Mommy) are working on French right now.
The DVDs use the Pimsluer language learning system that was developed by Paul Pimsluer. The Pimsluer system is a method of teaching language using “anticipation, graduated interval recall, core vocabulary, and organic learning”. (wikipedia) The DVDs are created by his …

The other day (yesterday?) I posted about going green. Here is what we have done so far from our list:
Energy Efficient light bulbs. We added these to most of the lamps in our house. These are apparently supposed to use less energy and save $66 each (over their lifetime, I assume) on the electric bill. We will see about that. I do know they are incredibly bright and one of them i buzzing like a bug repellent. Don’t quote me on that though because it could be the lamp.
Organic Foods. …

As of late I have been interested in “Going Green”. I have never done these things before, mainly because of the cost. i.e. when I am in the grocery store looking at trash bags, I opt for the cheapest possible solution. Now I think of “going green” as an investment, not only in the environment but in our health. If everyone did, what would happen? It’s not just about finding alternative energy solutions either. There are tons of things you can do.

Here is a short article from Playing with Your Baby Magazine (from Fisher Price). It has a few tips on how to play with your newborn baby, ages 0-3 months.
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Let’s Play!

Here are some of the best ways to entertain your baby in the first 3 months, according to Deborah Weber, Ph.D., manager of the Fisher-Price Child Research Department.

Keep it Simple. Offer baby toys with high contrast primary colors and patterns; you can later introduce play things in bright colors. Toys should be easy for baby to graps …

Our dinner Friday Night was Salmon wrapped in Bacon with Pesto pasta on the side. It was delicious.This is how to make salmon wrapped in bacon.
Ingredients:

Two Pieces of Salmon
4 Pieces of Bacon
Butter
Parsley
Basil
2 toothpicks or other similar device

Directions

Preheat oven on broil.
Coat Salmon with a thin layer of butter and season with parsley and basil.

Lay the Bacon over the Salmon like the picture below and tuck the ends underneath.

Flip the Salmon over and use your toothpick (in this case all I had was paperclips =0 ) to hold the bacon around the …

Pollo Asada-itas are mini seasoned chicken tacos. I made these last night and they are easy and delicious.
Ingredients:

1.5 lbs pre-seasoned Pollo Asada
1 package Leaf Lettuce
1 Avocado
1 jar Fresh Salsa
1 package small Corn Tortillas

Directions

Cook Polla Asada stove top on medium heat in a frying pan until done (about 20 minutes). You can also cook on the grill/BBQ.

While the meat is cooking chop lettuce and avocado and heat corn tortillas. I heat them on broil in the oven, 1-2 minutes on each side.

Cut pollo asada into small slices and place desire portion …

I made this cheesecake over the weekend with a crushed oreo cookie crust. It was delicious. I say was because we have pretty much eaten the entire thing and it’s only Tuesday. For some reason nibbling all those bites with the refrigerator door open have added up. I blame it on the fact that eating an entire pie that way doesn’t feel as bad as serving up a whole piece!
Easy Cherry Cheesecake Recipe
Ingredients

1 prepared Oreo Cookie Crust (graham cracker crust also works)
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup …

Baby Massage is a relaxing activity that parents can do to bond with their baby. It is just one of the ways parents can communicate love through touch. Several studies also show that massage supports positive infant development and growth.
Following are the many benefits of infant massage.
Physical benefits of Baby Massage:

Increases blood flow and circulation.
Strengthens the immune system.
Stimulates neurological development.
Provides sensory stimulation
Relieves discomfort from constipation and gas.
Aids in digestion
Eases congestion and stimulates the baby’s ability to suck.
Has a positive effect on colic symptoms.
Produces Oxytocin.

Mental benefits of Baby Massage:

Relaxes and reduces …

I’ve been noticing a trend with blogger.com users (users with website addresses that are example.blogspot.com). By default the system only allows people with a blogger account or a sub domain blog to post comments. A sub domain blog would be something like example.wordpress.com or example.typepad.com. So how do you let anyone with a regular domain name (like mine) post a comment?
Go to Settings > Comments. Under the question “Who can comment?”, select anyone. Save and get ready for more comments.

Safe Breast Milk Storage and Use
This article covers breast milk storage guidelines and how to reheat and use breast milk. The source for these guidelines is a combination of the Department for Health and Human Services (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Storage Containers for Breast Milk
The best storage device for breast milk is normal baby bottles or specialized milk storage bags. The easiest way is to store breast milk that will be used the same day in a standard baby bottle and if the …