Let's Talk: Christmas Traditions

Happy Monday Foxy Friends. Today is my first day back after 2 weeks off, it was such a good break, I enjoyed every minute of it and can't wait for Christmas break and more time with the family.  Thanksgiving is over, so we can start thinking Christmas right? I'm in the midst of decorating for the Christmas link up on December 6th...I can do this...Two of the three trees up.  Today I'm linking up with Andrea and Erika for a Let's Talk, today's topic is Christmas Traditions.

Our kids are still relatively young, Mini Fox is just at the age where she understands what Christmas is, this year is going to be so much fun. We're still adding Christmas traditions, but so far these are the ones that stand out.

Ornaments - Each year the kids get to pick out an ornament at Hallmark, our thought is that they are going to pick what they are really into that year...so far they've been true to that. It's always such a big deal to them.

Choosing is so hard...

Which one to pick, which one to pick.

He really wants the one with nothing there...of course.

After 15 minutes he finally chose a batman car.

The Polar Express - Last year we watched The Polar Express for the very first time, and I just LOVED it. I had never seen it before, and it was just magical watching Baby Fox watch it for the first time.

Family PJ's - Every year I like to get matching family pajamas. I'm lucky that Mr. goes along with my antics :) Every year my cousin throws a cousin Christmas party, and this year is family pajamas...this year we're not doing matching Pj's. but coorindating pj's...Baby Fox is Santa, Mr. and myself are going to be elves and Mini Fox is going to be a reindeer.

2015

 

2014

 

 

Christmas Cookies - All growing up my grandma made Christmas cookies, specifically Spritz Cookies,  for the entire family. Us girls would go to my grandma's and make cookies with her, spend the night, get ice cream sundaes in bed...the best memories. Now I'm trying to share that with my kids.

I still use my grandma's machine to make the shapes, that thing has got to be at least 35 years old.

 Each year I make about 1000 or so cookies to give to family and friends. This is just a small amount of them.

We just ordered Polar Express, can't wait to get it and kick off the holiday season!

Linking up here

Fall Favorites Tunics

Happy Wednesday Foxy Friends! Today is another Fall Favorites post, this time I'm sharing my Fall Favorite Tunics, who doesn't love a good tunic in the Fall/Winter? Pair it with some skinny jeans or your favorite leggings, can't go wrong.

I got this top at Target on the clearance rack, I never find anything good on the clearance rack, but I gave it a shot and I love it! I'm really loving floral this Fall and a floral tunic, win! I thought the neckline would bother me, but I wore this out with some friends and I had no problems at all, phew! Would have made for a long evening if it did. Although I guess I could have unbuttoned it.

Here are some other tunics I've been coveting lately. How comfy does #4 look? I mean throw on some leggings and get comfy! And then when you need to go to the grocery store, a pair of jeans would look really nice too.

Some of the links are affiliate links  and I will  either receive a small commission if you click on it or if you make a purchase from on of these links, I may receive a commission on the sale of the product. By purchasing through Foxy's Domestic Side, you're helping me to continue creating fun things for this space.

1. High Low Tunic // 2. Plaid Tunic // 3.  Texture Knit Tunic // 4.  Hoodie Tunic // 5.  Lightweight Jersey Tunic

An InLinkz Link-up

 

Linking up here

Holiday Home Tour Announcement

Hello Foxy Friends! Guess what? You get two posts in one day, because I have a fun link up announcement for you!

You all know I love Christmas, and if you didn't, I do...I used to be that person that really disliked when Christmas decorations went up before Thanksgiving, but I've fully embraced it, and have been putting up my tree before Thanksgiving for the past few years, and you know what? I'm not totally hating it, I love that I get to enjoy the Christmas decorations for a bit longer. Plus it takes me forever to get it all up, it's nice to be able to actually enjoy it in the month of December, instead of frantically trying to get it done...with that said, start decorating ladies, we're hosting a link up to show off your houses! Mark your calendars for December 6th, it's when the link up starts, but if you don't have it by then, no worries because we're leaving it open until December 24th. So get to decorating and we'll see you in a couple of weeks!

Meet the hosts:

Curly Crafty Mom
Foxy’s Domestic Side
Lindsay’s Sweet World
Our Pretty Little Girls
Wife Mommy Me

Favorite Kitchen Gadgets

Hello Foxy Friends. We're back from a wonderful vacation. I can't tell you how much fun we had on our first family vacation. It could not have gone any better. More pictures coming soon, I promise. If you're coming from Christy's blog welcome! I just love that we're all sharing our favorite kitchen gadgets, you can never have enough of those!

Here are my 5 favorite kitchen gadgets.

Some of the links are affiliate links  and I will  either receive a small commission if you click on it or if you make a purchase from on of these links, I may receive a commission on the sale of the product. By purchasing through Foxy's Domestic Side, you're helping me to continue creating fun things for this space.


Citrus Juicer (Lime) /  Orange Juicer - Seriously this thing produces so much juice, I have the lime one, so it's slightly smaller, but will also juice small oranges. No more struggling with one of these.

Onion and Tomato Saver  - I thought these things were hokey...but my mom bought one for me, and it the best thing since sliced bread. Mr. and I used to put our onions in a baggie and then put the baggie in glassware to try and ward off the smell, and even then it didn't always work...but after getting this thing, no more! I have no idea how this works, it's magic! And it's only $2.99, can't beat that!

KitchenAid Hand Mixer - I've had my little hand mixer for 20 years...and it's still going strong. It's something in the kitchen I always grab for when needed. I actually use this more than my big kitchen aid mixer.

Cherry and Olive Pitter, Red - This was actually the ONLY thing left at our house by the previous owners that was useful. Everything else was dumpsters worth of trash...I wish I was kidding. I never used it until kids, when they both decided they loved cherries...and I was spending far too much time pitting them...now it takes me a few minutes and the kids have a bowl full of pitted cherries.

Silicone Baking Mat - I used to work at a kitchen store growing up, and people used to always buy these, but back in the day it was $50 to buy, but now you can get two for $21, pretty good deal, so I decided to give them a try. Holy cow, how have I been living without them for so long? You know those cookie sheets you have that are no long non stick, so you use them for your random baking of chicken and what not? Well now you can use them again for cookies! Hooray, no more having to throw them out and buying new ones.

And I also wanted to include Mr.'s favorite kitchen gadget.

 This may look like a Spaghetti Server but according to Mr. it's a Taco Claw...you wonder what that is? Well it's the utensil you use when serving tacos of course. When you don't want all of the extra juices in your tacos...use the taco claw. He gets giddy when using this for tacos...I wish I was kidding.

So what is your favorite kitchen gadget? Now head on over to Katie's blog to see what her favorite kitchen gadgets are!

Linking up here

Guest Post From Andrea @ Messy Nest Mama

Hello Foxy Friend! I hope you had a good weekend. I'm on my way back from vacation, so I have one more guest post for you! I'll be back tomorrow with a blog hop with my fellow Blended Blog ladies to showcase our favorite kitchen tools! Today I have another wonderful Mama, Andrea, from Messy Nest Mama, talking about getting your baby to sleep through the night. Funny enough, I have been meaning to write this post too, but every single thing she wrote here is exactly what I would have written too! So now I don't have to write it, okay take it away Andrea!

The idea of your baby sleeping through the night may make you laugh out loud, but it is possible,  I promise! I felt the same way a few months ago. I thought I would never sleep more than a few hours again in my life. Out of desperation I began reading up on baby sleep and found some things that really worked for us. These are my seven tips to get your baby to sleep through the night. They worked for this zombie mama and I hope that they work for you too! First I want to offer a disclaimer: my baby is not a perfect sleeper. Levi sleeps through the night most nights (8pm-6:30am) and some nights he wakes at 5am. Every now & then we have a really rough night & he's up at 1am and 5am. No baby sleep plan is foolproof. Babies go through many growth spurts and developmental leaps & as mamas we try to help them through as best as we can and that is where these tips come in! I will include affiliate links to the items that we use and love- be sure to check those out!  

Seven Tips to Get Your Baby to Sleep Through the Night

  1.Follow a routine- Plan your day around the EASY plan.

• Eat- Feed baby
• Activity- Play time
• Sleep- Nap for baby
• You- Time for Mama to relax or take a shower

By feeding baby first you ensure that he has plenty of energy to get in a good, full meal. This is very important as you will see in tip 2. To learn more about baby routines I read On Becoming Baby Wise and found it very helpful. Do not associate Babywise with cry it out- the author discusses letting baby fuss for a very small section of the book. The books main focus is getting to know your baby and creating a great routine for baby. This book has been a huge help for me! There is also a great Facebook group called Babywise Mamas that may be a good resource for you! 2. Be sure baby is getting full feeds- It is very important that baby takes full meals during each EASY cycle and does not just snack. You should start encouraging full meals from birth. You can do this by making sure baby does not fall asleep while eating by tickling his feet and back, removing his clothes, or simply taking a quick break from eating to refocus on the task at hand. Keep that little cutie awake and alert!

   

3. Pay close attention to wake times- Each baby has an amount of time that they can handle being awake before they become overly tired. Suggested Wake Times Birth- 6 weeks- 45 minutes to 1 hour 6 weeks- 3 months- 1 hour to 1.5 hours 3-6 months- about 2 hours 6-9 months- 2.5 to 3 hours 9-12 months- about 3 hours This time includes the feeding. So if it takes your newborn baby 45 minutes to nurse (Levi was a slow nurser) then they may be ready for a nap right after eating, especially during the first few weeks.

The key is to watch for sleepy cues

Sleepy cues include:

• yawning
• sudden crankiness
• rubbing eyes

As soon as you see a sleepy cue it is time for a nap ASAP! Then the YOU part (aka Mama time) starts! Be sure to use at least one cycle (or two!) to relax and enjoy the quiet. The cleaning can wait!   4. Use a white noise machine This can be a fan, air purifier, radio on static, or a white noise machine. Babies are used to the noisy sounds of the womb and will find white noise comforting. It will also help drown out the sounds of the house and other family members. We love the Nuk air purifier- puts out the perfect amount of noise and helps keep the pet dander of our golden retriever mix down! Find the air purifier by clicking here.   5. Swaddle I am a big fan of the swaddle for babies under three months old. There is not a lot of room in the womb! Babies are used to being in a tight space in their mamas bellies and find comfort in being held tight. From birth, swaddle your baby for night time sleep and naps. We used the Halo Swaddle Sleep Sack and loved it. It has a two way zipper so that you do not have to remove the swaddle during middle of the night diaper changes- this is key! Find the Halo Swaddle Sleep Sack by clicking here.   

 6. Bedtime routine Establish a bedtime routine that you can follow every night. Be sure to separate feeding from bed by at least twenty minutes. Our nightly routine consists of bath, nursing, book, prayers and then bed. My husband & I really enjoy our bedtime routine. Both of us really love spending this quality time together as a family reading books and praying. My favorite book for little ones is On The Night You Were Born. I still cry when I read it to Levi- it is just the sweetest book! Find a routine that works for your family & that you can stick to every night.

   

  

7.Establish day & night During the day be sure that you keep the house bright and open the curtains. Get out of the house for a walk or sit on the porch to catch some sunshine rays! At night keep the lights low, close the curtains and keep things quiet. This will help regulate your baby's internal clock.
 

 

Andrea Kelly quit her day job to become a stay at home mom. She started blogging to warn new moms that motherhood is the scariest hood you will ever go through. Check out her tips & survival guides at www.messynestmama.com. 

Don't forget today is the last day of the giveaway! Last chance to win $150!!! What are you waiting for hop on it and get to entering!

Guest Post From Adreonna @ The Keele Deal

 Happy Friday Foxy Friends! Another fabulous guest post today, this time it's Adreonna from The Keele Deal, she's a cute mama, raising a sweet little man and traveling and exploring is her thing with her hubby. Now onto a real life story...that's kinda funny.

A couple of nights ago we needed to run to the grocery store for a few things. As we were getting ready to leave I gave our toddler the car keys, this is a common ritual at our house. (Our little guy likes to hold the keys and walk to the van, then he will hand them back so we can unlock the door and get him in his car seat.) I gave him the keys thinking we were about ready to walk out the door, then my husband remembered he needed something upstairs so he ran up and then I got distracted by something. Then we heard the toilet flush! At first we didn't know if he still had the keys when he flushed the toilet or not. Once we searched the whole house twice we finally acknowledged what we already knew, he had flushed the keys. In case you're wondering, YES a set of car keys will go down the toilet. Knowing the car keys had gone down the toilet here are the next steps we took.  

This post may contain affiliate links

Step 1: Search the House AGAIN!

I know we already searched the house, but we really, really hoped that he had dropped the keys somewhere before reaching the bathroom. No such luck.

Step 2: Google - Can Keys get flushed down the toilet?

Keys are heavy (especially when there are like 4 of them on a ring), they can't get flushed, right? Wrong! After searching on google I found that it's quite common for keys to get flushed down the toilet by toddlers as well as adults.

Step 3: Google - How to Get Flushed Keys Out of the Toilet

There are a surprising number of articles about how to get your keys back after flushing them. An article on eHow says all you need is a wire coat hanger.

Step 4: Discuss if you really want the keys back

Yes, Jared and I really talked about if we would want to use keys that have spent time in the toilet. We came to the conclusion that since they are metal they could be sanitized.

Step 5: Try to get the keys back

After finding a wire hanger Jared spent 10+ minutes trying to get the keys out of the toilet.

Step 6: Go back to Search Results from Step 3

The other options we found included taking the toilet off and trying to see if it was still in the back of the toilet or calling a plumber. Since we are renting we decided taking apart the toilet probably wasn't the best idea, and a plumber is more expensive than getting new keys.

Step 7: Give up on getting your keys back

Step 8: Search for Toilet Locks on Amazon

These Toilet locks are a best seller on amazon, plus they are inexpensive and easy to install.

Step 9: Order Toilet Lock for EVERY toilet in your house

If your smarter than me you will install toilet locks BEFORE your toddler gets your keys.

Step 10: Make New Copies of Your Keys

 

Have your kids ever flushed anything down the toilet? Did you get the item back?

 

Adree is a mom of soon to be two kiddos, from the west living on the east coast. She loves traveling, photography and doing everything she can with her family. She blogs about everyday family life as well as family travel.  

Guest Post From Kristie @ The Offical CEO Mom

Hello Foxy Friends! Today I have my first guest post from Kristie who is a kick butt mom doing her entrepreneurial thing. Today she is taking a break from that so she can talk about enjoying motherhood. Take it away Kristie!

Ayden, my third child, was born on my birthday weighing in at 7 pounds and 4 ounces! He came in screaming so the whole floor could hear him :). It was the most beautiful moment; more precious than I could have imagined.
I remember reading a blog post that I came across via Pinterest about how different it is to have three children. She wrote how you change how you parent by the time you have your third child. She wrote how you start out super overprotective with your first, wanting to get the best and most expensive items for your child. Things dial down a bit with the second and by the time your third comes, they are basically on their own. It was a really funny post. But my journey was quite different.

When I had my older two children, I was young and had no idea what I was doing half the time. I had to lean on my mom a lot. I enjoyed being a mother, but I was also working and going to school. I missed out on a lot. This time around, I am able to be more present. I am able to be at home and enjoy each and every one of Ayden's growing moments. I am older and more mature. Thankfully, I am in a place where I am able to take care of him. Watching him grow over the past few weeks has opened my eyes to just how much I have grown.

Ayden was in the NICU the first few days after he was born. I spent every moment I could next to his bed; all day and all night. I only went home once to take a shower. Sorry, baths just were not of importance at that time! It was very hard to deal with. Tears would fall the moment a nurse would try to encourage me.
But what I learned from those few days was just how strong I am as a mother; something I briefly lost sight of.
He is a fighter. Despite the threats of pneumonia, failing lungs, and other breathing issues, I was able to bring my baby home. I left that hospital with a whole new perspective on motherhood.
 
Being a parent of one child is not easy. Three is definitely serving up to be a challenge; a beautiful one.
Finding balance has been a journey all on its own. But we are finally getting the hang of things.
I have found my joy for motherhood again. I look forward to packing lunches, homework sessions, and late night breastfeeding. Some days I sit and thank God for giving me these lives to raise and mentor through life.
Some of the parents I met in the NICU are still there, some of those babies won't get to come home at all. I am blessed to be a mother; I am blessed to be Nya, Micah, and Ayden's mom.
 

Kristie is a freelance social media strategist and a mom of 3. She has a passion for moms and strives to help them reach their business goals. You can connect with Kristie easily on Twitter (@ceomomblogs). This post was originally posted on theofficialceomom.com