Don't Judge My Cat's Easter Basket

Seriously! Don't judge us. We had a cat and dog before our kids. We loved them so much but vowed we would wait to get another pet until the kids were older. We are firm believers in the fact that kids need a pet so we got our daughter a guinea pig. It was an OK pet to start with but then we started volunteer at the animal shelter and we fell in love with many cats. SOOOOO on my anniversary last year we brought home Chipolte. Well that was her name when we got her at 7 months old. She quickly become Luna and and we love her. Well, my husband is less in love because her hair is everywhere and he wears dark suits every day. 

With Easter coming up we decided to do a basket for Luna so that the kids could be involved.   What can I say, she is spoiled. 

 
We love how interested Luna is in her Easter basket. We have had to do an early Easter it was torturing all of us to watch her paw at her goodies for these photos.  She loves everything but especially her new toy fish on a string.

What do you get a cat for Easter?

Well we have a cat tree coming in a day or two from Amazon. We are hoping this keeps her off the dining room table. She likes to look out the sliders and the table is up against them. Hopefully if we move the table and put the tree there she will use the tree. HOPEFULLY!

We have also added:
Catnip toys - Hartz Just For Cats
Treats - Temptations
Food - Delectables from Hartz
A New Collar that glows in the dark

She is a bit spoiled but I wouldn't have it any other way. I have also ordered a bag of corn based litter from World's Best which is what the animal shelter that we volunteer at uses. 
 
It was really cute to watch her sniff everything. We have finally given in and she has used, tried, eaten, sampled everything in the basket ahead of schedule but like I said, she is spoiled.

The House With A Clock In It's Walls

TEST

In Theaters: September 21, 2018

In the tradition of Amblin classics where fantastical events occur in the most unexpected places, Jack Black and two-time Academy Award® winner Cate Blanchett star in The House with a Clock in Its Walls, from Amblin Entertainment. The magical adventure tells the spine-tingling tale of 10-year-old Lewis (Owen Vaccaro) who goes to live with his uncle in a creaky old house with a mysterious tick-tocking heart. But his new town's sleepy façade jolts to life with a secret world of warlocks and witches when Lewis accidentally awakens the dead.

Based on the beloved children's classic written by John Bellairs and illustrated by Edward Gorey, The House with a Clock in Its Walls is directed by master frightener Eli Roth and written by Eric Kripke (creator of TV's Supernatural). Co-starring Kyle MacLachlan, Colleen Camp, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Vanessa Anne Williams, Lorenza Izzo and Sunny Suljic, it is produced by Mythology Entertainment's Brad Fischer (Shutter Island) and James Vanderbilt (Zodiac), as well as Kripke.

Executive produced by William Sherak, Tracey Nyberg, Laeta Kalogridis and Mark McNair, The House with a Clock in Its Walls will be released by Universal Pictures.  

Baby & Toddler Healthy Eating Tips for March National Nutrition Month

 

MARCH IS NATIONAL NUTRITION MONTH
Tips On Making Nutritious Food Choices For Babies And Toddlers

What kids need as part of a healthy diet changes through the ages and stages of infant, baby and toddler. What doesn’t change is the fact that starting good eating habits early is the best way to ensure that your kids will maintain them throughout their lives.

As kids develop, from infant to toddler, their nutritional needs change and evolve too. When they start eating solid food, you will find out quickly that certain textures and flavors of foods either go over well or don’t go in at all!

Feeding infants and babies under 6 months old

This is the easy stage, really! Whether they are having breast milk, formula or some combination of the two, infants and young babies don’t need any other supplementation (unless advised by a physician). Even in hot climates, they get enough hydration from their feeds that water can be superfluous.

When do babies start solid foods?

Babies can start solids at about 6 months old. In the early stages, solid foods consist of baby cereal and mashed foods (vegetables, fruits, meats). Their main source of nutrition is still breast milk and/or formula.

The introduction of solid foods at this stage serves a couple of purposes:
- Getting baby used to eating solid foods.
- Getting baby used to different flavors and textures.
- Expanding the range of things baby will eat.

TIP: It’s tempting to start mashed foods with sweet tasting fruits; after all, most babies like it and will eat it happily. You MIGHT want to start with something in the meat or vegetable line. Also, introduce new solids when baby is hungry. There is no point trying to get them to eat strained peas when they’re already full from a breastfeed or bottle feed.

Introducing your toddler to new foods

At about age 1, your baby will start to gain more nutrition from sources other than breast milk. While many parents choose to continue breastfeeding for a while yet, your child should be eating solids and be introduced to milk at this point. Calcium is vital to growing bones, and unless they can’t stomach it (milk allergy, lactose intolerance), milk is a great transition from formula. Whole milk, in particular, contains the fats they still need, as well as the calcium and protein their bodies are craving.

As to new foods, you can start providing your toddler with finger foods like dry cereal (Cheerios), cut fruit and vegetables, yogurt and so on. They don’t have teeth, or not many, but they can mash their way through a lot of options at age one and above.

Feeding babies can be an exercise in endurance for parents, but tools like bblüv’s Platö Warm Feeding Plate is ideal! The dish has a sealed compartment with a safety cap to which you can add hot water, which will keep the food warm even if it takes a while for baby to decide to eat it!



Of course, toddlers are also learning to speak and, not surprisingly, one of the first words they learn is "no". The trick at that point is to allow your child some measure of control: it’s your job to provide the food; it becomes their job to eat it. You can make that more interesting by providing them with the tools to enjoy eating.

Kids as young as 13 months will be interested in using utensils, so make the presentation of their supper as palatable as possible with kid friendly plates and spoons, like bblüv’s Miäm Silicone Plate and Spoon Set. With a built-in suction base, kiddo can’t drop the plate on the floor and the perfectly sized spoon makes it easier for them to start to learn to feed themselves.



Do you have a picky eater?

As children get older, their tastes will change. What they liked one day will be on the list of things they hate the next. Ultimately, it’s best to expose them to a range of healthy foods, flavors and textures to see what they enjoy and what doesn’t go down very well.

Remember that small children have heightened taste buds: what might taste bland to an adult might almost be spicy to a child. Some kids also have objections to certain foods, based purely on the texture. While most toddlers love mashed potatoes, for example, some can’t stand them because of the texture.

If you worry about having a picky eater, know that their tastes will change a lot over the first few years and you need to be patient and encourage them to eat new foods by re-introducing them again and again. A picky eater might refuse something up to 15 times before even trying a mouthful!

Snacking is okay, as long as it’s healthy

Small children enjoy snacking and need to eat more frequently than adults do, so if you’re on the go with your little one, having healthy snacks at the ready is important and will prevent you from stopping at a coffee shop for a little something full of fat and sugar!

Using a container like bblüv’s Döse Multipurpose Stackable Containers allows you to bring different snacks along that your child will enjoy. With three compartments that are easy to clean and even easier to take along with you, you’ll never be caught short without a nibble!



At every age and stage, kids have varying nutritional needs but by staying on top of it and watching what they enjoy, what they don’t and figuring out ways to make the food palatable and even a little fun, you’re well on your way to building a healthy lifestyle for your child!
 

Bio:
Geneuviève Thibault is the co-founder of bblüv baby essentials. Geneuviève and her husband launched bblüv to provide thoughtfully created, well-designed, safe and durable baby products that will make life simpler for the modern parent.​ http://bbluvgroup.com/

Things We Haven't Said: Sexual Violence Survivors Speak Out

"There are days when I am less stardust than sawdust, less survivor than victim, but that does not mean that the reclamation of my own body is any less eternal." -Jane Cochrane

"How to describe the feeling of not being believed? It is the feeling of disappearing." -Stephanie Oakes

"I used to want to hurt you, to break you, to give you the sort of nightmares I still have so many years later." -Melissa Marr

"It's so easy to say you'll fight when it's not happening to you. But then it was happening to me. And I locked up. My bones had all linked together and I was still." -Bryson McCrone

Things We Haven't Said is a powerful collection of poems, essays, letters, vignettes and interviews written by a diverse group of impressive adults who survived sexual violence as children and adolescents. Structured to incorporate creative writing to engage the reader and informative interviews to dig for context, this anthology is a valuable resource of hope, grit and honest conversation that will help teens tackle the topic of sexual violence, upend stigma and maintain hope for a better future.

Made up of essays, poems, letters, vignettes, interviews, and concrete information, the book breaks the silence around sexual violence and verbalizes the experiences of these victims and, in doing so, creates a chorus of hope for children and young adults who have experienced similar abuse. Aside from being incredibly timely, the book is getting great buzz. It just got a starred review from Kirkus."This book will save hearts. This book will save minds. This book will save lives," says author A.S. King of the collection. And all of the author's proceeds from the book will go to survivors' organizations.

The 411:

Definitely a difficult read. I was worried about being triggered by some of the stories (it's has been years but it can happen). Fortunately that didn't happen but what did happen was how hearing these stories made me angry. Angry that anyone has to go through this.

The stories included were very candid and sometimes made me uncomfortable. They were more candid than I have ever been when I discuss my own abuse and made me feel that I haven't been honest enough at times. Honest with myself yes but maybe speaking about the details would have helped me heal a lot sooner than I did. I have talked about my own abuse for years but not "really". All the details have been left out of my story. I need to release them. I need to make a point of talking them over with someone.

After each story there is a small interview where the women answer questions about who they told, who heard them, what was most helpful during their recovery and more. What worked here is that each survivor's story has a follow up questionnaire to their writing piece giving you even more information to where they are now and providing other survivors with other resources.

The brave woman in this book who told their stories in their own words and in their own way are heroes. I hope that anyone who reads this who has been silent will find their own voice and use it so make sure that are never hurt, disrespected, or scared again.

To Purchase:


Disclaimer: I received a complimentary product for my honest opinion. No monetary compensation was offered.