Cherish Every Second, Even at 2am….

It’s no secret to my family and friends that I love my sleep and do not function well without it. This is especially difficult when you are the mother of a young child. Somehow luckily Brody has come to be a great sleeper. For awhile now he goes to bed at 8:30 and wakes up at 9am, we don’t hear a peep from him overnight. (I am always nervous to talk or write about this for the chance that I might jinx it!) I also have been sleeping until 9am. One of my friends actually has a theory about how a child sleeps, that the child will end up sleeping how you did when you were pregnant. This could be true too, when I was pregnant I was working at Banyan Productions and our start time was 10am… ahhhh, the days at Banyan. So I did sleep until about 8:30-9am too. Whenever I complain about not having enough hours in a day, my husband always comes back with “You could just wake up earlier”. Ugh! Who feels like doing that...? I know one day soon Brody will have school and he and I will have to start waking up earlier, so why not enjoy the sleeping in now?

So anyway the other night I hear crying at about 2am. I go in to check on Brody and he is screaming and completely inconsolable. He wouldn’t let me hold him, rock him; he wouldn’t sit in the glider with me. He threw his body on the floor and was screaming and slamming his right leg into the ground. I just started to rub his leg and foot, thinking maybe his foot was asleep or it was a Charlie horse? Do toddlers get Charlie horses? He started to calm down a little bit and I brought him downstairs to get some water.

As we sat on the couch, he drank his water and cuddled up with me and rested his head on my chest. I couldn’t help but cherish this moment. His one little hand grasping onto mine, even though it was about 2:30 in the morning at this point, I still didn’t want the moment to end. I always think about how he won’t be little forever, one day he won’t sit and cuddle up with me, or be small enough to sit on my lap. He won’t have these little chubby fingers and tiny hands that grasp mine. I just sat there and kissed his head. I love this child so much.

Also pretty soon it won’t just be us, when new-baby comes~ oh yeah! Btw, if you didn’t know I am pregnant again! I’m due in June, so Brody and the new baby will be two years apart. We are really excited and I am just hoping everything goes okay and the baby is healthy. But anyway, soon it won’t just be Brody and I, over the last year and a half I have gotten used to doing everything with him. He is my little sidekick. We are together every day and do everything together. I can count the times I have left him overnight, which has never been two nights in a row (I have no clue how I am going to leave him for a week in Feb when we go to Paris) I guess just for now I will continue to cherish every moment with him, what else can you do?

Have you had moments with your children that seemed annoying or inconvenient at the time, but you ended up cherishing?

Buy Ketchup in May

Have you ever wanted to know the best day of the week to buy groceries or go out dinner (both Wednesday), or to even ask for raise (Thursday or Friday)?

Mark Di Vincenzo did research for over a year to find out the best times of the day, the week, the month to do a variety of things, and he shares his expertise in his new book, Buy Ketchup in May and Fly at Noon.

This book is not only entertaining it can be extremely helpful with telling you the best time to buy and sell a home and the best day of the month to make an offer on a house. The author, Mark was on Rachael Ray today and he shared a bunch of his little tips that are also in his book. Some of the tips are very interesting and may even help you.

I personally get bugged out by milk products that have expired. My husband will drink milk a few days after the expiration date (ew!). For me, if it is even a day or two before, I won’t touch milk, yogurt, or even eggs, but Mark tells us that actually eggs are good for 3-5 weeks after their expiration date! (who knew??) And they go on sale when they are close to the date that is listed on the egg carton. Now while I think the 3-5 weeks sounds crazy, I may be okay eating eggs a few days to possibly a week after.

Mark also says to buy shoes in the late afternoon/early evening. Your feet swell during the day and are at their largest in the late afternoon, so you know they will fit you. Thanks Mark for just saving me on those shoes I wear once and never again because they were killing my feet by the end of the day.

Airport rush hour mimics highway rush hour, so there is less “traffic” in the middle of the day. The airports are less crowded and less stressful. Saturday is also the best day to fly for the same reason. If you are flying somewhere tropical remember to apply your sunscreen 15-30 minutes before you go outside, it takes that time to start working.

Mark also tells us the best month to get a flu shot is October~ even more specific, mid-October (so get it now!). He explains that the flu shot truly takes about two weeks to kick in and the flu season completely hits around Halloween and lasts through March or April. So if you get your flu shot now you will protected right into the spring!

Mark also shared the best time to buy:
Furniture~ New models come out in February and August, so everything is discounted in January and July.
Cameras~ Presidents Week, new models are out and old ones are discounted.
Tools~ Tools hardly ever go on sale, expect for probably the only time you may find yourself actually buying tools, the week before fathers day.
Computers~ Take advantage of back to school sales, the best sale for computers.

….and don’t forget to buy ketchup in May (picnic season when ketchup, mustard, and relish are all discounted) and champagne in December (when the demand is high, so you may think the opposite, but the price is actually lowered to keep up with the competition).
Just remember timing is everything and by doing certain things at the right time you will get more for your money, maximize your time, and even take better care of your health.

If You Want to Play Dirty, Make Sure You Have Coverplay

Ahh…. Shark Tank, how I love thee… For those of you who haven’t seen Shark Tank (Tuesday nights on ABC 8pm EST), the premise is simple. Struggling entrepreneurs come to the “Sharks” (five self made multi-millionaires) asking them to invest in their business and in return the Sharks get a percentage of the companies’ equity. What really makes the show interesting is when a few of the Sharks really like an idea and they try to out bid each other for a piece of what they think will be the next big thing.
I worked in reality television for years before I had Brody. I remember sitting around in company meetings trying to think of a fresh unique idea for a reality show, why didn’t I think of this?!? Leave it to Mark Burnett, (the man behind Survivor and The Apprentice) to come up with this one~ what a great concept!

So what does Shark Tank have for the mom’s out there? Well, besides the adorable Shark, Robert Herjavec (my new TV crush), I would say almost every episode has someone trying to pitch a children’s item, and some of them are brilliant products! I will be mentioning more items in future blogs, but one of my favorites was on last night’s episode. Shark Tank has started showing updates on past entrepreneurs who struck a deal with the Sharks.

Last night’s update was on Coverplay. After Allison Costa had twin boys, she constantly used her play yard for the twins to nap and so they could play together in a safe area. Allison developed this wonderful product after discovering how difficult it was to clean her play yard after hours of use. Allison went to her friend Amy Feldman, who is a designer, and together they created an easy solution, a super soft play yard slipcover with cute designs that is easy to wash.

After seeing Allison and Amy on the show I knew I needed to buy one of these slipcovers. Play yards are one of the most popular infant items, they get a ton of use but also endure the wear and tear of spit up and spills.

Coverplay is a “germaphobes” dream! I started to think of all the instances where my hygienic Coverplay Slipcover would really come in handy~ when different children nap in your child’s play yard, if you are bringing your child to nap in someone else’s play yard, if you have a hand-me-down play yard, when traveling and using a hotel’s play yard, plus I am sure it will extend the longevity of your own play yard as well.

~Ashley

For more information on COVERPLAY Slipcovers, visit http://www.coverplayard.com

Coverplay sells a line of 20 different slipcovers that fit easily over almost any play yard on the market. The portable crib covers are machine washable and provide parents an easy way to protect their children from germs and keep play yards clean. COVERPLAY is all about making life easier for moms.
Coverplay is a Patented ProductNot intended for use with any Play Yard attachments (changing table, basinet, toy or pocket attachments).