I have always had a slight heart attack when my kids got anywhere close to the kitchen while I was cooking.  I was so worried that they would get cut, burnt, or flattened by pots and pans.  As my oldest starts to get more curious, I see my kitchen as less of a danger zone.
 
He just turned 3 a few months ago and is a picky eater.  He would eat peanut butter and jelly for every meal if I let him.  Unfortunately for him, I'm the type of mom that cooks one meal and if you don't eat it, then you don't eat at all.  I recently noticed that he gets excited to eat whatever I'm cooking as long as he's had a hand in making it.
 
I still make sure to keep him away from the stove, but he helps me get the ingredients ready.  No matter what I'm making, I can find some way for him to get excited about helping.  Usually it is simple things like stirring or pouring ingredients into bowls from the measuring cups, but he can't wait to tell everyone we know that he helped make the meal.
 
He never used to eat chicken and dumplings, but last week I had him help me roll the dough in flour and he thought that was the best job ever.  He even had to call my mom to tell her that he was helping.  I was more than excited when he ate every bite on his plate that night.
 
It might be more time consuming and messy, but having my "little helper" in the kitchen is worth it.  We're having fun bonding time and he's finally eating more than PB&J.  Seeing him beam with pride makes me want to bake all day.

By Guest Blogger Dee from Two of a Kind Working on a Full House

We had just started trying when we got pregnant with our first.  I really thought it would take more time and hadn't really thought of how we were going to announce to our families that we were expecting.  I ended up calling my mom not long after I took that first pregnancy test because I was a basket of nerves.  We also simply called my husbands parents, which wasn't much fun either.

 
I could still kick myself for not having a creative way of telling them that I was pregnant with their first grandchild.  My mom kept it a secret from my brother and sister so I could be a little more creative with them.  I happened to find out I was pregnant with both of my kids right around Thanksgiving which makes a surprise announcement that your pregnant so much easier.  We got them Christmas ornaments that had "Aunt Grace" and "Uncle Derrick" on them.  While decorating the tree, I gave them those ornaments to put on the tree.  They both looked at us wondering if this was a joke as a "gift" from our dog, or if I was in fact pregnant.

 
When I started trying for our second, I bought our oldest a shirt that read, "I'm gonna be a big brother".  When we found out we were pregnant, we put the shirt on him when we were going to either of the grandparents' houses.  I asked my mom to take his jacket off of him and she started crying when she read his shirt.  We did the same with my husband's family.  It was a much better way to tell them than a simple phone call.

 
We'll soon try for #3 and I'm already thinking of fun ways to tell our families this time.  I'd love to hear your ideas, but if you're not quite sure how to break the news, here are a few other ideas that friends have done.
 

-When at the next family gathering, tell them you'll bring the dessert.  Make the announcement in icing on top of your dessert.

-Give them a copy of the ultrasound picture with an attached note saying "coming in ___"

-Purchase new coffee mugs, shirts, key chains, etc that say "grandma, grandpa, uncle, aunt, etc".

-Show up to the next gathering with a "Baby On Board" t-shirt.

-Make an invitation that says "You are invited to the birth of your ____(child, grandchild, etc)"
 

Coming up with something creative always makes for better stories and it will be a moment that your loved ones will never forget.  Sure, you could be like me and ruin the surprise with a phone call, but announcing that you're pregnant only happens a few times, so you might as well make it fun.

- By guest blogger TwoofaKindWorkingOnAFullHouse

Traditions are important to every family.  They can be as simple or as extravagant as you want, but traditions help create memories that will last a lifetime.

 
The holidays are filled with traditions and when you start your own family, it can be hard to form your own.  For example, as long as I can remember, we would wake up early on Christmas morning, open our presents, and rush around to get to my grandma's for breakfast at 8.  I knew that wasn't something I wanted for my own little family.  Even though we have had at least one child for three years, I'm still trying different ideas to form traditions that are fun and memorable.

 
Obviously traditions are not just based on the holidays, but that is when we make most of them.  One of the things I started when Evan was born was to buy the kids new Christmas pajamas each year so that my pictures of them opening presents wouldn't include mismatched or raggedy pjs like the ones from when I was growing up.  Another tradition that has stuck is having the kids crawl in bed with us on Saturday mornings.  We tickle, laugh, watch a few minutes of cartoons, and talk about what we want to do that day.

 
Don't be intimidated to try something new.  If your family enjoys it-that could be your new tradition.  There is no wrong way to do this, you just don't want to overload your family with new ideas.  Traditions can be as simple as ordering pizza and

playing games on Friday nights or as extravagant as wearing formal clothes to Christmas Eve dinner.
 
Its easy to let life get in the way of family time and that is why making traditions early is so crucial.  If you start doing something early, chances are you will work your schedule around that Sunday afternoon dinner with grandma or Thursday night walk at the park.  Your children will never forget those traditions that you stick to and will one day take some of those traditions with them to their own families.

By guest blogger TwoOfAKindWorkingOnAFullHouse

I was still working when I was pregnant with my first child.  As you all know, people can't pass up giving a pregnant woman advice of some sort.  Along with all of the horrible stories and advice that I heard, I was also told over and over again to cherish every second because it goes too fast.  I couldn't agree more.

 
I feel like I was living my life in play mode before my kids were born, but after they arrived life switched to fast forward.  I'm not sure how, but I blinked and my baby was 3 and I had another 1 year old.  I'm realizing now more than ever that I'm beginning to forget things.  My husband reminded me the other day how we used to stand outside of my son's door in the mornings and call his name while he giggled in his crib.  I had completely forgotten those special moments.  I immediately went to write it down in his baby book so I could look at that and not forget.
 
I did a great job of capturing our son on video at least once a week doing different things that I felt needed to be recorded.  I now find myself watching those with an occasional tear running down my cheek because he's no longer a baby.  I admit that I am guilty of not recording our second child as much because I was trying to ta

ke care of a 2-year old and infant at the same time.  When she was about a month old I realized I didn't have near as many pictures of her as I had taken of my son and vowed to start taking more.
 
I know that I would definitely regret it if I slacked off on recording as many moments as possible.  I started a blog when my first child was a year old as another way to be able to look back and read what he was doing at different times.  I've since started carrying around a camera and hand held video camera so that I could capture any cute moment.  I hope to one day have enough time to sit down and make each of them a scrap book with some of the thousands of pictures that I've taken.  Having those pictures, videos, baby books, and my blog will help trigger many memories that may have otherwise been forgotten.   My sole advice to pregnant women is that it all goes way too fast and they only have one chance to capture as many of those memories as possible.

By guestblogger Two of a kind working on a full house

If you would have come up to me 3 years ago and told me that I would be using cloth diapers, I would have probably laughed and told you that cloth diapering wasn't "my thing".  I was keeping another child in my home 1 1/2 years ago and that mom used cloth diapers.  I was hesitant to say the least when she pulled out a cloth diaper and wet bag to cloth diaper her child.
 
I couldn't believe how easy it was.  I was shocked to learn that an average family can spend between $2,000-$3,000(depending on the brand) for disposable diapers.  The real diaper association even states that over 300 pounds of wood, 50 pounds of petroleum feedstocks and 20 pounds of chlorine are used to produce disposable diapers for *one* baby *each* year. After learning all of this, I decided I'd give it a shot.
 
Cloth diapering was extremely intimidating to me, but it shouldn't have been.  Had I known how easy it was, I would have done it from the beginning.  My biggest worry about cloth diapers was how to wash them.  A friend introduced me to the diaper sprayer and all my worries washed away.  A diaper sprayer attaches to the side of the toilet and when you have a poopy diaper, simply spray the contents out into the potty and flush.  I then put my diapers in a huge wet bag until they are ready for washing(usually along with a little baking soda for absorbing odor), but you can also put them in a diaper pail or any other container.  When I have enough for a load(1-2 dozen diapers and their inserts), I put my washing machine on the Hot wash/Cold rinse setting.  I then set it to rinse and add a few drops of tee tree oil for odor and turn it on.  After it has gone through a rinse cycle, I use 1/4-1/3 of the recommended amount of detergent and turn the washing machine on.  I occasionally use the rinse cycle one more time if I feel that the diapers were extra stinky or if I feel that the diapers are still holding a little detergent.  Different diapers do require extra washes before initial use and some require special care when it comes to drying(each diaper will come with its own instructions).  I line dry all of my diapers in direct sunlight(which also supposedly helps with odor and sanitization). I will occasionally throw them in the dryer, but I feel the less beating they take, the longer they will last.

I'm not going to lie, I still occasionally use disposable diapers for convenience.  If I'm going to be out for several hours, it is easier for me to keep up with disposable diapers vs cloth diapers.  However, I use cloth diapers the majority of the time.  I can only imagine how much I've saved on diapers in the past 1 1/2 years.  I decided to use mostly One-Size All-In-One(AIO) diapers so that I could use the same diapers with each child.  Evan is potty trained now, but when Isabella was born, they were both in diapers.
 
With the economy down the drain, I am happy to find out about any way to help save more money.  The initial cost of cloth may be a little overwhelming(just a couple hundred dollars), but in the long run, I'm saving thousands.  There has been a huge focus on "going green" over the past few years and I'm glad that I can do my part to be environmentally friendly in addition to going easy on the wallet.  There is a wealth of knowledge about cloth diapering and I want you to understand that if I can make the switch to cloth, anyone can do it.

By guest blogger, Dee twoofakindworkingonafullhouse.com

Before you have children, no one tells you about all of the stress that comes with be ing a parent.  It starts as soon as you find out you're pregnant.  You get all of those pregnancy books that soon open your eyes to all that can possibly go wrong with this new life that you're carrying.  Knowledge can be a dangerous thing and you soon become a huge worry wart.

That stress never really goes away.  The baby is born and as a first time parent, you want to try and make it where they don't cry.  That is not always so easy.  My son cried almost all the time because he had reflux and other craziness that we had to get under control.  

I remember sitting there and crying with him when he was a few days old.  I was a basket of nerves and as a mom, I wanted to be able to make my baby stop crying.  I didn't even want visitors because I felt they would think I was a huge failure.  It seemed like my mom could get him to stop crying easier than I could.

I had a huge "ah ha" moment when he was about a month old.  We were in a restaurant and he was crying-again.  I could feel my stress level rise and I was frantically trying to do everything I could to make him stop.  I just *knew* he was annoying everyone.  

Someone that I was sitting with(maybe my mom-I'm not sure because I was too busy freaking out) told me to calm down and look around.  What I saw is that no one was looking at us.  They were all enjoying their meal and no one was paying any attention to my baby crying.  As soon as I quit trying to make him stop crying-he did.

Someone once told me that babies can sense stress and this makes them even more upset.  I'm not really sure why I never listened to them(or believed them), but they were right.  Don't get me wrong, Evan still cried-a lot, but I learned to start laughing it off.  The reason my mom could get him to calm down easier than I could is that she didn't let the crying get to her or worry about how his crying was affecting other people.  At first, all I could think is that other people thought my baby was annoying.  That isn't the case-people know babies cry and are OK with it.  As soon as *I* learned to be OK with the fact that he cried, I could get him to calm down pretty quickly.  

I learned not to worry so much about my baby crying, but to just enjoy him and give him lots of love.  My daughter didn't cry as much as my son, but when she did, I was sure to not let it get to me and make her even more upset.

By guest blogger Dee of http://www.twoofakindworkingonafullhouse.com