Christian Way Farm

Most of y’all know that Sylar has ABA therapy all day, five days a week. This past Thursday, his sessions were cancelled so we packed up and went an hour out of town to the lovely Christian Way Farm! This is probably THE BEST farm that we’ve ever been to. There’s a gift shop with a bunch of antiques. A picnic area. We shucked, cored, and ground up our own corn to feed the animals. There was a huge corn pit for the kids to play in. Some of the things we didn’t get to do were the tractor ride, castle playground, mini golf, pumpkin picking and so much more. If you are in Tennessee or Kentucky, you have got to check them out!

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Noble Carriage Gift Bundles

I’ve recently had the opportunity to work with an amazing company, Noble Carriage. The reason I love this company so much is that they actually put the time and effort into finding and providing the best clothing and products, all around. screenshot-2016-09-15-19-37-39

One of my favorite features that Noble Carriage incorporates is their amazing gift bundles. This is perfect for when you want to get your mama friend, sister, brother, niece, nephew, or even your own kiddos, a variety of products in one gift! Here are some of my favorite gift bundles:

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Some of the items in these gift bundles include these popular brands:

  • Hazel Village Dolls
  • Oeuf
  • Gray Label
  • Mini Rodini
  • Winter Water Factory
  • Goat-Milk
  • Lexypexy
  • Briar Handmade
  • Billie Blooms
  • Tasty Ties
  • Manzanita Kids

And to make this even better (which is really hard to do nice these gift bundles are already absolutely AMAZING), certain limited edition bundles will donate part of it’s proceeds to support the charity: water initiative.

A lot of these gift bundles are already sold out, so if you’re looking for the perfect gift, go check them out! Click here to view Noble Carriage’s gift bundles!

Fruit & Yogurt Popsicles

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What you will need:

  • 1 cup diced fruit of choice (I used Del Monte Fushions since it’s a serving of both fruit and vegetables)
  • Your choice of yogurt
  • Popsicle tray (click here for the one we use)
  • Popsicle sticks
  • *Optional – homemade baby food (for baby popsicles)

Instructions:

  1. Spoon fruit into popsicle tray about a fourth full. If you are doing baby food popsicles, go ahead and fill it up all the way with baby food.
  2. Fill the rest up with yogurt.
  3. Place sticks in.
  4. Freeze for at least 2-3 hours.
  5. Once frozen, if the popsicles are stuck to the container/tray, run the outside of it under hot water and they should slip right out!

Enjoy!

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Children’s Wellness

We all know that eating healthy and being active is the best way to a healthy lifestyle for our kiddos. But sometimes it’s good to know what vitamins, safe medicines and other alternatives we can give them when all else fails.

Vitamins and Minerals

  1. Children’s Multivitamin – We use Child Life: Multi Vitamin & Mineral. I wanted something that had everything our kids needed, like Vitamin C, D12, Calcium etc. Now we all know vitamins don’t taste good and that’s why they make then in gummies. I prefer this over the gummies because gummy vitamins can contain large amounts of sugar. For use, you put a teaspoon in your child’s drink (we do it in our morning smoothie, that way the taste isn’t too strong). Click here for a list of ingredients and to learn more about “Child Life: Multi Vitamin & Mineral”. IMG_3435
  2. Children’s Emergen-C Kidz Packets – We love our Emergen-C packets. Now Sylar doesn’t use this too often, but that’s because he already takes a daily multivitamin that already contains a lot of the vitamins an Emergen-C packet contains. If your child is 4 years old+, they can use this as their daily multivitamin, taking one packet a day. It has lots of antioxidants, B vitamins, and electrolytes. Sylar will drink a packet in water if he is starting to come down with a cold. Click here to find out more about “Emergen-C Kidz” (once you get to the page, click your preferred flavor and it’ll take you to the ingredients and the nutrient glossary).IMG_3438

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Wooden Toys

Ever since Sylar got diagnosed with Autism, Jered and I have started to be more cautious about the things we have around our children. Having an autistic child means many, many lifestyle changes. So for Sylar that means, gluten free diet, no artificial dyes or sweeteners, all organic foods, non-toxic toys and products, etc. I couldn’t help but think, “why did it take this for us to realize that we should be more aware of what we use for/give to our children?”

That being said, natural are something I wanted to talk about. There are many reasons why natural toys are preferred over plastic ones.

  1. Natural toys allow open-ended play. In other words, it allows the child to stimulate their mind by using their imagination to use the object in many ways, than just the intended use of most battery operated plastic toys.
  2. Battery operated toys can often be over stimulating. Stimulation is very important to us, especially with Sylar’s diagnosis. With a battery operated plastic toy, there is a lot of stimulation, which can often make it hard for a child to transition to other activities. With natural toys, it is obvious that the child will be much calmer, focused and easier to transition.
  3. Plastic toys can cause health problems. CHECnet.org stated that, “phthalates are added to PVC (polyvinyl chloride) to make toys soft and flexible. Some phthalates have been linked to cancer, kidney and liver damage, harm to developing reproductive organs, and premature breast development in baby girls. Inhaling these chemicals can also worsen asthma in children. Phthalates are not bonded to the plastic, but can migrate, or leach out.”
  4. When a child is small, they tend to constantly put things into their mouths. With these things being non-organic toys/products, that can be detrimental.
  5. Natural toys, such as organic wood and bamboo last much, much longer.

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Mom Approved Smoothie

I’m sure a lot of you mamas can relate with me when it comes to picky toddlers! Sylar only eats a handful of things, but one thing is for sure, he loves anything sweet. Fruits especially. So here’s my go to recipe (that we make every morning) for a children’s breakfast smoothie.IMG_6555

Things you will need:

  • Blender
  • Bananas (or one, fresh fruit of choice)
  • 1/2 cup of frozen fruit
  • A handful of spinach and/or kale
  • 3 spoonfuls of a fruit flavored greek yogurt (this is key to making the smoothie sweet)
  • 1 1/2 cups of reduced sugar Almond Breeze (use less for a thicker smoothie)
  • Sippy cup (one that a smoothie will come out of; we LOVE our Klean Kanteen).
  • Liquid Multivitamin (optional)

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