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10 of the Sweetest Baby Shower Gifts on Amazon
Whether you are searching for the perfect gift for a friend or family member, or looking for things to add to your own registry, look no further! We have rounded up some of the sweetest baby shower gifts on Amazon.
Disclaimer: The links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, we will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
1. Sweet Muslin Swaddle Blanket with Quotes
These sweet muslin wraps come with several quote options, including one from Psalms 139 “You are wonderfully made”. They are 100% cotton and breathable, so they are the perfect wrap for summer babies, but still warm enough for any season. These wraps are so sweet I could just squeal!
Muslin Baby Swaddle Blanket with ‘Hold Me A Little Longer’ Quote 2. “If Animals Kissed Goodnight” Bedtime Story
Books are a favorite in my house, and the best way to settle down for the night. Give the sweet gift of bedtime stories and cuddles with the book “If Animals Kissed Goodnight”. This book comes in hardcover, paperback, or board book.
If Animals Kissed Good Night – Board book 3. Hidden In My Heart: A Lullaby Journey Through Scripture
This sweet lullaby CD will lull baby to sleep to the soothing sound of music and scripture verses. The back of the CD says: “So much more than a lullaby CD, ‘Hidden in My Heart’ weaves Scripture into music that sounds more like a movie score than a nursery rhyme song.”
Hidden In My Heart: A Lullaby Journey Through Scripture 4. BabyNoms Teething Mitten
Keep baby’s hand clean while they teeth with this cute dinosaur teether mittens. This teether is made with crinkle fabric, so it will keep baby entertained for long periods of time. A Velcro strap means baby can’t easily remove the mitten. The food grade silicone is safe for the little one’s mouth.
BabyNoms Teething Mitten 5. I Wanna Be Avocuddled Onesie
Available in sizes ranging from Newborn – 24 months, this adorable onesie is sure to make anyone smile. Made from 100% combed ringspun cotton, these onesies are designed and made in the USA. How could anyone resist “avocuddling” a baby wearing this onesie? Answer: they can’t!
“I wanna be avocuddled” Onesie 6. Dumbell Baby Rattle
The perfect gift for parents who like to work out, and babies who want to get buff. Pair it with a workout onesie, and your gift will be the high note of any baby shower.
Dumbbell Baby Rattle 7. Glass Mason Jar Bottles
How cute are these Mason Jar bottles?! This set comes with 4 oz and 8 oz bottles, each with a plastic cap and ring, and a silicone sleeve. It also comes with 4 nipples, 2 Slow-Flow (0-3 months) and 2 Medium-Flow (3-6 months). With the wide nipples and bottle mouths, this set is super easy to clean and sanitize. I’m sorry, I have to say it again. These bottles are so cute!
The Essential Mason Bottle Gift Set (Essential Gift Set, 5 items, Agave) 8. Wood Baby Gym with 3 Wooden Baby Teething Toys
Wood Baby Gym is built from sanded beech wood and left unfinished so it is free of harmful chemicals. Includes hanging wooden teething toys to encourage play and develop fine motor skills. Removable toy bar allows you to add or remove toys. Easy to assemble, and folds up for convenient storage. The sweet and simple design will fit into any nursery or living space.
Wood Baby Gym with 3 Wooden Baby Teething Toys 9. Anti-skid Cute Quotes Socks
I’m sure everyone has seen those socks with quotes on the bottom like “If you can read this, bring me some Starbucks.” Well, how sweet are these for a baby? The lettering on the bottom is anti-skid to keep a new walker on his feet and his bum off the slick floor. This set comes with 4 pairs with adorable sayings.
Anti-skid Cute Quotes Socks 4 Pair 0-12 Months 10. Camera Shaped Baby Tooth Keepsake Box
This adorable baby tooth keepsake box is uniquely shaped like a camera. The lens is a kaleidoscope, adding to the fun for a young child. The button even pushes down to simulate taking a real picture. It won’t be used for years, but this will still make a sweet baby shower gift.
Camera Shaped Baby Tooth Keepsake Box
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7 of the Best YouTube Channels for Toddlers
Keeping toddlers entertained long enough to do the laundry or dishes can be pretty challenging, so when you absolutely have to get something done, these 7 YouTube channels for toddlers will usually do the trick. In addition to giving you a little bit of time, most of them will teach something to your little one. Mom win!
1. KidsTV123
KidsTV123is a great YouTube channel for toddlers with about 200 animated videos that teach letters, numbers, shapes, colors, and phonics, all with fun songs that you can’t help but sing along with. Some of the favorites in my house are the phonics, the days of the week, and the months of the year songs.
2. Super Crazy Kids
Super Crazy Kids has over 350 animated videos, and features a chubby baby who often drives around in a little car or on a scooter. The videos teach toddlers shapes, colors, numbers, and letters. They are short and sweet, and always filled with interesting noises and sounds, as well as loads of puzzles, toys, and animals to keep your toddler watching. My son LOVES these videos.
3. LittleBabyBum
LittleBabyBum has over 600 very well animated videos with fun nursery rhymes and songs. There are a lot of nursery rhyme compilation videos as well, so if you want to play something that will keep them busy for an hour, these are a great option. My daughter always requests these videos.
4. Super Kids TV
Super Kids TV is another channel filled with videos teaching colors, shapes, and numbers. These videos also have a lot of animated cars and toys toddlers love to watch. If you have a car or truck lover, these videos would be ideal for your toddler. 5. Genevieve’s Playhouse – Toy learning for kids
Genevieve’s Playhouse – Toy Learning for Kids has almost 400 videos teaching colors, shapes, and counting. What makes these videos great is the narrated play with real toys, which helps to stimulate your toddlers own imagination for play.
6. Kids TV – Nursery Rhymes And Baby Songs
Kids TV – Nursery Rhymes And Baby Songs- has a wide variety with over 1800 animated songs and nursery rhymes. You’ll never run out of videos on this channel. This one will keep your toddler entertained for a while.
7. Toy Jelly
Toy Jelly is another great real toy play channel. Many of the videos mix play doh play with toy appliances, as well as videos with moon sand play, which makes these videos great for older toddlers. My kids love these videos.
If you liked my article, please comment below and let me know!
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How to Make Letter Writing Worksheets in Minutes
If you are anything like me, you get frustrated looking around on Google trying trying to find letter writing worksheets that you can download and print without signing up to yet another email list on a sketchy, ad-ridden website. Well, I finally decided to just make my own in Word. It ended up being super easy, and now I can make new letter worksheets in minutes, and they will go along with whatever my children are learning at the time. It was so easy I want to teach you how you can make your own.
1. Install a Dashed Letter Font
You’ll need a dashed letter font to make creating new letter writing worksheets super quick and easy. I found several options when I was looking for one. You can download and install as many as many of these as you want, they are all free. I really like the Print Clearly font. It has 2 non-dashed fonts as well as the dashed one, which makes it easy to give examples of the letters for your worksheet.
- Trace from Fontspace
- Penmanship Print from Fontspace
- KG Primary Dots from 1001freefonts
- Free ABC Printed Dotted Font from Teacherspayteachers
- Print Clearly from Fontspace
If you have never installed a new font, don’t worry, it’s super simple. First download the font, then open it in the location you downloaded it to (usually the downloads folder). Double click the zipped file to open. Double click on the font file, usually it will end in either .ttf or .otf. This should open a box that shows examples of the font at various sizes. In the top left of this box, you should see a button that says “Install,” click it, and it will install the font to the correct folder on your computer.
2. Set Up Your Word Document
Open Word, and create a blank document. On the Layout tab, set the Margins to .25″. You may have to set custom margins for this. Setting the margins to .25 will give you more print area when setting up your letter writing worksheets.
3. Add Letter Guide Lines
Now that you have the basic document set up, it is time to add some guide lines to the page. You can take your time drawing lines from the line tool in Word. You’ll find this by clicking on the Insert tab, then Shapes, and finally, Line. Doing it this way takes too long for me, and it can be quite tedious.
Instead, I made a PNG file that you can save and insert into your document. Choose from the 3 options below, black, gray or light gray depending on how dark you want your lines. Simply right click on one and choose “Save image as…,” then save to your preferred location.
Here is another PNG for a name and date line, in case you want to add one.
Now, in Word, click on the Insert tab, and then Pictures. Select the guide lines image you just saved. The lines PNG will appear on your page. In order to move it around freely, and to add the the dashed letters over the top of the lines, you’ll have to make the PNG stay behind the text. Click the little square that appears on the right corner of the image (see example), then click Layout Options, then Behind Text.
Now you can drag the image around freely. Place the line image where you wish it to be. If the lines are not tall enough for you, simply click the bottom edge of the image, and drag it down until you are satisfied with the height. You can now copy and paste as many of these guide lines as you want on your worksheet.
To equally space your guide lines, hold down control while you click each image. When they are all selected, click the Layout tab, then click Align, then Align Center, then Distribute Vertically. Now they are centered, and equally spaced.
This is a great time to save your work. You can either print your worksheet like this, or you can continue and add the dashed letters for writing practice.
4. Add Dashed Letters
To add the dashed letters over your guide lines, click Insert, then Text Box, then Draw Text Box. Click and drag your text box over your guide lines, and drag it a little larger than you think it needs to be.
The text box will come filled, and with an outline. To remove them, right click on the edge of text box, click Fill, then click “No Fill.” Do the same for the outline.
Now double-click inside the text box, and choose your dashed line font. Type the letters you want on that line of your letter writing worksheet. Adjust the font size until they seem big enough to just fit between the top and bottom of the guide lines. It may take a few times going back and forth, readjusting the font size, dragging the text box bigger, and repositioning the text box before the letters line up in between the guides.
Once the letters fit between the guide lines, copy and paste the text box, and drag it over each set of guide lines, and type the letters you want on that line.
5. Add Some Fun Clip Art (Optional)
Add some clip art to your letter writing worksheets if you like. This will make the worksheet a little more fun and interesting to your little ones. I found a few websites that offer free clip art for download. These websites have pretty much anything you could want to add to your worksheet. Just use the search feature to find what you are looking for, download it, then use the Insert tab, then Picture to add it to your worksheet.
Here are a few free clip art websites:
- https://openclipart.org/
- https://classroomclipart.com/
- http://www.clker.com/
- https://www.vecteezy.com/
6. Free Letter Writing Worksheet PDF Downloads
As I have made letter writing worksheets of the first 5 letters, here they are for free if you are interested in using them. Click the links, and either download, or print them.
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I Brought My 1 and 3 Year Old To My 20 Week Ultrasound – Why It Was Awesome!
Ever since we told my 3 1/2 year old daughter she was going to be a big sister again, she’s been excited, and even decided that she has a baby dinosaur in her tummy too. She is constantly talking about her “sister,” and insists that I am having a girl. No matter how much I tell her that it COULD be a boy, she insists “It’s a ‘gee-yow!'” One day I asked her, “Lyla, will you be sad if the baby is a boy?” She replied, matter-of-factly, “Mommy, we already have a boy, and it’s Ryan!”
Since she is so excited about the baby, I thought she would enjoy seeing him/her on the ultrasound. Before bringing my kids, I called the office and asked if they would allow children in the room during the sonogram. The receptionist asked the tech who said it would be alright as long as there was another adult accompanying them. That would be fine since my husband was coming anyway. I excitedly told Lyla about the ultrasound, and how we would be able to see the baby INSIDE my tummy.
As the day approached, I was getting a little worried about having my kids in the room because my son, Ryan, is only 1 1/2, and I thought maybe it would bore him and he’d get cranky and make things difficult. I was also a little worried that Lyla would be disappointed if we found out we were having a boy instead of the sister she wants so bad. So, I was a little hesitant. But more than anything, I was excited for them to share this experience with my husband and I.
Ultrasound Day
Well, yesterday was my 20 week ultrasound, and boy, having them there did NOT disappoint! First of all, they were both very well behaved, which I think is partly due to the fact that the lights were dimmed.
The tech had me lay down and lift my shirt, Ryan was watched intently, concern on his face. The first minute or two were pretty quiet while she took pics and measured some of the things she needed to. Almost as soon as parts of the baby became recognizable, Lyla’s face lit up and she giggled. “It’s the baby!” She had us cracking up the rest of the ultrasound with the things she said. Here are the few I will never forget.
*giggle* “Mommy, the baby is upside down!”
“The baby is eating a cookie!”
“Mommy, where’s it’s pants?”
“It looks like it’s eating it’s hand.”
“The baby is eating it’s foot!” (this was the potty shot)
When it came time to find out the gender, we found out that she was not getting the sister she was expecting. But this didn’t seem to bother her at all, she was just so excited to see her brother.
On the way home, I asked her if she was excited about her brother. She said, “Yeah. I’m not getting a sister.” I said, “Yeah, I’m sorry. Maybe you’ll get a sister another time.” She replied, “That’s okay. I have a dinosaur sister in my tummy.”
If you enjoyed my post, please leave a comment and let me know! I’d love to hear from you. 🙂
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10 Must Haves for Your Home Water Birth
I am a mother of 2, and had an at home water birth with both of my children. I LOVED giving birth in water. It was as relaxing as a birth can possibly be (it still hurts though, darn it!). If I have my way, all my babies will be born at home in water. Now I am pregnant again, and expecting to give birth in mid-September. As I plan ahead for my 3rd water birth, I thought it would be a great time to share with you MY home water birth “must-haves.”
Disclaimer: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
1. A Birth Tub
Birth tubs that are specifically designed for birthing can range in price from $100, for a REALLY affordable one, to well over $1000. Some more expensive tub kits can come with pool liners, lids, and heaters, but you can also purchase those separately.
Many women opt to rent a tub instead of purchasing one. The price for a birth tub rental is usually around $200-$300, and may or may not come with a liner. Usually, you are not required to clean the tub afterwards, so that is a bonus. What newborn mom has time for that anyway. Just make sure you use a liner for the birth.
A cheaper option is to purchase an inflatable kids pool, instead of a tub that was made for giving birth.
Making Your Choice
An important consideration when choosing a tub is the height. The water needs to be high enough to cover your rear-end when you are of your knees, so baby’s head will stay immersed while you give birth. So make sure the tub you choose is deep enough, and holds a high enough water level.
Here is a handy website I found comparing several birth pool options, and their pros and cons. There are so many options out there. Take a little time to do some research, and figure out what will work best for you and your family.
My Tub Choice
For both of my water births, I decided to go with a simple inflatable pool. It was the cheapest option, but my favorite thing about buying a cheap pool is that you can just throw it away afterwards if you don’t feel like sanitizing it. For both of my births I went with this 3-ring pool. It was under $30 both times I purchased it.
Intex Swim Center Ocean Reef Inflatable Pool, 75″ X 70″ X 24″, for Ages 6+As I am only 5’1″, the pool I used is much wider than I needed it to be, so I am thinking about going with a smaller pool this time around. It will be a much better fit in my bedroom, and provide more room for my midwife to get where she needs, and my husband to help me through labor.
2. An Air Pump
Unless you or your partner want to spend a couple hours blowing up the tub by hand with a hand pump, you’re gonna want to get an electric air pump. There are some really cheap air pumps that do a great job. We spent less than $15 on ours before we had our daughter 3 1/2 years ago, and it still works great. This is the one we bought.
Intex Quick-Fill AC Electric Air Pump, 110-120 Volt, Max. Air Flow 21.2CFM
3. Lead-Free Hose & Adapter
It is important to make sure that the hose you use to fill up your tub is free of lead. The hose length is also important. Decide where your pool will be, and how many feet it is from the sink you will use to fill up the tub. Then add about 10 feet to that length for good measure. That way you can have several feet of hose in the pool while filling up without someone tripping over the hose. This is the hose we bought, and it comes in lengths of 25′, 50′ and 100.’ We bought the 50′ hose since we wanted to use the hose to drain the pool afterwards. It worked great!
You’ll also need an adapter to connect your hose to your sink. Some sink faucets have threads on the outside, and some on the inside, as well as different diameters of threads, so make sure you get the right adapter. You don’t want to find out that the one you got doesn’t work, and have to make a trip to the hardware store while you are in labor. This is the one we got. It has multiple thread diameters, and it worked great for us.
DANCO Multi-Thread Garden Hose Adapter for Male to Male and Female to Male, Chrome, 1-Pack (10513)
4. Thermometer
For a water birth, the water temperature should be kept between 98-101 degrees Fahrenheit. Skin is not a good judge of temperature, so you’ll need to get a thermometer. A floating pool thermometer works great because you won’t loose it at the bottom of the pool. I oo’ed and aw’ed over the cute floating thermometer duckies and boats, but I ended up going with this super cheap plain one.
Intex 29039 Floating Pool Thermometer, 1-Pack, White
Tip: Do not boil your thermometer to sanitize it. I learned that the hard way after asking my sister to boil it for me. She did. She bought me a new one. She shouldn’t have, since I am the one who told her to boil it anyway, but she’s just sweet like that. I’m glad I went with the cheap one. Anyway, do not boil your thermometer.
5. Tarp & Shower Curtains
To protect the floor under your birth tub, you’ll want a large tarp. The one we got for my last birth was 15′. I think we are going to go with one that is 20′ or larger this time. The tarp only covered the floor a little more than 1 1/2 feet around the birth pool, and when my water broke right before I got into the pool, it got onto the carpet. We purchased our tarp at Walmart, it was just a plain old blue (or was it green?) tarp.
It is good to have some cheap shower curtains handy in case you need to get out of the tub, or quickly transfer to the bed, you can throw a cheap curtain on the floor and not worry about getting anything wet. They sell them at the dollar store, and Walmart also sells some pretty cheap. I used a few moving to the bed after giving birth. Very handy to have!
6. A Fish Tank Net
Giving birth comes with a lot of mucus and other fun stuff like…poop. When you give birth in water, this ends up floating around and getting everywhere. Have a fish tank net handy so you, or your partner, can scoop it out. It’s not fun to have that stuff hang out in the water with you. The birth kit I bought for my second birth came with one, but I didn’t buy a birth kit with my first. I really wished I’d bought a net. Make sure you get one if one does not come in your kit.
Pawfly 8 Inch Aquarium Fish Net Fine Mesh Fish Catch Nets with 10.5 inch Plastic Handle – Green
7. Lots of Towels
My midwife’s supply list requested I have 6 large towels bleached, dried, and set aside for the birth. I’d rather be over-prepared than under-prepared, so I prepared 8-10 towels. I didn’t want to ruin any of my good towels, so I bought a bunch really cheap at Goodwill.
8. Home Birth Kit
My midwife has a special home birth kit she requests her clients to purchase from Radiant Belly. She chose all the items she wanted to be included in the birth kit. Many other midwives do the same thing, so likely your birth kit will not be the same as mine. I also purchase a bunch of other things that are not included in the birth kit. I will make a separate post on all the things included in my birth kit, as well as the other things I like to purchase for my birth.
9. Birth Tub Lid/Cover
Many birth pools come with lids to help keep in the heat when you are filling it up, or when you get out for a while. Since I had a cheap pool, mine did not come with lid. Instead, we bought this 5-pack of Mylar Thermal blankets. Just wet the edge of the pool with your hand, and the blankets will stick to the top and seal in the heat. It does take 2 blankets to cover a big pool, but it works and it’s CHEAP!
Mylar Science Purchase Emergency Thermal Blankets (5 Pack)
10. A Big Fluffy Robe
There is nothing quite like getting out of the birth tub, hard earned newborn baby in your arms, and slipping into a big fluffy robe. It’s even better if someone can throw it in the drier for you just before you get out of the tub. The BEST feeling!
I hope you enjoyed my post, and that you found it helpful. Leave me a comment of your home water birth must haves! Maybe you’ll share something I want to add to my “must have” list.
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8 Surprising Things I Learned After Becoming A Mother
From an early age, I knew I wanted to be a mother, and being the second oldest in a family of 12, I felt prepared for it. I thought I knew what to expect. Boy was I wrong! No matter how prepared you think you are, you cannot REALLY be prepared for a position you have yet to fill. Motherhood is more physically and mentally challenging, and yet far more rewarding than I had anticipated. Here are 8 surprising things I have learned in the past few years of being a mother.
1. Privacy is Almost Non-existent
Ryan invading my privacy… I’ve heard it said by mothers over and over that “the bathroom is the only place I can get privacy.” What?! You actually get privacy?! I’m jealous! If I close the door while I do my potty business, there will be fits, tears, and wild hysteria. OK, OK. I do get a tiny bit of privacy. But that either means I managed to coordinate naps (Mom win!) or I’m up WAY past my bedtime.
2. Mothers Are ALWAYS Cleaning Up Messes!
I swear, I clean up the same mess 50 billion times a day! Alright, I admit I am slightly exaggerating. But that’s honestly what it feels like some days. I take solace in knowing that one day my kids will have to do all the chores. I’ll just watch, big bowl of ice cream in hand, and a smile on my face. Maybe I’ll even add to the mess a little. Knock some books off the shelf, dump out the toy box, rip up some tissue…oh, and ice cream could make great paint! Mwah-ha-ha!
3. Naps are Heaven
I am willing to bet nobody enjoys a nap quite like a mother. Being a mother is downright exhausting! Mothers are busy from the moment their eyes open in the morning until they close again in sweet slumber. Although exhausting, it can be pretty difficult to sneak in a nap between the feeding, comforting, cleaning, laundry, dishes, and cooking, not to mention the quality time with hubby. I can’t even remember the last time I managed a nap. I can, however, remember the last time I almost got a nap (which my daughter spoiled by asking for a cracker…guys,…a cracker). So when a nap is finally achieved, the angels sing.
In the meantime, there’s coffee. 4. Snot is Not THAT Gross
Don’t get me wrong, snot IS gross. But it’s not gross enough to refuse my daughter’s kiss if she offers one. A snot covered face is not gross enough to push my son off my shoulder when he wants to snuggle. Snot doesn’t faze me a bit when my sick daughter needs some love and kisses. Snot is gross, but not nearly as gross as it used to be. And certainly not as gross as other things I’ve grown accustomed to dealing with.
5. Shopping With Kids is Not Easy
Before I had my children, I loved to go grocery shopping. It was fun planning meals and taking my time in the store gathering food. Now with two little ones, shopping is the LAST thing I want to do. In order to go shopping I have to get us dressed and out the door in a timely manner (psh!), and strategically plan around naps and snacks. But just getting out of the house is the least of my worries.
Lyla building a tower in the cart. Here are a few of the things my daughter (2 1/2) has done while shopping:
- Helped me out by ripping open boxes of food.
- Ate the broccoli straight out of the bag when I wasn’t looking. (At least she likes broccoli)
- Fell asleep in the middle of the cart leaving almost no room for food.
- Built a tower in the cart which knocked chicken broth onto the floor. Of COURSE it HAD to break open and spill everywhere. Embarrassing!
So, if I HAVE to do the shopping without the help of my husband, I try to get it over with as quickly as possible.
6. Motherhood is a Daily Roller Coaster of Emotions
You know exactly what I am talking about. Those rip-your-hair-out moments when your son helps himself to the candy bars in your purse, followed by swooning over his chocolate covered face. Or wanting to scream and cry (and maybe even run away) because your daughter has her 10th meltdown in 5 minutes. Then 2 seconds later you have to belly laugh because she finally fell asleep with her face in her plate of spaghetti.
7. My Husband is Suddenly More Attractive
My husband napping with Ryan. Not to say that I wasn’t attracted to him before, but my husband’s attractiveness (is that a word?) has tripled now that he is the father of my children. Gosh, that man is hot sauce. I love watching my children enjoy play time with their daddy, and I love to see the pride on my husband’s face as he watches them play. I love my family!
8. A Mother’s Love Multiplies
After I had my daughter, I was so happy. I was the whole entire world to a teeny person who emerged from ME. I love her so much. Then I found out that there was another on the way. I was very excited, but I started to wonder to myself, “What if I don’t love this baby as much as I love my daughter?” Then my son was born and I fell, I fell HARD! My heart had already been so full, but somehow, it filled some more. I have the same love for both of my children. It multiplied! I don’t know how it is possible, it just is!
What’s Next?!
Motherhood has taught me so much, and turned me into a better person. It has been an incredible journey already, and I still have many more lessons ahead of me. I am enjoying the years while my children are young, and too soon the teenage years will arrive. I am SURELY unprepared for that! In the meantime, I will learn what I can from all the wonderful mothers around me.
What surprising things did you learn after having children? What would you want a new mother to know? Let me know in the comments!
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