4 Baby Registry Must-Haves

Is it really possible that this little peanut:

is now this big?

It seems like just yesterday we were preparing for her birth. I was asked to share my 4 Baby-Registry Must-Haves as part of a sponsored campaign with Levana. There are so many things that you think you will need, and when it comes down to it — you just don't. All the fancy gadgets are nice and all, but sometimes you look back and realize that you didn't use those things nearly as much as you thought you would.

So here are four must-haves for your baby registry:

1. A car seat. If you have a baby, and you want to go anywhere, you need one of these! Bonus if they can get you a matching stroller, unless you're the babywearing type. Then you should ask for your choice of wrap or carrier. People need to know details so they can get you what you really want and need.

2. Diapers and wipes. Every baby has to have them. You will be grateful for every single diaper someone gives you. Most people know that diapers and wipes are good baby gifts, but they won't always know which brand you prefer. If you want to get the kind you like, you'd better put it on your registry.

3. Clothes – People love picking out cute little baby clothes, but..ahem…everyone has their own interpretation of the word “cute”. If you want to get what you think is cute, then register for specifics.

4. A baby monitor. I like to put my babies in their own room as soon as possible so that I can sleep without hearing every little baby noise. Baby noises are cute and all, but they keep me awake. Tired mama = grouchy mama. Not good. If baby is going to be in their own room, it's nice to have a little peace of mind that a monitor can help give.

The kind folks at Levana sent me an Oma+ monitor. It is the most unique baby monitor I have ever seen.

It is cordless (battery-powered) and it actually senses baby's breathing. You clip it onto baby's diaper right at the belly button and it senses his or her movements. The sensor will gently vibrate to help encourage the return of regular movement after 15 seconds of complete stillness and will beep loudly to alert you if no movement is detected for more than 20 seconds.

Levana is dedicated to the safety of precious babies, keeping abreast of what's important to parents by asking real moms their needs and developing solutions to meet those needs. They exclusively manufacture baby monitors so they can focus on perfecting their products, and all monitors are digital and wireless to eliminate the risk of cord strangulation. The Oma+ is exclusively available at buybuy Baby in the US.

Watch the video below for more information on choosing a baby movement monitor. (Can't see the video? Watch on YouTube.)

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Levana. The opinions and text are all mine.

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How to Take Great Pictures of Your Kids (Even When You Have No Idea What You’re Doing)

Folks, I am not a photographer.  I'm just a mom with no time to sift through my camera's manual or all the photography tutorials on Pinterest.

But doesn't every mom like to have adorable pictures of her kiddos?  And doesn't every mom dread making an appointment at a studio, wondering if the kids will be happy that day, keep their clothes clean until they get there, and avoid procuring any scrapes or bruises on their face until after their photos have been taken?

What's a girl to do? 

Although photography is definitely not something I am good at, I have been happy with the photos I have been able to take of my children in the comfort of our own home.

Here are just a few simple things to keep in mind, and you too can get great photos of your kids to keep or give as gifts to the grandparents!

1. Lots of light.  The more natural light you can find, the better.  Place your child with a window facing them (not with the window behind them).  I have found that I can get better photos inside rather than outside because I have no idea how to handle shadows or too much light.  A place inside near a sunny window is almost foolproof.

2. A nice background – Place your child in front of a solid-colored wall, or use a blanket or a piece of fabric as a background.  (In the below photo, I used a piece of fabric. I just taped the fabric right to the wall.  Easy as pie.)

3. A strong finger.  This is the one that's most important when you have no idea what you're doing.  Just click that button over and over and over, and eventually one of the pictures will come out good!  See, it's really not that hard!  (If you're a photographer, please stop reading.  This is getting embarrassing.)

4. A little teensy-tinsy bit of editing know-how.  You don't have to have any fancy software.  PicMonkey will do fine.  It's just nice to know that when you look through the 400 photos you clicked and find the best one and it's almost perfect, that you can brighten it up just a bit, or erase a little bit of snot under your kid's nose.

(The eBook Monkey See, Monkey Do: A Tutorial to Using PicMonkey with Professional Results,will make using PicMonkey a cinch!)

So…are you ready to try some snapping some photos of those cuties?!  Let me know how it goes!

It’s Here! Get the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle Now!

You'll find the iPad mini giveaway at the bottom of this post.  Keep scrolling!

I am so excited that this bundle is back!!! I have purchased every single bundle in the past and have loved them all — and this one is the best one they've put together yet!

By popular demand, 100+ homemaking bloggers are bringing back The Ultimate Homemaking Bundle, and it's better than ever!

The Ultimate Homemaking Bundle is a complete library of great eBooks on homemaking—a truly valuable knowledge base you’ll use for many years to come.

Unlike a library, though, you don’t have to spend years building it up. The Ultimate Bundles team has done the hard work for you, searching the web to find the very best eBooks from top homemaking authors and combining them into one essential collection that you can buy in one simple purchase.

Act now to get the ultimate eBook collection on homemaking at a once-in-a-lifetime price.

I'm confident you won’t find a more comprehensive set of homemaking resources anywhere — and certainly not at this price. Bought separately, they’d cost a total of $698 (not including $200+ in bonuses!). But you can have all of them for just $29.97!

Or, for just an extra $10, you not only get the full set of PDF files, but also a bonus set of Kindle editions, perfectly formatted for easy Kindle reading. This has been a popular request over the years and I'm excited to say it's now available!

I believe it’s the best deal on homemaking eBooks anywhere on the web. But it will only be available for six days. So grab yours before it's gone!

What's in the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle?

86 eBooks on the topics of Homemaking, Food, Motherhood, Marriage, Faith, Finances, Health, Holidays, Homeschooling, Pregnancy and Baby, Self-Care, and Working From Home and Blogging. See the full list of books.

In addition to all the amazing eResources, this bundle includes the best bonus offers it's ever had, including:

• A free 10-pack of greeting cards from Dayspring
• 3 free eye shadows from Redeeming Beauty Minerals
• Free art print plus $15 store credit to Hope Ink
• $15 store credit for fabric & patterns from Marie-Madeline Studio
• Sixty-four loads of eco-friendly laundry detergent from Dizolve

As well as five more incredible offers from:

• TriLight Health
• List Plan It
• Bulk Herb Store
• Once a Month Meals
• Fit2B Studio

The bonuses alone are worth over six times the price of the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle.  Learn more about the bonus offers.

This huge wealth of information and guidance will be right there on your laptop, tablet, smartphone, or Kindle, whenever you need it.

Here's what you need to know about the sale:

Want to learn more? Read about what this amazing bundle offers—or just buy it now!

Can't afford the bundle right now?  

The organizers have really sympathized with those who would love it, but need to get paid first.  You can still get your order in before the deadline, but your card will not be charged until May 1.  Order through the links below, and they will automatically charge your card on May 1, and your bundle will be emailed to you as soon as payment has gone through.

Order now and Pay in May for Kindle.

Order now andPay in May for PDF version.

Remember, this bundle is available for 6 days only, from 8 a.m. (EST) on Wednesday, April 23 to 11:59 p.m. (EST) on Monday, April 28th.

Disclosure: I have included affiliate links in this post. Read the fine print about this bundle and read the answers to frequently asked questions about the bundle.

Giveaway!

To celebrate this sale, I have gotten together with some of the other authors to giveaway an iPad mini, a Flirty Apronof your choice, and a $25 Amazon.com gift card to one winner!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Help for Disorganized People: Getting Started

For the previous posts in this series, check out

{Help for Disorganized People: Part 1}

{9 Reasons You Procrastinate}

{Overcoming Roadblocks to Organization}

{Overcoming Roadblocks to Organization: Part 2}

{What to Do When You Get Off Track}

 Now that you know what you need to do to get organized, you have to actually get started!

If you're having trouble getting started, it's very possible that you're making it harder than it has to be. A lot of us disorganized procrastinators tend to look at everything at once, which can be very overwhelming. Learning how to break things down into smaller chunks will help you get started a lot more easily. In fact, it's as easy as learning your ABC's.

A — Take Action

You've spent enough time learning; you know what to do. You're going to learn even more from doing than you are from reading about and thinking about doing something. So, take action today! Pick one small thing and go for it!

B — Break it Down

The way to truly “go for it” is to break everything down into smaller, doable chunks.  Need to organize a room.  Start by looking for all the trash in the room and throwing it away.  You can do that.  When that job is finished, choose one shelf to declutter.  Don't start on another job until each thing is finished.  Focus on one small task at a time. Before you know it, all those small tasks will add up to big success.

C — Create Momentum

Momentum simply means forward progress. In order to create forward progress you got started, you broke it down to small, workable chunks, and now you have to keep going! As you keep moving forward, everything you've done adds up to create bigger and larger success.

In Conclusion

Letting go of procrastination and getting organized is a critical skill to learn. It's far too easy to just let things pile up until you start facing overwhelm. But if you keep your aim high, and focus on the small picture, you can beat overwhelm and finally get organized. Getting organized will allow you to keep track of even more amazing ideas, enable you to get more from your ideas, drastically lower your stress, and help you waste less time!

What is the first small task you will do?

(And if you haven't already joined our Homemaking Challenges group, focusing on one small task at a time is exactly what we're doing!  It's a lot more fun to work together with other homemakers who have similar struggles.  Come join us!)

Evenflo Symphony DLX Car Seat Review (It’s Pretty Awesome)

Thanks to the opportunity to partner with Evenflo in a sponsored campaign, we were able to try out the Evenflo Symphony DLX convertible car seat.

The Evenflo Symphony DLX convertible car seat takes safety and comfort to the next level with its NASA-developed Outlast® technology, a temperature regulating fabric that keeps babies and toddlers comfortable during hot and cold weather.

We recently took a day trip up to the Blue Ridge Parkway and hiked to Linville Falls (a perfect hike for our family — just a tiny bit challenging for the littles without being too overwhelming), and it was one of the warmest days we have had so far this spring.

Our Suburban was parked right in the sun.  When we returned from the hike and started buckling the kids up, I was honestly surprised to find that my little guy's car seat was perfectly cool to the touch.

And in spite of the fact that it is already spring, we have had some pretty cold mornings.  But this little guy has not had to deal with the discomfort of climbing into a cold car seat.  The temperature regulating fabric has absolutely delivered on its claims.  Evenflo's goal was to ensure a safer, more peaceful ride for both mom and child  A distracted driver is a risk on the road, and nothing can be more distracting to a mom driving than a crying baby or toddler. According to a study conducted by American Baby and Safe Kids Worldwide, new moms are 300% more likely to get into an accident than other drivers, in part due to tending to an upset baby.  Keeping your child comfortable will reduce instances of fussiness in the car and thereby reduce the danger of distraction as you try to comfort them.

Additionally, the car seat features buckle pockets, a simple yet ingenious feature.  The metal part of the buckles tuck neatly into the sides of the car seat, keeping them from getting hot and burning your child's delicate skin during hot weather.  Having them tucked into the side also eliminates digging around under your child to find the buckles when it's time to go somewhere.

Another thing I like is how easy it is to adjust the straps.  There is a little button on the front of the seat that I can push, and when I simultaneously pull the straps out they will loosen up.  To tighten them I simply pull the strap on the front.  This makes it very easy to make sure my little guy is buckled properly.

The car seat includes an insert that should be used for smaller babies to make sure the car seat is safe for them.

This is an all-in-one seat that accommodates children ranging from 5 – 110 lbs, making it the only car seat you will ever need.

The only downside is that it is big.  If we were to need 3 children to sit in the back of our Suburban, they would not all fit back there with the Evenflo in there.

Overall, I think the Evenflo Symphony DLX convertible car seat is a very well-made and well-designed car seat.  If space is not an issue, this is a fabulous option for your child to use from birth until they no longer need a car seat!

What is your favorite feature of the Evenflo Symphony DLX?

You Can Earn a Full-Time Income From Your Blog

What if, a year from now, you were able to earn a full time income from your blog?

How would your life be different?

The doors for Elite Blog Academy will be closing soon and won’t open again until next year. Do you really want to wait until 2016 to start building your business?

You might think you are already doing okay.

But is your blog really as profitable or successful as it could be?
Is your message clear and presented in a way that is visually appealing?
Is your traffic growing?
Is your business taking off?

We all know how overwhelming it can feel to juggle the day-to-day demands of writing a blog with the big-picture strategy of creating a profitable business. Last year I decided to take a chance and enroll in the first-ever Elite Blog Academy course. I wasn’t sure I would learn anything new, but I was willing to take the chance.

I am so glad I did! In the time since I started Elite Blog Academy, I have more than quadrupled my yearly income from my blog.  (Read more about my experience with that here.)

It is possible to create a successful business from a blog, and Elite Blog Academy shows you exactly how it’s done, step-by-step.

It even comes with a 100% money-back guarantee!

If you complete the course and have not seen measurable results in both traffic and income growth you will get your money back, no questions asked. You literally have NOTHING to lose.

Tuition is just $399-believe me it’s worth every penny.

Enrollment is limited, so don’t delay. Doors will close April 21st! Otherwise you will have to wait until 2016!

*Bonus!

If you purchase through my affiliate link, I am offering an exclusive bonus only to you.

In Unit 3, you will be assigned to have an evaluation done on your blog through a user testing site. Although this is helpful, it is usually done by people off the street who have no knowledge of blogging and who are simply telling whether or not they like the look of your blog.

I want to help you get the most possible out of this course, so I am offering a professional blog evaluation (reg. $99) completely free to you. Simply forward me a copy of the receipt once you enroll and I will make a note of it. Once you reach unit 3 you can contact me for your free professional evaluation.

(To make sure you actually go through my link, you should clear your cookies first, then purchase through this link.)

P.S. Don't forget this is the only course Ruth is doing this year! If you're ready to earn a full time income from your blog, don't wait! Otherwise you'll be sitting around until 2016.

Course enrollment ends in:

Enroll now to begin your journey to making a full-time income from your blog.  (Remember to clear cookies first if you want the free professional evaluation.)