Time Out with Mama B

The Bay Area has a number of fun Halloween events for you and your little ones, and many of them are free to go to! However, most of them all take place the same weekend - the weekend right before Halloween. One of our favorites is the Palo Alto: Annual California Ave Trick-or-Treat & Halloween Carnival. This annual Halloween event on California Ave is filled with activities, and everyone gets decked out in their Halloween best. Organized by Blossom, a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization supporting new and expectant families, it's been around for the last few years and is a great place for kids aged 0-12 to celebrate Halloween in daylight! Here are the top 5 reasons why my kids love this event: 1) The Awesome Costume Contests It's not just one costume contest, but multiple. Last year there were winners for Best Homemade Costume, Best Family Costume, and Best Costumes for certain age ranges! The best part is getting to see all the different costumes out there. 2) Th...

As everyone knows, raising and entertaining kids in Northern California is not cheap! Well, here's a FREE offer that parents will want to take advantage of... Right now, California’s Great America offers kids ages 3 - 5 years old a free Pre-K Pass!! The Pre-K Pass grants complimentary admission to California’s Great America for the entire season, including Boomerang Bay Waterpark, the Great Pumpkin Fest and WinterFest. Take advantage of this free pass - it's savings of at least $40 (reg. cost of admission for ages 3+), and valid for all of 2019! . My kids love visiting the Waterpark, and the rides in Snoopy World are great for kids aged 3-5. Not too scary, with just the right amount of fun! You can sign up HERE .

Surviving Baby's First Colds My baby was successful in avoiding any colds the first 6 months, but then the cold and flu season season hit.... and then my little one succumbed to his first cold.  We soon realized that the colds meant that we were going back to us being somewhat sleep deprived (but let's save that for another post).  I would often be doing google searches on what to do if your baby catches a cold, and we got a lot of tips from friends and family members. We actually did not take our baby to the doctor's office but we would correspond with our pediatrician over email. It seemed to me that the consensus from a few experienced moms was that if your baby's temperature is 100 or below, you may not need to bring the baby in but just monitor and try some remedies to provide comfort to your little one. Of course this depends on how your baby is behaving - even w/ a cold, our guy still seemed to play and be active as usual. Here's a recap of what we...

All parents can relate - the thought of traveling with a little one can be STRESSFUL.  When you talk about international travel, the stress can quickly double.  The flight, packing, jet lag - the things to think about can be overwhelming.  I'll be sharing some tips based on real life experiences in our travel w/ our little one.   Hopefully this will help some of you who are traveling for the first time with your little ones! Part 1: The Flight We bit the bullet and booked our tickets to Taiwan with our 10 month old - this was a 13 hour flight and we were super nervous! Here were the things that we needed to know in preparing for the flight: Passport:   You will need his passport for the international trip. To apply for his passport, we needed photos (Costco works well), the original birth certificate, and application form - we submitted it at our local post office. We applied for his passport 5 weeks prior to the departure date.  We were afrai...

Clogged ducts .  Nipple blisters. Let's face it, breastfeeding is not easy!  At least it wasn't for me. I went through months of these, coupled with my son crying hysterically at the breast, bouts of fevers from the clogged ducts, and I finally folded when the biting wouldn't stop.  My son didn't have a great latch so he didn't seem to completely empty my breast, making me more susceptible to clogs.  However, towards the end I was able to nip the clogged duct in the bud much faster because I knew what to do and what signs to look for.    Symptoms I experienced: Breast pain, lump or part of the breast is hard, feverish, headache, dizziness, not pumping as much milk as normal Remedies I tried: 1) Use hot towel or shower and massage the breast to try to unclog the duct 2) Take an ibuprofen for fever and chills 3) Breastfeed/pump more often 4) Taking oral granular lecithin (purchased at Whole Foods) since studies have shown that lecithin is h...

What to Feed a Picky Toddler: Recipe #1 Lately, my toddler has entered a picky streak. Once a very easy eater, she is now pushing away anything in front of her, which is requiring this mama to put a bit more thought into meals. I'm sure she would probably be happy eating some McD's french fries, but that's not going to happen.  What can I give her that's healthy and tasty?? Think mama, think!!! Well, Mac and Cheese always seems to work, so how about the healthy version... Broccoli Mac and Cheese!  Try this recipe tonight and you'll have a hit with even the picky ones! Broccoli Mac and Cheese Ingredients 8 oz elbow macaroni 1 (11.8 oz) package Broccoli Florets 2 tablespoons butter 1 egg yolk 1.5 Cups of Milk 8 oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese salt and pepper, to taste Instructions Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook the macaroni until al dente. While the pasta is cooking, cook the vegetables according to the package directions. Once...

Babies seem to love cheese.  My son has been a picky eater recently, but we've found him to be an eager beaver at dinner when cheese is involved.   Cheese is very good for baby and provides calcium to build strong bones, and has good fats and protein too, I find my son enjoys cheddar cheese, but there's such a wide variety of cheeses out there.   Here's a recipe that's sure to please.  Feel free to add in other vegetables such as summer squash and zucchini. Avocado and Cheese Quesadillas Ingredients 1   small avocado, cut into thin slices 1/2 cup   cheese, shredded  2  tortillas (We used Costco tortillas) Preparation 1.  Place a tortilla in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. 2.  Cover with half of the cheese and top with the avocado slices. 3.  Cover with remaining cheese and tortilla, slightly pressing down.  Cook in the saute pan for 6 minutes total. 5.  Serve and make your baby happy! ...