Kimber's Navy Family

  Sitting down to write a post on feeding newborns, I was surprised at how raw some of those feelings were for me, even years later. Having attempted to breastfeed each of our five children, my experience has taught me that each child is different and that each breastfeeding journey is different. Discovering what worked best for me  as the parent and for each of our newborns in regards to feeding-- breastfeeding, bottle feeding, or a combination-- was not always an easy or simple solution and it often was laden with guilt that I wasn't living up to certain standards, worry that I wasn't making the right choice, and frustration when things didn't live up to expectations I had put on myself. We welcomed our fifth baby to our family this past summer so you could say that I am well-versed in the newborn days. With our first son, I was so nervous about if I was "doing it right." I worried about when I should be nursing him and for how long the sessions should b...

Well, baby #5 has decided that I apparently do not need sleep and she isn't even born yet. I thought I would put these wee hours of the morning to use and write a blog post while I sipped my lemon ginger tea in a quiet, still sleeping house. With 4 children and another on the way, I am not always eager to drag all the children to the store for small errands. Throw in having a husband on submarines, 2 asthmatic children, twin preschoolers, and the roughest pregnancy yet and you can bet running errands is my least favorite thing to do (well, changing pee sheets is probably actually my least favorite thing to do). When our twins were newborns, I really started utilizing the convenience of online shopping. Now I have honed that skill to level expert. Here are my tips on making online shopping work for you and avoiding small errands: 1. Buy in bulk The first step to successful online shopping: go to Costco. We plan our Costco trips every 1-2 weeks. Our twins are in prescho...

Well, cloth diapering has been different than I thought it would be. I tried to approach cloth diapering with an open mind, knowing that it was something that we were dedicated to. So, with that said, our cloth diapering journey has been full of ups and downs and lots of learning. Cloth diapering tips  My first recommendation when cloth diapering is to find a local baby store that carries cloth diapers. This was such a great resource to me, beyond just having a local business to support with my cloth diaper purchases. A lot of local baby stores hold cloth diapering classes. This was informative to me because it discussed all the different types of cloth diapers for all the different ages and stages as well as how wash routines for each of those as well. This is also where I went every time I needed to troubleshoot our cloth diapering routine . My second recommendation-- and one that may be harder to support-- is having a cloth friendly pediatrician. Our kids have all bee...

Do what really stinks? Car seat shopping. You ask online, "Hey, what car seats do you recommend?" And suddenly you are flooded with comments, "We bought the ExpensiveGoldPlated seat deluxe because we just really thought our child's safety was worth the investment. We are so glad we didn't go with GenericAffordableSeatYouAreLookingAt because it would have said we don't care about the well being of our child." It is hard. The prices for each car seat vary drastically and it is hard to tell with each seat whether you are paying for safety or brand name or styling. Obviously as parents we care about the safety of our children; it just is nice to know what is actually worth the money. Before I go any further on car seats we have owned and currently own, here is an excellent link from Consumer Reports on which car seats are safest: Best Car Seat Buying Guide by Consumer Reports . I loved that article when I read it. It was so refreshing to see in side by s...