Like many of you out there, I have become addicted to Pinterest. I love the site and all its many many ideas that are shared! I have created a board on my Pinterest called The Sweet and The Salty follow the board to get more ideas! I am also addicted to Instagram, Mike got me hooked about a month or so ago. I love the fact you can instantly upload pictures, it's like insta-blogging!  Follow me there, rmbraden09.

Update on the nursery furniture...everything is sanded down and we are currently fixing the drawers so they open and close more smoothly, then all we need is our coats a paint and voila! We also decided to put baby B in his/her own room. We were I was getting a little concerned on spaced and decided to take over my mom's sewing room. It's a good thing we decided to do this because when we do move out my parents will now have a nice empty room that they could potentially turn into a walk in closet, which is ALWAYS NICE to have! We're just about done sorting through fabric and what not and we'll be able to put the furniture and the rest of Baby B's things inside! Nothing like down to the WIRE! But honestly, my family works best under pressure :)  

I also decided to purchase a few girl items and a few boy items for Baby B's newborn pictures. I found all of them on Etsy and I had to share my excitement because they are all just so cute and little!!!

 
Red, white & pink headbands---ElluraSage
Black, white, & red bloomers---Sweet Shop Bowtique
Baby Boy Knit Hat---CarolinaKnots

Baby B has been moving a ton lately and is making my belly look more like a torpedo :0) I have to admit, feeling this little guy or gal kick, roll, punch and turn inside me is one of the most amazing things I have ever experienced! 

FYI ruffles on a preggo belly make you look much bigger than you actually are! Also, has anyone else experienced this....I workout, but it seems like it does nothing! Seriously I feel like I'm getting more squishy even though I'm working out, it doesn't make sense! I'm just hoping it's water/fluids.

Mike and I also spent our Easter weekend taking a little mini baby-moon. It was SO relaxing and fun to just spend time together, shop and eat :) I highly recommend going away, even just for a weekend before your Little One arrives!

I have shared that I have a degree in Early Childhood and Elementary Education. I taught in a preschool for over two years for Infants through Kindergarteners and LOVED it. Now that Mike and I will be meeting our little one in just a few more weeks and I plan on staying home with our baby, I thought I would switch gears a little bit and help other moms and dads with activities and lessons they can do at home with their little ones. 

Each week I will (try to do my best) post different activities starting with infants, if anyone has questions or is looking for an activity for a different age group feel free to message me and I would be more than happy to help you out! 

I fully know how kids can drive moms and dads bonkers and they need different activities planned throughout the day with a schedule. When I taught Pre-Kindergarten my students absolutely loved getting messy, building, pretend playing and reading. Yes....reading. I taught 3, 4 and 5 years olds who were so excited to learn how to read and yes they could actually do it. I would never push a child into reading if they're not ready for it, but I can give you some tips as what to do if you have a little one who is interested and ready. Be aware some activities that I will post will involve getting messy and you will need to help your child with it----they LOVE when they can learn with mom and dad! Also know that mistakes and opps! happen a lot and that's okay. One of the best things you can teach your child is that NO ONE is perfect and that it's okay to make a mistake and try again. I will begin posting in just a few short weeks! 

But on another note...I wanted to share a great idea that a friend of mine asked me to be a part of. She is also expecting her first later this summer and asked me to participate in a book exchange in order to begin building our children's at home library. Here's how it works...

In order to participate you ask for the letter. The letter states all the specifics about the book exchange and at the bottom there are two spots for babies/toddlers names. You will send a book to the first child listed in the letter. Then you will send the letter on to six of your friends. In the end your child will get 36 books and all you have to do is send one book. It's a neat idea and an easy way to get babies' libraries going. 

I love this idea because you can do this for children of all ages, not just babies and they can come from all over! I was so excited this morning as I received my first couple of books which came from South Carolina and Maryland!

 I thought I would share with you some of my favorite children's books.
 

• Olive My Love by Vivian Walsh
• The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
• The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn
• Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
• Big Bug Book by David A. Carter
• ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book by Dr. Seuss
• The Mitten by Jan Brett
• Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney
• If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Numeroff
• Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh
• Swimmy by Leo Lionni
• Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle
• The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton
• You Are My Cupcake by  Joyce Wan

Mike probably goes crazy with all my books! I literally have two huge bins full! But can you have too many books? Maybe I don't need an answer to that ; ) I will say all these books are by fantastic authors and these are not their only books.
I love when I get to meet an author whether at a school visit or at a book signing. Mike and I were fortunate enough to go to a book signing for Jan Brett, author of The Mitten (and so many other awesome books!) last fall. We knew we were expecting at the time so we had her write a little note to Baby B for us. Who knows, with my love for books, maybe someday I'll start WRITING my OWN! 

What are some of your favorite books growing up or ones that you enjoy reading with your children?

Update!
Last night while roaming through Target with Mike, I came across the book How to Rock Your Baby by Erin Bried. It's about tips for modern moms and babies. It covers everything from expecting, delivery, feeding, caring and remembering. It's a quick read and I'm nearly half way through the book. I had to put it down in order to get some things done today. I would recommend this book, at least check it out!