baby Archives - Page 3 of 15 - Bare Feet on the Dashboard

20
Jun
2014

Family Travel: 20 Fun Ways to Entertain Preschool Kids while Traveling

Every time we tell friends about our family travel plans with two kids under three, they look at us like we are crazy. We may very well be, but we love to travel and are almost done with our first adventure of the summer and preparing for our next one. Today I’m sharing 20 tips for entertaining preschool kids while traveling, and I hope they will be as useful to you as they have been to us. We love to travel and to take our kids along, so keeping them entertained is a must for our sanity.

We’ve been living and working at Camp Buckner, a beautiful camp in the Texas Hill Country for the last 2 1/2 weeks serving with Young Life. Traveling to and living at camp is challenging, but we are using it as a test run for our big 4 week road trip coming up later this summer. In July we will head out to Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Louisiana. Be sure to follow us on Instagram and Facebook so you don’t miss our adventures.

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17
Jun
2014

Cloth Diaper Hacks: Use {Almost} Any Cloth Diaper as a Swim Diaper

categories: baby, beach, budget, cloth diaper, green living

Summer is in full swing and we are basically living in the pool. Our Pearl Girl is a total water baby and wants to kick and splash just like her big brother. We have a few specific cloth swim diapers for her to use, but I want to let you in on a little secret I learned with the Bear. Almost ANY cloth diaper can work as a swim diaper. It’s true! We have used Bummis, Bumgenius, and Softbums shells as swim diapers and they all work perfectly.

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20
May
2014

Children Have Only One Childhood {Free Printable}

categories: baby, free printables

A quote hangs on the wall in my friend Betsy’s kitchen that inspires me and challenges me in this role of mother. I wasn’t able to find a source, but I love it so much a created a little free printable for you below. The statement, “Children have only one childhood” is such a great reminder that they are only little once, and then the magic is gone. I want to enjoy it, soak it up, let them be little and revel in their littleness. I want them to be free and to explore and to get messy and to be wild. I want them to run barefoot and climb and jump and discover. If there is a child in your life to love, you hold a responsibility to their childhood to let them experience. You don’t have to force it to be magical. Childhood is magical on its own. Don’t rush them, don’t overschedule, don’t make them grow up too fast. Protect them from harm, but give them freedom. Let them be little, they only get to do it once.

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19
May
2014

Simple and Frugal First Birthday Party Ideas

categories: baby, birthday

We like to keep our birthday parties simple and frugal around here, but we always want our kids to feel celebrated on their special day. Obviously they won’t remember their first birthdays, but we have photos for their baby books and traditions to build on. Today I’m sharing a few of our simple and festive birthday party ideas as well as some of the best from my fellow Ultimate Baby bloggers.

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18
May
2014

Play Outside: Five Ideas for Playing Outdoors with a Baby

categories: baby, kids, play

If you follow me on Instagram, you know we love to play outside. We spend as much time as possible playing in our yard, at the park, and exploring our world. My kids ask to go outside immediately after breakfast if not sooner, and they both recognize the sound of the door opening and come running. Playing with a baby outside can be a challenge because there are dangers to avoid and they can’t do what their toddler friends are doing. I’m sharing five ideas for playing outdoors with a baby, all of which are super easy and simple. You can read about our discovery garden ideas here. (more…)

16
May
2014

Our Absolute Favorite Baby Products for the First Year of Life

categories: baby

After two babies we’re up to our elbows in baby gear at the Eby house. We tried so many great products (and a few that we didn’t love). Today I’m sharing my absolute favorite products for baby’s first year strictly based on what worked best for us. These may not end up being your favorites, but they were ours’ and we highly recommend them. Jed will chime in and share his thoughts on a few items as well. This post is not sponsored in any way, and all opinions are our own. It does contain affiliate links, and purchasing through those links costs you nothing but helps support the Bare Feet on the Dashboard blog and family. Our favorite cloth diaper products are not on this list, but you can read more about those here. You can read our ideas on saving money with a baby here.

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15
May
2014

Make a DIY Baby Book with a Handwritten Style Font with Free Printables {2nd Edition}

categories: baby, crafts, diy, family, free printables, pregnancy

My sweet Pearl Girl is already one, and I just now finished her baby book. I am the Queen of Procrastination. I found a handwriting style font I love and recreated my DIY baby book I made for the Bear with the new font. You can find my original DIY Baby Book with free printables post here. I ordered an 8 1/2 x 11 scrapbook album off Amazon and printed the pages at home on colored 8 1/2 x 11 cardstock. I am happy to share these free printables with you, for personal use only. See below for more information.

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14
May
2014

All I’ve Learned About Cloth Diapers {After Three Years}

categories: baby, cloth diaper

After almost three years using cloth diapers on two children, I’ve learned a lot. We’ve tried 14 different kinds of cloth diapers and found our very favorites. You can read my post about what I learned the first two years here, and my great cloth diaper trials here. Read about our cloth laundry routine here. Our cloth diaper preferences and routines have evolved as we’ve adjusted to two kids, potty trained the Bear, and moved in to a new house. Today I’m sharing our favorite diapers, our simple laundry process, and my favorite things about cloth diapers.

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13
May
2014

My Best Breastfeeding Advice

categories: baby, breastfeeding

Breastfeeding was not easy for me, but I’m so glad I did it. I struggled with tongue tie, too much lipase, and recurrent mastitis, but still managed to have beautiful nursing relationships with both kids. Before having the Bear, I thought nursing would be so easy and natural. It is natural, but it isn’t always easy. So many of my friends have struggled as I did with feeding their babies, so I thought I’d share a few things I learned along the way. The journey we went through has given me much grace for others, so please don’t hear any judgement if your choices are different than mine. It isn’t there. Read more about our breastfeeding struggle here and here, and about all I learned about breastfeeding here.

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12
May
2014

Frugal Living: Our Top Five Tips for Saving Money with a Baby

categories: baby, frugal, pregnancy

We live debt free on a tight budget and don’t do debt or credit cards (thanks to Dave Ramsey‘s Total Money Makeover). When each of our two children came along, we knew there would be added expenses but did our best to minimize them. Jed and talked through our favorite frugal tips for saving money with a baby to share with you today. You could easily spend a fortune on baby gear and clothes, but you don’t have to. Having a baby will completely change your life, but it doesn’t have to break the bank. We are not experts, just a family thriving on one teacher income and living life to the full without spending a ton.

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Category: baby