Here’s a good challenge about memorizing Scripture (click on the Bible to hear):

My chubby little guy has a prominent double chin (i.e. his chin rests on his chest). Unfortunately, his neck beneath the double chin never sees the light of day so, as you can imagine, there is no air circulation going on there and he’s developed a pretty good rash.

We’ve tried a few things, with little success, so I’ve been studying it out a little more to see what we can do. I guess this is a common occurrence, so I wanted to let all of you new mommies know what you can do about it if your sweet baby ends up with the same kind of rash! Here is what Dr. Greene says:

Getting a rash under the neck is very common at 4 months because the skin of the neck’s folds rubs against itself. The heat, friction, and moisture combine to irritate the skin and interrupt the normal outside, protective layer. This rash will often stay there until kids are sitting up most of the day, no matter how it is treated.

Sometimes yeast can get into this irritated skin. When that happens, a yeast cream should reliably get rid of the infection within two weeks, but the rash will usually stay. If the rash is spreading to other spots of high friction or moisture, that would be expected, but if the rash is spreading to normal, exposed skin that doesn’t get this kind of stress, it should be checked again.

As for cleansing the area, soap can be irritating. I prefer just using warm water and a very soft washcloth, and then drying it very carefully. Air to the area is very healing, and sometimes a very thin layer of something like A&D ointment can protect the skin.

I’ve also read/been told that the following are possible solutions:

• Cornstarch
• Monistat
• Burts Bee’s Baby Powder
• Calendula Ointment
• Aquaphor

Has anyone ever tried any of these? Any ideas on the subject?

This past Christmas, we took our son on his first plane trip…and he had a very nervous mother. Not only was I reluctant about waking him up in the wee hours of the morning (4 am) to make the trip, but I was not looking forward to check-in lines, baggage claims, trying to make sure my son could slip in a few naps despite being overstimulated by the beeping baggage carts, and eardrum pressure.

Well, we planned ahead (using the tips I’ll give you below) and everything went fairly well (except for when my son demolished one of the magazines and left it’s remains in the aisle). Here are some tips to make traveling with your infant a smooth and enjoyable experience.

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Baby Clothes

• Pack 1-2 outfits for each day you will be on your trip (if you don’t go through 1-2 outfits every day at home, you’re lucky - so be doubly prepared for a trip! Is it just me, or do all children have most of their major explosions when you’re out?)
• Organize each outfit in a re-sealable plastic bag so that you don’t have to dig through everything to find a matching sock.
• Use the empty re-sealable bags for dirty clothes.
• In your carry on bag, pack a whole day’s worth of supplies – not just enough for the flight. You never know what may happen (i.e. delays, lost baggage, etc.)
• Dress your baby in layers so that you can make adjustments to different temperatures (if plane is too hot, take of a layer, vice versa).
• Make sure that you have medicines and liquids packed properly. You may want to check with your airline on their guidelines for this. When we flew, we had to have all of our medicine in a 1-quart Ziploc bag.

Ear Drum Tips

• Feeding your baby or giving him a pacifier or something to drink during ascent and descent (descent is the most important) will help prevent some of the eardrum stretching.
• Giving your baby acetaminophen just before the flight can ease discomfort.
• I’ve heard about these things called earplanes -”air pressure regulating” ear plugs. I’m not sure how well babies do with these, but I’ve heard about mothers using them on their babies!

Car Seats

• Infants can sit in your lap during a flight if you do not want to purchase an extra seat.
• If you have not purchased a seat for your baby, the stewardesses may be able to sit you next to an empty seat where you can put a car seat (on every one of our flights the stewardesses sat us next to empty seats – BUT it was useless because we weren’t permitted to use the car seat that we brought – more about that next).
• Check with your airline about car seat regulations. We had checked our airline’s website about car seat regulations and ours was “A Ok!” according to the website. But when we got there, the stewardesses said it wasn’t FAA approved so we couldn’t’ use it. I called the airline before our return flight to see if there had been a mistake, and they said that the regulations had recently changed (and their website did not reflect that change yet) – no rear-facing car seats (this was January 08). So, there’s a tip for ya. You may want to double check that, though, before you fly.
• Car seats cannot be placed in exit rows and must be placed in adjoining window seats.

Other

• Bring a your baby’s birth certificate along - the airline may ask for it
• Bring a child carrier or sling because you can navigate the aisles easier with it
• Bring some toys for distraction
• You can check strollers and car seats at the gate. They will be available to you as soon as you get off the plane
• Check as much luggage as you can so that your hands are as free as possible
• Use a backpack for a diaper bag
• Be warned: going through security with your baby can be “exciting” (you have to fold up the stroller to put it through the x-ray machine, carry baby through metal detector, if anyone beeps, you’ll get patted down, etc.)
• Bring extra pacifiers (if your child likes them) - those little things tend to get lost!
• Allow plenty of time at the airport for check-in and connecting flights
• Get on the plane first and off the plane last - this’ll give you a better chance at getting help from the stewardesses
• Lastly, have relax and have fun!

Every time I pull a load of laundry out of the dryer and find socks who have lost their “mate”, childhood recollections of a “dryer thief” myth come flooding into my mind. Can it be true?

True or not, you have once again been left with tons of spouseless socks.

Since I have become a mother, the problem has only gotten worse. How? Two words:

BABY SOCKS

Yep - they’re tiny and they get sucked into the “black hole” like nobody’s business.

-

Soooooo….Here’s a tip!

When washing baby clothes, put all of the socks into a mesh laundry bag

You’ll never lose tiny baby socks again! At least, not in the dryer!

What is the best thing that you could ever do for your children? I mean, better than giving them your time, your affection, financial stability, a healthy marriage with your spouse, a warm home with little (if no) friction, tidy atmosphere, good food, a dependable daily schedule, good education, etc. What is it?

The most important thing you could ever do for your children is this:

Maintain a warm and vibrant relationship with the Lord - love Him, know Him (by reading His Word), and serve Him with all of your heart.

You can bring your children to church, read the Bible to them every day, talk to them about God, but if they do not witness, day in and day out, by your life and example that you are a passionate follower of Jesus Christ, they will only see is a shell of religion - an outward display.

And what will that profit them? Nothing. Except maybe to suspect hypocrisy…or become bitter against religion.

As homemakers and mothers, it is easy to get caught up in making tasty meals, keeping the home tidy and organized, giving our children the best education we can offer - but what will truly matter in eternity? Our children’s souls.

When they face God one day, will it matter if they had the highest GPA in their class? Will it matter that they were always given a clean home and nutritious meals?

No - what’s going to matter, ultimately, is if they came to know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior…and your influence as their mother is profound in pointing them in that direction.

So my challenge is this - don’t get caught up in the non-essentials, focus on eternity. Don’t get caught up in a busy schedule that makes it difficult to maintain a sweet, warm, and vibrant time with God, alone, each day. Know God, love Him, let His love and grace spill over to your children every day through you.

If you’re like me, folding a fitted sheet generally results in a blob-like mass of fabric that is stuffed with all of the other blob-like-masses-of-fabric in my linen closet.

Well, in my quest to become a more precise and organized homemaker, I decided that it was high time for me to get this thing nailed down. So, I searched the web.

I’m a visual person, so finding this video was a relief and dissuaded any fears of having to learn how to fold fitted sheets by referring to a step-by-step plan with hand-drawn pictures (this would have only added to my fitted-sheet anxiety).

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHTyH2nuFAw&rel=1]

I’m trying a new recipe today…meatless macaroni. I’ll post pictures later today of how it turned out, and we’ll see if it’s a “hit” this evening!

Here’s the recipe (from cooks.com):

• 2 c. macaroni
• 1 lg. onion
• 3 tbsp. butter
• 2 c. chopped green peppers
• 1 1/2 c. tomatoes
• 1 c. grated cheese
• 1 tsp. sage
• 1 tsp. salt
• Dash of pepper

Cook macaroni until tender. Prepare the sauce from the following: partly cook onion in butter. Add green pepper and tomatoes. Cook for 15 minutes. Add cheese, sage, salt, and pepper. Blend sauce into macaroni. Bake in casserole dish for 30 minutes. More juice may be added if desired

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Well, here’s how it turned out (and my husband said it was “fabulous”!):

Comments are now closed for the Bath Set Giveaway.

See Winner Here.

As a part of the Giveaway Carnival, I will be giving away a Revlon Spa Mommy & Me Bath Gift Set (our first giveaway here at Handprints on the Wall!).

The kit includes:

• Motorized palm brush (which cleans and exfoliates)
• Great smelling bath gel and bath salts
• Bath fizzers which change the color of the water
• Turtle nail brush
• Carry-n-go backpack
• Loofah frog scrubber
• Soap duckie

This gift set is full of fun stuff for mommy and child to do during bath time! How could your child not like bath fizzers (oh, to be a child again)? Boys will pretend they are grenades, girls will pretend they are…um…well something girly.

HERE’S HOW THE GIVEAWAY WORKS:

1. Leave a comment on my post telling something weird about yourself (just for fun - might as well make it fun, right?) - mine is: I can’t smell skunks.
2. On Saturday, Feb. 2, I will draw a winner from the comments I receive and post the winner on this page (so make sure to check back on Saturday to see if you are the winner!)
3. Shipping costs will be covered by me (only to addresses in the US)

“They grow up sooooo fast!” - I’ve heard this often. And I believe it. It’s kind of scary.

Not long after my son was born, I began thinking about the day he’ll be married (Lord-willing) and I was thinking about his future wife (whoever that may be). Knowing too well how our culture is “molding” the women of today, this became a heavy burden to me. My greatest fear is that my son will be carried away with what the “world” calls beautiful and desirable, and he’ll find himself a miserable man with a wife who only cares about herself, who is materialistic, selfish, catty, rude, immodest, insensitive, uncaring, and wasteful. This would truly break my heart.

The desire of my heart is that my son marry a woman who cherishes, honors and respects him. A woman who brings joy and warmth to his life. A woman who constantly portrays Christlikeness and is a strong source of spiritual encouragement and refreshment. A woman who is wise, kind, tenderhearted, humble, selfless, submissive, forgiving, modest, patient, creative, capable, frugal. A woman who prays for my son. A woman who desires to be in the home, ministering to her husband and children as unto the Lord. This is the kind of woman I desire for my son.

How will my son come to value this kind of a woman? By seeing it modeled in our home.

I must be that kind of woman. I must model it for him. It’s not enough for me to sit down and give him a lesson on “Finding a Virtuous Wife 101″. He must see it in my life. You’ve heard it said that men marry women who are like their mothers - well, I must be the kind of woman what I want my son to one day marry.

When I thought of this, I staggered a bit in my mind. I’m not always “kind”, “selfless” or “patient”. I’m not the poster-child of joy and warmth. Thinking of this really put “fire under my britches”, so to speak. If my son is to desire a woman who loves the Lord, respects and submits to her husband; a woman who is wise, kind, humble, modest, patient, etc., I must be that woman in my home - toward my husband and toward my children.

What a responsibility! What a calling! So this is my prayer: not only that the Lord would provide that kind of a wife for my son, but that I will be an example for my son. I’m not perfect…I’ll never be perfect…but God gives grace.

Despite the fact that I love being organized (or at least love thinking that I’m organized), I do not really enjoy doing laundry. Granted, I do not mind throwing it in and starting the machine - it’s the folding/putting away part that I don’t enjoy. Laundry is the one house duty that I am constantly behind on.

I also have a hard time putting together decent outfits each day because 1.) I was born with an impaired sense of style and color coordination (my poor roommates in college often had to aid me in my “fashion deficiency”, 2.) I can never seem to find the shirt that goes with that particular skirt (it’s probably in a laundry pile somewhere) and 3.) well, I don’t have anymore excuses.

This being the case, and me being very frustrated with the present circumstances, I was very please when I came across this idea when reading one of the (many) baby magazines that I’ve received since our son was born (can’t remember which one, sorry!):

THE 6 OUTFIT LAYOUT

This is how it works - or at least, how I’m going to make it work:

• On Saturday I’ll set out 6 outfits for the week (Monday - Saturday); I’ll also pick out a Sunday outfit and set it to the side (I’m sure they make 7-slot organizers, but we got the 6-slot one)
• I’ll place the outfits neatly in my new closet organizer (see picture)
• When each day is over and I switch over to pajamas, I’ll throw my clothes into a hamper to be washed
• At the end of the week, I’ll wash all of the clothes I wore that week, fold them and put them back in the slots and - bam! - they’re ready for the next week.

I’m very excited about this plan because (here I go listing again) 1.) I only have to worry about putting together 6 outfits (not counting Sunday), 2.) Less laundry, and 3.) Less time going from closet to dresser, from dresser back to closet, etc. to put together an outfit - it’ll all be in a slot waiting for me!

I finished the closet projects yesterday and reformed our closet as well as my son’s closet. Here’s what they look like:

Ah…the feeling of being organized…it’s good, real good. Now, let’s hope I can keep it this way!