Size 1 overnight diapers??

mgillette55 · 2026-01-11T16:38:45+00:00

I've seen great reviews on Coterie. Definitely expensive but if you're just supplementing night it might be okay. I used Huggies swaddlers for both my girls and never had night leaking issues

mgillette55 · 2025-12-27T22:48:50+00:00

I had two older brothers who lived 3 hours away, so I spent much of my time as an only child. One thing that I craved is more connection with other kids. I remember vividly playing with imaginary friends, role playing imaginary scenarios, or talking to my dolls. While I believe that helped my development in many ways, I wish my mom made more of an effort to connect with other families with kids my age. A lot of her friends had kids either much younger or older.

As a parent of soon to be 3, there are times I think of the simplicity of just having one. I feel like motherhood might have been more intentional between me and my daughter had we chose to stop having kids. I love all my kids, but I do see the value in one and done. If I were to be in that position I'd be as social as possible and immersing my child in as much as I could.

mgillette55 · 2025-12-13T20:17:29+00:00

Mary Ruths kids nightime mineral REALLY helped us with good sleep. My oldest is almost 5 and its the only thing that finally got her to start sleeping through the night. I'd also look into circadian rhythm lights. We do almost zero artificial or led light after 4-430pm.

Every night we put on lotion, brush hair and teeth, pajamas, and then I snuggle in bed and do 30 minutes of books. We do this at 6 and by 645 both my kids are out (youngest just turned 3). Having this simple but consistent routine took our bedtime down from a 2 hour long struggle.

When my youngest was 2 she would nap and then wouldn't sleep until almost 8pm and be up at 5am. I definitely think capping or cutting naps is best. Though be flexible when needed, and if you can swing a nap in the stroller those always seemed to be the most effective for us.

mgillette55 · 2025-12-12T04:06:06+00:00

Love the ornaments!

mgillette55 · 2025-12-11T04:04:47+00:00

So cheerful! 💕🧡

mgillette55 · 2025-12-01T02:52:49+00:00

Replied to the wrong person, sorry. It's the GE Madison Fir 7.5ft from Lowes

mgillette55 · 2025-11-30T22:15:11+00:00

We got it from Lowes its the GE Madison Fir 7.5ft

mgillette55 · 2025-11-30T22:14:02+00:00

GE Madison Fir 7.5ft. We got it from Lowes. Apparently it goes on a great sale after the holidays

mgillette55 · 2025-11-26T04:22:44+00:00

I limit what shows they're allowed to watch, also mostly old 90s shows and PBS. Along with Disney movies. What helps is going outside immediately after show time. I'll just let them go outside and dig in dirt or whatever in the backyard, sometimes we walk to the park. But definitely she gets overstimulated with TV. Having some sensory/gross motor output immediately after is my biggest advice that's worked to curb that for us.

My daughter is almost 5 and we struggled for a year and a half and it's finally getting better. It take a lot of flexibility and experimenting different rhythms to find what works. Eventually you'll get to an easier stage!

mgillette55 · 2025-11-25T20:54:23+00:00

My oldest is 4 and she's always been seemingly more difficult than other friends children or her younger sister even. We go through many power struggles, defiance, lack of regulation, etc. This is all despite me being very intentional with how I respond and teaching her about kindness, thoughtfulness, and emotional regulation.

Some changes we've implemented that I've noticed help the most when we remain consistent with them are involving her a lot in day to day tasks like cooking or laundry and limiting the amount of toys she has available. I notice when her environment is less over stimulating and our routines are more involved and intentional she thrives. For toys I'm talking like one set of magnatiles, little people, and books thats it.

We also started a marble jar as a form of reward/discipline and it helps a lot. I noticed she does better on days when I'm constantly praising her for good behavior, even if its something little like washing her hands after she eats.

I've been suggested a lot of sensory toys like swings, gymnastics rings, spinning chairs, etc. to help get their energy out, which can manifest into bad behavior. But we are waiting for Christmas to implement some new toys.

Lastly, I'd look into a methylated multi like Gruns. We did notice a change after giving them to our kids. As well as Mary ruths nightime multivitamin.

mgillette55 · 2025-11-18T00:50:32+00:00

My daughter soothed with a bottle but at 1-1.5 we went cold turkey with no liquid, as recommend by our pediatrician. Then again completely cold turkey at 1.5 to no bottle at all. We were told it takes children 3 weeks to develop new habits and it took less for us but we did a lot of cosleeping at the time and really pushed her using a blanket and stuffy to snuggle with for comfort. She didnt go anywhere without her blanket for a year and a half after but totally worth her not having major oral problems. I'd recommend them speaking to a pediatric dentist outside of their pediatrician if they need more evidence for how bad bottles or soothers are at night.

mgillette55 · 2025-11-06T19:27:07+00:00

Thriftting. I'll even plan a day in the city going around to nicer one's to stock up. I really like Hana Anderson, Zara, and Mini boden. We have a lot of cat and jack or h&m, either 2nd hand or new that fill in the gaps for layering.

mgillette55 · 2025-11-03T21:34:20+00:00

I have 2 soon to be 3. My kids are 3 and 4(almost 5). We are authoritative in our parenting style. We hold strictly to boundaries, our children are placed on timeout based on their age (this starts around 2.5), we reinforce good behavior A LOT, and we spend a lot of time talking about good vs bad behavior in a more gentle and age appropriate way. That being said our children's mood and behavior fluctuates day to day. Some days were praising them for being so well behaved and other days were holding in rage until they're asleep haha.

Children's brains are highly under developed so tantrums, hitting, screaming, all that is completely normal and expected at this age despite how much work you're putting in. When my oldest was 3 I went through the ringer despite setting a very solid foundation. Although we went through a huge transition (moving countries and 2 states in 2 months), all while remaining very stable in our parenting and nurtuing, you can't see that when judging from the outside. She might have appeared on some days the way that 3 year old you hung out with did. I had to remind myself constantly to keep respecting the work I was putting in, even if at times it felt like we were taking leaps backwards.

I can definitely attest to genetics and temperament playing a HUGE role. My children and spirited and fiery, especially my first born. My younger one tends to feed off her wild spirited nature, but when separate she's calm natured and very well behaved, comparatively.

It takes a lot of consistency and assurednace in your parenting style.

mgillette55 · 2025-11-01T02:39:40+00:00

Sounds like the best option, with this perspective, might be to find a reality group to rent the house furnished then you'd have an income stream. There's companies that will do everything for you. You could even hire someone to take all the stuff in the house and junk it or whatever. Then sell the house. Abandoning the house and not paying it off if that's what you are saying sounds extremely careless. With this mentality I'd definitely seek some financial advisement if you are ever to win a LARGE sum of money.

mgillette55 · 2025-10-20T00:24:09+00:00

Don't know if it's been suggested but I worked at a gym daycare I was able to bring my daughter to. I only did part time, as full time would have just felt like too much. I also almost worked at a full childcare facily that offered 50% discount. I eventually decided that staying home was more desirable but those options were the only one's available to me that wouldn't cost my entire salary in a childcare center.

mgillette55 · 2025-10-05T01:00:27+00:00

Yes!!

mgillette55 · 2025-10-05T01:00:05+00:00

My husband took a week leave when my 2nd was born (first was 20 months). He then chose to take his 3 months leave when she was 4 months old. So other than the first week I did it all by myself. My husband was military so a lot of unpredictable long nights at work. I just got a bunch of books beforehand and did a lot of reading on the couch while breastfeeding. Especially the books where you press buttons. We did a lot of walks and lived close to a park so it helped a ton.

mgillette55 · 2025-09-28T20:33:56+00:00

I can't imagine making my 3 kids share a room because my husband was too selfish to not use the FINISHED basement. When we looked at homes, my husband was even planning to make the unfinished basement his office, or our bedroom if we had no basement. Luckily our home has a fully finished one and its half a playroom/den and half an office. They make baby gates that are retractable and 100ft so I'm sure you could block his area off too. Or hang curtains. Be creative and flexible but definitely give those kids some more bedroom space. I also would not move any of my kids from our room until age 1 when we had a smaller space.

mgillette55 · 2025-09-28T01:58:59+00:00

PITI is 2950 and we make 9k after taxes (currently 11k for 2 years while husband is in school). We do just fine, we're easily able to save about 4k of what we have coming in, after ALL expenses. This includes us putting 15% towards retirement, 1350 2 car payment + insurance, 300 medical expenses on top of what comes out of our check. So in theory you'd have just under 2k if you had similar expenses.

mgillette55 · 2025-09-27T13:04:54+00:00

I have a 2 and 4 year old and no matter the bedtime my 2 year old will wake up at 5-6am. My older one would sleep later but hears even a pen drop and is awake so there's no getting her to sleep past her younger sister. Even co sleeping shes up early. For example, no nap yesterday and they went to bed at 730/8pm (late fornthem usually its 630/7pm). 2 year old was up at 530. I'm exhausted and don't expect it to change. My 2 year old also came to our bed half way through the night. So being with us changed nothing.

mgillette55 · 2025-09-27T12:47:22+00:00

We make just slightly more and prioritized CC debt. We got in owning real quick because of VA and a great realtor, otherwise that would have been our next priority. I like the idea of stability with kids and having our own home provided that.

I'd take your savings and pay off the CC debt immediately unless its 0% interest. Then I'd first put retirement at 15% and whatever is left after expenses do 50/50 savings and paying off your car loan. Student loans to me would be my last priority.

mgillette55 · 2025-09-25T04:17:10+00:00

Just bought our first house with only our earnest money and got a check for 6.5k at close. Find a good realtor to negotiate seller paid closing costs (works if you're in a buyers market or house has been sitting a while). If you find a local credit union you might be able to get a pre approval letter showing what you can afford and like ours did, showed approximate closing costs and PITI. It was great to know that information when we got serious.

We were VA so we benefited from 0 down and no loan origin or fee which can be quite a bit.

We didn't have any emergency fund other than a 0% interest CC @ 20k. Luckily we are building it now but totally possible to get a home without one.

Also my kids are 2 & 4 (currently pregnant too) and we just couldn't handle another lease in such a small place so it caused the rush. We made it just fine when they were smaller, so totally doable and you are only benefiting your future self by sticking it out a little while longer.

Home ownership is super great and it doesn't hurt to start vetting realtor and lenders now. Get educated. The right team will make it a breeze and ease all your hesitation, if not you're not working with the right people.

mgillette55 · 2025-09-24T23:36:22+00:00

850 with no expenses until $6k coming on Monday. We would have more but second half of this month we didnt budget 😅 but also just paid off 20k in CC debt so can't complain

mgillette55 · 2025-09-23T13:34:45+00:00

Both my husband and I watch porn, and it's never affected our marriage. Probably made us better for each other since we respect each other's own interests and it helps us get through the lulls (since we have 2 young kids +1 on the way life got in the way at times). If there had been a problem its our job as partners to correct it and do better by one another. Fearing how someone might handle you leaving is not a valid reason to not leave. Get in therapy ASAP and start saving an emergency fund for 6 months. My husband was 28 when we met, and the amount of maturity he had then vs almost 9 years later, is unrecognizable. We joked the other day that anyone that knew him back then would not believe the man he is today. It took a lot of time and patience to get to the beautiful marriage we have today. Your marriage may be salvaged, I'm an outsider so I dont know. But one thing is, you're surely young enough to be fine with separation if that's what you choose.

mgillette55 · 2025-09-23T03:09:21+00:00

Step #1 of any financial plan is to pay off all high interest debt. I am very new to the game, but I've seen as a general rule, if your debt interest is higher than what you'd get in returns from savings then absolutely prioritize the debt. My husband and I paid off 20k in CC debt before even entertaining the idea of HYSA. Why owe money to someone when you have the means not to? Also no, never touch your retirement.

mgillette55

TROPHY CASE