Kidz Drop In Naperville: Life Saver for Local Moms

I found it interesting when I learned of a recent study that stated Naperville to be the "third best city in the country to find babysitters." (Sittercity.com)

Up until August of this year, I was thrilled with my child care arrangement. I had a high school girl come over to help out a couple days a week for a few hours at a time so that I could get things done around the house, run errands and work on my many projects for the Naperville Moms Network.

When my sitter moved off to college, I never dreamed it would be so difficult to find a replacement that would be a good fit. Actually, I still haven't found someone that can help me out during the week. 

Thankfully, Kidz Drop In opened up in October behind Naperville North High School and it turned out to be the answer to my prayers!

Kidz Drop In is a flexible child care facility offering local families the option for full time, part time and drop in care. They take children ranging from 6 weeks old to 13 years old and are open 6:30 a.m. till midnight. I also love that they provide fresh, gourmet, organic meals and snacks daily, so I don't have to worry about packing any of that for my son, Brady when I'm dropping him off. They have teachers for each age group and designated rooms with age appropriate toys and activities.

I could go on and on about everything they have to offer and what makes them unique, but ultimately, the one thing that has me raving and wanting to tell EVERYONE I know about this new child care option for local families, is the fact that Brady is thrilled about going there. 

He leaps out of my arms to give "Miss Shari" a hug, then runs off to play with his favorite friend, Megan. When I arrive to pick Brady up, his face lights up and he wants to show me all of his favorite toys of the day. Another bonus is that I've noticed a significant increase in his language and overall social skills. 

As if that's not enough, I've also enjoyed having a few hours to focus on some of the things I need to get accomplished and don't feel guilty because I know that he's happy and in great hands. Priceless! 

Kidz Drop In Naperville has a great special holiday offer running right now through December 23rd. It's called "Drop and Shop" and once your child is registered, you can drop them off and get the first hour FREE!

If you're a mom looking for child care options, do yourself a favor and stop in to check out Kidz Drop In at 420 W. 5th Avenue.

Read more: http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/naperville_mamas/#ixzz18LNbFChr

I'm amazed at the amount of candy this first time trick-or-treater came home with! 

Our son, Brady was a lion this year. Of course, I found him to be absolutely adorable and couldn't get enough of him in his costume! We started to practice wearing the costume a few weeks in advance so we could enjoy a fuss free Halloween. Brady hated the costume at first, but once we taught him to ROAR with it on and made a big deal about how great he looked, he stopped fighting it. The plan worked!

We had a great weekend! On Saturday, we attended the Kidz Drop In Open House and Halloween Party. Kidz Drop In is a new childcare facility that offers drop in care as well as full and part time care. In case you're curious, they're located behind Naperville North High School on Mill and 5th. It was great! Brady got to meet lot's of new little friends, play games and enjoy Halloween treats.

On Sunday, we went to a friend's house to take Brady trick-or-treating for the first time, along with his little pal, Braxton. They rode together in a wagon collecting absurd amounts of candy from each house. It was laughable what these too first timers came home with! 

Of course, Brady and Braxton are too young for all of this candy and mom and dad certainly  have no business keeping all of that temptation around the house. Turns our there's a great solution out there! Have you heard of Halloween Candy Buy Back?

Halloween Candy Buy Back is a great program where dentists all over the country are offering to buy back your Halloween candy at $1 per pound, then donate it to Operation Gratitude, which then ships the candy off to our troops. It's a great opportunity to teach our children about giving back (if they're old enough to understand)! Or in our case, it's a great way to unload the temptation and give back.

It's pretty simple, go the website and type in your zip code to find out all of the participating locations in your area. 

What did you do over Halloween weekend? And how do you respond when your kids come home with pillowcases full of candy?

Toddler Dumping

Today is just one of those days!

My son, Brady is pushing 17 months old and I feel like the terrible two's are phasing in. I have to tell ya, I'm a little at a loss for disciplining this little one man wrecking crew! I find myself constantly asking "Is this normal?"

He's in this new phase I like to call "Toddler Dumping." Brady has an obsession with emptying everything he can get his hands on. When he wakes up in the morning, he throws everything out of his crib and laughs. Every meal that's put in front of him almost immediately ends up on the floor or the tray of his highchair. If he can reach his mess, he smears it and begins finger painting if it's liquid based, or stomps on it if it's crunchy. He has an obsession with dumping things in the toilet too. We've already had to replace one of them!

Childproofing? What's that? Brady knew how to get through those latches before I could! Every kitchen cabinet, bathroom cabinet and drawer gets emptied multiple times daily. Obviously, I could use some help in effective childproofing, but what about appropriate discipline for toddlers?

Here's a list of disciplining tactics for toddlers I found while researching how to handle this new phase:

1. Just Say NO - I've tried telling him "NO" when he's doing something he's not supposed to by getting on his level, using a serious voice (without yelling) and looking him in the eye. Brady's response: he giggles. Go figure! We'll keep trying though. He's bound to get it eventually

1. 2. Redirect - I find myself constantly trying to engage him in doing something else like reading a book or playing with his toys instead of really focusing so much on the "NO." This works for a few minutes, but ultimately, curiosity wins and he's back to dumping whatever he can find in the cabinets and drawers. 
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3. 3. Positive Reinforcement - Hearing "NO" over and over isn't going to be effective alone. I'm trying to get him to understand the difference in the attention he's getting when he does something well or desirable verses when he does something he's not supposed to be doing. 
4. 
   
5. 4. Time-Out - Given that Brady is only 17 months old, we haven't really tried the time-out bit. Experts recommend that the toddler be at least two to three years old for them to grasp the concept of what is and why they're in it. Many say that time-outs should be set at one minute per year of age.

I know that this is a learning process, especially since this is my first toddler rodeo, but some days I just wish there was some sort of magic solution out there to make it easier. 

Surely, I'm not alone in feeling this way (I hope)! I would love to get feedback from other moms as far as what they've experienced and what has worked well for them. Is anyone else out there familiar with the "Toddler Dumping" phase? How did you deal with it?

Read more: http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/naperville_mamas/2010/10/dumping-toddlers.html#ixzz13afMqzIq

Brady's First Birthday

I had been dreading and stressing out over my son's first birthday for several months. Why is it that us first time moms feel the need to get all worked up about planning the perfect birthday for our lil' one when they are never going to remember it anyway?

I can't tell you how many people reminded me of that fact over the last several months. I've experienced lot's of eye rolling and people telling me that I was being completely ridiculous to stress out over a one year old's birthday party.

But I wanted something wonderful to look back on. I suppose I was looking to build a memory for our family more so than for Brady since he won't remember it anyway. There's always pictures and videos for his viewing pleasure in the future. And the stories we tell him when he asks about it later. What kid later wants to hear "Oh, it was just an ordinary day. We knew you wouldn't remember it, so we didn't really do anything special."  Not something I want to tell my son!

First, I was thinking of planning a fun day at a local park. We could rent a covered picnic pavilion, grill out, have a few fun games for adults and children of all ages. Who wouldn't enjoy an afternoon at the park with good friends and family? Well, that plan backfired when all of the parks I was interested in were already reserved.

My bubble was burst. I couldn't think of another plan that felt right. I started thinking up this plan when Brady was nine months old, so the fact that it wasn't going to work out just like I had imagined was frustrating. I kept thinking that something would come available, someone would have a great suggestion that fit exactly what I was looking for. I asked everyone I knew for advice on locations and alternatives, but nothing felt quite right. Before I knew it, Brady's birthday was only a few weeks away. I had all of the grandparents flying into town with no party planned!

Panic mode set in about one month out, then intensified two weeks out when I STILL didn't have a confirmed plan. Nothing was really coming together and everything I tried fell through. I felt like I was a bad mom and I was failing miserably at pulling something together. Finally, I decided to take a friend's advice and just have something small at the house for the immediate family.

At first, I was thinking it was a lame effort on my part, but it turned out to be the perfect scenario for Brady's first birthday! I was so worried about our house being too small to accommodate everyone, but thankfully our deck was just the spot for a family dinner. The weather held out so we could relax and enjoy each other's company without outside interruptions. Brady ended up diving into his cake early (while we were all still eating dinner) because he was fading fast and needed to go to bed. Had we been out anywhere else, we couldn't have put him to bed and continued our celebration. It would have been nice to have some of our friends there to celebrate with us, but we only see our families a couple times a year, so this gave us an opportunity to share stories and reflect on good times.


Everything about Brady's birthday weekend was about family spending time together and celebrating Brady's life.

What I realized is that while I wasted all of that time worrying about planning the perfect party, the only thing that mattered was having meaningful time together as a family. We now all share a memory that will last a lifetime. Thankfully, we have some great stories to tell Brady when he's older along with some great pictures and videos! What more could a mom ask for?

My Mess is My Message

I've been wanting to write about this for a while now, but have held off because that would mean getting SUPER real and letting my panties show a little bit (as Suzanne Evans might put it)!

I recently realized that everything I'm experiencing in my life is preparing me to work with and impact the lives of other women. I've known for a while that I'm supposed to be working with women, but I didn't understand exactly why or in what capacity. I've really prayed on that so I can understand what God is asking me to do while I'm here. Slowly, it's becoming clear!

Do you ever feel like you’re living two lives?

That’s how I’ve been feeling lately. On the surface, everything is going pretty well. I have to acknowledge that I’m truly blessed. And most days, I give thanks for those blessings - I have a fun, loving husband that truly is my best friend and beautiful baby boy that makes me laugh every day. I have security in the roof over my head and the unconditional love of two dogs that have been there through every phase of the last ten years of my life. I find comfort and peace in all of that.

Now, I’m about to get super real. Ready?

Even though I have what others might long for, I still have this feeling of misalignment, feelings of stress and overwhelm, feelings of inadequacy and even failure at times.  I’ve been giving a lot of thought to all of this over the last couple months. I’ve been feeling guilty for having these feelings. How could I feel this way when there’s so much to be grateful for? What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I just be happy and satisfied with what I’ve been given? Why do I long for more?

Let me dig into this a bit. When I was pregnant with Brady, I was nervous about how my life was going to change. Part of me was looking forward to staying home with him, but the other part of me knew that I didn’t know how to not work. I’ve been working and collecting a paycheck since I was fourteen years old. I’ve learned that losing that paycheck makes me feel like I’ve lost some control and my voice when it comes to spending. A lot of my identity has been wrapped up in the work that I was doing. Intellectually, I know that’s not true, but what a tough mindset to break. I came to realize it was time to get used to a new role that doesn’t come with a paycheck to acknowledge my value. Now that’s an adjustment!

Throughout this time at home with Brady, learning how to be a mom and manage a household, I’ve come to recognize that I’m not very good at this. I get stressed over things that shouldn’t matter a whole lot, like never ending mounds of laundry, constant dishes in the sink or left around the house waiting to go into the dishwasher, little stacks of miscellaneous clutter that hasn’t found a suitable home, and planning nutritious meals. I feel like I’m failing at managing and maintaining all of these things, one because I loathe these tasks that are never-ending and two because I might have undiagnosed A.D.D which makes it difficult for me to complete a task before getting caught up in another one.

Don’t get me wrong, I love being a mom to Brady. I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to watch and be a part of every phase of his growth at this point. I know that I’m a good mom to him. He knows that he is loved. He is smiling and happy, rarely fussy. He is well fed, kept clean, entertained and engaged. I know that I’m not depriving him of anything. I can feel good about that – but, I know that I’m depriving his mom of things that stimulate her and remind her of her gifts and value.

At the end of the day, many times I’m left feeling like an inadequate, sloppy housewife. I wonder when it’s my turn to do something that is stimulating and recharges my battery a little bit. Here’s an example, often times I wish I had more time to put toward the Naperville Moms Network. I’m really passionate about developing this space for women in our community. I am contributing here, but not at the level I believe I should be. I don’t know how to ignore this calling, nor do I want to.

My husband tries to tell me that if I would just find contentment in being Brady’s mom and his wife, I would be a lot less stressed, juggling less and find happiness. Sadly, I know that this simply isn’t true. I wasn’t built or wired to just be Brady’s mom and his wife. I have a purpose beyond those roles and while I’m thankful for those roles and enjoy many aspects of them, they don’t complete or define me.

I have been conflicted with determining how to be what’s expected of me and also step into the person that I’m called to be. I fully believe that there’s a way to be the wife and mom I want to be and also be the individual I was put on this earth to be. There has got to be a way to fulfill my purpose beyond my role as mom and still be a great mom.

So, I haven’t cracked the code, but when I do, my big mess will be my message to other women walking in my shoes. Surely, I’m not the only one!

One Year Ago...

Isn't it amazing how much happens AND changes in just a year?

One year ago, my husband and I had been married exactly four months. We were settling into married life and making plans for our future. I can remember coming home from our honeymoon to Jamaica and discussing how we would love to start saving so that we could finally travel. We had been living on such a tight budget saving for our wedding over the last 16 months.

We were so excited at the thought of going to Greece in the summer of 2009. My husband, Chris is in sales and was aligned really well to win the President's Club seven day cruise. He watched the preview video more times than he would probably like to admit. It was his motivation to continue to work hard and go the extra mile.

One year ago, I can remember being really stressed out at work. I was working for our local Chamber of Commerce. Our director of events was out on emergency medical leave and I was asked to step in without any training or knowledge transfer of her role. This Chamber had roughly 6 - 8 big events a month! I knew I was in for a ride.

I can remember feeling really nervous at the first event I was running. We probably had a little over 100 people there. I couldn't eat (which is rarely a problem for me). I even got sick a couple times during the breakfast, which was really out of character for me. Was I getting the flu or something?

A few days later, I went to see my colleague after she was released from the hospital. We ordered pizza for lunch. I love pizza! On the way back to the office, I got sick again walking down the stairs in the parking garage. I thought, "What the heck is going on with me?"

I knew I was really stressed and felt the pressure. I wasn't sleeping very well. My anxiety was pretty high, but man, I've never been the type to get nauseated over this kind of stress.

I'll never forget, my co-worker/friend, Lisa said, "Kelli, you're pregnant. I suggest you stop by Walgreens on your way home tonight to confirm it and get yourself in to the OBGYN soon!" My mouth dropped. I thought she was completely crazy. No way was I pregnant! I have to admit though she had my wheels spinning a little bit. The vomiting was kind of strange to explain.

I took her advice and stopped by Walgreens. I remember joking to Chris that night over dinner, "Wouldn't it be crazy if we were pregnant right now?! That would be crazy!" I remember him saying.
"What makes you say that? Why would you bring that up? Are you thinking you're pregnant?"

"Slow down Killer," I thought! I told him that Lisa told me I was pregnant today and we both kind of just laughed it off. We totally let it go...until the next morning.

I got up around 6:00 a.m. to get in the shower for work. It was Tuesday, October 7, 2008. I remember thinking, "Oh, I have a pregnancy test under the sink. Let's just go ahead and rule that out." Without really thinking about what I was about to do, I peed on the stick.

It pretty much went down like this: "Umm, wait, that's a plus symbol! I'm pretty sure that means positive. Holy crap! Really? Wait...seriously? Uhh, what does this mean? (Counting on my fingers) May or June? Oh no, Greece. He's not going to like that. Okay, just get in the shower, wake up a bit and think about what this means. Well, at least I know I can get pregnant. Doctors told me I might have a tough time. Hmmm, WOW! Well, when my sister, Emily told me she was pregnant in April, I cried unexplainably. I think I was unknowingly jealous of her, so that must mean I want this. Every child is a blessing! This is our little miracle, right?! I guess this is just God's plan. Wow! Oh, crap. Did I shampoo yet?"

I remember getting out of the shower and deciding that I couldn't go through the day without telling Chris. I'm just not the type of person to carry that kind of news around all day at work and pretend everything is normal. I knew I needed to tell him right away, get his reaction and then, of course, tell my parents!

"Hey, babe! I need you to wake up." Of course, Chris didn't need to get up for another hour, but I told him we needed to talk.

"Now? What could possibly be so important right now? Let's talk later."

I told him that he better wake up because I needed to know how he would feel about being a daddy!

I've never seen the covers thrown so fast! He sat right up and looked at me with big eyes, then squinted and laid back down. "Why would you say that? You're messing with me. Nice try!" I said, well actually, I just peed on a stick, so no; I'm not messing with you. The stick says we're having a baby. Um, how do you feel about being a daddy?"

"Holy crap! Shut up! No way! Oh my God! ...Wait...let me see that stick. Are you sure? (Grinning)"

"No, seriously, I just peed on the stick right before my shower. It's positive. We're definitely having a baby. It turned positive right away."

"Wow! Let me see it. Oh, and grab the directions. Did you do it right? Maybe you did it wrong. You should go to the doctor and get tested. This is crazy! Wow, I thought it was going to be really hard to get pregnant. Geez, maybe this is why you've been feeling so awful. Holy crap, really? We're having a baby? So, when would we be having the baby? (Counting on fingers) Oh! Wow! So, like May or June. Our Greece trip is planned for beginning of July. Hmmmmmm. Wow, babe! We're having a baby!"

Two days later, we went to the OBGYN and saw our little pea size baby. It was amazing! And what's funny is that Chris asked the OB if she tested me again since I used one of those tests from Walgreens. Of course, she laughed. She decided that the ultrasound was necessary not only to determine a due date (since we weren't exactly planning and tracking for a pregnancy), but to also show Chris there is actually a little life growing inside of me. If you could have been a fly on the wall at that appointment, you would have been peeing your pants!

When we left the office, Chris decided it was actually real and we should probably go ahead and announce the great news to his family as well. Our lives AND our plans have been forever changed.

I believe that EVERYTHING happens for a reason. Whether or not we have an understanding of the meaning and the long term impact, I'm confident in knowing that His plans are always a blessing.

Today, I look at my 4 month old son and smile with tears in my eyes. He's perfect. He is a true miracle, a blessing.

We may not have gone to Greece over the summer, or be saving for future travel opportunities, but I wouldn't trade my precious little family for anything in the world. I'm so grateful and blessed for the gift of our precious son, Brady!

Fight with Gratitude

After only two hours of sleep last night, a three hour visit at the doctors office with Brady, plus two hours haggling with Walgreens for Brady's breathing treatment, I find myself exhausted, overwhelmed and desperate for a turn around.

Maybe it's my mindset that has me unraveling, but I feel like we can't really win. We only had a few weeks (2-3) where Brady slept for 4-6 hours in the night. Now were back to the newborn schedule - sleeping for 2-3 hours at night, then up and feeding around the clock. It's amazing how much it wears me down. I feel like I'm not really able to get anything done since he requires so much attention. I really should be in bed sleeping right now, but I needed to vent a little. Maybe I'll sleep a little better. I know complaining doesn't really help matters, but I rationalize to say that venting will allow me to unload and walk away from the negative thoughts.

I have to think positive. I have to clear my head a little and take notice of the blessings. I have to find a grateful mind and heart.

There really are so many things I'm thankful for when I think about it. I think about the things we all take for granted like a roof over my head, a loving and supportive husband, a baby that will recover and live a healthy life. Taking a look at the big picture really does put it all in perspective. I just need to program that stuff into my brain and keep it right there when I'm feeling hopeless, frustrated and exhausted. Many have it so much worse.

One thing I'm so grateful for in this moment is that I reached out to my lovely social network of friends and requested prayers for my little Brady. Within moments, I received an outpouring of love and prayers. It really does blow me away to have such instant encouragement and blessings sent my way. Ask and you shall receive!

I just took a nice deep breath. I think I'll say goodnight with a smile and remember that "this too shall pass." I really am so incredibly blessed. My grateful heart will beat this!

Oh, What a Week!

What a week it has been! Last Sunday, we had to rush my lil guy, Brady to the ER because he was having difficulty breathing. Turns out, he has croup. Yuck! They gave him steroids, watched him for a couple hours and sent us home. I can't tell you how awful it feels to see your three and a half month old so sick and pathetic. We were expecting him to improve in a couple days; 24-48 hours they told us. Well, one week down and he still has the croupy cough. On top of that, he's teething, so his little gums are sore. He's drooling EVERYWHERE and biting on everything. We're averaging about two to three hours of sleep a night. Definitely, not enough sleep for momma. I'm actually planning to call the doctor in the morning to see if there's anything else we can do to help him get back on the road to health. This just doesn't seem right.

In the midst of the around the clock sick infant care, I knew I needed to figure out a way to make it to the very first Chicago Underground Social Media Society Networking BASH (Whew, that's a mouth full!). I had been planning to attend for a few weeks. I knew it would be an opportunity to meet some really wonderful entrepreneurs and social media gurus. Thankfully, my hubby, Chris was happy to be on daddy duty for the evening. Thank God he's so supportive of the things he knows are important to me!

I was honestly blown away! The turn out was spectacular; probably 120-150 people in attendance and there was plenty of time to network before and after the speaker. Bill Crosby was the presenter of the evening. He is the creator of the Twitter Traffic Machine (now off the market). He spoke about the "Seven Steps to Viral Product Development." Of course I took notes and brainstormed some ways I could apply this information to some of the projects I'm working on. Good stuff!

The best part for me though was that I was able to connect with some great people that I know will impact my future both personally and professionally. I'm so excited to think of how much I'm going to learn from these individuals.

I find it no accident that I met Mina Shah with Robbins Research International, Inc. (Tony Robbins) first! She happened to be in town for a training engagement (I'm pretty sure) and decided to come to the event last minute when she heard about it. The interesting part about this is that I've been praying to find a way to attend the Tony Robbins - Unleash the Power Within weekend at the end of October in Chicago. Two hurdles to overcome: Brady care and the cost of the ticket. I'm still not positive it is going to work out, but I felt that maybe it was my sign to work a little harder to MAKE IT HAPPEN. I've had this feeling that attending will transform my life and catapult in the right direction to live my purpose. I'm now refocused on figuring out a game plan.

I rarely win anything, especially when it comes to a raffle, but I suppose fate would have me "win a free one hour chat" with Gabe Strom. Gabe is a social media trainer and life coach of sorts. He is passionate about helping people become aligned with their purpose. We both share this interest, but it's so much easier to help others than it is yourself. Well, that's the way I feel anyway. For some reason, I struggle with "defining" myself and paving a clear path. I'm excited to see where my chat with Gabe takes me. I'm looking forward to gaining a little outside perspective and maybe refine my focus.

I finally met Brad Will or @BradleyWill. We've been chatting on Twitter and Facebook. I have enjoyed his blog and video content. He has been successful in the real estate business and is now focused on living authentically and helping young entrepreneurs find success. Love it!

Ray Smith of Infinite Horizons Design; we've been chatting on Twitter and Skype for a couple weeks now or masterminding some would say. I'm so grateful to him for helping me on my journey to overcome my fear of VIDEO!

One more. I met Amber Gallagher, a 26 year old single mom sharing many of the same passions that I do. Amber would like to help other single moms become successful entrepreneurs and thrive in all aspects of life. We've been masterminding a lot this weekend! Looking forward to aligning with one another to make things happen for many fabulous moms throughout Chicagoland!

I could probably go on forever. There really were so many wonderful and talented people in attendance. I went home with about 20 business cards and had even more individual conversations that evening. I can only imagine how this group is going to expand and impact lives. Very exciting!