I wish I had...

There are a few things I wish I would've done before we had baby #2.

 And I probably didn't think of them because:

a. I've never had to take care of a baby and a toddler before

b. Pregnancy brain {I think I get a double  dose.}

Probably mostly {b}. ;)

But since I have several friends that have a toddler and a baby on the way I thought I'd share my thoughts with you. Although most of you probably have it all together and will have smooth sailing.

So, the few things I wish I would've/could've done:

• Potty Train Jakki

Seriously, a few less diapers a day would save some time! IF she would be thoroughly potty trained, anyway. I had started potty training her, but then I had to go on bed-rest and it never got finished.

• Planned Meals

It would've been so handy to have a list of at least 10 very simple meals written down, and the ingredients on hand to all of them once or twice. Since I didn't, Rice-a-Roni has become a very good friend of ours. Mrs. Stauffer's lasagna is pretty awesome too. :)

• Organized Activities for Jakki

This is the big one. I love to involve her in what I'm doing as much as I can. But I am learning more and more that her little mind needs to get engaged in some kind of activity for her to be able to feel happy all day. It must really be growing and stretching and her busyness needs to be channeled.

And Kade and I are almost defenseless while I'm feeding him. And she likes to sit on top of him and give him kisses and suck her thumb. Because she loves him a whole lot. But I would like him to survive to be her bff. :)

So, if I would have it to do over again I would go buy a cute box, ziplock bags and little "crafts" or "activity" ingredients for her. Then when I needed to do something, or she needs something to do I could just stick her into the highchair {another Mommy best friend} and pick out a bag for her instead of wracking my brain and rummaging through my house for a new, mind-building activity for her.

If I would've done this, I would feel like a Supermom. Totally! Add some CDs of some good Kid's music and I would feel like a super Supermom. :)

It doesn't take much to keep her occupied...a highchair, some buttons and an empty wipes container kept her going for a very long time. And she asks for it again every day. I'm hoping she doesn't get tired of it before I can get some other projects lined up.

Love that look of concentration! :)

I tried playdough...It took a lot of involvement on my part to keep her interested. Maybe when she's older...

She was super unimpressed with the taste of playdough. Lol

She finally got into it when I made snowmen for her.

And she like looking for the buttons I hid in little balls of dough.

Another thing I really like for her is the Scribble and Write by LeapFrog. I don't let her play with it a lot, but I think it's going to be a great way for her to learn the alphabet! :) You can get one here: http://www.amazon.com/LeapFrog-19139-Scribble-and-Write/dp/B001W2WKS0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397014706&sr=8-1&keywords=leap+frog+scribble+and+write

A no spill bubble bucket and a closed in porch or yard is great, sidewalk chalk, a coloring book, or tablet and crayons and a wooden doll with magnetic clothes all seem to work pretty good or are on my to-do list for Jakki.

This lady has a lot of good ideas: http://www.simplelittlehome.com/2012/03/50-ways-to-distract-toddler.html

If I would've had all this stuff together before the baby was born, maybe I could've kept to my goal of never getting flustered because I now have 2 little people in my care. ;) Overall it has been pretty easy though...and totally worth it!!!

So...a super practical post, that probably has info in it that everybody already thought of. :) But it was fun to write! If anybody has some other good ideas I'd love to hear them.