I wrote another guest post for BabyCenter

So I wanted to let you all know I wrote another guest post for BabyCenter's blog about trying to conceive and how hard it can be when you find out you're not pregnant. It can touchy topic that some people are afraid to open up about which is why I choose to write about it.

You can read it here: A hard way to find out you're not pregnant please feel free to comment. I appreciate honesty, please share the good, bad, and the ugly with me.

Thank you for continuing read my stories and sharing yours with me.

Don't forget to also check out other stories on the BabyCenter Blogs.

XO,
Megan

Photo Credit: BabyCenter LLC

5 fun things to do with your tot this summer

In case you haven't noticed from extreme heat that has blanketed all of California and most of the West, summer is officially here!

I have a love hate relationship with it, on the one hand we can finally get outside and enjoy the summer sun. But sometimes it gets so hot that all I want to do is go inside and enjoy my wonderfully cool air conditioned house.

Whatever your preference it's only natural with your kids home all summer they are bound to get bored, which is why I have come up with some fun ideas for you try this summer. Some of these you can do inside, some outside.

1.) Buy some play dough and get creative (or you can make it)! No really it's that easy! My daughter got a really cool play dough cupcake maker toy for her birthday when it's too hot go outside this is a great way to keep the little ones busy. We have made some pretty cool stuff. This is fun even if you don't have the cupcake maker toy. There have been plenty of times when I just grabbed a rolling pin and cookie cutter and got creative.

2.) Run through the sprinklers! We did this a lot last summer it was 6:30 pm after dinner and the weather had cooled down just enough to make it fun! The cool beads of water dripping from our skin felt great. The best part, it's FREE!

3.) Take your kids to the movies. There's a lot of great kids movies coming out this summer like Monster's University, Despicable Me, Turbo comes out later this month, and next month Smurfs 2, and the new Disney movie Planes comes out. With all those options your kids will have no choice but to sit there and be entertained. Best part you get to spend at least and hour in a nice air conditioned theater without anyone whining or pulling at your leg. That sounds like a win to me!

4.) Go to the beach or pool! Take advantage of the warm weather and get out there and swim with your kiddos. I admit I was a little hesitant to take my daughter back into the pool since the incident we had a few weeks back if you have no idea what i'm talking about read about it here the day my kid almost died. But over the weekend we went back into the pool, and it was tough the first day she didn't want to swim much, but I kept encouraging her. The next day was even better. With all this heat you got to take advantage of water whether it be a beach or pool.

5.) Try something new off of Pintrest. I know you all have a pintrest account, and if you're anything like me you have like over 100 craft ideas pinned to do with your kids. Well now that it's summer try one! I've already tried this fun moon sand pin with my daughter made of 8 cups of flour and one cup of baby oil. My daughter loved it and there was little to NO mess!

Whatever you decide to do with your kids remember to be safe and follow proper safety precautions. Let me know what you plan on doing with your kids this summer in the comments!

Photo Credit: Google images and myself

Be careful if you take Mucinex! (My health scare)

Now that flu season is officially over and summer has begun with a bang, (and a heat wave) not many people are getting sick anymore.

That doesn't mean it's not happening, it's just not as bad. Unfortunately I some how managed to be one of the unlucky people to be struck down with someone kind of mysterious illness that would take down even the toughest of people.

So I began taking Mucinex my other half is always raving about how well it works. Two days into to taking it I felt like I was going to cough up my lungs and I wasn't getting any better, so I broke down and went to the doctor. When I got there the doctor seemed alarmed because my heart rate was ridiculously high, she ran an EKG and then sent me over to the ER.

I was terrified all I wanted was some cough medicine and instead I end up in the ER. After 4 EKGs, a chest x-ray, and more blood than I would like to give away I found out that not only do I have bronchitis but that Mucinex can be dangerous to take. The doctor informed me it can speed up your heart rate and you can experience tachycardia, like I did.

After I got home a friend called and told me the same exact thing happened to her, and then my sister told me that her husband too had a bad experience with Mucinex. Apparently this stuff does more harm than good.

So to make a long story short if you are going to take Mucinex please be careful, be conscious of your heart, if you start experiencing weird symptoms PLEASE GET HELP!!

Photo Credit: Google Images

I'm Guest Blogging For BabyCenter Today

I've been reluctant to share my desire to have another child on my blog, because there have been moments where my feelings have turned me into a really ugly person full of jealousy and resentment. Last week BabyCenter approached me about writing a guest blog post for their site about trying to conceive.

I have been a big fan of BabyCenter ever since I found out I was pregnant with Milania. I visit the site daily, so this was a great opportunity for me to finally share my story. I have to admit I was a little bit scared because trying to conceive isn't always a happy subject for everyone.

I decided to just go for it, so I wrote a very open and honest blog post about the envy I feel when I'm around pregnant women. It's something very personal to me but I'm very proud of it. Please if you have time go and read it, you can find it here on BabyCenter Blogs feel free to comment on it. Good or bad I would love to hear honest feedback!

Thanks,

Megan Katz

Photo Credit: BabyCenter LLC

I Know Where Your Kid Is, Do You?

As a new mother I know taking your kids out in public can be a very difficult and daunting task. They whine, scream, and have this insane need to exert as much energy as possible at any given moment. If your 2 year old wants juice and you have to search deep down into the depths of that overly stuffed diaper bag that appears to be bursting at the seams, it can lead to a stage 4 meltdown. I've been there. I can only imagine how hard it is for the parents of several children. Even with all that information, that does not make it okay for you to let your child run wild while you just sit there staring blankly at your iPhone.

Today I had a doctor's appointment to go over the results of a pelvic ultrasound I had done earlier this week. I was sitting in the lobby waiting patiently for my name to be called, when a woman and her two children walk in. One of the kids was 7 the other was about 3, they sat down for about five minutes and then the three year old gets out of her seat and starts running around the office climbing all over the cushions of the chairs in the waiting room as if they were a jungle gym at the local park.

She gets off the chair and hides behind a divider in the waiting room, her sister soon follows and they proceed to play hide-and-seek. The three year old jumps off the chair as if it's a back yard trampoline and I hear a loud thump as her bottom lands on the creaky dark wooden  floors. Then the screams start, and by now I can feel my blood pressure rising, where is her mother? What could she possibly doing that is so important that she can't keep track of her children? 

I decide to get up and see, I casually walk past her and over to the magazine rack so I don't draw attention to myself. She is on her cell phone, staring deeply at it. Really? That's the reason you have allowed your children to run around the office like they are animals that have just been released into the wild? Does she even know where her kids are at?

Too often do I see this scenario, parents too distracted by there cell phones or other form of electronics to take notice that their kids are misbehaving or worse they are no longer in sight. Is your cell phone, iPad, book, tablet, etc. more important that watching your kids? I am by no means the perfect mother, I make mistakes like everyone else, but I refuse to allow my daughter to run wild in public places and there is nothing in this world that is more important than making sure she does not leave my sight.

Parents PLEASE keep track of your children, one day they will run off and a kind lady like me won't be there to keep them from getting hurt. Nothing is more important than your children, so please put your phone down and watch them.

Photo Credit: Google Images

Are any of the "Real Housewives" Franchises real?

I have been an avid fan of Bravo and have been a loyal fan of Real Housewives of Orange County since the show began in 2006. I've seen the many changes in cast members, the crazy reunions, and have seen at least one episode of every spin off city that followed. The cities I enjoy watching the most are Orange County, Beverly Hills, New Jersey, and recently Atlanta.

I have to admit The Real Housewives franchises really helped me get through most of my pregnancy in 2010 and early 2011 being as I had horrible morning sickness the entire time and spent a lot of time in bed. So I've seen the drama, the fights, the table flipping, plastic surgery, cast member changes, etc. I wouldn't call myself and expert but I'm pretty knowledgeable in all things housewife related.

I'm currently following New Jersey as I record it onto my DVR every week, so earlier today I while my daughter was napping I watched last nights episode, for those of you who follow it, you know about the drama in Napa that ensued between Teresa and Caroline. After it was over I watched a special episode of What What Happens Live with both Teresa and Caroline giving their sides about what went down that night in Napa.

While watching I started to think, "I've been watching these shows for awhile, since 2006 and each season it seems like they go out of there way to make it more extreme than the last. There are usually more fights, more drama, more chaos, than the previous season." So then I have to ask myself and everyone else caught up in any of the cities from the Real Housewives franchises, "Just how real are these shows?" It's called the Real Housewives of "whatever" but is it really real? Do the women on these show accurately portray what a true housewife is? 

The show follows some of the wealthier women of America in their daily lives interacting with their "circle of friends" and families. The housewives are supposed to be "married" although they've had women who weren't actually married on there since the beginning (Lauri, Jo, Bethenny, Kim, etc.) so should the unmarried women even be considered housewives? After all they aren't married. Well I'm not really one to judge considering I'm currently not married and I feel like a housewife. 

Regardless of the name, do these women even embody a real American housewife? Most families in America are middle class, educated, working, with kids. There are plenty of stay at home moms out there but it's a lot less prevalent then it used to be. And with a poor economy it's becoming even less and less as previous stay at home moms have been forced to go back to work. A real housewife doesn't have 3 nannies,  one for each of her kids, doesn't go on shopping sprees weekly, we don't get a chance to go on lavish vacations for weeks at a time, and we don't meet our friends for lunch and dinners on a daily basis.

And don't get me started on the drama, my family has its share of drama and fights over typical things, living situations, sibling fights, and the occasional financial fight when someone asks to borrow money. You would also never see me pretending to be someones friend to their face and then talking about them behind their back like that, just trying to stir up trouble.

You can tell that most of these women were never friends, and probably didn't even know about each other until the show.

The Day My Kid Almost Died

Two weeks ago my daughter almost died.

Just typing that sentence gives me the chills, I can feel my heart sink to the pit of my stomach and my eyes are starting to get glossy, swelling up with salty wet tears. I go to a place of terror and sadness as I relive the traumatizing memory of my daughter's close call with death.

It was sunny and warm and the solar powered pool in my backyard was up to 80 degrees. This was perfect I thought, after all the strange weather we had been having lately we finally caught a break. We could go swimming! Yes! I have been waiting patiently since the end of last summer to finally get back in the pool.

I asked my daughter during her favorite movie if she wanted to go swimming, and before I could even blink she had already grabbed my hand and was walking me up the stairs to grab her swimsuit. We put our suits on and I invited my youngest sister to come with us, she obliged. We spent about an hour and half splashing each other, swimming laps, and hitting each other with pool noodles. We had a great time, but I remembered that earlier my grandma had called and said she would be coming over to visit around 4 pm.

It was 3:45 pm so I told my daughter it was time to get out and dry off because Grandma would be here soon. I took her life jacket off and wrapped a towel around her cold wet skin. She told me she was freezing, so I told her we could go sit in the sun by the pool to dry off, she would be warm there. As we were drying off, my Grandma had shown up, and she was trying to come out the sliding glass door to see us, she is fragile, her hands shake and sometimes she has trouble walking. I could see her struggling to get the door open, so I say to my daughter," Come on Milania, Grandma's here follow me so we can help her outside."

I was not prepared for what happened next.

I had assumed my daughter followed me, she usually does, so I went to help my 83 year old grandmother outside. As I grabbed a hold of my grandmother's hand I heard a loud scream. It was my sister instantly I turned around and I saw my daughter was in the pool under water not moving. Before I could even move my sister had already jumped in the pool and grabbed my daughter out of the water.

The whole thing only lasted about 20 seconds but it was the most terrifying 20 seconds of my life. I was panicking, what if she is dead? Why didn't I just pick her up? I'm the stupidest person alive. I don't want to lose her.

Fortunately she was perfectly fine, we didn't have to administer CPR, call the paramedics, or anything because she was perfectly fine, but I wasn't. My daughter almost died, and it was my fault. I didn't even save her myself, my sister did. I am the worst mother alive! How could I allow this to happen under my watch? How am I going to tell my fiancee? I'm dreading that phone call, he isn't going to trust me to care for our daughter anymore. I was feeling guilty as hell.

My fiancee tried to assure me it wasn't my fault, he told me I should be grateful my sister was there, and I was but that didn't take away the tremendous amount of guilt I felt for putting my daughter in harm's way. As a mother it's my job to protect my daughter from these things and I failed miserably.

2 weeks have gone by since her near death experience, but I don't feel any better. In fact we haven't been in the pool since. I just can't seem to escape this overwhelming amount of guilt that is hanging over me like a black cloud. She almost died, under my watch. Why can't I just let this go already? Why am I still hanging on to a painful memory? Because she almost died. I don't know if I will ever get over this, but I know this much I am forever grateful to my sister.

Photo Credit: All photos courtesy of me

How To Make An Omelet Your Kids Will Love (Recipe)

Eggs, the breakfast of champions, at least for my 2 year old. Anyone who has kids knows how difficult it can be to cook for them, especially little ones. Once they turn 2 they become so finicky that cooking can be a nightmare for any parent.

Usually I spend my days fighting with my daughter at meal times to even eat, unless I make eggs. Omelets are her absolute favorite breakfast food, it's the one meal I can count on. That and bacon, you can never go wrong with bacon.

It's taken me a while to perfect my craft, I have been making her eggs for quite some time, switching out ingredients trying new things until I found something she liked. Here is what I have come up with, the perfect kid friendly omelet:

Ingredients:

1 egg
1 piece of turkey bacon
1/8 tsp of Parsley
1/8 tsp of no salt seasoning (I buy mine at Costco but something like Mrs. Dash works great too)
3 pinches of grated cheddar cheese or any other cheese your child likes (I say pinches because if you use too much cheese it is going to make it difficult to cook evenly)
A pinch of garlic salt
Optional Ingredients:

A pinch of salt

A pinch of black pepper

Directions:

1.) In a small bowl beat 1 egg with a fork for about a minute or two. Add cheese, and seasonings. Mix well so the ingredients are distributed evenly.

2.) Cook the turkey bacon in the microwave for about 15-20 seconds, you want it to be slightly undercooked because it will finish cooking in the pan. 

3.) Tear the bacon into tiny pieces and mix into the egg mixture. Transfer egg mixture to a small greased pan and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes.

4.) Your egg should look like this when it's ready to flip. Using a spatula flip to one side so the egg looks like a half circle. Continue cooking for about a minute then flip the egg over to the other side and cook for another minute.

5.) Remove from heat and let it cool for about 2 minutes, then plate and serve.

Photo Credit: Me

I'm Disappointed With Sesame Street's New Muppet

Growing up Sesame Street was huge in my house. Big Bird, Elmo, Cookie Monster you name it I had every toy they came out with it in my toy box, these days it's not much different as my daughter has grown to love the characters I too grew up watching. Every morning at 10 am you can find me with my daughter in my lap in front of the TV watching Sesame Street. So it isn't that surprising I know all the characters and follow the show pretty closely.

One of the things I love the most about Sesame Street is how they do such a great job tackling issues that are difficult to talk about with children. I really loved the episodes they did on Hurricane Sandy and divorce, but today to my surprise Sesame Street was in the news once again for tackling another difficult topic, children of incarcerated parents.

Sesame Street has created a new muppet named Alex, who's father is in jail. You can watch the video here on the Huffington Post but it pretty much is a clip of a muppet named Alex who is depressed because he can't build cars with the other kids and their dads because his father is in jail. Maybe I'm being overly critical but I find the whole thing to be a bit disturbing. Sesame Street's target audience is about 2-5 years old as a parent this is not something I want to have a discussion about with my 2 year old yet. I don't want my daughter to see this, I don't want her to know about jail or incarceration at 2 years old. I understand that there are unfortunately families that have a parent who is incarcerated but is it really something all kids need to hear about? I don't think so.

I also don't think it's very appropriate topic for toddlers to be discussing, whats even more appalling is that this is the same show that refused to air a segment that Katy Perry did a few years ago because parents were complaining about how low cut her dress was.What's next an episode about drugs? I just don't understand what the producers were thinking, I feel like the producers really made a poor decision with this episode and we will not be watching.

Photo Credit: Google Images

Minnie Mouse Themed Birthday (DIY Minnie Mouse candy apples and cupcakes)

Last weekend we celebrated my daughter's second birthday with family and friends. She has really taken a liking to all things Disney especially Minnie Mouse, so it was only natural for her birthday we have a Minnie Mouse themed party complete with Minnie Mouse decorations and Minnie Mouse goodies.

I got the idea for these candy apples from Disneyland, they actually sell them and other Disney themed candy apples at Marcelines Confectionery, in Downtown Disney. They were so pretty I just knew I had to recreate them. When I started on them I had no idea what I was getting myself into, it took me 2 days and lots testing to get them JUST right.

Minnie Mouse Candy Apples

Ingredients:
20 apples (I used granny smith)
20 wooden sticks
1.5 bags of large marshmallows
Toothpicks
2 tubs of caramel
1 bag of white chocolate chips
4.5 bags of chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate but dark choclate would work too)
Milk
Pink sugar
Peppermint Patty Candys (white only)
Pink and white ribbon


1.) Wash apples and pat dry, then insert the wooden sticks into the apples and put aside.

2.) Now you want to heat the caramel, the easiest way to do it is to heat it up in the microwave. Put the caramel in a big bowl and add a little bit of milk and heat the caramel up for 30 second increments. (Each time make sure you stir the milk and caramel) until smooth and creamy. Once the caramel is smooth and creamy dip each apple into the caramel and cover as much of the apple as possible so it looks like this:

3.) Place apples on wax paper, add 2 toothpicks to each side of the apple for the ears and place a marshmallow over each tooth to make the ears, then place in the fridge to cool.

4.) While the apples are in the fridge cooling you can melt the chocolate. Pour all the chocolate chips into a large bowl and add a little bit of milk and place in the microwave and heat the same way as you did with the caramel. 30 seconds at time, taking it out each time to stir and then reheat until it's smooth and creamy. It took me about 5 minutes total to get the chocolate to the right temperature on a low powered microwave.

6.) Remove the apples from the fridge and dip each apple in chocolate so its completely covered, ears and all. I had to use a spoon to drizzle chocolate over the ears so it was completely covered in chocolate. When you're finished place them on a clean piece of wax paper. They should look like this when you are done.

7.) Then you want to place the chocolate apples in the fridge and let them set overnight. 

8.) Once the chocolate has set it's time to make the pink skirt. You're going to want to melt the white chocolate chips the same way you did the chocolate and caramel. Let the white chocolate cool a little so it doesn't melt the chocolate and caramel off of the apples. Then dip each apple in white chocolate, place about six white peppermint patty candies on each apple and sprinkle with pink sugar over each apple shake the excess fall off. If the white chocolate starts to harden add more mix to the mix and stir until smooth. Place each apple back on the wax paper to cool then refrigerate.

9.) Wait about and hour before removing from the refrigerator.

10.) Then tie pink and white ribbons on each one and you're ready to serve!

The candy apples were a hit! The other tasty treat I made for my daughter's birthday were these cute little Minnie Mouse cupcakes.

Minnie Mouse Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes:

Ingredients:

1 Chocolate Cake Mix

Half a bag of peanut butter chips

2 tsps of Vanilla extract

1 box of oreo cookies

1 box of mini oreo cookie

1 can of vanilla frosting

1 bag of twizzlers pull apart licorice

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make cake mix as instructed and mix in 2 tsps of vanilla extract and peanut butter chips. Batter will be lumpy because of the peanut butter chips scoop out batter into cupcake liners. I use a ice cream scooper to add the perfect amount. Bake for 20 minutes.

2.) Remove from oven and allow the cupcakes to cool.

3.) Once the cupcakes have cooled frost them and then place one large oreo in the middle and two small oreos on each side around the large oreo for ears. Repeat for each cupcake.

4.) Pull each the twizzlers apart and mold into a bow you may to use a toothpick to dip in the frosting and add a little bit of frosting to the back of the bow and stick onto the oreo to act as glue. 

Now you have cute and tasty little cupcakes that everyone will enjoy!

Photo Credit: All Photos Courtesy of Me

How To Talk To Your Children About Tragedy and Tragic Events

I can still hear it, the sound of my phone alerting me of a incoming text message. I remember exactly what is said, "Boston explosions :/ people's legs blown off" that was the message I received from my significant other informing me of yesterday's bombings that occurred shortly after 4 pm EST during the Boston Marathon. I was very confused by the text I had just woken up from a nap and didn't know what to make of it. So I did what most people would have done I searched the Internet for more information. And turned the news on. 

Flipping through the local news channels, nothing. It was too soon, I found an article online explaining what happened, 2 bombs had gone off shortly after 4 pm EST during the Boston Marathon, killing 2 people and injuring at least 23 people. That was yesterday afternoon, since then the death toll had risen to 3 and left 145 injured including at least 12 in critical condition. 

Immediately I thought about my daughter, she's only 23 months thank god she is too little to understand. She won't be asking any questions, she won't want to know why this happened, she won't tell me she's scared, she won't have nightmares. I can take comfort in knowing that I don't have to explain the evils of the world we live in just yet. 

But what if she was older, what if she did understand and wanted answers? What if she felt those same emotions that the rest of the world is feeling right now, sadness, fear, confusion, what would I have said to her? I'm not a psychologist, or a doctor, a teacher or anything else, just another stay at home mother who has lived through another tragic event in history so what could I say to my child after this? I thought long and hard about this all night yesterday and even early this morning. This is what I came up with after doing a little research online and adding in knowledge I gained from my own experiences with tragic events.

1.) Try to keep the conversations short. Giving too much information or including too many details in the discussion may leave your children feeling frightened or insecure, by keeping the discussion short you are able to address the situation but also keep your child from panicking. Make sure you reassure them that they are safe. If my daughter would have asked what happened I probably would have said something like, "Some bad guys hurt a lot of people yesterday, but a lot of good people like doctors, nurses, firefighters, police officers, even the president came to help them. The good people are going to make them all better, and they are also going to protect us and keep us safe."

2.) Make your child feel comfortable and safe by using plenty of nonverbal reassurance. Showing your child lots of love by hugging them and kissing them, even just cuddling whether it's before bed or while playing or watching TV together, will put them at ease and make them feel secure and safe. As a child after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake my mother used to let me cuddle with her after dinner, I would tell her before bed I was scared and I remember she laid in my bed with me and held me for awhile, it always put me at ease and made me feel safer.

3.) If possible try to avoid watching News Broadcasts on TV or listening to it on the radio in front of small children. As a kid the one thing that scared me the most after tragic events was news broadcasts, they tend to say things and show things that may scare a child like, blood, injuries, talk about death and have a tendency to use words that may frighten a child like terrorists, bombs, guns, shootings, etc. The images and language may be tough for a child to see and hear. As a kid I remember growing up always watching news broadcasts with my parents I remember the bombings in Oklahoma City from 1994. It was terrifying to see the explosion and all of the wreckage after it occurred, I had nightmares of it as a kid, I wished my parents would have watched it when I wasn't around.

4.) Remember your kids may want to talk about it again at another time, so be prepared to have the discussion again.  Chances are your kids may hear you discuss it with others, or hear about it at school or daycare, be prepared to answer their questions as best as you can without making them feel frightened. Try using words they understand and words you comfortable using, this may or may not be the time to discuss death with your child.

5.) Try your best not to show your own fears and anxieties about the situation. Kids feed off of their parents' energy so if they sense you are scared they probably will be too. You want to make your children feel secure, I'm not saying to lie to them or hide your feelings but let them know you are upset about what some bad people did, but assure them that lots of good people are working hard to fix it and keep everyone safe, and/or make things better. 

6.) Try to get things back to normal as best you can. Of course you may still be upset and hurting but your children may not understand and the best way you can try to help yourself and your children move on is to resume normal activities. By resuming normal activities it may take not only your mind off of the situation but also theirs too, it will help them feel more secure and possibly help curb anxieties they may feel.

Obviously I'm not an expert on this particular topic but I did do some research before I wrote this post, and I spoke to other moms, and used my knowledge from my own experiences to help come up with these tips. If you or your child is still having trouble coping don't be afraid to seek the help of a professional, they are there to help you and your family members get through these sorts of situations. My heart, thoughts, and prayers go out to everyone who has experienced sadness, grief, and anger from this tragic event. Good luck to everyone and remember to pray for everyone in Boston. #PrayForBoston

Photo Credit: Washington Post