This post is sponsored by Pampers. I am a proud member of the Pampers Baby Board.

Sometimes dads do things a little bit differently than moms. One area in which that is absolutely true is diapering. As far as I’m concerned, while not always the most pleasant, diaper changes can be a good time to bond with and talk to your baby. As far as my husband is concerned, diaper changes must be dealt with very cautiously and quickly.

With Father’s Day coming up this weekend, I thought it would be fun to get my husband’s perspective on diaper duty! I write all about pregnancy and parenting from my perspective, and I don’t ever have him share what parenting young kids is like for him! So I talked to him all about his diaper-changing technique and am excited to pass on these helpful diaper changing tips from a dad of three.

1. Get everything you need before you start. Clean diaper? Check. Several wipes (my husband said he averages 4-5 wipes per change) pulled from the package? Check. Baby? Check. You’re all set.

2. If your baby is bigger, give them something to hold. It can be a small toy, or even a clean diaper! Just keep their hands busy so they don’t accidentally (or purposefully!) grab their messy diaper!

3. Breathe through your mouth. I can absolutely confirm that my husband does this with every diaper he changes. I’ve tried talking to him when he’s changing a stinky diaper and you can definitely tell he breathes through his mouth and not his nose!

4. Go time. Once everything is ready, open your baby’s diaper, wipe their bum, clean all their folds and their thighs, and then slide the clean diaper under their bum. Try to be fast because if you don’t get that clean diaper back on in time, you might get a surprise shower (especially with a younger baby!).

5. Lift your baby’s feet up as high as you can. One thing my husband said he hates is getting poop on our babies’ feet or on the changing table. So his technique includes lifting baby’s feet up as high as he can to make sure he keeps them from touching the diaper. Because once they get poop on their feet, things get a whole lot more complicated.

6. Use Pampers Baby-Dry diapers. No dad (or mom, for that matter) likes to wake up in the middle of the night to change a wet or stinky diaper. And with Pampers Baby-Dry diapers and their Extra Absorb Channels, you won’t have to! Ordinary diapers may get wet and bulky through the night, but Pampers Baby-Dry provides up to 12 hours of overnight protection, plus a comfortable fit. We’ve been using Pampers Baby-Dry diapers ever since our oldest was a baby, and even my husband knows they’re the only ones we’ll ever buy!

7. Celebrate! You made it! Congratulations! You’ve successfully used these diaper changing tips from a dad of three to navigate the messy world of diapering a baby or toddler. Now go put your feet up, eat some wings, and watch the game. You deserve it!

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there! And a special thanks to my husband for letting me get his point of view and take way too many pictures of him changing our son’s diaper!

The post Diaper Changing Tips From a Dad of Three appeared first on Life With My Littles.

Guess what! Today is our eighth wedding anniversary! Hooray! It feels like forever ago that we got married, but at the same time it feels like it’s gone by so fast! Time is so weird, you guys.

To celebrate, I thought it would be fun to do a post all about marriage post-kids! My husband and I have gotten really good at maximizing the time we spend together after the kids go to bed (because we kind of have to be!). Here are some date night ideas for after the kids go to bed:

1. Play board games. One of our favorite things to do is play board games together. My husband’s favorite is a game called Dominion, but he’s also incredibly good at Monopoly. Our friends introduced us to the game Agricola (which is a farming game so we love it), and that’s a fun one for couples. Just Google “board games for couples” and you’ll find tons of good ones!

2. Have fun with apps. One of the best $2 I’ve ever spent was for Face Swap Live. My husband and I have spent hours on this app, swapping out our faces for each other’s, with pictures in our house, and even with toys. It’s just so dang funny! We also recently discovered a karaoke app and had a lot of fun doing karaoke together (“Love Is An Open Door” anyone?) and taking turns singing, too. When you find a good one, it can provide hours of entertainment!

3. Try out a date in a box. There are a lot of different “date night in a box” options out there, so there’s bound to be one out there that’s perfect for you! My husband and I tried Unbox Love a few months ago and that was a pretty fun one. They are perfect for after the kids go to bed because they usually provide everything you need and it’s something new and exciting to try!

4. Order food in. One thing that I really like doing is picking up food (or having it delivered) after the kids are in bed. That way, you don’t have to buy them food, and you can get whatever type of food you want! We love getting Indian food, but it’s not one cuisine that our kids particularly enjoy, so we usually get it after they are in bed and eat it while watching a TV show or movie. Plus, if you get dessert, you don’t have to share with your kids!

5. Have a theme night. I planned a fun “Italian night” once where we ate Italian food, had cannolis and Italian sodas, and watched the movie “The Italian Job.” It was super easy to plan and my husband appreciated the time I put into planning it. You can try a theme based on a movie (“Harry Potter” night would definitely be a winner in our house!), a country, or even the spa!

6. Lay on the grass and look at the stars outside. Obviously you can’t really do this when it’s cold out, but if you live somewhere where you can see the stars clearly (aka, not a giant city), then this one can be really romantic!

7. Read a book together. This one probably isn’t for everybody, but my husband and I read a book together for a class in college once and it was kind of fun! Pick a short book or a long book and then talk about it! It’s like your own little book club!

8. Do a puzzle. It might make you feel like you’re 100 years old, but doing a puzzle together can be a fun, relaxing activity. Pick one you can finish in a night, or one that you can do over a few nights. Either way, choose it together and have fun putting it together.

9. Cook together or have a cooking competition. You can either make a nice dinner together from the same recipe, or make it a little more interesting and do something like Iron Chef or Cupcake Wars. You can even have one of you make dinner and the other made dessert and then enjoy them together. The possibilities are endless!

10. Paint. We don’t do this very often, but it’s fun when we do! I have a nice watercolor set and painting together can be really calming. And it’s fun to see what the other person paints! My husband painted Minnesota and we still have it hanging on the fridge!

Just because you have kids and don’t get to go out as often doesn’t mean you can’t have quality time together at home! There are a lot of fun things you can do at home together to make it feel like you’re on a date. There’s more to life than just Netflix and chill, friends! So choose one of these date night ideas for after the kids go to bed and surprise your hubby with a nice night in. You’ll both be so glad you did!

And happy anniversary to my husband!

The post Date Night Ideas for After the Kids Go to Bed appeared first on Life With My Littles.

People always talk about how amazing pregnancy is for women and the incredible (and not so incredible) things women get to experience when they’re pregnant. Well let me remind you that she did not get that way by herself, and she is not the only one waiting for a baby!

Your husband can also play a big role in your pregnancy. They may not have to pee in a cup every month at OB visits or get stretch marks all over their belly, but they definitely are a part of your pregnancy. A lot of people focus all on the pregnant woman and forget about the husband, but daddies want to be a part of the pregnancy, too!

I asked a few of my mama friends and today I am sharing ten fun ways to involve your husband in your pregnancy!

Ways to Involve Your Husband in Your Pregnancy

1. Let him come to appointments with you, or record the heartbeat if he isn’t able to make it.

My husband has rarely been able to come to appointments (except for ultrasounds), but that is a great way to help him feel involved. Those appointments make the pregnancy feel a little more real, especially when you get to hear baby’s heartbeat!

If he’s not able to make it, record the heartbeat on your phone and play it back for him later. He’ll appreciate it!

2. Let him know when the baby is moving so he can feel baby kick.

It might be a while before baby is big enough that you can feel him from the outside, but when you can, let your husband know so he can feel baby move, too! I still remember the first time my husband felt our first baby move! It’s a special moment!

3. Take maternity pictures together.

I have seen some beautiful maternity pictures where couples have both been in the shot, and I love the idea of getting your husband involved in your maternity shoot. We took a few pictures together with out first baby, and I still love looking back on them!

4. Build things like the crib or swing together.

One of my favorite things to do with my husband when I’m pregnant is get things ready. The first time we put the crib together was so fun! And setting up the pack n’ play, the bouncer, and the swing together was fun, too! Even setting up the double stroller (once we were pregnant with baby #2) was an adventure!

5. Register together.

If you thought registering for your wedding was fun, just wait until you register for your baby! Diapers, baby monitors, blankets, tiny little outfits. It’s a blast. And depending on where you register, you’ll probably get a few goodies, too!

6. Have him rub belly butter on your stretching belly.

One of my friends suggested this, and I think it’s a great idea. Plus he might get to feel baby kick when he does it!

7. Ask him to massage any sore areas.

Another suggestion from my mama friends, and I love it! Especially towards the end of pregnancy when everything hurts!

8. Gift him a new dad kit.

When I was pregnant with our first I made my husband a new dad kit, and he loved it! It was full of little things to help him in his new role as a daddy!

9. Throw a gender reveal party together, or invite husbands to the baby shower.

Now that gender reveals are basically all the rage (yeah, I’m 80), a gender reveal party is a great way to celebrate your baby together! Or you can even invite husbands to your baby shower and let them do their own thing (grill burgers on the deck?) while the ladies hang out and talk about labor and breastfeeding. Plus that way he can open baby shower gifts with you!

10. Take classes together at the hospital.

Another great way to involve your husband in your pregnancy is to go take a baby basics class or childbirth class together at the hospital. We went to one when I was pregnant with our first and it was so helpful to learn all about car seats, bathing, diapering, and swaddling. If you haven’t been around babies much, I highly recommend it!

There are lots of ways to involve your husband in your pregnancy, and I am a big advocate of making him feel like he’s a part of your pregnancy, too. Like I said, you didn’t get that way on your own, and he’s excited to meet your little wee one just like you are! So try a few (or all!) of these things, and congratulations! Your baby will be here before you know it!

The post 10 Ways to Involve Your Husband In Your Pregnancy appeared first on Life With My Littles.

For the Mister’s first Father’s Day as a daddy, I wanted to make him something special. I thought it would be fun to make him a special series of Father’s Day photos that he could hang above his desk and we could update every year.

We started this little series three years ago, and it a really easy and fun gift to put together. And it’s fun to compare the photos as the years go by!

And even though I know the Mister will be expecting it now that this is our third year, I am still excited to show him the new pictures with Little A and Little J! They definitely captured their personalities!

The best part about this homemade Father’s Day gift is how cheap it is. The first year I bought a frame from Michael’s using one of their always-available 40% off coupons, so it didn’t cost very much. My frame holds three 5×7″ photos.

I used my Cricut Mini cutting machine to cut out the words “We” and “Daddy,” plus a heart. You can do it by hand or use another kind of cutting tool, but just make sure that your letters are all touching so you don’t have to hold them each individually! Or of course you could make little signs, but I personally like the way the words look on their own.

All I have to do each year is get out the words and heart, take new pictures, print them, and put them into the frame.

Make sure you use thick cardstock for your words and heart. If your baby is able to hold onto things and doesn’t understand “don’t rip!” then she will probably end up ripping your words. Which is bad if you plan on using them for years to come.

And if you don’t have a tripod to take your own photo, ask a friend to come help you out. They will love to be in on the secret!

Anyway, I love how our photos turned out this year, and I can’t wait to give the Mister his gift now that Little A is in our family, too! We sure do love Daddy!!

The post Father’s Day Photo Gift appeared first on Life With My Littles.

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.

Before Little J was born, I kept myself very busy getting ready for his birth. One of the things I did was make a “New Dad Kit” for my husband so he wouldn’t feel left out. With all the attention pregnant moms get, I think it’s important to make sure dads feel like they are a part of pregnancy, too! Making a new dad kit was the perfect way to let the Mister know that he was definitely a part of it. I have had a few requests for a post about a new dad kit, so here it is!!

Like I said, I think it is important to make sure that the dads don’t feel left out, so I included a bunch of things to help make the transition to parenting easier for my husband! I also included a few things just to brighten his day, because who doesn’t love that?

First I wanted to make sure that I had a cute way to write messages for each thing in the kit, so I made some printables!

I also wanted to present the kit in a cute way, so I tied the tags on with ribbon and put it all in a basket with some paper fillers on the bottom (this helped keep everything from sliding around!).

Now onto the kit!

I wanted to put some body wash and soap in the new dad kit because babies make messes, and sometimes those messes get all over daddies! There have been several times that our babies have barfed on the Mister and he has had to take a shower to clean off! So including some amazing soap that smells good, hydrates, exfoliates, and is the only bottle you need in the shower is really helpful! I wrote on the tag for the soap “Because sometimes you will get messy, too!” The Mister can definitely attest to this one!

I also included a lot of other things to help the Mister make the transition to fatherhood easier!

I put in some books about daddies for my husband to read to our baby, some Pop Rocks (because our baby’s pop rocks!), a onesie for his favorite college sports team, some granola bars for when I don’t pack him a lunch, and some tissues (because there will be plenty of happy tears).

I also put in his favorite caffeinated soda for a pick-me-up, some air freshener (babies can be stinky!), some Sour Patch Kids because sometimes our baby will seem sour, but always sweet inside, some ear plugs for when baby cries, and some ibuprofen for the headaches.

I had a lot of fun putting together this new dad kit, and I can’t wait to give it to him!

And if you are looking for more things to do before your baby is born, read 25 Things to Do Before Your Baby is Born.

The post New Dad Kit appeared first on Life With My Littles.

Last week I shared 5 things to do with your husband before you get pregnant, and now I’m going to share things you can do with your husband before your baby is born!

These are things you can still do when you are pregnant, but that are difficult (or impossible!) to do when your baby is born.

It’s so important to cherish those last months and weeks with just the two of you, because things are going to change real quick once baby arrives! It’s not a bad thing! But things will be different when there’s a tiny bundle of joy in your lives. Making the most of the time you have before that happens is what this post is all about!

Things to Do With Your Husband Before Your Baby is Born

Take a weekend trip

When you have a baby, you can’t just up and go places for the weekend when you want. Babies need a lot of things and they definitely require a lot of extra planning and room in your suitcase. It’s hard to go on a quick trip when you have to do things around nursing your baby and naptime.

Go take a weekend trip before your baby is born! It will be a great thing for you and your husband to do together before you become a family of three!

Go to a nice dinner.

Having a baby makes it harder to go out to dinner. Even if you leave your baby at home with a babysitter, it can be stressful (I don’t think that’s just me).

Go out to a nice dinner that you can enjoy together without having to worry about your baby waking up or crying or feeding. It will be relaxing and a good way to spend your last few months (or weeks, or days) together before baby arrives.

Go camping

I’m sure some people would be fine taking a baby camping, but like I said earlier, babies require a lot of things and it would be hard to take them all on a camping trip. Until your baby is several months old, it will probably be pretty hard to go camping (and even then it’s a lot!) so do it before your baby is born!

Go out with friends

If you haven’t already noticed, having a baby makes things more difficult (at first, but it’s so worth it!). Before your baby is born, go out on a double or triple date with friends. Our best friends were due two weeks before us, and it was fun to do things together before our babies were born! It took a while after they were born before we got the courage to go out with two babies!

Go to a sporting event

We took Little J to a baseball game when he was three-months-old and it was awful. He pretty much cried the whole time. So before your baby is born, go to a baseball, basketball, or football game and enjoy getting to shout and clap and yell. Because once your baby is born, they will not appreciate all that noise!

Go to a movie

I can’t imagine that the audience would appreciate you bringing your baby to a movie once they are born, so go see a movie in the theater before! Plus, depending on how often your baby eats, you may not even be able to leave them with a babysitter once they are born to go see a movie.

Take afternoon naps

Once your baby is born, you won’t be able to take long afternoon naps together. This is definitely something I miss doing, and I wish I had done it more before our littles were born! There’s something relaxing about taking a nap with your husband in the middle of the day!

Enjoy lazy days and nights

Once your baby is born, you won’t be able to just sit around watching TV and doing whatever you want. So spend a nice lazy evening together binge-watching your favorite TV show together. Because when your baby is born, chances are he or she won’t let you sit on the couch for hours at a time!

Enjoy your last few months with just you two

It will go by so fast, and it won’t be just the two of you again for a long time (at least 18 years!).

Do you have any other ideas of things to do with your husband before your baby is born? Let me know!!

The post 9 Things to Do With Your Husband Before Your Baby is Born appeared first on Life With My Littles.

A while ago I posted on my Facebook page asking what you guys wanted me to write about that would be helpful. I had someone suggest writing about things to do with your husband before you have a baby, and I thought that would be a great idea!

The transition to being parents puts a different (albeit better) dynamic on your relationship, so you want to try and enjoy the time with just you two before it changes! And there are definitely some things you can’t do together once you are pregnant or for a few months after you have a baby.

So I put together two lists of things to do with your husband before you have a baby! The first list includes things to do before you get pregnant, and the second part includes things you can do while you are pregnant.

5 Things to Do With Your Husband Before You Get Pregnant

Go on a bike ride

My husband and I really enjoy going on bike rides together, and since your balance gets messed up during pregnancy (and it isn’t really safe in case you fall), it is a good idea to get in as many bike rides as you can before you get pregnant!

Go sledding or skiing

Sledding is my all-time favorite winter activity. The last two winters I was pregnant, so I wasn’t able to go sledding. I think it’s pretty obvious why you shouldn’t go sledding or skiing while you are pregnant. So get it done while you can!

Go ice skating or roller skating

Since balance is off and falling is not safe when you are pregnant, these two things are definitely out when you are “with child.” But they can be really fun things to do with your husband, so do them before you get pregnant!

Go to a waterpark or theme park

We found out I was pregnant two weeks before we went to the Mall of America last year, and weren’t telling our friends that we were pregnant yet so I had to use the excuse “I’m not really a ride person.” Lies, my friends. I love rides. You just can’t go down water slides or on roller coasters when you are pregnant! So go spend time in the sun and have fun with your husband!

Do something you have always wanted to do together

This can include travel, daring adventures, or something small. When you start your family, there will always be an excuse not to do something. “I don’t want to leave the kids” is one that is common in our house. So do that thing you have always wanted to do together before you start your family! Because once you are pregnant and feeling sick and huge, you won’t want to do anything like that.

For example, my husband and I went to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter before we started trying to get pregnant. I was definitely crying in that picture above. DREAMS COME TRUE!

And before you get pregnant, check out this list of things to do before you get pregnant so you can have the healthiest pregnancy possible!

The post 5 Things to Do With Your Husband Before You Get Pregnant appeared first on Life With My Littles.