A LifeStyle Blog featuring articles about parenting, fertility, organization and recipes.
Since our first trimester to do list post did so amazingly well, I figured it was time to start working on a second trimester to do list post. So, let’s get started!
**This list may contain some affiliate links that, if you use, I make make an extremely small commission from, at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I have used or would use! **
I am so excited to be thinking about and talking about my favorite time of the year— FALL! If you’ve been keeping up to date with One Sharp Mama, you may have seen that we had a post on our favorite Outdoor Amazon Halloween Decorations. As fall quickly approaches, I figured I’d throw together a list of 11 Free (or close to free) and Fun Family activities you can try out this fall. We can’t wait to try these out with Caroline, as this is her first fall!
So, it’s officially back in school season all around the area. I can’t believe it is that time already. I know a lot of kids who are starting in new schools, new grades and in new school districts. Most of them were excited to get back in to the swing of things. I know a lot of parents who are very excited to get back into the school routine as well. A lot of families need that structure and scheduling to feel like they can make it to all of the life events.
**This post has affiliate links that, if you use, I may make a small profit from. But don’t worry. I only use links to products that I have used myself or would use myself**
I remember when I was pregnant and trying to pick out the perfect diaper bag. I wanted one that was big enough to carry everything that I needed but not too big and bulky that I wouldn’t be able to shove in under the stroller or in between the front and back seat of the car. I wanted a cute one, but was looking for a gender neutral- ish one that I could use for Caroline and whatever gender our eventual next baby will be. I remember looking at Babies R Us one day and just standing there in awe that their were so many types, styles, colors and variations of diaper bags.
I picked out an absolute adorable bag. I loved that it came with a changing pad, bottle holder, pacifier holder, stroller straps and so much more. It could be used as a cross over your shoulder bag, or by the shorter handles, carried like a purse by your side or over one shoulder. I loved it- I still love it. But, it wasn’t as functional as I would have liked it to be. We used the bag for a couple months, it was fantastic, or so we thought. We didn’t know any better. I went back to work, drug Caroline to my mom’s house in the morning, up the stairs in her carseat and the bag on my shoulder. The bag would smack the side of the house as I walked up the steps. I just figured it was a wide- load new mom learning how to handle carrying all the new baby gear. I didn’t think anything of it.
Dave registered for a daddy backpack diaper bag. He didn’t necessarily want to carry around the big diaper bag, if he had a choice. We got it as like a back up, figuring if any time he would take Caroline out by himself, like if he was meeting up with me after work somewhere, he would have a diaper bag that was ready to go. We didn’t really use it until we were getting ready to go out of state on vacation. We were packing to go to Florida and Caroline literally had the biggest bag of the three of us. She had so much stuff. Since she has a dairy and soy allergy- she has to be on special ready to feed formula. We had to take so much of it. We had a million diapers and wipes. Outfits, bibs and burp cloths galore. She totally out packed daddy and mommy put together. So, instead of lugging the larger diaper bag around the airport and eventual theme parks we would see in Florida, we opted to take Daddy’s backpack bag down. I didn’t realize how much this would change our baby packing life! For more traveling with infant tips- check out the traveling tips post.
We were still able to pack the necessities in the backpack diaper bag, so we were happy. When we were at the airport, I realized how much this was going to change our trip. I was able to strap Caroline to the front of me in her favorite baby wearing carrier, while I could wear the back pack on my back and still have both arms free to do as we needed. Since we had three bags, I was able to pull one behind me- no problem. Plus, I still had one other arm free to open doors, pick up things, etc. I felt even more mobile and it was so freeing. We got down to Florida and went about our activities. We went to theme parks, shopping areas and even the grocery store and Dave and I both agreed that it was much easier to wear the backpack diaper bag than to lug around the big shoulder diaper bag. We could use the stroller with ease and had more room for our trinkets and gifts in the bottom of the stroller than not having any room for anything else with the big shoulder bag.
Once we got home from vacation, I never even thought about switching back to our old diaper bag. I still love it and use it for some things. But, our every day diaper bag is definitely daddy’s backpack version. When my mom watches her during the week, she has even commented how much easier it is to get around and even in and out of the car with Caroline now that we use the diaper bag version.
These are the few reasons that we decided to make the switch to our daddy backpack diaper bag. I’m sure everybody has their own opinion. But, if you’re on the edge about what bag to get or unsure if you want to make the switch, that’s our advice for ya!
Feel free to share your diaper bag ideas, stories and choices below in the comments 🙂
I can’t believe it is that time of the year already! It’s time to start planning for our Halloween decorations and parties. It’s so exciting to be thinking about fall time, Halloween and spooky times of the year. We went through our decorations and realized it was time for some new ones. So, first place I went, was to Amazon. I figured I can’t be alone in needing new fall, Halloween decor, so I have created this fun halloween decoration round up post for all of you readers!
**This post does contain some affiliate links. If you use these links, we may make a small, I mean penny size profit, at no extra cost to you! We only recommend items we have used ourselves or would use personally. **
1. Light Show — The new thing to do now a days with decorating the outside of your house is the light shows that reflect on your house. You can grab your light show from Amazon for almost half the price right now! It’s 49% off. Hurry and grab one while they last. This projector can even be used indoors with the stable base set up and has other holidays settings. If you do use it outside, it is waterproof too! It is a low voltage use, which is great for safety and energy consumption.
2. Giant Spider — This huge spider is wider than a doorway. It is very realistic with the skin being made of fleece material to give it a fuzzy look. The body is plastic and the metal legs can be bent into different poses to fit the area that you are displaying it in. The eyes glow and the spider has a squeaking voice when touched. Outdoor creepy crawly’s are the fun thing to have around your front porch or in your front yard for all tricker treaters alike. This one here is 55% off currently! Now is the time to get your Outdoor Halloween decor.
3. Lawn Signs — If you’re looking for more “cute” decorations, rather than, scary, these cute little yard signs have fun pumpkins, cute ghosts and happy skeleton heads. This includes the stakes that you’ll need to hold them into the ground. Guess what, they’re on sale now too – 44% off! 
4. Halloween Bunting — This beautiful, large, almost five feet long pumpkin bunting piece can be found on Amazon for less than 15 dollars. It hangs wonderfully from windows or front porch railings and will add character to your outdoor Halloween decor. You can leave it up all the time in the fall season. It’s perfect for that time of year.
5. Classic Witch flew into a Tree — If you’re looking for the classic decoration if you have a yard full of trees, you must get the witch that looks like she has rode her broomstick into the tree! It’s a decoration that everyone can enjoy. It’s been around for ages, but, it still brings a smile to everyone’s faces. It’s a classic and a must have. You can grab it on Amazon, on sale – for less than twelve bucks! 
6. Front door cover — If you’re just looking for something simple to jazz up the front porch. You can grab this Goblin front door cover for super cheap on Amazon. It’s 30″ wide by 72″ tall and super easy to tape to the door.
7. Spider Web — No Halloween decoration set is complete without a huge spider web. This is a large, 16 feet spider web comes with two small spiders and can span up to 200 square feet! That’s a big web. Perfect for any size yard and front of the house. 
Feel free to share your favorite halloween decorations in the comments below. I can’t wait to see how you love to spook up your yard for the Halloween festivities!
Wow, another accomplishment for One Sharp Mama! We have officially nominated for the Liebester Award twice, the Blogger Recognition award THREE TIMES and now the Sunshine Blogger Award.
This award is given by bloggers to other bloggers who are positive, inspiring and creative.
I am so honored and excited to accept, yet another award, for One Sharp Mama! One Sharp Mama is really growing and it is nice to see that others are recognizing this growth and are excited to watch us through our journey. We wanted to thank No Happy Accidents for nominating us for this award. We feel so exhilarated and thankful.
No Happy Accidents and One Sharp Mama are in a FB group together and are learning ways to help expand our blogs. Just as this award shows, the blogging community is very supportive. I’ve gained quite a few friends through this amazing community. I’ve networked and learned so much with the help of these fellow bloggers.
Now that these bloggers have officially been nominated – here is what they need to do to accept the Sunshine Blogger Award:
•Thank the blogger who nominated them and link back to their blog in a post form.
•Answer the 11 questions asked by the blogger who nominated them,
•Nominate 11 other blogs and give them 11 new questions to answer.
•Notify your nominees and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post.
Thanks so much to Kim with No Happy Accidents, again for this nomination. I am so proud to be a part of such a supportive community.
