Six months into my pregnancy

I want to share my surprising and unexpected  pregnancy experience I endured with my first and only child that I didn't dream in a million years would happen to me.  Early one morning,  I started feeling light cramps in my stomach. It felt like i had too use the stool, so I went to the stool but nothing happened. As the day went by, I noticed the cramps hadn't left and i thought it was odd, so my husband and I went for a walk to see if that would help any, but it didn't.  Nothing relieved the cramps. By the time night fell, I had to make a decision about what I was going to do about my situation.  Get this, it never entered into my mind that I could be going into labor, and that's exactly what was happening, but I didn't know it until i went to my doctor. When my doctor checked me out, he told me that I'd dilated three centimeters already! wow and shock is what I thought and felt! To make a long story short, I was sent to another hospital and ended up having our precious baby boy early that next morning because the doctor couldn't stop the baby from coming.  When our son, Dallas P. Douglas Jr. came out, he was fully developed but weighed only 2 lbs 3 ounces with a head full of hair! I say that jokingly because if he was full term, his hair would have been like a wig!!!I am so happy and proud that God had mercy on me, opened my wombs, and blessed me to be able to experience mother hood!

 Everyone of my friends  was so happy for me because they knew that I wanted a child of my own, but most importantly, we were excited as well as thankful too the Lord for answering our prayers!! I don't think I mentioned this, but I thought I couldn't have any children because I didn't have any the whole twelve years I was with my first husband, and things turned around a year after I met and married  my second husband.  I thank the Lord daily for my miracle baby! He's the baby that was in my stomach when I was in a car accident, and the baby I thought I'd never have. The only thing I regret is that I wasn't able to take pictures of my stomach because I went into preterm labor. 

 Thanks for reading my life story,feel free to comment and stay tuned for more updates. 

The unexpected happened

While traveling from work not thinking about anything except trying to get home as fast as I can because I was tired, low and behold, less than one hundred feet from home, I got the scare of my life! A car from out of nowhere, crushed my car from the side where I was driving! That was the first and only accident I ever had or ever was involved in.  For a minute there, I guess I was in a comma because everything was black!  I could hear people talking to me, but I couldn't see a thing.  I remember hearing the rescue workers telling me that I was hit hard by another car, and I remember telling them that I was pregnant.  Since I was pregnant, they didn't want to take any chances, so they air lifted me to the nearest hospital!  I think we got there in less than five minutes. They took me into the emergency department, checked me out then checked my baby out. They told me that my baby was doing well! I believe it was the grace of God that kept me and my child from losing our lives that day.  I know that God has angels place all around us and keeps us safe as we journey through our lives! I also want to add that, it's a wise idea to keep your trust and hopes in God because you never know when something like this might occur!  Stay tuned for more posts to come as I unfold my pregnancy and parenting experiences.
Minnie L Douglas (author)

Fifty Words To Use To Help Children Feel Loved and Valued

Of course every parent wants their children to feel valued, but sometimes we don't know the exact words to say to make them feel valued and loved.  During my training as a preschool teacher, I learned some valuable lessons about helping a child feel valuable, respected, and loved unconditionally.

At a  training session, our instructor gave everyone a sheet of paper that names at least  fifty ways to help your child feel good about themselves, but, before we could use these words, she reminded us that it was important to be sincere. Soon  After I got this list, I  was ready to start   using some of these words instead of less important one's I had learned as a child. Needless to say,  I was ever thankful that I decided to take childcare classes while my son was very young because as I always say, children do not come with instructions!!  I wanted to share this list with all of you because we are our child's first teacher and our roles as parents are to build up our children and their sense of self value and self worth,  up with positive words, so, at the end,   Please feel free to leave comments and you may share more positive words for parent's such as myself to use with children.

1. WOW
2. WAY TO GO
3. SUPER
4. YOU'RE SPECIAL
5. OUTSTANDING
6. EXCELLENT
7. GREAT
8. GOOD
9. NEAT
10. WELL DONE
11. REMARKABLE
12. I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT
13. I'M PROUD OF YOU
14. FANTASTIC
15. SUPERSTAR
16. NICE WORK
17. LOOKING GOOD
18. YOU'RE ON TOP OF I
19. BEAUTIFUL
20.  NOW YOU'RE FLYING
21. YOU'RE CATCHING ON
22. NO YOU'VE GOT IT
23.  YOU'RE INCREDIBLE
24. BRAVO
25. YOU'RE FANTASTIC
26. HURRAY FOR YOU
27. YOU'RE ON TARGET
28. YOU'RE ON YOUR WAY
29.  NOW NICE
30. HOW SMART
31. GOOD JOB
32. THAT'S INCREDIBLE
33. HOT DOG
34.  YOU'RE DYNAMITE
35. YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL
36. YOU'RE UNIQUE
37. NOTHING CAN STOP YOU NOW
38. GOOD FOR YOU
39. I LIKE YOU
40. YOU'RE DARLING
41. YOU'RE A WINNER
42. REMARKABLE JOB
43. BEAUTIFUL WORK
44. SPECTACULAR
45. YOU'RE SPECTACULAR
46. YOU'RE PRECIOUS
47. GREAT DISCOVERY
48. YOU'VE DISCOVERED THE SECRET
49. YOU FIGURED IT OUT
50. FANTASTIC JOB

PARENTING TIPS FOR TODDLERS ON VIDEO (FREE)

Parenting isn't always an easy job because for one, children do not come with instructions!  I still remember the days of parenting my child when he was a early toddler. Sometimes, I look back and wonder how did I survive it all! The temper tantrums among many other things were so overwhelming.  With all of that being said, I really and truly understand it when parents get aggravated and frustrated all at the same time feel like pulling their hair out!  Before I had a child, I used to look at others with children and think parenting was peaches and creams all the time.  Most of the time, I never really saw the other side of it or no one even shared the ups and downs of parenting with me. So, by going through what I experienced, It made me  want to be of give some resources to mothers to be and mothers  who are totally new with parenting and can use some valuable lessons that I wished I had ran across in those days.  I ran across some material that will be a blessing to those who are desperately searching for help. 

Click Here!  For instant access and some helpful toddler parenting tips on video. 

Ten Must Read Books For older Toddlers and Early Elementary age children

Reading jogs your mind, you're out front not left behind, the world's an

open book, jump in and take a look!

Adventures on the shelf,

reach out help yourself!

Reading, You've got me reading.

I don't know what it is about dinosaurs, but these are books that my preschool children and  older toddler boys love for  me to read over and over with them, and I enjoy reading them because they not only holds their attention, they help teach kids valuable lessons about life.  So, I decided to share my experiences of them with you. I know your little boys will be thrilled to have some of these books on hand!

1. How do dinosaurs clean their rooms?
2. How do dinosaurs say good night?
3. How do the dinosaurs say I love you?
4. How do dinosaurs play with their friends?
5. How do dinosaurs love their dogs?
6. How do dinosaurs say I'm mad?
7. How do dinosaurs go to school?
8. How do dinosaurs count to ten?
9. How do dinosaurs learn their colors?
10. Hoe do dinosaurs eat their food?

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The bestselling, award-winning team of Yolen and Teague present their second original dinosaur board book, a playful "how-to" tale about making a mess and then cleaning it up.

Come along for some BIG fun as your favorite dinosaurs learn to pick up and put away their toys. How do dinosaurs clean their rooms? With trash cans and dusters and brooms!
Now Jane Yolen's playful, read-aloud text and Mark Teague's hilarious illustrations show your own little dinosaurs just how fun and easy it can be. Brimming with the same infectious humor as the other HOW DO DINOSAURS tales, this new board book is a perfect companion to the immensely popular picture books and a great baby gift as well.
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