Kristy Sumichrast

I was recently out to dinner with some of my friends without our children. As much as we try not to bring up kids during these dinners, some how the conversation always turns to kids.

When I wanted to try for a baby I was super excited. I thought just toss out the birth control pills and next month I'd be pregnant. Almost two years later, after getting off birth control, I was pregnant. Like so many others, it wasn't that easy for me to get pregnant and it took going to an infertility doctor and trying several rounds of Clomid, IUIs and injectables before achieving my baby goal.

Soon the kids will be on summer break and off their normal routines. Even though summer is a time to unwind, put away the backpacks and enjoy the nice weather, it's also better to keep yourself and kids on a schedule. How do you maintain a routine, but also enjoy the break? Here are some helpful tips:

I was recently watching a television show and that commercial for Luvs Diapers came on. If you haven't seen it, click here. Basically it talks about first-time moms versus second-time moms. The mom in the commercial with the first child makes anyone holding her child sanitize their hands and basically their whole bodies before she will let them hold her baby. After she has the second child, she hands the child to a car mechanic that was just working on her car while she writes a check for service.

One of my friends was telling me about recently being at the park and another mom telling her she thought her child had A.D.D. My friend was taken aback and was not sure what to say. My friend asked the other mom why she thought this and the mom said because her child seemed full of energy and seemed to be more active than her own children.

I’ve seen so many stories lately about how to overcome, how to limit and how not to feel guilty. The bottom line is, if you’re a parent, you probably feel guilty on a daily basis and that’s just a normal symptom of parenting.

Mother's Day is just around the corner and I started to think about all the mom-friends I have in my life and how appreciative I am for the advice I have received over the years. Here is a list of my top 10 best "words of wisdom" from fellow moms:

Have you seen that commercial for State Farm Insurance about life before children and after children? If not, check out the commercial here. Basically it talks about life before kids and lists things like, I'll never move to the suburbs, I'll never get a minivan and I'll never have a second child. Then, the couple have children and the things they thought they would never do, they do. This got me thinking about what type of parent I thought I would be and what type of parent I am now. Here is my list of, "I'm not going to do x, when I'm a parent before and after having kids:

I currently have an 8-year-old daughter who is going through some behavioral changes. She is a second-grader who is starting to exert her authority, question adult comments and ignore adults when asked to do something. On the positive side, she is taking more responsibility for herself and others around her. Sounds like pre-teen behavior to me, but she is not.

Let's face it, many of us focus on how "not to get pregnant" and when you are actually, "trying" to get pregnant, you think it will come easily and the process will be seamless. No matter what anyone tells you, when you are pregnant for the first time, it's like nothing else you have experienced. Here are a 10 tips I wish I heard before I actually became pregnant:

Back when I was growing up in the 80s I remember Officer Friendly making a trip to my elementary school. For those of you who are not familiar with Officer Friendly, it was a police officer from the local police department who made the rounds to the local elementary schools to discuss "stranger danger."

My husband and I often turn to each other and ask, "do families with all boys deal with this?" We have three girls and we are a household of high emotion, large quantities of toilet paper and several baths in one weekend because well, baths are more fun than toys.

Now that spring has arrived and the weather is getting warmer, outdoor sports have resumed. It's important to keep a few safety tips in mind while kids are participating in these sports:

Moms work hard every day for their children and often times feel guilty not giving enough. No matter if you are buying a gift for a stay-at-home-mom, mom working part-time or a mom that works everyday in an office, she deserves something special and will appreciate gifts she can actually use.

Today is the era of play places. It's easy and we've certainly had several birthdays at one of these places. I'm sure you've either hosted a party or attended one thrown at a bounce house, trampoline or indoor climbing structure facility.

Do you have two children and are trying to decide whether to try for a third? The average American household has around two children. According to the Paw Research Center, the number of children has been declining over the years in America with 48 percent surveyed saying two children is the ideal number. I'm not sure who said the following, but someone once said, "this world is built for two children." And I think this statement is so true. Here are some things to consider when jumping from two to three children:

Does your craft area look like this in your house? This is our basement craft closet after a long winter of indoor arts and crafts and several hours of school projects. Before you get into the busy summer season of vacations, camps and activities, now is a great time for spring cleaning. For motivation and to lessen the expense of new items we need, I like to try and sell what I can and then donate the rest to charity. Here are several sites and places you can sell your kids' items:

Are you ready for a date night and can't get a friend or relative to babysit for you? Or do you need to run to a doctor's appointment in the middle of the day or run errands for a few hours on the weekend? If you need a babysitter, where do you start and how do you choose someone that is both reliable and compatible with your child care needs? Here are some tips to help find and screen the ideal babysitter:

Are you considering another baby after just having one or did you get pregnant quickly the second time around? Or maybe you adopted only to find out you were expecting yourself?

You're pregnant and now a friend or relative wants to throw you a baby shower, but what do you register for? There are so many baby products out there and different variations of each product that it can be a bit overwhelming. I strongly recommend bringing a friend with you to help in the registering process. Make sure you pick someone with a similar personality to yours. With that said, what you think will work for you when you are pregnant versus what actually works for you once the baby arrives, may be two different products. And, what works best for another parent may not be what works best for you. Here is my list of baby items to register for, but keep the receipts in case you need to exchange them for products that better suit your baby needs: