A baby shower gift idea

Sorry I've been MIA for a while from blogging, I've been super busy in my craft room sewing up a ton of gifts for other people, mainly for Steph and my nephew on the way, Liam. Seriously I've been a sewing maniac! This month has been crazy busy and it looks like things wont slow down until August, but then again Liam will be here so I'll be living over at Steph and Aldos visiting a lot, so it looks like things will still be busy around here. Sigh.

So on to the baby shower gift idea. I know most, if not all my readers, are moms or moms-to-be (lets face it, the dudes could care less about my ramblings on baby/toddler stuff and crafts. Its ok, I understand. No hard feelings) so I thought I'd share my shower gift to my sister if any of you want to spoil someone YOU know. This was a pretty big hit at the shower Jac and I threw Steph this past Sunday, and I was pretty giddy to give it to her because we are a lot alike (ha!) and I knew I would totally want this! (Come on now, who doesn't LOVE unexpected thoughtful gifts?!) So I had been thinking about the weeks before, during, and after my labor with Eli so that I could help Steph get as prepared as possible for her birthing experience because I want it to be as amazing as it should be, and voila! In popped the idea, and I couldn't put it together fast enough!

I'm sure this isn't a new gift idea but I was encouraged that when I searched "baby shower gift" on Pinterest, a million of these didn't pop up! :P Thats how I gauge how unique my current sewing idea is. Dang you Pinterest! You are a curse and a blessing in equal proportions!**shaking fists in air** Here it is, a gift for mom:

So much space for all the necessities!

hospital bag with matching toiletry bag

I just realized I'm obsessed with making bags and want a new one every week. Ever since becoming a mom, I'm preoccupied with customizing a bag to meet every single one of my lug-around-a-bunch-of-junk needs. I can't help it. It's a compulsion and I probably need help.....ANYWAYS back to Steph's bag. I made this one with the idea that I wanted it to be big enough to fit all she would need for a 3 day stay, as well as stock it full of stuff she would need or not even think of. Jac and I joined brains and experiences and decided this is what was needed for Steph's personalized bag:

lightweight knit night gown (nursing accessible)

Lightweight knit robe (fits in the bag and good for the hot/cold flashes)

Slippers

Fuzzy socks

Greatest bras ever x3 

Water bottle

Toiletry bag (fits all this stuff, plus extra room for her makeup bag)

Contact solution

Contact case

Chapstick

Crossword puzzle book

Tooth paste

Tooth brush and cover

Dental floss

Mouth wash

Facial cleansing wipes

Body wash

Loofa

Shampoo

Conditioner

Hairspray

Brush

Pads & mesh panties

Breast pads

Kind snack bars x3

Gum

  Mocha Frappuccino x2       

**I forgot deoderant but I would recommend that :)      

      

Did we forget anything that YOU would recommend? I chose to make the bag because, again I can customize it to my specifications but there are a TON of large, super cute totes out there that you can buy fairly cheap and stuff full of goodies as well. It obviously doesn't have to be handmade, (heck if I didn't sew I would totally sell Thirty-one bags and use one of those!) or another option is to search ETSY for a bag you like and you will also support a small business owner :) I've made a bunch of lined bags before so I just used my prior experience to come up with this bag but if you are ambitious and want to make it yourself I can send you my dimensions or you can check out Pinterest for awesome tutorials and tweak it as you wish. Here's a pretty detailed one I found that would be perfect. Then I figure she can use this bag for travel in the future or convert it to a back up diaper bag (which is what I would do)

Do it! Make a new mom's day :)


Ok, happy packing ya'll!

-Linds

P.S I will be visiting my crafty cousin Beckie with www.infarrantlycreative.net next week and we plan to sew a bunch of stuff and do a few tutorials so if there is something I've done in the past that you want a tutorial on, please let me know and I'll be sure we do that one. (I've been toying with the idea of offering tutorials on this blog but it's a LOT of work so I haven't gone that route yet. So a BIG shout out to those bloggers who do! Muuuuah! I love you, I love you, I love you!) I plan to do one on the toddler backpack and the "busy bag" for car rides/travel so far:

Toddler backpack with "learning caddy"

**Update: Tutorial done! It can be found here

Travel toddler "busy" bag

**Update: Tutorial done! It can be found here
Other options could be the toddler training skivvies or diaper wipes clutch:

Toddler training skivies 

Diaper wipes clutch.

Let me know. Toodles!

My "baby" is TWO years old!!!

Well my "baby" who isn't a baby at all anymore has a full blown personality now complete with a sense of humor and everything. This is such a fun and exasperating  curious age! We have legit conversations all day long. I am continuously amazed at the things he picks up on and understands. He will randomly walk up to me and go "I love you momma", and in the morning daddy will get him out of his crib and bring him to our room where I pretend to still be asleep and he very loudly says to daddy, "Momma sleepin'! Kiss momma?" and Aaron will put him on the bed, I'll open my eyes to his sweet face an inch from mine (with ZERO morning breath! How does THAT happen??) and he'll plant one on me and say "thank you!" Makes. My. Morning.  He'll say "bless you" when you sneeze, ask for "mommy kiss it" for any and all boo boos, show off when he sees people he's crazy about or notices he's getting a lot of attention, stop at every single "baggetball" hoop on our walk around the block until I drag him away, asks "momma, 'a doin'?" 1,342 times in one day, will give you a play by play of his daily observations, point out to you when he's listened--"momma, I listen!", and also proudly say "nice one!" when you shoot and make a basket or catch a ball :) Here are his stats along with some of my favorite pics over the past year:

My little golf enthusiast

Size: We went to the doc the other day for his 2 year well visit and he weighs 28 lbs and is 34 1/4 inches tall. Everyone tells me they think he's a lot older because he's so tall. We don't ever discuss what percentile he falls into at the office so I don't know if he's actually tall for his age or not. He also feels like he weighs a ton but looking at him you wouldn't guess it. He's just a solid kid.  He's pretty much on target for 24m/2T clothing but I've learned to just hold clothing up and eyeball it because kid sizes can be so wonky! (He's sporting some 12m jean shorts at the moment that I got on clearance at Walmart. Go figure)

Incognito. He gets mistaken for one of the pros all the time ;)

Likes: FRUIT, with a capital "F"! Good lord that kid could eat his weight in fruit if I let him. He's obsessed with sports at the moment, particularly basketball, tennis, golf, soccer, and baseball. He loves attention from people and being around people and as mentioned above goes right into show-off mode the minute he's got your undivided attention. He loves going to grandma and papa's house, going to the park, wagon rides, bubbles, running as fast as he can, showing off his foot work, BREAD (another food he could easily pound), and watching his shows on NickJr.

As Eli says, " Nice one!" Solid hit.

Dislikes: Being brought inside after playing outside, bedtime & nap time (he's been fighting these hardcore lately. Daddy however has no problems getting him to go down. Not sure why that is), getting dressed, diaper changes, mommy doing anything other than playing with him, and leaving grandma.

He shoots! He scores! Look at that follow through!

Eating:  For the past 2 years up until about 1-2 months ago he's been a pretty great eater. I've been blowing through the grocery budget trying to satisfy this kid's hunger. He seems to be slowing down a little now and is more particular of the things he's willing to eat however if I offer "dipping sauce" for anything he's not wanting to eat, he will :). He's never really been much of a meat eater so I try to load veggies into meatballs or chicken bites and he will eat those.  I hardly make him snacks anymore because he usually does fruits and veggies during snack time, or cashews. He loves those! As for meal times, he eats what we eat.

This is from daddy. I have 2 left feet when it comes to soccer

Sleeping: He is and has been a great sleeper. Once he's down for the night, he's down for good. I put him down between 6:30-7pm most nights and he's up about 6:15-7am, the next morning so a solid 12hr sleeper. For a whole month he refused naps unless we were in the car between 11-1pm (then he almost ALWAYS naps), but lately I feel he still needs them so I put him in his crib at 1pm for "quiet time" and he's been napping. Not gonna lie, sometimes he cries for 10 min before getting to sleep but he always ends up sleeping so I know he needs a nap.

Teaching him "gentle" with my other "baby"

Milestones: Well he is officially talking in sentences, some clearer than others. He knows his colors, has started to count, mainly 1-2-3, and jumbles the rest up to 11 ;)  He can jump with both feet (I guess the doc said kids tend to learn the 2 foot jump later, and start with one foot hops). He pooped out of the blue on the potty the other day (we are getting acclimated to the idea of potty training and talking about it and he watches me but we haven't officially "begun". I'm waiting because I don't want to push it and have it be a bad experience for the both of us. I've heard boys are more successful waiting to closer to age 3. We're in no rush.) He can name just about all the pictures accurately in his "my first words" book, can kick and hit a ball, has a great throwing arm (seems to favor the right but I notice he tends to swing lefty.) and last but most certainly not least, he has finally grown some GORGEOUS curly platinum blonde hair. Oh how we've waited for this moment! :)

So there you have it! My big boy in a nutshell :)

Nice form buddy

-Linds