We have another baseball player in the family!

   

I present to you, your future professional baseball players :)

   As you may have seen on my Facebook page the other day, Eli had his first T-ball practice. I want to say its for 3-6 year olds and oh my gosh, was it the ca-uuutest thing ever! Of course the whole process is worse than herding cats but to see one of my favorite childhood pastimes in miniature size was so flipping' great. All morning all Eli would talk about was when practice would be:

 Is it time to go yet mom?

 No babe, I said in 3 hours, its been 3 minutes.....

    And repeat 187,934 times. We finally get there and they have to line up for roll call and the coach gets to my child. "What's your name buddy?"...wait for it... "Me? I'm Bruce Wayne!" Face palm. I hear all the fathers around me look at each other for clarification, "Did he just say Bruce Wayne??! That's awesome! ha ha ha ha." I of course expected it since he's gone by his alter ego Bruce for months now, but it came as quite the surprise to the people who were meeting him for the first time. From then on, everybody called him Bruce. What impressed me most was that there was at least 30+ kids there and the sports director had all the kiddos names memorized after the first introduction! It especially touched me when he was announcing which team each one would be on and he said "Eli Scicluna, also known as Bruce...." So awesome. If my kid believes with every ounce of his being that he's Batman, who are we to argue?

   They then broke out into groups. There were those hitting off the tee and those fielding, and Eli had to double up at the tee with another little guy (who had just turned three and was quite shy.) Eli would finish up his turn and say "here you go little buddy, your turn" as he handed him the bat and helmet. He seemed so grown up in that moment. Then he'd take another turn hitting with the coach and have to go retrieve the ball and he'd yell "watch how fast I am! Did you see how fast I ran to get that ball?" Yep definitely still 3 1/2 years old. Ha ha ha.

Getting some help from the coach

My Babe Ruth calling his shot ;)

Look at that concentration. Home run for sure!

Great job Bruce!

   As you know, 3 year olds can be so infuriating unpredictable in their behavior and since softball was such a huge part of my childhood growing up, I reeeeally wanted Eli to play baseball. But what we want for our kiddos isn't always what they want so I've tried to prepare myself for the let down when Eli ended up showing zero interest in Baseball. But not the case at all! He LOVED it! He cooperated and did very well with instructions and it just goes to show that if you put kids in activities they want to do, not what we want, they will do well, whether its just having a lot of fun, or being truly good at it. Now here's hoping we have the same success with tennis but not soccer down the road.

   Heres to a fun year Dinos! (The team name the kiddos chose. If I had any input, I would have suggested the "tee birds" Ha ha ha.)

My boys :)

Stay tuned for some more t-ball news as they start to have more practices and **squeel** GAMES!

Over and out,

Linds

Starting a little handmade business

   Welp we did it. Steph and I put on our big girl panties and got out of our comfort zone by selling the stuff we make. The website, aka "our little shop" has been live for a month now and things are going pretty well. I've actually been pleasantly surprised at how much I've enjoyed starting this little adventure with my sister. We've had a few bumps along the way as we've ironed out a few kinks (all learning lessons) but it's been fun! We definitely would have never had the courage or know-how if it wasn't for my hubby pushing teaching us the ways of business along the way though. (So if you have a problem with pricing, blame him! Ha!) So far, the pace has been steady and we've done a LOT of custom requests which has kept me creatively challenged, all while keeping Steph busy working on products to list. That has taken so much pressure off me. If I had to make stuff for the shop, run the website/social media, package & ship products AND continue to find time to MAKE stuff, it would be impossible, not to mention draining as I struggled to stay afloat. Obviously our boys come first and foremost so to be able to split the responsibilities and sew when we're both able (nap times) has been awesome. I LOVE getting a text of the lastest product she just finished, and can't wait to show her mine. It has kept us motivated and encouraged.

   You want to know what's been truly the best part?? YOU, our customers. Random strangers buying from us and the repeat ones. I can't tell you how much that means to us. The shout outs on social media of you USING your handmade goods, MAKES our day and motivates us to make more and create more, so thank you! Also, a big thanks to those of you who have been brave good friends in giving us feedback on ways to improve the website. We really do appreciate it.

   So as a thank you, and because we want to celebrate what we cherish most, our #1 title, "mom" we are offering 15% off all products through Mother's Day with the coupon code "BESTMOM." This code will be good through the the 10th.

    If you haven't checked out "the shop" yet, I'm gonna pretend you just didn't know any better, ha ha. It's handmadebylinds.com. Check us out on Facebook and Instagram too (same name).

   Toodles!

   -Linds

p.s The other day Eli, *ahem* Bruce Wayne I mean (he's "officially" changed it, and even has his teachers calling him Bruce and introducing himself to complete strangers as Bruce. I kid you not,) came in from playing outside with a pine cone in his hand. I asked him what he was going to do with it and he said " sell it." Ha ha. You think he's hearing enough shop talk??? He's a pretty good salesman though. I almost PAID for a pine cone. Good thing he lost it before I had to cough up the change. #storyofhislife. #kidloseseverything.

   

My baby Andrew is SEVEN months old!

Even an armrest on a chair makes this kid smile.

Wait, is he going to become BLONDE by the end of summer? I think so!!

    Welp I'm just over here trying to savor every single moment having a baby in the house since my hubby seems to be under the false assumption we're done having any more kiddos. If you're a regular reader of my blog then you know my conception story and needing mucinex, so he feels that we can only make boys, which I tend to agree but this momma can always hope. (What's that you might ask? You can control the gender of your child?? Well the theory is that boy spermies are faster swimmers but die quicker, whereas girl spermies are slow and steady and live longer. With this is mind, they say you can give a specific gender preference a helping hand by timing intercourse accordingly. So for a boy you'd time "the deed" immediately before or right on top of ovulation and for a girl you'd time it a few days before actually ovulating with the hopes that all the speedy go-getter boy spermies have petered out by then and the girls are still steadily swimming. So again, back to my conception story, I need mucinex and to time the deed right on top of ovulation in order to conceive at all, therefor based on the theory mentioned above, we can only make boys. Make sense?) But I digress, lets move on to talking about my babycakes.

  Alrighty. So I'm sure I've already mentioned how much I freakin LOVE having a baby in the house, like a bajillion times right? I mean a whole heckuva lot. I tell Aaron all the time, that when Andrew turns 3, I'll need to have another baby to get me through that harrowing time independent-no-longer-a-baby-at-all age. It's like therapy. Baby therapy. This should be a thing. We have music and art therapy, why not baby therapy?? Well if anyone wants to borrow Andrew for a few hours, he's good for the soul (bad for the ovaries though. They'll be twitching all day afterwards and leave you with baby fever. You've been warned.) I mean come on. Look at this face:

"Mom, really? You're taking pictures AGAIN?"

There go my ovaries...

Lindsay focus! His stats:

Size: Unlike Eli, he still seems to be holding on nicely to his chunk. I'm not sure what the difference is because they both had very similar eating habits and I'm not a super milk producer so who knows. I couldn't tell you how much he weighs. The fatigue in my arms after holding him for a few minutes wants to say one metric ton but I know that's not accurate, so we'll just say in the general ballpark of one metric ton. He's right on track wearing 6-9m clothes though. He's just getting BIG, thats all I know and I still ugly cry about it.

Likes:Swim class and baths, going for walks while being worn, constant attention, people, squeaking and yelling as loud as he possibly can, being rocked by daddy or grandmom (they have the sleepy dust, I don't), yanking on my hair...hard, his measuring spoons, and having his brother "entertain" him.

Dislikes: not being held, being gassy, and going too long in between naps.

Feeding: Still going strong with breastfeeding. I'm letting him try more big boy foods although my baby bullet bit the dust after using it for Eli so I need another one. Once I get one I'll try harder to be better at prepping meals. Ugh, breast feeding is just so dang easy and convenient (read: I'm so lazy). And cue mommy guilt because Eli was eating lentils and parsnips by now! #Fail #secondchildproblems.

Sleeping: He seemed to do a little bit of sleep regression shortly after 6 months hit. He still goes to bed at 7pm but almost like clockwork and responding to an alarm being set, he wakes up around midnight to eat and 5:30 am. So odd. This after he had been consistently sleeping through the night for so long. Maybe he's having a growth spurt or trying to up my supply. Who knows. With it being so bright in our room now as the days are getting longer, it's also hit or miss if he's willing to go back to sleep after his 5:30am feeding or if he wants to start his day.

Milestones: He's officially movin' and a scootin' but not actually crawling. He pops up in all sorts of yoga poses and ends up pushing himself around in a circle. He sits up pretty well unsupported, but I still make sure he's surrounded by pillows because he often lunges for things that are out of his reach and topples over. No teeth to report this month.

yummers

I just told him to lean in a little closer, so I could tell him a secret.

"oh that's a good one mom"

And that's it! Enjoy the rest of you day!
-Linds

My baby Andrew is SIX months old!

  

Hi munchie boy.

   Another month down, can you believe it?? Me neither! It's exciting and heartbreaking all at the same time. I looked back at Eli's six month update and see these two boys are still on track to being a LOT alike! One difference that stands out clearly to me though is with Eli and growth spurts, he ate a lot (obviously) and slept a lot, meaning he took longer than his normal naps. With Andrew, however, his sleep gets all jacked up. He wakes up more frequently during the night to eat, after going weeks of sleeping completely through and then just does little 30-40 min cat naps throughout the day. This only lasts the few days of the growth spurt though and then he's back to normal but it always catches me off guard, none-the-less. 

    As expected, he's SUPER curious about everything. He's constantly grabbing for stuff with lightening speed and the few strands of hair left on my head are paying for it. I just bought new glasses (since I'm still dealing with horrible dry eye since pregnancy. Ugh.) and I fear for those daily as well. I'm pretty sure his nails grow faster than the average human because as often as I clip those suckers, he's still scratching the heck out of my chest, arms and face. I feel like I have a cat living with me! But, I just look at that humongous gummy grin with accompanying coo and I melt. Instant forgiveness in the midst of the bald patch he's left on my head and the claw welts on my chest. Clearly God knew what he was doing when he made them so squishy and cute. They need to be!

Case in point

   We saw the doc today so here is his update:

Size: He's officially in his 6-9 month clothes and fitting perfectly into his size 3 Honest diapers. (Speaking of which, have you SEEN the freakin adorable designs they have?? I have him in the baseballs and guitars right now and I die a little every time I remove his pants for diaper changes. So flippin' ca-UUTE!)
He weighs 17lbs 4oz (Eli was 15lbs 11 oz) which is up 1lb 2oz from his 4 month well visit. And he's "just under 26 inches long" for height.

Get a load of that ba-dunka-dunk in the ca-UUTEST Honest diaper!

Likes: Grabbing things, putting stuff in his mouth, bath & swim time, being rocked & held, sleeping on his belly, being carried in my wrap or carrier and talking! He flaps those gums and makes the most animated expressions and noises like he's straight legit having a conversation with me. Sometimes it actually sounds like real words. So I indulge and we have long talks often. He also really loves being around people. Just like Eli, even if it's nap time or past bedtime, as long as he's among a group of people he's golden.

I interrupt this regularly scheduled photo shoot to sample this chair. Yep, delicious.

He doesn't see his great grandparents as often as he sees his grandma and papa, but he sure does love snuggling with them when he does.

Dislikes: Being over-tired.

Feeding: Still exclusively breast feeding although now I'm dreading preparing to make solids a regular routine around here. He's sampled banana, avocado and sweet potato if it's around but I'm being lazy when it comes to jumping right into meal prep. He watches me like a hawk eat and tries to take my silverware or bite if his hands are anywhere in the vicinity. He's definitely ready. But I'm not.

He's like "pleeeease, let me try it. Stop teasing me by eating in front of me"

Sleeping: He goes to bed at 7pm and wakes up at 5:30am to eat, then I lay him back down until Eli comes barging in at 5:45am wanting everyone in the neighborhood to be up and ready to play because he is 7:00-7:30am. If we get to sleep until 7:30am, it's a good day. I feel he's capable but Eli makes it very difficult. He takes a 2-3hr nap in the morning and 1-2hr nap in the afternoon around 3pm.

Milestones: He has rolled over from front to back but doesn't do it regularly. He can sit up unsupported for longer periods of time now but still topples over if he tries looking around. No teeth yet, but he seems so close!

Sitting up like a big boy.

Showing off a couple of his favorite toys...his tootsies.

And that's about it for now. I just love that kid.

-Linds

P.S Remember that post I did about starting to sell my stuff soon? Well if you aren't following me on instagram or we aren't friends on Facebook then I'll let you in the loop. That day is TODAY! Go-live of our website Handmadebylinds.com happens at noon today. My sister Steph and I are doing it together. It's been fun getting custom requests and making unique accessories. Make sure to follow us on Instagram (Handmadebylinds) and Facebook (same) for the latest products and updates. Happy shopping!

My baby Andrew is FIVE months old!

He's a pretty happy guy. And that momma, she's so funny.

     Well I went back to read up on Eli at 5 months to compare and I see these boys are very similar. With Eli, I worried about the second one being the complete opposite (read: a nightmare since he was SO easy) but I'm happy to say that he also makes parenting a pure joy. I look at that face, with the huge gummy grin, and I'm mush inside. Gah! How is it humanely possible to love something so much???

Size: There is no well visit until next month so no updates on weight/size. I do feel like he's leveling out in the chunk department though. Both my kids have/had fat man wrists which make them seem bigger than they are. Ha ha. It totally looks like he's got a rubber band wrapped around his wrists, cutting off circulation! I still haven't swapped out all his 3 month pants so he looks like he's wearing capris every day but, whatevs. He can rock anything ;) He's wearing size 3 diapers right now that fit like a dream and his toes just touch the ground when he's in his exersaucer-thing-a-ma-bob.

Likes:He loooves being talked to using animated expressions. He belly laughs regularly now and makes you feel like you're the funniest person on this planet and should start stand-up comedy. He enjoys playing with his feet, baths, pulling hair, sleeping on his belly, grabbing anything within his reach (see above about hair pulling) being rocked, and cuddled. He's very cuddly.

Dislikes: being overtired, and being strapped in his carseat for too long. It's a very short list.

One of my new favorite toys. I introduce to you, my tootsies

Feeding: He's taking a bottle of breast milk MUCH better when I'm at work now. Phew! He actually gets excited to see it. Just recently he is showing interest in what we are eating. I think he's just about ready to start big boys foods. No more tongue thrust reflex, and he's reaching for our food. The other day, if we're friends on Facebook, you probably saw the video where I let him suck on a banana and he went crazy over it! It was hilarious. Next time I'm at the store, I'll buy a sweet potato and probably let him start sampling more foods. Eli tried sweet potato just before 6 months too. But, I'll be honest, I'm not ready for the mess of feeding a baby with uncoordinated arms trying to reach for the spoon and direct the food to his forehead, hair, chin, basically everywhere BUT his mouth. Sigh.

Sleeping: Just as I had hoped, last month when I reported that his sleep was all jacked up, it was just a growth spurt/phase. He's back to his normal sleep habits of taking a great morning nap and a smaller one in the afternoon. Rarely, if his schedule is off a bit, he'll take 3 naps. Otherwise, things are the same here.

Milestones: he can now grab things and hold them on his own in order to bring them to his mouth, he doesn't need me to do it anymore. No "official" rolling over yet (just like his brother) and we started swim lessons this week but I don't wanna talk about it because we weren't in the water 10 minutes when he pooped his diaper and we had to get out :( My once-a-week pooper, waited to hit the 92 degree water and do his business...on our first day...meeting new people. It might as well have been me who pooped her drawers as mortified as I was/am. I was SO excited to start swimming with him like I did Eli (who by the way NEVER pooped his swim diaper. EVER) and now I'm afraid to show our faces next week. What if he does it AGAIN?? If I had never been there before and didn't know Jeremy (the owner and instructor) and he didn't already know us, you bet your bottom dollar I would NOT be going back. He's never pooped during bath time either so It was the furthest thing from my mind. Needless to say, it ruined my entire day.

How do you get mad at this face though??

or this face?

The fact is, you CAN'T get mad at a baby in a speedo. You just can't.

And that's all she wrote!

-Linds

Andrew is FOUR months old!

Heelloooo HANDsome!

   I Feel like it took me freakin' FOOOR-eeee-VER (said in my Squints Palledorous voice.--and if you don't know who that is, shame on you) to reach the 4 month mark in my pregnancy, but to reach the 4 month mark of life on the outside, well lets just say it went by Jimmy Johns fast. I'm almost feeling like I need to get going on planning his first birthday party for petes sake! Sloooowwww dooooowwnnn!

   I take roughly 163,995 pictures a day to capture the itty bitty-ness of him and I'm thankful for my new phone that now has 64 Gb of sweet picture-storing-space so I don't have to pick and choose which ones to delete in order to make space for more pictures. Happy dance!
  

How do I pass this photo op up??? "..and I can't stop, and I won't stop"

   Alrighty, without further ado, here are our well visit details...

Size: I feel I can still get some more time in his 3 month stretchy pants because his legs aren't all that long but he's definitely needing the 6 month onesies and jammers. His head is touching the pack-n-play and his feet just touch the opposite side now (width-wise). I will lay him down length-wise but the center of the pack-n-play dips so he tends to end up sideways by the end of a nap or by morning anyways, ha ha. (Eli was in his crib by now but since the boys will be sharing a room until we build our new place, he's still in our room. I don't want him to wake Eli with his middle of the night/early morning feeding.) At the doc's, he weighed in at 16lbs 2ozs (Eli was 14lbs 5oz) and measured 25 inches (Eli: 25 1/4 inches). His back and thigh rolls are still coming in strong.

Likes: Being held, so the carrier I made comes in handy quite often, (Daddy and grandma have been wearing it too! They love it.) going for walks around the block & taking in the sights (gone are the days where he will sleep in my wrap the entire time. Now his head is outstretched and rubber-necking anything and everything in his path), taking baths, nursing, daddy making funny noises and faces at him (Aaron was the first one to get both boys belly laughing for the first time), being rocked when he's sleepy, and being talked to.

Peek-a-boo!

Dislikes: Being tired, 5pm, and not having my undivided attention.

Feeding: He's still exclusively breast fed. I have no intention of introducing solids until 6 months for several reasons, but mainly because he's not ready yet and its just so super simple feeding him now. He nurses for maybe 10-15min, there's zero prep work, no clean up, and he doesn't require a bath afterwards. Seriously, the let-me-put-my-fingers-in-the-spoon-and-then-in-my-hair feeding phase can hold off juuuuust a little bit longer, thank you...In other news, I'm happy to report that he IS getting better at the bottle when I'm at work but not a pro yet. There's still hope!

Sleeping: A few weeks ago he actually slept THROUGH the night. Yes he's been doing 8hrs + stretches for a long time now but I mean, he went down at 7:30pm and got up for his first feeding at 7:00am! I was super excited that maybe he was done with the middle of the night feedings but no such luck. He hasn't done it since and for some reason, this past week he's regressed a bit in his sleeping habits. His naps are all off and he's up twice during the night instead of his usual just once. Growth spurt? Teething? Not sure, but I'll take my great sleeper back aaaaaany time now. Prior to this past week, he'd take a nice 3-4hr nap at 9am and then a smaller 30 minute-1hr nap in the afternoon. Not so much at the moment. He's been cat-napping 3-4 times in a day and I sure hope he doesn't make this a habit.

Milestones: He's finally figuring out how to operate those chubby, yummy things at the ends of his arms. Look ma, they grab things! He's getting a little more coordinated in that department. If drooling were a skill, he'd be a blackbelt, and lastly, he's smiling a ton. Oh and I can't forget, I gave him his first "trim". I had to take about an inch off the top because things were getting a little ridiculous! (See below.)

Exhibit A. Pre-haircut. Yikes!

Yummers

Over all he's a very happy little guy and for that I'm grateful! 
That's all. Toodles!

-Linds

Why you should make your own Soft Structured Baby Carrier

   I did it! I did it! So ever since I got hooked on the Solly wrap for wearing Andrew as a newborn, I've become obsessed with all the other methods of carrying as well. I stumbled upon the most GORGEOUS rainbow colored Tula carrier and decided I must have one like it...until I saw the price tag. Yeesh. Now although my hubby is great at not depriving me saying no to the things I want, I couldn't justify a nearly $300 price tag (for this specialty one anyways) or even $180 for the standard ones since I'm a total newb when it comes to this whole baby wearing thing and still have a lot to learn (joining a baby wearing group on Facebook has helped a ton though!) But, I do know I want to continue to wear him since he likes to be held and well heck, I like to hold him. My housework and first born don't like it as much as I do however so a carrier seems to be a nice compromise and the best solution.

Aaaah! I covet!

  Obviously if you're a reader of my blog you've learned that once I get a sewing project in my head, I will stop at nothing until I see it come to fruition. It becomes an obsession and it's all I can think about. I literally scoured the internet to learn all I could about the SSCs (soft structured carriers) to see what I wanted and didn't want. I mainly wanted something easy on and off since it takes a while to get my wrap on and him situated in it and if he's crying hysterically, it feels like a lifetime. From my search I've learned this is what I wanted in a carrier:

1. Padded/comfy straps.
2. At least one pocket to carry my phone at the bare minimum.
3. Padded leg openings and head rest.
4. A removable hood with "reach ties" and a place to store it when not in use.
5. A chest strap to keep the straps in place since I don't have broad shoulders.
6. D-ring on the shoulder strap to hang toys from if needed.
7. A light colored/breathable hood that wouldn't attract the sun when wearing.
8. And of course, choose my own fabric pattern.

    Sounds reasonable right?? I thought so. I found a lot of the carriers have most of my requirements but not all of them and then I got to thinking "why don't I just try making it myself and then I can completely customize it to my liking??" Well then it was a challenge so I was totally game! I searched everywhere to find measurements of the Tula and then happened across a free pattern for a generic carrier. Score! It even had instructions but there weren't any pictures, and after I read through it once I realized I may just have to use the pattern and try to figure it out myself because it was like reading it in Swahili for as much as I understood it. At this point I was pretty confident I could make it on my own, but then it dawned on me that being a carrier, there would be stress points that would need extra reinforcements, or "X boxes" as they're called, that not owning a carrier currently, wouldn't know where to put them. Bummer. Lucky for me though, I found a couple of blogs where women had used this free pattern/instructions and gave their tips on constructing it. One even did a step by step picture tutorial! I thought I had died and gone to heaven! If you have any interest in making your own carrier check out her post, she links to the free pattern in it as well.  

   Now that I had my tutorial and pattern handy, I ransacked searched my entire house for supplies so that I wouldn't have to buy a ton of stuff, jacking up my DIY budget. I found the hardware (buckles, webbing, and D-rings) from a couple of sturdy backpacks my hubby gets from all the conferences he attends. They were just collecting dust so I took them. I at least asked his permission this time before cutting into them. (He quickly learned after we got married that his stuff was my stuff and therefore fair game to confiscate for crafting purposes.) My aunt had recently de-stashed her fabric collection and asked if I wanted it. Never one to turn down free fabric, I took it off her hands. Well I was pleasantly surprised to find 3 different canvas/duck fabrics that met the criteria for a strong carrier fabric. (That right there saved me about $15 in fabric I didn't have to buy. Thanks Aunt Dee Dee! Muuuuah!) I had the adorable whale fabric that I got on clearance at Joannes for under a $1 a while ago. I made the hood and the inner part of the carrier that sits against baby's back out of a mesh fabric (like basketball shorts) that again I had in my stash that I got on clearance ages ago. So the only thing I didn't have and needed to buy was the high density foam ($2.50) for the straps and a camping mat ($17, waaaah! That was the only bummer. But I'll keep the remainder of the mat for when Aaron takes Eli camping at Oshkosh for the Air show next year so not a total loss.) It helped that I had all the remainder supplies onhand so I was able to make a customized carrier for under $20. But I can see why the handmade carriers are so expensive with all the supplies needed and the time it takes to make just one!

    Here are more pics of all the details:

The hood attaches by snap under the top part of the strap on each side which you can't see in the picture, and then the hood "reach straps" snap near the toy clip.

  Since I'm now obsessed with it, I had to make some necessary accessories like "chew pads" (I like this name better than "drool pads" as they are called on Etsy.)

The underside is towel material for extra absorbency. These go for $15-25 on Etsy. I knew I'd need these since Andrew currently SOAKS the sides of my wrap when he's in it.

And a carrying case since I found I had this thing less than 24hrs and it was just strewn about wherever I felt like leaving it. Not to mention how much room it took in my oversized diaper bag when I took it to my mom's house. 

Yeesh!

Problem solved:

I added a little decorative strip in my carrier fabric because my math failed me and I was a half inch off  I think it adds a lil' sum'in sum'in ;)

While I was at it, why not add a decorative whale in my whale fabric? Ha ha. Is it just me or are whales going to be the new thing?? Well I'm starting it.... Here goes!

Hello little whale :)

 

Ahh, SO much better. Now I have plenty of room to stuff it to the max add a few more items.

  They sell these little "stuff bags" all over Etsy. The first one I saw was over $40! Then the cheapest I saw was around $25. Still over priced at that if you ask me. If I haven't convinced you all to take up sewing yet, not only for all the money you can save making stuff yourself, but for the sheer fun of it, then I don't know what it will take!

   So to recap why I made it myself: 

• Carrier: $180-$300 (for the one I was eye-balling)
• Chew pads: $15-25
• Carrying case: $25-40
• Hood reach straps $5-30............=$225-$395

My cost: Less than $20 **Happy dance**

Now the million dollar question: Does it work???? YES! Super comfy and it even held my-too-big-for-it-35lb-3-year-old.

Cheesing for the camera. I have NO intentions of carrying this kid. As you can see, he's heavy and I had to lean forward so I wouldn't feel like I was going to topple over!

Andrew is still too young/little for it yet although he's really close to fitting in it comfortably, so here is a picture of my sister wearing it with my handsome nephew Liam in it:

I took this picture before I finished the chest strap. Now the straps stay in place nicely.

Thanks Liam for humoring me, even though it meant you had to remain stationary for me to take my pictures and miss out on precious play time. Ha ha. The face says it all!

The hood.

     

   Overall, I'm very pleased with how it turned out. Unfortunately before anyone asks, I am not willing to make any to SELL simply for liability reasons. I've promised myself I won't sue me if a buckle breaks and my child ends up hanging by his ankle or something;) But in all seriousness, this IS a sue-happy generation and I have no intention of flirting with disaster. The handmade carrier sellers have to meet strict safety guidelines and to make one here or there for the random person interested, wouldn't be worth it for me to go through that verification process. I am however about to start selling other stuff I make (more about that later) so stick around because I would be willing to make carrier accessories if the demand is there.

   So do you think you'd make one?? Time to dust off that machine and get crack-a-lackin'! There are SO many tutorials out there for just about anything you could want to make. Plus if there is an unfamiliar technique needed for a certain tutorial, there are tutorials out there for that. And if you aren't a stranger, just ask me if you have questions! I'd love to help.

  Thats all for now. Thanks for reading.

  Toodles!

  -Linds