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

Eli's new "murse"

Ha ha ha. Just kidding. (For those of you who are lost, **coughmomcough** a "murse" is a man purse, or man bag if you will) Well I guess it could be considered a man bag because it IS a bag, and it DOES hold all my little man's important stuff, including (to quote Blue's Clues) his "handy dandy NOTEbook." Ok murse it is ;)

Last weekend my family and I took a mini road trip to Michigan and I was concerned about the 4hr car ride because Eli has never been strapped in his carseat for more than 1-2 hours at a time. I have seen on Pinterest the idea to use a baking sheet to entertain children in the car because it's magnetic and also because it has a lip around the edge to keep items from rolling off the pan, so I picked up a cheapo one from the dollar store, along with some magnetic numbers, cute Thomas the Train puzzle (that I made magnetic by adding magnets to the backs), a notebook with crayons, some colored pipe cleaners, and chalk. I started to grab a bunch of zip lock bags to put everything in but then got to thinking how nice it would be to have everything kept all in one convenient place....and the idea for his "murse" was born. I present to you, Eli's man bag:

Closed and ready for traveling

Opened up, each item in its own ziplock baggy compartment

Lets go mom!

I sewed the ziplock baggies inside the holder so they stay put. I know that plastic baggies aren't the first thing you think of for being the most durable things out there for long term use, especially with something that will have a lot of wear and tear, but I wanted cost effective and most importantly, for it to be super simple. I COULD have made zippered pouches with clear vinyl windows (I had originally contemplated going this route) but again I wanted to stick with practical because lets face it, I didn't want a simple concept of a "busy bag" to end up costing a fortune in materials (zippers). 

I thought I better see how it holds up for our trip and to see if Eli even used it before blogging about it (gosh how embarrassing, I blog about his new tote beforehand and have it fall apart with one use!) and I'm happy to report it held up nicely and he used everything but the chalk (it was too cold outside and I didn't have time to use my chalkboard paint on the baking sheet).

Here he is in action during the 4hr car ride:

At the hotel he'd hold up his notebook and point to something and go "a clue, a clue!" (although it sounded more like "a kwoo, a kwoo" ;)

Pipe cleaners good for making shapes and naming colors. Note to self, always fold the metal ends in on themselves to avoid poking through plastic baggies and little people. Noted. 

Eli counting: " Two, free, six, seven, eight, ten!" Every. Single. Time

All in all, it was the perfect accessory for a quick trip out of town that allowed me to leave his entire toy box at home. Best part, both the "murse" and baking sheet fit nicely in my backpack without taking up a whole lot of space.

Stay tuned to my cousin Beckie's blog InfarrantlyCreative.net this summer for a tutorial on this if you want to make one for your next road trip. Beginner sewers, here's your project!

**Update: Tutorial done! You can find it here. Enjoy!

Toodles!

-Linds

The case of the missing peanut butter sandwich...

I'd like to share a story with you all about an incident that happened this morning while I was at work and daddy had Eli duty. I had agreed to cover a 12hr shift for a girl at work and knew my hubby would be responsible for feeding all 3 meals to the kiddo, and being the good wife and mommy that I am, decided last night to help daddy out by having all of Eli's meals prepared and ready to go (but that daddy though, he can fend for himself, ha!)

So here I am, carefully cutting up veggies, pulling out homemade chicken nuggets and apple cinnamon muffins out of the freezer to thaw in the fridge overnight, wrapping a peanut butter sandwich (with an extra dollop of love, mind you) in cellophane and neatly setting each item in a designated spot in the fridge or out on the counter so my hubby can just grab and go (and momma can rest assured her lamb chop got wholesome meals for the day.) This is all accompanied by a written list of what to give and when. Go me!

Well I call around noon to check in with my lovies and chat with grandma who was watching Eli for a bit so daddy could run some errands, and asked how he did with lunch. Here's how the conversation went down:

Gramma: I didn't understand what you meant when you wrote 'give the PB&J, (minus the J) and triskets (on the back counter)"

Me: what do you mean you don't get it? It was supposed to be a peanut butter and jelly sandwich but I didn't have jelly so it's just peanut butter...minus the jelly." 

Gramma: oh, I thought you meant to put the peanut butter on the trisket so that's what I did. I don't see any sandwich...?

Me: How can you not see a sandwich?? It's sitting RIGHT next to the box of triskets, they are practically touching.

Gramma: Lindsay, there is NO sandwich on that counter or any counter in this kitchen!

Me: Oh jeeze mom. Well I'll text Aaron and see if he knows what happened to it.

I proceed to text my hubby who has no clue what I'm talking about and denies my accusation of him stealing his own son's sandwich. Now I'm beside myself because I am 100% certain I made that sandwich, cut off the crusts, wrapped the dang thing in cellophane and put it on the counter! My hubby decides to call me since its getting ridiculous to have this interrogation conversation via texting. Our convo:

Hubby: Babe, I never saw a sandwich on the counter I don't know what you're talking about.

Me: I made Eli his sandwich for lunch and placed it next to the box of triskets on the counter. It's not like we have a dog or anything...

Hubby: Maybe Eli ate it for breakfast.

Me: What?? Didn't you give him the pancakes I told you were already made and in the freezer? 

Hubby: Yeah, I did.

Me: Soooo, how would he have eaten the sandwich for breakfast if our toddler still relies on you to make his breakfast?? Did he eat the pancakes in his high chair or what?

Hubby: Yeah.

**Anybody else exasperated yet????

Me: Babe seriously! How could he have helped himself to the sandwich across the room on the counter if he was strapped in his high chair???

Hubby: No. He finished the pancakes in his high chair and when he was done I wiped him down and got him out. I then let him play in the living room while I changed. When I came back out he had crumbs on his lips and I asked him was he was eating. He didn't answer and I didn't think anything of it because I figured he just found one of his snacks lying around and ate it like he's known to do.

Me: So you think he got a hold of that sandwich on the counter and ate it while you were changing??

Hubby: Sure sounds like it, although he musta been really hungry because he ate that in addition to his 2 pancakes then.

Me: Oh man. Well you better check his toy bin and the couch for peanut butter everywhere. Where's the cellophane if he took it????

Hubby: No clue. Havent seen it.

Well folks, mystery solved. This is what I found on the floor in our bedroom when I got home:

Exhibit A: Cellophane wrapping

That little stinkpot helped himself to the food on the counter when no one was looking! Unbelievable! Well Gramma, daddy and I sure got a good laugh out of it :D

Ok well, it's been a long day and I need to get to bed but I thought it was a funny story and wanted to share it. To think, if we had a dog he totally would have gotten blamed for this! Makes me think of all the poor doggies out there wrongfully accused because of sneaky toddlers!

Na Night folks. Until next time....
-Nancy Drew Linds

A handmade toddler back pack

His latest obsession: Basketball!

The other day I was chatting with my Facebook buddy Corley about possible ideas for my next sewing project for my sister's baby that's on the way. Just like me, she is in the toddler stage with her first born (she just had a precious new baby though, congrats momma!) so naturally the ideas were flowing for kids at this age. I've been meaning to make Eli a backpack for him to carry his own junk bring his toys to the park or grandma's house now that he's stable on his feet, and when she suggested that, I was all over it. I scoured the internet for tutorials of the style I wanted but couldn't find any one particular tutorial with all the criteria I needed. So I made up my own to include adjustable straps, (but ones that would stay in place and stay even), a pocket for a sippy cup inside, elastic around the front portion of the bag so nothing would fall out of the sides, (I wanted to avoid a cinch tie) and lastly, since I didn't want a zippered top (needing Eli to get in and out of this thing independently), I made it be a flap/velcro closure top.

Well I had my "drinky drink" (my creative necessity--a caramel latte. Hey did I tell you I found a way to make it a whole foods version with no artificial anything? **all organic**espresso, milk, vanilla extract, ice, and maple syrup to taste and voila! Tastes just like Dunkin's iced caramel latte. But I digress...) and drafted a pattern & constructed it in my head and on paper first so that I could avoid any major pitfalls with miscalculations or design errors and I'm happy to report that it turned out how I envisioned! My main plan was to keep the pattern simple with the ability to add stuff or make it customized down the road if need be (for those of you who know me, I don't sell my crafts as a business because I loathe mass producing the same project. I love the creative challenge of a new project and I just want to move on to my next conquest when it's finished). So here is the bare bones version so hopefully I won't mind making more for a few of Eli's buddies who have birthdays coming up:

Front and center view

Back view with adjustable straps with snaps ( 3 sizes to grow with toddler)

Cinched elastic front to keep stuff from spilling out, with velcro closure

Inside pocket to hold a sippy cup

In action, my poor kiddo longing to go outside

I interrupt this regularly scheduled program to give my son "huggies" when he asks. Excuse me for a second...

The only potential problem Corley pointed out to me was the straps possibly falling off the shoulders being placed so wide on the back. Dang it. Good point! I tried it on him and it fit fine but, with wiggling and moving, one strap did start to slide down his shoulder. Grrr, ***shaking fists in air**. To fix this, I just made a removable strap to wrap around the rings in the front like a hiker's backpack has and this forces my kid to keep the dang bag on solved my problem. Once he grows a bit and I move the straps to the longest setting, it should fit just fine on the shoulders and he most likely won't need the added piece anymore :)

Ta da!

Just thread the strap through the rings on each side

Make sense now?

Hey look what else I realized. It fits perfectly on the back of his wagon! Bonus!

When I find my camera and make another bag I plan to type up a tutorial so if any of my sewing buddies wants to try and make one of their own, just let me know.

**Update. Tutorial is done! Check it out on my cousin's blog if you want to make your own.

Alrighty, back to thinking of baby gifts. If you have any suggestions, please share! (But make that by email or Facebook so Steph can't see, she's a faithful reader of my blog, pleaseandthankyou)

Toodles,
-Linds

Baby Liam is coming!

...And before the rumor mill starts that's Auntie Steppy's baby! As most of you already know from facebook, my sister is 23 weeks along (eeek!) and they found out it's a baby boy. I'm kind of partial to boys myself so this is pretty exciting news ;)

Well anyways. In anticipation of this big event come august, (august 9th to be exact) I've been working with Eli on how to be "gentle" with babies and proper handling of a newborn. Here's how he's doing:

Ok, so we have some work to do. But he's a fast learner so I'm hopeful he will get there come August ;)

An update on my bubbercakes...

Bubbercakes {Bubb-er caykes}
noun

1. A cool toddler who is the apple of his momma's eye.
2. A small child who makes momma belly laugh multiple times a day.
3. One who says "huggies??" with arms outstretched in the most pitiful voice possible, turning one to mush.

Well folks, Eli is more a little boy now than a baby. I wanna jump for joy and bawl at the same time. With his vocabulary exploding, he's more my fun companion during the day when daddy is at work than his former bump-on-a-log infant self. Don't get me wrong, he needs constant supervision or he'll scale unstable furniture or play with knives (although he sounds southern when he says "knife" because he says it more like "knaff". And have you heard him say "diaper" yet?? I laugh every time because he says "dapper" ha ha. I digress...) 

Anywho, I'll do my "usual" update at his 2 year mark (which is only 3 months away! Aaaahhh!) so right now I'll just tell you my favorite happenings:

• He LOVES to be chased around the house. Make sure you've had a hearty breakfast for plenty of energy too because he's like the energizer bunny and won't stop until you wipe out plop down on the couch exhausted. You will know you are caught in a game of chase when he starts running away from you yelling "I getchu! I getchu!"
• After an award winning performance of his half teary eyed "huggies??" I'll pick him up and he'll snuggle into me and lay his head on my shoulder and sigh like he's in his happy place, and before I know it, I feel a little hand patting/rubbing MY back. I melt.every.time.
• He is unlike any toddler I have ever met in that he eats EVERYTHING. I am constantly grocery shopping! Some of his faves: cucumber, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, gag me plain yogurt, homemade muffins, broccoli, frozen peas, any & ALL fruit and anything I'm eating. In fact, if I want him to try something new that I'm worried he won't have any interest in, I don't bother putting it on his plate, but instead eat it in front of him and he'll baby-bird me (mouth wide open, leaning forward in his high chair, going "ah, ah, ah") almost instantly. Score! 
• The other day Eli was engrossed in his show when I sneezed and without missing a beat or turning from the "tee dee" he says "bless you." I have been working diligently with him on "please" and "thank you" and had yet to teach him "bless you" so I was floored! Children truly DO learn by example because I say it anytime he sneezes. Nothing makes me more proud than when he says "pease" (please) or "thaaaank YOOOU!" (and he says it just like that) unprompted :D
• Some of his favorite expressions: "oh MAN!", "uh oh", "oops", "I getchu", "oh daddy!", "I'm coming", "want it", and recently he started saying " I love you"
• Lately when I walk into the room after having been gone for a few hours and he's been with daddy, he'll immediately go into show-off mode doing what looks like a touch down dance with his foot work, or dramatically playing with his toys.
• I taught him "gentle" a while back since he's used to rough housing with daddy and this momma doesn't do rough housing, so now when I say that word, he very softly runs his fingers along my cheek. If its in reference to a baby, he leans in to give him/her a kiss. :)

His new favorite things: my tumbler and climbing up on chairs.

Thats all for now. My sister was giving me a hard time for slacking on my blog but really you need to see this kid in action. Words just don't do him justice.

Na night,

-Linds