DIY Birth Announcements

Hello, Lovelies! Dropping in today to share with you a post I was lucky enough to share with Kristens readers over at Life With The Ellwoods over a year ago.

Birth Announcements.
 You have to do them.  I mean, come on, you spent 9 months baking the bean you want to show him or her off.  But have you checked the price of them out?

Sorry kiddo, can't send you to college- we spent all our money on birth announcements. 

I spent hours pouring over the Internet looking for the perfect announcement.  The ones I absolutely loved?

These beauties are from Minted.com.  If you click on the picture it will link directly to the listing.

They were perfect, sweet, simple and unique.  Oh, yeah, they were also $2.20 each. We needed 100 to send out to all of our family/all of the people who came to the baby shower.

They had a similar one at Shutterfly.com

They were cheaper, at $1.35 each...but still way too much for my cheap pocket's liking.

Enter Pixlir.com.

I made these little babies for free, then printed 4x6 prints at Ritz camera to the tune of $0.09 each. Yeah, that's right nine cents each.  Oh, and the nice people at Ritz gave us the envelopes for free as well. Score!

If you haven't used pixlr before you need to check it out. You dont need an account, and it works like photoshop but is much easier. They have a few options, either express or avanced- but Express seems to work for most of my needs.

Start by uploading a photo, then have fun playing around with the different effects. You can add text, crop, color splash- tons and tons of different effects.

If you want a 4 x 8 flat card, just click on the collage tab at the beginning. Then you can choose your layout and upload photos from there.

Then choose your style, I like the four boxes side by side.
Drag and drop your pictures where you want them, leaving one block free for text. Once you finish, click finished and then it will bring you to the editing screen where you can add the effects you want.

When you're all done, click save- and thats all there is to it!

Then you just upload it to any photo printing site as a blank 4x8 card, and you're good to go.  We made similar ones for Grayson's baptism, and they cost $0.54 each at Ritz, and that included the envelopes.

And there you have it. DIY birth announcements for super cheap, and they take almost no time to make.
 

Kindness

I saw this today on a blog I stalk read regularly- Love, Fun and Football.  If you've never been introduced to Erin, you must pop over to say hello to her- shes seriously a gem (even if our teams are football rivals!). It couldn't be more fitting that today Erin posted about kindness, because in the past 24 hours you all have been so incredibly kind to me. I dont know if she intended her wave to spread, but Im passing it on tonight.

Yesterday, as you may be aware, someone let loose with a vial rant in the form of a comment aimed at my sweet baby boy.  Now normally I'm pretty laid back, but this hit me hard on many levels. I crafted my response- which to my surprise only contained one four letter word! But even before I could hit publish the comments started pouring in, and they didn't stop all day. Many of you were angry, outraged and disgusted along with me and you shared your sweet words of encouragement through facebook, email, twitter and comments. Some of you, like Rebecca, made me literally laugh out loud and nearly pee my pants. All of you told me that this person was obviously not right, and lifted my spirits when they were down. It was truly one of the greatest acts of kindness I've ever personally received.

 

Bloggers are special people. We let people into our life and we go into peoples lives and we form bonds with people who in "real" life we may never get the chance to meet.  However I know that every day I stop in to check to see how someones baby is doing, what another sweet lovely made for dinner the night before, or what other Mommas wanted to pull their hair out because of something the toddlers did or said (or more likely WOULDN'T do). Now I know my neighbors in real life, but not on the level that I know some bloggy friends and I'm totally okay with that.  In truth I wish we could all live next to each other (can you imagine the laughs/crafting/cooking that would be happening on that block?!) but even though we cant, I'm so very glad that we're all neighbors on our little slices of the Internet.

 

You all are some of the kindest, bravest, sweetest women I've ever had the chance to meet, and I cant thank each of you enough for the kindness you've shown me. I can only hope that someday I can return the favor.  Until then, spread your own kindness wave and know how much you are all appreciated and loved here in my crazy life.

 



Dear Anonymous.

We've all had them- the nasty comments that come from the Internet sissies. The ones that insult our clothes, food, blog styles, parenting choices, word choices or whatever else some coward who is too chicken to leave their real email address feels the need to pick on that day.  However, lovelies, today I was privy to be introduced to the worst of all kind of people when I popped in to check my email and saw this comment waiting in my inbox as a comment under my Say Hello tab.

"your baby is actually really hideous. Should've gotten an abortion xoxo"

 

I'm sorry- but back the hell up. You want to say something about me, that's fine. Take your best shot anonymous. However it is reprehensible, unacceptable and basically abominable that you would dare to leave a comment like this about my child- or ANY child for that matter. Obviously you knew that and that would explain why you are far too cowardly to leave your name or contact info.  You wouldn't want to have to be held accountable for your words, no. You just wanted to get a dig in where you felt you could and move on- and sign off with a little hug and kiss to make yourself feel better about being such a piece of low life scum, I assume.

 

Well let me tell you something, anonymous. My son is not hideous. No baby is "hideous". Some children may be more naturally beautiful than others but no little human being is disgusting to look at or extremely unpleasant. All babies are full of wonder and hope, they are amazing little beings that don't have hate, jealousy or contempt in their hearts.  They love and trust and laugh and teach their parents and anyone who has the privilege to be around them how to truly enjoy life. They don't have a hideous bone in their tiny bodies.

 

What is hideous, anonymous, is a person who would feel that this is okay to say about someones child.  As much as I would love to find you, I know that you were only trying to get attention and feel like you got one "up" on me. Congratulations- you hit me where it really hurt, you insulted my kid. A grown person took aim at a 16 month old who doesn't deserve your hateful spite, I hope that makes you feel like a big deal who has won. But I do have to ask, whats the prize? Its not much of a challenge when you don't leave your name to engage with a person who can respond with something more than a smile and a few simple words. 

 

Would I be lying if I thought about making this blog private? Not at all. Because my kid doesn't deserve to be called names and be subjected to the mere notion that his life is not meaningful and should have just been "fixed" by a simple visit to the abortion clinic.  I didn't start this blog to have people be outwardly cruel- I started it to chronicle Grayson's life so I could look back on the months that fly by way too fast and see how he changed and grew and remember all of the good in his life. However I know that I have met so many amazing people and recieve so many sweet comments from the people who I have come to know as my bloggy friends that this one person's opinion is not significant. Even if it is someone I know in real life, a blog friend that comments regularly, or a "silent" reader who reads and just sits in silence and judges- your opinion simply does not matter to me.

 

You can hide behind your anonymity but I know that the only person who is truly hideous here is you.

DIY Valentine Decor

Hello, Lovelies!! Just stopping by to show you the cute little valentines centerpiece that is now gracing my kitchen table. 

 

So super easy to make- all you need is a scrap of red burlap, some brown burlap, white ribbon and a mason jar. 

 

All I did was cut a rectangle of the red burlap long enough to wrap around the jar. Then I hot glued it onto a clear mason jar. A piece of left over white ribbon went over that, and I free handed a heart out of the brown burlap and attached both with hot glue.  I plunked in some fake hydrangeas I have left over from our wedding centerpieces and there you have it. All total, it took maybe 4 minutes- which is perfect for DIY decor in my book.

 



 

Close up!

 

Another good reason that it only took four minutes to make was that was all the time it took for this guy to destroy the cupcake I gave him as a distraction while Mommy crafted.

 

Hes such a hot mess. I love it.

Coffee Body Scrub

Back in college, a girlfriend of mine wanted to have a spa party. The problem was we were all far too broke to actually go out and purchase spa treatments. So I decided I could make something to bring, and this scrub was born after I started hunting through my kitchen cabinets. 

 

 

What you'll need: Coffee (the cheaper the better, baby), kosher salt or sugar, olive oil (baby oil also works) and a splash of vanilla.

 

Start by combining about a cup or two of coffee with about 1/2 cup of salt- literally you cant screw this up, which is also why it rocks.  Just toss a handfull or two of each into the bowl.

 

 

Then add in about 2-3 tablespoons of oil. You just kind of want to coat everything. If you add too much oil, it can tend to clump together. After you stir it up, add in a splash or two of vanilla. This makes it smell like a latte, which I love and vanilla is also soothing to the skin.

 

Once its all mixed up, you can take a big handful and rub it into your skin.  The coffee and the salt exfoliate off the rough, dead skin, and the oil and vanilla put some moisture back. Something I found out later is that coffee is supposed to have properties in it that when it is applied to the skin it energizes the fat cells in skin and helps to break up cellulite. 

 

Now is this medically proven? I have no idea. A professor in college told me that and it always stuck. Especially since my arse hasn't seen the inside of a gym since Grayson was born and lets face it, it cant hurt either way.

 

The proof as they say- is in the pudding. So here is my before shot of my pasty leg. Keep in mind I live in Pittsburgh and my skin is supposed to be the color of liquid paper in January.

 

 

and the after- before I rubbed on any lotion.

 

While still liquid paper white- all of the dry skin has been removed and my skin is much softer. So much so that even the hubs noticed, which is nothing short of amazing.

 

You can make your own version of this scrub by playing around with things in your kitchen, so you never have to pay for a good spa treatment again!

 

Let me know if you have a good sugar scrub recipe- I'm always looking for new ones to try!

 



Baby Essentials

A friend of mine was asking the other day what were the things that we registered for that were utter essentials for us- things that she should make sure she has for her bean-on-the way. So I decided to compile a list for anyone who is asking the same question.

 

1- The Padalily
Anyone who has lugged a baby in an infant seat knows they are big, bulky and heavy. The Padalily is a cushion that wraps around the handle and makes it so much easier to carry. They sell for around $25 and its well worth it for all of the times it saved me from having the car seat carve a niche into my arm as I lugged chunky monkey through parking lots and to and from the car!


2- Beco Gemini Baby Carrier
I love me some baby wearing. Once Grayson grew too large for the k'tan I started looking at other carriers. The three big ones are the Bijorn, Ergo and the Beco- and I researched each and came up with the Beco for a few reasons. First, like the Ergo, it was easier on your back than the Bijorn. With the strap that goes around your waist it takes alot of pressure off of your shoulders, which is important. The thing that made it win over the Ergo for us was the option to face outwards. Grayson loved to look around, and I knew he wouldn't be happy only facing in. Overall I have loved this carrier- I can wear him for hours and my back doesn't hurt at all.

3. The Boppy
This was kind of a godsend. He ate in it, he had tummy time in it, he napped in it (even though Boppy frowns on that), it held him up when he was first learning to sit...I could go on, but you get the picture. Trust me and the 10000000 other bloggy Moms who rave about the Boppy- you need this.

4.  JJ Cole Orignial Bundle Me
We live in Pittsburgh, its cold here. The bundle me was amazing for the cold winter months because I didn't have to dress Grayson like he was the kid from A Christmas Story just to go to the grocery store. He stayed nice and toasty inside his fleecy little bundle, in fact nights he wouldn't sleep I would stick him in here and he would be out like a light.  I also loved that the blanket zipped, so even in the wind it didn't budge. They also make a lighter version for spring time, and we loved that too.


5. Vicks Cool Mist Humidifier
Kiddos get the sickies, and when they do there are zero meds that help. Pretty much all you can do is use the humidifier and a booger sucker to help ease the congestion, and this version is by far my favorite model. We have had a few different varieties of humidifiers, and this one is super quiet and easy to clean. Some tend to get mold gathered in the parts, but we have not had that issue at all. Plus this one has a spot for the vicks pads that help big people when they are all stuffed up.

6. GroVia Magic Stick
This beeswax formula diaper rash ointment has no petroleum, so its cloth diaper friendly. Its also neat and easy to put on and protects like no other. Anytime we would see a hint of red on his bum we would swipe this stick over it and it would be gone. $13 bucks might seem like a lot for 2 oz, but we use it a lot and were still on our first stick. Totally worth it.

7. Fisher Price Jumparoo
Grayson adored this, and spent hours upon hours jumping and laughing in this thing.  It was huge, and took up a good chunk of our floor space but I could put him in it and he would bounce and play with the toys and I could get dinner cooked and put on the table so it was well worth my floor space.

8. The Baby K'tan
When he was diagnosed with reflux all Grayson wanted was to be held. My poor arms couldn't take it, and I hit the interweb for a solution. So many bloggy Moms recommended this carrier, and said it was much easier to use than the Moby so off I went to diapers.com to order myself one.  It was amazing. It was so easy to put on, I could do it by myself without needing a Youtube video, and Grayson loved feeling close to me. He would nap in there and I could actually get stuff done.

9. The Wubanub
I loved this pacifier and was so sad when at 6 months Grayson kicked it to the curb. Not only is it cute as a button, but its easy to find in the car seat from the drivers seat. Grayson would always rub the different textures of the fabric on the monkey to fall asleep and when his teeth were bugging him the monkey's foot became a teether in a pinch.

10. The Lovey.
A stuffed animal head sewed onto a small washcloth sized blanket= a best friend for life. I don't know what attracted Grayson to his lovey, which is a giraffe, but he is obsessed with it. It used to be we couldn't get into the carseat unless it was tucked safely under one arm, but we've gotten better and now only need it to fall asleep at night. No matter what time you go into his room hes always got one hand on that lovey.

11. Eucalyptus Oil
Strange, I know, but this was recommended to us by our pediatrician. Whenever Grayson has a cough, we rub some of this oil on his feet and put on nice cozy socks and he gets some much needed relief. We also put it in the water in his humidifier to help unstuff him, and it works wonders. I like it because it doesn't have any other chemicals but is just a pure essential oil. We bought the 4 oz bottle and it lasts forever.

12. Prince Lionheart Wipe Warmer
Those wipes get cold, and when a cold one would hit a warm, happy, just fed milk coma baby's bottom he would scream and be wide awake. I cant say I blame him, but I was in dire need of a solution. Once we started pre-heating the wipes we had no more wide awake screaming issues. Which meant that for the $18 price tag, this Momma got lots more sleep.

13. Luv U Zoo Space Saver Swing
We had a MamaRoo and hated it at first, so we picked him up this little space saver swing and it was a hit. Its small, easy to fold up and take places and cute as a button.  Grayson was a swing baby, and this was probably one of our most used items.

14. The Bumbo
Grayson loved to be up, seeing what was going on around him so he loved his bumbo. When he was still kind of little for his high chair we would plop him in this on the table between us when we were eating and give him bites of his baby food. He felt like a big man, and always ate so much better when he was sitting with us. He still tries to sit in it sometimes, but his chunky butt doesn't exactly squeeze down into the opening anymore.

15. The Womb Bear
From the day we brought him home from the hospital, we would turn this on in Grayson's room to drown out the noise of the dogs barking or any other outside noises. He always slept so much better when it was on, and would sleep through anything. He doesn't use it anymore, but when we were sleep training it was essential.

16. Tadpoles Foam Playmat
 With hardwood floors and a baby learning to crawl/walk, we would have had many more goose eggs and bruises if we didn't invest in this mat. I loved that it would cushion his fall and was easier on his hands and knees than the floor. Its not always the easiest thing to clean, but its well worth the effort (I just put mine in the dishwasher to get it germ free!).

What did you consider a baby essential that I forgot about? Feel free to share!


*Please Note- I was not compensated for this post. All opinions are solely my own and based on products we have used and enjoyed!*




 

 



Books and Puzzles- Grayson Approved!

Part one of this post was all about the toys we cant live without, but we also got lots of books and puzzles that we love as well. Here are a few ideas if you're searching for some great gift ideas.

 

Funny Faces Books- Rusty Robot

 

This is just one book in the series and Grayson received a few of them for Christmas. He ADORES these books. They all have textures he can touch and feel, and they make sounds and some even have lights. Plus they're short enough to hold his attention, which is hard sometimes with longer books.

 

Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear? Sound board book

 

We love the Eric Carle books, and this one he can push to actually hear the sounds as we read the story. Win. I keep this in the car and it keeps him entertained for the rides to and from Grandmas house.

 

You Are My Sunshine

 

 

This is hands down Grayson's favorite song. He really likes when we read it and we can tell him to turn the pages as we say the words.

 

My First Colors, Lets Learn them All! Tab Board Book

 

Each tab opens to a different page of items that are all the same color. Grayson really likes pointing out all of the different items on the pages (well, the ones he knows).  Its a book that we can use for a few years.

 

Melissa and Doug Deluxe Latches Board

 

This puzzle is amazing. It has all kinds of latches and chains and craziness that keeps the kid entertained for 30 minutes at a clip. He really hasn't even figured out that it is a puzzle underneath, so when he does that will bring a whole different kind of fun to the table.

 

Poke-A-Dot Books: Old MacDonald

 

 

LOVE LOVE LOVE this book. It has these little plastic pieces that you push, and it sounds like popping bubble wrap. Then, as they push in the first page, it sets up the second that they can push and pop on that side. Grayson adores it, and every adult that has seen it has loved it as well!

 

Melissa and Doug Farm Wooden Chunky Puzzle

 

I like these puzzles because the pieces are the perfect size for chubby toddler hands. We spend time asking him where is the duck, cow, pig etc and making the animal noise as we play with the puzzle so even if hes not getting it exactly in the right position he knows how to match them up. Plus, it doesn't have handles or little pegs- so you can stack the puzzles on top of one another for easy storage.