Logan's Dr. Seuss First Birthday Party

My little man's first birthday has come and gone....It makes me a little sad to know he only has a little while left to be a baby. I procrastinated a little in planning his party. I should have started a couple of months beforehand, but I only had a few weeks to get everything together. We threw him a Dr. Suess themed birthday party at our house with 60(!) of our closet friends and family. I found a lot of inspiration from other bloggers, so I thought I would share a few of the details. 

The Food:

We originally were only going to serve snacks, but we ended up doing a whole meal. Everything served had a Seuss inspired name. We served "Thing 1 and Thing 2 BBQ" (BBQ sandwiches), "Poodles with Noodles" (Mac and Cheese), "Yot in a Pot" (Baked Beans), "Praries of Prax"(Coleslaw), "Green Eggs and Ham" (Rolled deli ham and deviled eggs, dyed green), "Truffula Fruits" (fruit skewers), "Cheese Trees"(Cheese cubes served on styrofoam trees), "Diffendoofer Salad" (Potato Salad), and "One Fish Two Fish, Goldfish" (Goldfish crackers served in a fish bowl.  We also served "Pink Ink Yink Drink" (Pink Lemonade) and "Beezlenut Splash" (Sweet Tea) for beverages. I had custom water bottle wrappers made for the bottled water.

Cake and Sweets Table:

The cake was a three tiered cake made to look like one I saw online. I loved all of the colors and patterns. I also had a little "Cat in the Hat" smash cake for Logan to eat all by himself. We had a variety of other sweet treats on the sweets table with the cake. I made marshmallow pops dipped in chocolate, "Hop on Popcorn" (Paper cones filled with sweet popcorn), "Who Pudding", "Star Bellied Sneetch Treats" (Rice Krispie Treats) and "Horton's Fluff" (cupcake liners filled with cotton candy).

Table Decor: 

For the tables, I alternated red and turquoise tablecloths and paper goods. I placed all of the plates, utensils, cups, and napkins on the tables. I wrapped the utensils in matching napkins tied with bakers twine. I Dr. Seuss coloring pages were placed on all of the tables for the kiddos to color while the parents were fixing their plates. Two of the tables had a Dum Dum sucker tree centerpiece, two had hand painted pots with pinwheels, and one table had a centerpiece made from Dr. Seuss books and a "Sam I Am" stuffed animal. Dr. Seuss silly bands, books, and candy bars with custom wrappers were scattered on the tables. For the sucker tree centerpieces, I used plaster of paris to hold a painted dowel rod in a painted pot. I stuck a styrofoam ball on the top of the dowel rod and covered in suckers. If you attempt to make these, please note that it takes a lot of suckers. There are over 400 in the 2 centerpieces I made. For the pinwheel centerpieces, I filled painted pots with play sand. I made pinwheels from old Dr. Seuss book pages and attached them to dowel rods and placed them in the sand. I covered the sand with paper shred. 

Other Decorations: 

To place over the food tables, I made a photo banner with pictures from Logan's first year of life. There is one from each month from birth to 12 months. I attached them to a ribbon using smaller ribbon and a hole punch. We had this sign (and one that was at the driveway) made. I made the tissue poms from tissue paper using a Martha Stewart tutorial. It is a lot harder than it looks. I had originally planned on making 6-8 to hang from the ceiling, but I ran out of time. 

We had a welcome table and a table for gifts at the entryway to the house. The welcome table had a copy of Dr. Seuss's "Happy Birthday to You!" that we used as a guestbook. We also had a guessing game and a framed copy of the invitation on this table. 

I made this "One" banner for his high chair using old book pages and my Cricut machine. There was also another banner like this with his name in the dining room, but we didn't get a picture of it. I also made his party hat :)

For the entryway: I printed some of my favorite Dr. Seuss quotes and attached them to colorful cardstock. I used tulle to hang them from the ceiling. 

Activities: 

Since most of the kids we know are pretty young, we didn't do any games. But we did have a giant inflatable slide and two little bouncy houses! And since it was during the beginning of the fall season, we decided to do a little hayride for the kiddos. They had a blast! 

We had such a great turn out! All of our family and friends were here to celebrate our little man's big day! I can't believe he is growing up so fast! He is learning new things every day and has such a big personality! 

We love you, mister! 

We've Got Some Catching Up To Do...

 

I have obviously been slacking on the blog front. These past few months have been insanely busy. I thought life would get easier and slow down a little as Logan got older, but I was mistaken :) Now that he is mobile, I am constantly chasing him around and he keeps me pretty busy. Nap time is spent trying to catch up on housework and sewing, so I haven't really had the time to blog.

Logan has had so many milestones this summer...He can now say "bye-bye", "ball", "da-da", occasionally "ma-ma" and most recently "ach-oo." He is so funny. He can walk pushing a walker, he can stand up and walk around the table. He climbs everything. He can clap. He can high-five. He can comb his hair. He is like a little sponge, learning new things every day. Every day is an adventure and he makes me laugh a million times a day.

On the down side, he has also had ear infections and we have had several sleepless nights. Most recently, he has been on an antibiotic for a bad infection and has been acting like a little monster. Throwing fits and screaming. I think its the medicine (Bactrim), but the pediatrician says he might just be coming into his own personality. Lord help me if thats true.

I can not believe that he will be ONE in 2 weeks! I have been busy planning a big Dr. Seuss party for him. Here is a little bit of my inspiration:

There are so many adorable Dr. Seuss parties out there in blog land and I have got a ton of great ideas. I cant wait to share ours!

Logan's First Beach Trip

Last week we took Logan to the beach for the first time. We decided to drive for the first time in years because airline tickets are so expensive right now. It was a 12 hour drive, both ways, and he was an angel. We stopped in Alabama on the way down, and since he had slept most of the car ride, he didn't sleep much at all that night. Maybe an hour. It was miserable but he slept the rest of the car ride the next day. I would rather get no sleep than deal with a screaming child in the car for 12 hours. 

We stayed at the beach all day every day. He loved playing in the sand and kept trying to eat it. My mother in law got him a little blow up pool that we took down every day and he would sit underneath the umbrella and play in the water. He even liked the ocean and wasn't scared of the waves at all. 

I couldn't have asked for him to be any better. He was so good the entire time. He even took his naps on the beach most days. We took him with us to play putt-putt golf one evening and took him on his first carousel and train rides. 

He also cut a second tooth while we were there and learned how to clap. He seems to learn a new trick every week. This week he has learned to shake his head "no" (even though he doesn't know what he is doing) and he has finally started crawling up on his knees! I can't believe that he will be one in just two short months! 

A Drugstore Couponing Tutorial

I started couponing a couple of months ago and I have had a ton of people curious about how I do it. I post pictures of my goods on Facebook and every time, I get at least one person asking me to teach them. So, I decided to put together a little how-to using this weeks sales.

I go to Walgreens, CVS and Rite Aid on a weekly basis. I use a mixture of printable and paper coupons. I usually go to the Krazy Couponing Lady site to match my coupons with the sales. I also can find some good deals at Kroger and Target, but the best freebies I have found are at the drugstores.

These three drugstores all have some sort of money back rewards program. Each week they run specials on certain products where you get a gift certificate type coupon to use during your next visit.

Walgreens- The trickiest drugstore to coupon at- but they have some great sales. Walgreens is the only drugstore where you can get rewards back and not have to have a membership card. This means that even though they limit the number of rewards per person, you can come back the next day if you want and get a repeat deal. Walgreens also prints a coupon book that you can pick up in store. You can combine 1 Manufacturer coupon with 1 store coupon on each item.

Heres what I got at Walgreens this week:

Mitchum Deodorant (2) on sale for $3 and when you buy 2, you get $4 register rewards. I had a bunch of 75cents off 1 Mitchum Deodorant coupons so I combined them with the sale.
I paid $6- 1.50 (2 coupons)-4.00 Register rewards good off my next purchase= .50 for 2, or .25 each

Dove Men+care soap 6 pack (2) on sale for $6 and when you buy 2, you get a $4 register reward. We got a $4 off MF coupon in the paper a couple of weeks ago, so when I combined the coupon with the rewards, I got 2 6 packs for free. $12-$8 (2 coupons)-$4 register rewards= $0 for 2

Chex mix (2) on sale for $1. We got a .50 cents off 1 coupon in last weeks paper. So I got 2 of them for 50cents each.

Schick Slim twin disposable razors (12 pk) on sale for $5.99. When you buy 1 you get a $2 register reward. You can also print a 3.00 off 1 coupon from the Schick facebook page. Combine these 2 things and pick up a package for 99 cents (12 razors!)
5.99-3.00 coupon from facebook- $2 register reward= .99cents for a 12 pack

Milka Chocolate bars on sale for $1.50. The walgreens booklet has a coupon for $1 off 2 bars and you can print 2 1.00 off coupons from bricks.coupons.com to get these for free!
I paid 3 - 2.00 (2 online coupons) - $1 walgreens coupon= free

This week they also have some great deals on school supplies... .19cent mechanical and regular pencils. .9cent folders and .9cent highlighters :)


CVS- There are a couple incentives to couponing at CVS. First of all, if they are having a really good sale, but are out of stock on the item you want to purchase, you can get a raincheck for that item to purchase it at a later date for the same price (including Register Rewards). Another great thing about CVS is the coupon machine. Scan your CVS card and get additional in store coupons that you can combine with MF coupons.

This is what I got this week at CVS:

Oral B indicator toothbrushes (2) On sale for 1.99. We got
a 2.00/2 indicator toothbrushes coupon a few weeks back in the paper. You also get a 1.00 register rewards when you buy 1 (limit 2). SO, I paid:
3.98-2.00 coupon - 2.00 register rewards = -.2cents for 2 toothbrushes!

Crest toothpaste- 1.99. We got a 75 cents off 1 crest toothpaste last week in the paper. You also get 1.00 rewards when you buy 1 (limit 2) This would make them 24 cents a tube.

Pantene Prov- on sale for 3.49. Get $2 register rewards when you buy 2. We also got a 3.00/2 coupon in the paper a while back. Combine these to get 2 bottles for 99 cents each. I just so happened to have another CVS coupon for 2.00/2 that printed at the register a while back, so I got mine completely FREE!

Cottonelle Fresh Wipes 1.99- you can print a coupon from Cottonelle  for 1.00 off and get these for .99 cents!

Rite Aid- My favorite thing about couponing at Rite Aid is the surveys. With every purchase, you get a code to fill out a survey online. For every survey you fill out (max 3 per month) you can print a coupon for $3 off a $15 purchase. Rite Aid gives "UP" rewards to use towards your next purchase just like the other drugstores.

What I purchased at Rite Aid this week:

U by Kotex liners- .99cents. You can print a 1.00 coupon from Kotex and get these for FREE!

Oral B CrossAction toothbrushes 2.99. You get a 1.50 Up Reward when you buy 1. Combine this with the 2.00/crossaction toothbrush coupon we got in the paper a while back, and MAKE .50cents on these!

Excedrin 20 ct (including Migraine) 1.99- use the .75cent coupon we got a while back in the paper and pick these up for 1.24 each.

WELL, thats it! Sounds complicated, but once you get the hang of it, it doesn't take long at all. If your just starting out, you will want to get a couple copies of the paper every week to build your coupons up. I put mine in a binder with trading card inserts.

Yeah, yeah..I know. I AM one of those crazy coupon ladies with their binders in the drugstore :/ I get a lot of free stuff though! If you all want me to keep passing along the weekly coupon deals, let me know and I will. Or you can visit the Krazy Coupon Lady website for the weekly deals.

Used Cloth Diapers: $2 Econobum's on Craigslist!

Occasionally I look on Craigslist to see if anyone locally has any diapers for sale. Not like we need any more..just curious really. A couple of weeks ago, I found a sweet deal on Econobum's. They were barely used and a lady sold me 4 of them for $10! They are the new ones with colored trim, too. Plus she gave me 5 old Bumgenius OS diapers for free! Yeah, thats right...FREE! She said that the BG's had been through 3 kids, but still had a lot of wear left in them. Perfect to use as backup diapers. I gave some to a friend who had just started cloth diapering, and kept a couple for myself.

Now, I have never used prefolds before, but I just couldn't pass up $2 diapers. And they were in perfect condition. Barely used, really. They aren't that much different to use than pockets or all in ones. You just have to fold the diaper and lay it inside the cover. I did find that it was a little difficult getting it folded right, but I think I just about have it figured out. They are very absorbent and even work well at night.

I realize that buying used cloth diapers sounds really gross, but you can clean them really well. I let mine soak overnight in Rockin Green. Then, I washed them in hot water several times without any soap. After I washed them I let them dry out in the sun for a couple of hours. If they have any stains, this will get rid of them. Then you are good to go! Buying used is a very economical way to get started cloth diapering or to help build your stash. The more diapers you have in rotation, the longer they will last.

A couple of great websites for purchasing used cloth diapers:
- Craigslist 
- Diaper Swappers 
- Ebay
- The Diaper Jungle Forum 

9 Month Check Up: Conjunctivitus and Logan's First Tooth!

We had Logan's 9 month well visit today. He has had a blocked tear duct since he was born, but this past week it has been particularly bad. His left eye has been stuck shut every morning and his lid is red and swollen. Turns out, he has Conjunctivitus (Kind of the same thing as pink eye, but not contagious). The doctor is also concerned that his tear duct has not opened up by now, so she wants us to see a specialist to talk about surgery! We couldn't get in to the Opthamologist until October, so hopefully it will heal up by then. 

As the doctor was checking his mouth, she spied his first tooth coming through. It must have come through during the night because I didn't notice it yesterday. His bottom left. We all thought he would cut his top teeth first, even the doctor. And he is almost 20 pounds! He is growing up so fast! 

We took Logan on his first boating adventure at the lake this weekend..He loved it! We will be going to the beach in the next month or so and I am looking forward to letting him splash in the ocean for the first time. 

Daddy's Boy

Yesterday was Tyler's first fathers day. I am so proud of the Father and Husband he has become this past 9 months. He truly loves Logan with all of his heart and it shows in every interaction he has with him. I couldn't ask for a better Father for my child. And Logan loves him so much. He has turned into such a Daddy's boy. He cries when Tyler leaves the room and lights up when he comes in from work. It is so sweet.

Yesterday at church we had a guest speaker- One of my favorite authors, Donald Miller. He has wrote several best selling books including Blue Like Jazz and A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. I was so stoked to meet him and have him sign my book. Blue Like Jazz is one of my all time favorite books. I have like 5 copies and I give them to everyone as gifts. If you haven't read it, you should! I am currently reading A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. Check out his website here.

We have a Crawler

We have had some technical difficulties around here, so I haven't been able to blog lately. During a storm last week, lightning came through the electrical lines and fried our computer and router. So not only did we not have our desktop, but we couldn't use the wireless either. We got it fixed, though AND I finally got my laptop fixed after about a year of it being broken...So hopefully I will be able to blog much more frequently. I just hope all of my pictures were not lost in the process. Thank goodness I have the hospital pics backed up and a lot of the others on my facebook.

Logan has finally started crawling on Sunday! He is still doing the army crawl thing, but he can pretty much get wherever he wants now. He has also learned how to sit up by himself. I went to get him up the other morning and he was just sitting in his crib playing. He is growing up so fast. In just a few short weeks he will be 9 months old. I could almost have another one by now...I would be crazy...but it is possible. We really want to wait probably at least another year or so before we start trying again. Logan is keeping me on my toes as it is.

People keep asking me if he is talking yet...He makes noises constantly, but no real words. My husband told me the other night that he was going to say "dada" first ....Logan looked at him right after he said it and said "dadadada"... Coincidence I am sure :) He is such a Daddy's boy. When Tyler comes in during the day he smiles and reaches for him. He cries when he leaves the room. They say boys normally love their Mama's more, but I don't know about it...

On the business front..I have started making earrings! I want to expand beyond baby things and make other gifts as well. Here is my favorite pair, made from Michael Miller's Birds of Norway material. Adorable and one of a kind.

You can purchase a pair in my Etsy shop for just $6!

June Kelly's Closet Coupon Codes

Right now, Kelly's Closet is offering a FREE one size diaper with $79 purchase..Guaranteed value of at least $23, which could mean a free Rumparooz, Tots Bots or Kissaluvs. I have a couple Rumparooz and they are fantastic! I'm all stocked up right now, or I would definitely be placing an order. Just enter the code HONEYSUCKLE at checkout. Limit 1 code per order and 2 per customer.

They also have some $ off coupons running right now as well.

$6 off a $36 purchase... Enter the code JUNE6

$12 off a $112 purchase... Enter the code JUNE12

or $36 off a $236 purchase....Enter the code JUNE36

These coupons can expire any time, so get them while they last!! Click my Kelly's Closet link to the left to let them know I sent ya :)

The past 3 weeks....

I can't belive it has been 3 weeks since I have posted...I am such a slacker. In my defense, though, we have been crazy busy.

Logan is finally over his ear infections and virus. I am keeping my fingers crossed that he will stay well for a while. It seems like we are in the doctors office every month for something or the other. His teeth seem to be bothering him today. He has a runny nose and is super fussy. Teething is the worst.

He is growing up so fast. He wants to crawl so bad he cant stand it. He can get up on his hands and knees, but just doesn't know what to do after that. But he can pivot and roll all the way across the room. Over these past few weeks he has also learned to hold his own bottle, drink from a sippy cup, and has started eating meats. I really can't believe it.

This week we have really been working on our landscaping and garden. I have a little vegetable garden on the side of the house. Before last summer, I had never grown a thing in my life. I guess it was part of my nesting kicking in, but I really wanted to grow one. So i had my brother in law till me a little patch of land and I planted some things. We didn't really eat much from it last year, but I have high hopes for a better garden this year. I now know what we will actually eat and what we will not. I also hope to use it to make some of Logan's food. We shall see. This year, I planted onions, tomatoes, carrots, green beans, green and red peppers, sugar snap peas, lettuce, spinach and cucumbers. We also planted a little herb garden right outside of our bedroom window. I will post pictures in a few weeks when things are actually starting to grow.

I am also oh-so-excited to announce that my best friend, Amanda, has finally started cloth diapering!! And she loves it! I have a couple other people that I am trying to convince as well...I really feel like if people knew how easy it was and realized how much money they could save, everyone would cloth diaper. If you have questions about it, feel free to email me. I love to talk about it :) Here is sweet Lylah Anne  in her new BumGenius Artist series cloth diapers:

Isn't she adorable? 

New Rumparooz, Happy Heiny's, and Oh Katy diapers! and New Kelly's Closet Coupons

A couple of weeks ago, I placed another order with Kelly's Closet. Like I needed any more diapers. BUT they were running a special and I needed some more Rockin Green, so I couldnt resist. The Husband has been saying that we should get a red diaper, so I ordered this Rumparooz g2 one size diaper in crimson.

I also ordered another Happy Heiny in black. The Happy Heiny's have been the husband's favorite brand we have used so far. And they come in such pretty colors.

And they were running another free one size with purchase special. I NEVER order when they aren't running a free diaper special. They do this at least once a month. The last few times I have ordered I received plain ol' white Kawaii diapers as my freebie. This time, they sent me this beauty:

LOVE it! Actually, I love it so much, that I bought 2 used Oh Katy's that a facebook aquaintance was selling. I now have close to 35 diapers I would say. I haven't really counted, but it's alot. People tell me that I must be spending more on cloth diapers than I would have had we used disposables, but that is simply not the case. Considering most families spend between $1500-$2000 on diapers per child, we are still saving a TON of money. Plus, we plan on using these diapers on future children as well.

I do have a couple of diapers I am looking to sell. I have 2 aplix Kawaii diapers ($10 each + shipping) and 2 Fuzzibunz in white and mint green ($12 each + shipping) if anyone is interested :)

And while we are on the subject, here are the current Kelly's Closet coupon codes:

FLATSCHALLENGE - free one size diaper cover with $49 purchase (at least $13value)

MAY5- $5 off a $35 purchase

MAY10- $10 off a $100 purchase

MAY35- $35 off a $250 purchase

All $ off coupons exclude Gro-via, Hemp Babies, Econobum, and BumGenius. And you can not use ANY coupon with the current Bumgenius sale, including the free diaper cover coupon.

Logan's Baby Dedication

Sunday was Logan's baby dedication at church. We go to a fairly large church, so there were probably 40 other babies being dedicated at the same time, one of them being my best friends little girl. So many people came out to support us and participate in his special day.

Logan and Lylah even matched. We did not do that on purpose, in case you are wondering.

We are so very blessed to call this little guy our son. I pray that we set a good spiritual example for him and that he grows up to know the Lord as his Savior.

He shows his personality more and more every day. He is the most animated and curious baby I have ever met, such a people person. He is going to give us a run for our money. He is wild already. 

We love you little man :)

Where does the time go?

Seriously...How can it be that Tyler and I just celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary? And I have a 7 1/2 month old baby? Time really does fly by...even more so after you have a baby.

We celebrated our anniversary at home, eating take out on our new patio furniture (our anniversary gift to each other) and watching a movie.  Tyler even let me pick the movie, "No Strings Attached", a rom-com. It was fabulous. The in laws watched the monkey for us, and even though we had our $300 stroller stolen out of our driveway, it was a great day. I am truly blessed to have married my best friend.

This week was also my very first mothers day! Not only do I have 2 fabulous mothers, but now I get to celebrate this day in a whole new way. You really can't understand the love a mother has for her child until you become one yourself. I have a whole new respect for my mom, now. I love this picture of us from my wedding.

We also had Logan's 6 month pictures taken this week. Yeah, I know he is 7 months old, but like I said, time gets away from you when you become a parent. They turned out so good! Tyler's cousin's wife, Sara, took them. He was so fussy but they turned out fabulous. Here's one of my favorites:

Logan has also been trying to get over a double ear infection. Doc says we will see teeth in the next few weeks. We thought it was just teething, so we put it off for a couple of days. When we finally went in, his ears were terrible. He hadn't slept for 3 days. We were exhausted, but I think he is finally on the mend. The doctor prescribed amoxicillin, the pink bubble gum tasting stuff, and I spilled the entire bottle on the carpet in Logan's room. We now have a huge stain right in the middle of his carpet....

So needless to say, it has been a very eventful couple of weeks.... I am hoping to get back into the swing of things after this weekend. We have Logan's dedication at church on Sunday :)

Extreme Couponing...

Well, maybe not extreme couponing, but I did get some free stuff :) Our grocery bill is through the roof for such a small family, so I have been inspired by the crazy people on that silly show to start using coupons. I do not, however, feel the need to dumspter dive for coupon inserts or build a stock pile that takes over my entire house. I just like to get stuff for free. I got all this completely FREE this week when we went shopping. We won't some of the products, but theywill be donated to someone who needs them. Here is the breakdown for those of you who have asked how I did it:

Nivea body wash- I had a $3 manufacturers coupon for any womens Nivea body wash from the paper a couple of Sundays ago. It is on sale at Kroger for $2.49...SO I made .50 cents on this one!! They are also $3 at Walmart.

Ivory Soap and Body wash- This weeks paper had a $1 off coupon for any ivory body wash or soap. They are both on sale at Kroger for $1.00. So they were free. CVS also has ivory bar soap on sale for 99 cents.

Safeguard bar soap- These are also on sale at Kroger for $1, so with my $1 coupon from the P&G insert in this Sundays paper=free.

Seventh Generation paper towels-I found a $2 off 2 coupon on a package at the grocery store. So I bought 4 rolls that were on clearance for .89 cents a piece. 4x.89= $3.66 - $4 in coupons = .44 cents in profit! You can also download 7th generation coupons from their website.

Nivea lotion- On sale for $4.08 at Target. Using a $1 coupon from this weeks paper and a $3 off coupon from Target.com, I got this for 8 cents. (Couponing lesson #1: You can stack (use both) a manufacturers coupon AND a store coupon on one item to get better savings)

Also great deals, but not free:

Dawn dish soap for 49 cents- They are on sale for .99 cents at rite aid, so with my .50 cent coupon from this weeks paper, they are .49 cents.

Womens Schick Quattro Razors- These are on sale, BOGO free at Kroger for $6.49. I had coupons for $2 off any one package. I could use one on each package. $6.49-2.00-2.00= 2.49 for 2 packages of razors.

7th generation diapers- On clearance for 4.99 at Kroger. Using a $1 coupon I downloaded from the 7th generation website, I got 2 packages for 3.99 each. (These are for a baby shower, because as you know, we cloth diaper. When we do have to use disposables, though, we use 7th generation)

7th generation fabric softerner- on clearance for 3.09 at Kroger. Using a $1.50 off coupon I downloaded online for any 7th generation laundry product, we got this for $1.59.

I didn't buy this one because I don't dye my hair, but Target has a 5.00 off coupon for the new John Freida foam hair color. Stacked with the 5.00 off coupon that was in this Sunday's paper, you can get them for 1.99 at Target (retail 11.99)





Logan's First Easter

 I realize this post is a little late, but we have been so busy these past couple of weeks. Our Easter weekend was great. Saturday, we hosted the family Easter Egg hunt and had close to 30 people at the house. Easter Sunday we went to church and then had Easter dinner and an Easter Egg hunt with my in laws. and the Easter bunny came to visit :) He brought Logan lots of new toys and clothes. His favorite new toy is his Sophie.

I have also been working on some new stuff for the Etsy shop. I got some really cute new fabric in that I am really excited about. Here is one of my favorites. I also have it in blue. I am working on some new flowers and bows, too.

Logan has really been trying to crawl this past week. He is starting to push himself up on his knees and hands for a couple seconds at a time. I can not believe I have a 7 month old baby. Where does the time go?

We just started him on stage 2 baby foods so I have been experimenting with some new foods. I just bought some split peas and lentils to try. I will post a tutorial as soon as we figure out how to cook them. We are waiting until 8 months to start on meats. That should be interesting. We are also starting to give him a little juice in a sippy cup. He is such a big boy :)

Easter Baskets for Infants

I have always been really into holidays. I always get my little sisters and Tyler an Easter basket, and everyone gets a stocking at Christmas too. Even the dog gets a stocking. I think it is because my Mom always did such a good job with holidays when I was younger. I always had the coolest stuff in my Easter baskets.

This year will be my first Easter I get to make a basket for my little man. I know that he won't really be interested in any of it, but I am excited none the less. Want to know what he is getting in his Easter basket?

A Sophie Giraffe! Sophie, if you have never met her, is an amazing natural teether for babies. She squeaks, she tastes good, and she is perfect for little baby hands.

A very hungry caterpillar rattle. We love the book and have the stuffed animal as well.

An organic bunny lovie from Under The Nile.

AND I am hoping to get him a little sapling toy. Hopefully they will be in stock at our local store because I do not have time to get it shipped. They plant a tree for every toy sold. You can even get them personalized in their Etsy shop.

He is also getting some babylegs, some sleepers and onesies, and some bubbles :)

 A little overboard for a 7 month old? Maybe...but I told you I love holidays. What are you putting in your kids' Easter baskets?

How to Make Squash Baby Food

Squash is a great first food for babies and easier to make than you would think. You can use this method to cook any type of Winter squash or pumpkins. We used butternut squash.

First, make sure you wash your squash (hehe!) and slice it own the middle lengthwise.

Use a spoon and scoop out all of the seeds and stringy stuff from the inside.

Fill a small baking dish with about 1/4 inch of water and lay both halves of the squash with the flat side down

Cook in the oven on 375 for about 45-50 minutes or until the flesh of the squash is very tender.

This is how mine looked when it was done:

Next, take your spoon and scoop out all of the squash from the skin.and put the squash into your food proccessor or baby food maker.

Puree the squash to your desired consistency. Logan is still on Stage 1 baby foods, so I pureed mine for about 30 seconds.

Let cool and then scoop into whichever baby food containers you prefer...You can use ice cube trays and freeze them, or you can purchase special baby food containers. I just use baby food jars that I wash and sanitize.

Our medium butternut squash made 3 1/2 jars of baby food. You can keep these in the fridge for 2-3 days or freeze them for up to 3 months.