Friday Funny

Charlotte was about two weeks old when I called my mom and said, "Taking care of a baby is oddly similar to taking care of a drunk person. They constantly are drinking, they spit up all over themselves and poop and pee whenever."

Well, lo and behold, the internet world agrees with me.

Click here to see the 26 reasons kids are pretty much just tiny drunk adults.

#6, #7 and #18 are my favorites, what's yours?
Laura

Baby Reads

Everybody loves to give you advice when you're pregnant.

What to eat, what not to eat.
What vitamins to take, what vitamins not to take.
Read this, watch this, take this class, do this exercise...
You get the picture.

Well, here I am, hopping aboard the advice train. But I like to thing of these more as recommendations...take it or leave it. Won't bother me one bit!

During my pregnancy, the library has become one of my best friends. I have checked out a lot of prenatal workout videos and pregnancy books, some that I've ended up loving and buying and some that I couldn't even finish.

Here are my top reads...

Secrets of the Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg

I ended up buying this book after reading it because it was so easy to understand and apply. It is very similar to Baby Wise (see next book) but I liked her examples, stories and time lines better for me. She has different categories of baby personalities and I'm excited to meet Charlotte, get to know her and see how I can best support her as a baby according to Tracy's categories.

 

Baby Wise

Baby Wise has the go-to sleep program for infants, in my opinion. Again, the timeline is similar to the Baby Whisperer which promotes self-soothing in infants. They use the idea of feeding your baby then having awake/play time before taking their nap or going to sleep for the night. The charts and time lines in the back of the book are extremely helpful for the Type A personality, like myself!

 

Heading Home with Your Newborn

This book is written by two pediatricians and gave a great overview on all topics that you might (and most likely will) run into the first few months of your babies life. I finished the book feeling informed but not overwhelmed and that I had just enough knowledge on each topic to feel comfortable.

I know, just what you need, more advice during this time in your life. The best advice is to listen to every one's advice with a smile and a "thank you!" and then choose to use it or not!

 

Library + Me = BFF,

Laura

 



Chalkboard Wall Update

Remember when I showed y'all our chalkboard wall we painted in our new house?

I wanted to give you a little update.

It has been so fun to have friends leave little notes for us and change it out for different events but the most fun I've had with it is so track my growing (and growing...) belly!

My husband is taking my picture every few weeks for our own scrapbook and to email to grandparents, etc. I love the consistent background, how easy it is to change and her monogram on the top!

 

5 more weeks...yikes...

Laura

Another Monday List

1. Jackpot. An entire list of pumpkin recipes that are all low-fat and healthy. Click here to feel like you've won the lottery. I'm most excited about the Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake Yogurt Cupcakes.

 

2. Apple season is just starting up and I am excited to hopefully do some canning this week! I'll keep you updated.

 

3. Free advice: keep one dish sponge in your dishwasher and one to use in the sink. Every time you run your dishwasher, switch them out as you unload your dishes. That way your sponges stay as germ-free as possible. And when one starts to bite the dust, switch it out with a new one!

 

4. Staying on the cleaning topic, after washing and drying your towels (bath, kitchen, etc.), and are putting them away, put them on the bottom of the stack in the closet or drawer. So, you are pulling your towels from the top of the pile and replacing the recently washed ones on the bottom. That way you aren't using the same few towels over and over again and wearing them out. I heard this from Martha (Stewart, if you aren't on a first name basis like we are) once.

 

5. I can't stop perusing Etsy for little girl headbands. How are there so many cute options? But what if I buy newborn size and she's born with a massive head (like my husband keeps telling me that he had) and none of them fit? These are the things that keep me up at night. Oh, and my top-heavy, kool-aid man-esque self (see photo for example).

 

via

 

Oh yaaaaaa (said like the kool-aid man, of course),

Laura

On my radar...

Some things I've been eyeing (and loving) lately...

Name Ring

I'll take two please.

Rudolph Hat

Charlotte needs this.

Towne and Reese Agate Stone Pendant Necklace

Gorgeous.

Glitter Tip Nails

Yes, please.

Baby Girl Surrounded By Bows

Oh, this is happening.

Anything you've been eyeing that I'm missing out on?

Laura



Another Monday List

1. I feel like an 80 year old woman trapped in a 26 year old woman's body...with a 6 month old fetus inside of that. What I'm trying to say is- my back hurts. Sweet Charlotte is just pushing back there and it does not feel wonderful. Whew.

2. I have a lot of recipes brewing in my head that contain popcorn, pretzels, avocado, marshmallows, black beans, orzo and m&m's...not all together. Now, if I could only find some time to play around in the kitchen!

3. Another thing I'm trying to find some time for is to deodorize our mattresses using this method! Must be part of that whole nesting thing...

4. I can't stop drinking this smoothie! I think I need an intervention.

5. Thanks to your advice- I am going to go ahead with the DIY embroidery hoops! I'm on the fabric hunt now!

via

Basically, what this post has made me realize is that I have lots of things I want to do and not a lot of time...thanks, guys.

Anybody want to come over to help cook/DIY/clean mattresses?

Laura

Baby Girl Decor

For the past few months, I've had this gut instinct that we were having a baby girl.

So, we picked out a name, bedding and nursery decor for a...BOY.

I don't know why or how but boys seem much easier to plan for and so I am now 5 months along and back to square one on the planning. We got the name figured out (Charlotte Elizabeth) and I'm stalking obsessing over casually perusing Pinterest and Etsy for little girl nursery ideas.

Gallery walls intimidate me because I see these amazing photos of them in rooms but I feel like when I see them in person or try to do them myself, they turn out a little dull. Nonetheless, I found some adorable options if I do decide to tackle a gallery wall in Charlotte's room.

Here are some options...

I also love these embroidery hoops with fabric.

all images via

So, I've really narrowed it down. (note sarcasm).

I openly admit I am not a decorator so any advice? Opinions? Other ideas? Send them my way...please!!

Hubby has no idea what he's getting in to..

Laura



Gender Reveal Part 2

Here is Part Two of our Gender Reveal Party for sweet baby Ellison!

And my favorite part, too- the dessert.

I love the idea of an ice cream bar and decided to adapt it to the pink and blue theme.

We had brownies, vanilla ice cream and a plethora of Lil' Man toppings and Lil' Miss toppings!

I used the same signs from the entry table and just moved the title over and added the word "toppings". Super simple!

 We had blueberries, blue sixlets (from the party store), blue sprinkles, blue candy and I colored half a tub of cool whip blue!

 For the Lil' Miss toppings, we had strawberries, raspberries, cherries, pink sixlets (also, from the party store), pink sprinkles and I colored the other half of the cool whip pink.

I am really pleased with how this table (and the sundaes!) turned out! It was so easy to organize and continued the Lil' Man/Lil' Miss, blue/pink theme seamlessly.

Since my hub and I already knew the gender for the big reveal, we went to the Dollar Tree after our Dr. appointment and loaded up on pink silly string! Once you take the lid off, all the bottles look the same! I checked the tops and one had a little pink remnant on it and I simply scraped it off with a toothpick so there were no spoilers.

We passed out the silly string to all our friends and on the count of 3, everybody sprayed! It was SO fun and wonderful to see everyone's reactions!

 PINK!

 It's a GIRL!

In the end, I am beyond pleased with how simple and fun this party turned out! I love that it wasn't tons of work to prepare but was still adorable. 

So excited for a girl!!

Laura

Gender Reveal Part 1

Last Wednesday, the hubster and I found out the gender of our sweet baby and wanted a fun way to share it with our friends!

I had so much fun planning this reveal especially since I didn't know the gender while planning and I can't wait to share it with y'all!

 I was inspired by this and this to create what, in my opinion, was a super easy and cute party to throw together!

Here is part one of our party- the entry table! 

This table greeted our guests as they came in and made their predictions if Baby Ellison is a Lil' Man or a Lil' Miss!

 The prize was a massive baby bottle full of candy!

 We had so much fun with the lips and mustaches and that our friends could guess their predictions before the big reveal!

Check back tomorrow for the dessert table and how we revealed the news!

Very few people guessed girl!
Laura

A Baby is Brewing...

Big News!

My sweet hubby and I have a baby girl on the way!

I found out that I was expecting right before I went to Vegas for my bestie's bachelorette party. Remember that?

Both my husband and I wanted to wait to tell everyone the exciting news until I was further along but I knew that if I went to Vegas, for a bachelorette party, and did not even have one celebratory drink, there would be some questions. So, I decided to let them know that first night there before the bachelorette festivities were underway!

Side note: I called the bride-to-be earlier in the week to tell her and asked her if it would be okay to do a little announcement in Vegas. The last thing I wanted to do was take attention off of her weekend because of this news! She was so excited and did not mind one bit!

Gather your supplies: tea bags, strips of colored paper, (and pretend you see these in the picture) glue and a marker.

Fold the paper in half and crease the top.

Write the big news on one side...

...and the date on the other side!

(At this point, we didn't know our exact due date as the Dr. wouldn't see me until 8 weeks along but I knew it would be in the Fall! Our exact due date is October 31, 2012.)

Glue each side to the tea bag label and let dry.



Wrap it up in what would look like a cute Bachelorette gift for everyone and try to contain your excitement/nervousness! 

 

My girlfriends were SO surprised and it was so fun for me to watch their faces as they slowly opened the packages and put together what was happening!

This could not have been easier and such a cute way to announce your big arrival!

Baby's First Trip to Vegas,
Laura