Non-Toy Toddler Gift

LW happens to have a lot of friends, and they all happen to have birthdays around the same time. Since I am no longer in a salaried position, I needed to get very creative with the gifts we gave this year. I couldn't just go on Amazon and order whatever looked cute for $30 or even fill a basket of snacks from World Market (another favorite gift option of mine).

I found this article on Pinterest of 18 Non-Toy Gifts for Toddlers and knew I needed to create something from it as our gift to all of these parties. Because really, what toddler *needs* another toy??

I opted for something somewhat practical and educational – a bird feeder!

I like to give "packaged" gifts, so I also bought some bird seed in bulk: 

And each child got a book about birds. Every book was unique because I scored them at Half Price Books – my favorite book store. 

To me, for toddlers and any age, it isn't about what is spent on the gift monetarily but the thought that counts. Maybe I'm tooting my own horn but I feel like this is a really thoughtful gift and I did it for a lot of kids on a very tight budget! 

I'm so proud of how they turned out! 

Of course each gift needed its own hand made, coordinating card! I used scraps for the cards (as I always do) so nothing was spent on them. 

For the bird seed in each gift, I used mason jars I had on hand (because everything looks cuter in a mason jar!) and decorated them with scrap fabric, tags and twine. Again, all things I already had in my craft supplies. 

I bought bags and tissue from Five Below in really fun, bright colors so each gift would be wrapped in an exciting way. 

 Three down, more to go!

The feeders were on sale when I initially placed my order so each toddler gift was less than $15 total - including wrapping materials, feeder, book and bird seed. Hopefully this post doesn't make me sound too cheap...just creative :) 

Each toddler I've given the feeders to so far seems really thrilled with the gift (at least their parents do!). It's something that doesn't clutter their house, since it hangs on the outside of the window, the bird seed all goes into the feeder so in the end they can recycle the card, save the jar for something and save the bag/tissue for another gift!

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Nursery Decorations – Paper Mache Letters

I'm so thrilled to have this awesome part of the nursery done: Mo's name is now on the wall!!!!!!

I started with some paper mache letters. I love the brown kraft paper look and wanted to just embellish them enough to be a extra cute.

I used a rubber stamp, paint brush and acrylic paint to add stars to the letters. 

TA DA!!!! I'm thrilled with how the name turned out. It is exactly what I had envisioned when I started daydreaming about his nursery. 

I stuck them to the wall using some 3M strips I had on hand. One quick Google search told me that was the adhesive of choice to put them on the wall. I'm hoping they really do stick! I had JUST enough for the name. 

The curtains aren't hung yet, but the room is coming together. One step at a time! 

For those who don't know, Hubs and I chose the name Simon last Easter (2014) in church. We were studying John over a few weeks and the more we read, the name Simon Peter kept coming up. The more we learned about that guy, the more we liked him. "Simon" just kept ringing through our heads and we decided if we had another boy someday, his name would need to be Simon. Our Simon won't be Simon Peter, but he is named after the apostle. He's commonly known in the Bible as Peter. 

Ironically, today the reading in church was again about Simon Peter. A line popped up that I hadn't thought twice about in the past, but feeling our Simon rolling around my belly while it was read made me feel extra connected to the reading. 

Acts 10: 34-35

34Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. 

That's why we're naming him Simon. Because in the most important book in the history of the world, Simon is known to be an honest and god-fearing man. A true good 'ole boy. I know our Simon will live up to his name. 

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Pregnancy: 31 Week Update

How far along? 31 Weeks

Size of Baby:  Coconut (3.5lb!!!)

Weight Gain: We all know the answer to that from last week....so let's not talk about it again until next week, shall we? 

Nursery: It is coming together!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited. 

This week I ordered the monitor as our item of the week. Only a few things left on the list! 

I did add a white noise machine to the list, however. After some research, I picked this one: 

The humidifier I picked that we've ended up using in LW's room bc his kicked the bucket isn't as noisy as our previous humidifier. I really like it (once I painted over the nightlight which was actually like EXTREMELY BRIGHT HEADLIGHT) because it has great output, is small and lasts all night long on one tank, but I specifically remember needing white noise for LW in his newborn days, and really until recently we had the really noisy humidifier in his room that buffered out sounds. This is the humidifier we have now: 

So since the new humidifier is so quiet, I decided a white noise machine is a good thing to have. For LW we used an old iPhone in a docking station with a free white noise app. Problem with that was the home button on that iPhone didn't work consistently, and if I forgot (in my sleep-deprived state) and hit "play" on the docking station, Carrie Underwood would start BLASTING through the speakers at the volume we had been playing soothing waves sounds previously. 

That made for plenty of panicked mommy moments, LW jumping awake, and a lot of frustration. So, I'm not doing that again. $42 will be well-spent on that little noise maker machine. It's gotten great reviews. 

Movement: This little dude is a WILD MAN. He's moving around so much lately! It's really fun. I feel like he's very long because I already always feel him very low in my pelvis while simultaneously feeling him up at my rib cage. I have a feeling my dreams of a baby under 8lb may just be that....dreams :)

Symptoms: Well, this is where it gets interesting. Thursday afternoon LW and I visited my dad in the hospital (he just had both knees replaced) and I got stuck in traffic on my way home. I had to use the bathroom REALLY BADLY by the time I finally arrived to my door and had been contracting from the need to use the bathroom (or so I thought). Turns out the contractions didn't stop once I "emptied my tank" and continued fairly aggressively for over an hour.

I contacted my midwife and made a plan on what to do if they continued but thankfully after a lot of water, sitting with my feet up and completely relaxing 100%, the contractions slowed and eventually stopped.

That said, we're considering Mo a bit of a flight risk so I'll be taking it easy more often than not the remaining 8 weeks....as much as I can possibly stand to do so.

Also, I have SO MANY BRAXTON HICKS lately! It's like my uterus doesn't realize it's done this before and thinks it needs to practice. Earth-to-uterus: YOU GOT THIS. CALM YO'SELF.

I've had a little heartburn this week, but nothing crazy (thankfully). My back hurts now and then. I'm tired. You know...third trimester woes.

Cravings: I think it's probably just residual from Easter, but CHOCOLATE THE MINUTE LW GOES TO BED. As much as possible, get it in my belly. Just thinking about it right now I think I need to bite the ears off of a bunny.

Looking forward to: Getting the final items done in the nursery. I have a craft list of things I want to do and between that, freelance work (blessed!), Jamberry, What I Feed My Kid, housework, LW, sewing ring slings, and oh, trying to "relax" I don't know how I'll do it all!!! One day at a time, I guess :)

Things I can't stop thinking about: Nothing, really. I'm just trying to take it one day at a time and get all of my tasks done on my various lists as I go. 

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Pregnancy: 29 Week Update

How far along? 29 Weeks

Size of Baby:  Butternut squash. Is it just me, or is that like....THE SIZE OF A REAL BABY.  

Weight Gain: Haven't checked since 26 weeks. Another week and I'll find out the damage this month. 

Nursery: Well, one of the items on my Someday List was to clean out LW's closet, and I did that this week! All newborn-y items were moved over to Mo's closet. I haven't started the dresser yet so things are a little bit disorganized since I don't have anywhere to put his clothes other than on shelves in the closet. 

Over Christmas we purchased blinds for Mo and LW's rooms but unfortunately they won't work for Mo's room. One has broken from LW's room and one in Mo's room clicks...which will not do. So next weekend Hubs will be tasked with taking the two broken blinds down and installing the one good blind from Mo's room into LW's room. I'll return the two broken blinds and use the store credit to find an alternative for Mo's room. The blinds we bought were on clearance because the store was going to discontinue them. While I am there I may find some curtain rods with a few coupons as well so we can get all of the window treatments up and ready. 

Also, WE SOLD OUR HOUSE! Pending a few final details, we will be able to begin moving our furniture over in the next few weeks. That means LW will get the twin bed that has been staging the old house....and it means we will be setting the crib up for Mo :) 

Movement: Hubs thinks because I am so relaxed now being a SAHM that Mo is finally able to be his "true self" which is a WILD MAN! Here I hoped we would get one docile little nugget baby and it's proving not to be true lately based on his actions inside me! He's just bopping all over in there all the time lately. It's kind of fun...but kind of nauseating. 

Symptoms: HEARTBURN!?!?! First time in my life yesterday I had heartburn for hours. What. The. Heck! Of course, I'm cheap and bought the generic brand TUMS to have in the house and they are AWFUL. I ate them all night long when I got up to use the bathroom and my mouth still tastes like chalk. Note to self: Buy the real thing to have on hand. The really good smoothies kind. Because these Costco ones are the worst. (Sorry Costco. Still love you otherwise.) 

My belly band made me feel sick to my stomach yesterday and as soon as I took it off, I felt better. I concluded that I have outgrown it (already) so I just ordered a replacement using Amazon points today. It's not the same brand, but it's the same style - wide back brace/under belly support/over belly support. And it was less than half of the cost of the original. Should have bought this from day 1! 

I'm also swelling a lot lately. Today I made a conscious effort to spend the late afternoon/evening drinking A LOT of water, using the bathroom every time I got the slightest urge and snacking on fruit. My wedding rings have gone from, "I may need to take these off for the rest of the pregnancy" to, "I can't even tell I'm pregnant based on my hands". That's significant! I must drink more water and put my feet up more frequently. Must, must!!!

Cravings: Nothing really this week! Lemonade give me mild heartburn so I haven't really been drinking that and cinnamon rolls just aren't front-of-mind. Nothing is screaming "EAT THIS NOW!" to me this week, which is nice! If I eat too much, I get heartburn too so I am trying to just snack a lot on healthy stuff instead of have "meals". Meals make me feel gross. 

Looking forward to: Meeting our sweet little Mo. I can't wait to see what he looks like. 

Things I can't stop thinking about: The nursery! I am excited to be making strides. We have budgeted and couponed so well that we haven't spent more than a few dollars total on all of the items we need for him from the registry. Items like window treatments will be more expensive, but thankfully the savings from purchasing the other items with Amazon rewards points and Kohl's coupons/Kohl's cash or Jamberry earnings will allow us to buy those other necessary items with ease. It took some serious planning and patience, but was completely worth it!!!! 

By my calculations we have three more weeks of purchasing items from the registry and we're done (at $25/week). Should have just been two after today's purchase (a stroller lock!), but last night LW's humidifier died so he had to take Mo's. Thankfully we have 10ish more weeks before we NEED any of the remaining items. 

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Someday List

My first few days as a SAHM were pretty surreal. The weather in Chicago went from winter to spring overnight, the air smelled cleaner, the house seemed bigger...everything really felt ideal.

And then reality hit.

Kidding, but really, there were a few days of "honeymoon" period where LW and I did everything and went everywhere and now things are settling into a nice little routine for us.

Every morning, we start by having breakfast together, followed by him watching some Daniel Tiger while I do the breakfast dishes and dinner dishes from the previous evening. Then I head upstairs to sneak a shower while he's still enthralled in Daniel. Around 9:30-10:00am we head to an open gym, library or friend's house many days during the week to blow off a little steam. He falls asleep on the way home, takes a solid nap and that's when I can do as I wish.

This is the "golden" time, as all moms know and understand. Nap time is the one quiet, blissful, beautiful time during the day where we can eat candy bars without hiding behind the pantry door or do our nails without also being a jungle gym.

Every day I have a list of things I plan to accomplish. I love having lists - even if I put things on it just to cross them off. I feel so accomplished watching my list dwindle.

In addition to my "Daily Chores" list, I now keep a "Someday List". This list is full of those tedious, seemingly impossible, challenge-packed tasks that when you realize they need to be done you chuckle to yourself and say "Someday". Someday. As in....never. Me telling myself "Someday" might as well be me telling myself "No chance in Hell I will ever actually do that".

WELL, I've actually started the list. AND I plan on doing the items that are on it! Because....if an item is on my list, I mean business. If I share mine...will you share yours?

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Pregnancy: 26 Week Update

How far along? 26 Weeks

Size of Baby:  Oops. I wrote the 26 week veggie at 25 weeks. He's a scallion :) 

Weight Gain: Not sure. Appointment on Tuesday!  

Nursery: A friend sent an AMAZING photo of a nursery this weekend and it made me start thinking about Mo's nursery again. Since we have the dresser, it's time we refinished it! This week is supposed to finally start warming up. Maybe sometime this month we can get the dresser done and moved into his room. 

Hubs thinks all navy is a little too harsh so I'm brainstorming other options. Maybe something weathered or with accents....

I feel like I could never successfully do this, but HOW CUTE are these drawer pulls: 

This may be the perfect blend of exactly what I'm looking for...navy with a touch of brightness and a nod to nautical: 

Movement: He's been letting me sleep again :) It's wonderful. Sleep is the best!!!!! However, the instant "I need to pee RIGHT NOW" has started because he rolls onto my bladder or kicks it and sometimes I think I might burst. Didn't miss that feeling! Standing in a long line to a public bathroom is almost unbearable. 

Symptoms: Feeling heavier, but otherwise pretty great. I love second trimester. I will miss it.

Cravings: Lemonade. OHHHHHHHHH lemonade. And I'm not talking the crap you buy in a jug or carton. I'm talking old school, frozen concentrate, make it so tart your eyes water because it's like sipping straight lemon over ice.... Yes. That's the lemonade I drink nonstop this week. 

Looking forward to: Using my new (to me) DOUBLE STROLLER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I joined a Facebook group of stroller addicts and got to chatting with a fellow mom who loves Valco Baby strollers. She had posted a photo of her Zee (single stroller) and mentioned she had a Zee Two (double) that she may consider selling. I gave her my zip code to learn shipping costs and forgot about it. A few days later I got a notification that she DID want to sell and shipping to my zip was super affordable so I jumped! I bought it using my Jamberry commissions – something I never dreamed would be possible! 

Meet the new stroller...who has yet to be named but should be arriving this week :) 

Things I can't stop thinking about: How excited I am to get that stroller.... and the fact that the weather this week is FINALLY supposed to start warming up! I already have one zoo date on the books for the week. I might get crazy and make it two ;) 

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