Tickled Pink: Gift Bag for Grandma

So...it turns out that being a mom is SUPER easy....that is, when there's grandma to snuggle baby on demand, change diapers, help bathe and dress baby, cook dinner every night, bake all sorts of yummy treats, clean the house, take the baby while mom takes a nap, shop for groceries, stroll around with baby at the mall while mom shops for clothes that actually fit, assist with newborn photos, etc. etc! 

just a snip-it from my scrapbook page

What a fun and special two weeks it was to have my mom here after having my daughter! I was sad to send her back to Montana and I knew my babe would miss grandma’s constant cuddling. 

Before Grandma came, I gathered any little pink items I could get my hands on from places like Target's dollar section, grocery store checkout stands, Dollar Tree, Hobby Lobby, etc....     

and put them in this pink, canvas bag (a gift bag would work just as well) attached with a tag and personalized note. We really were tickled pink that she came to stay and help me!

You can download the tag below...just click the downward arrow. Enjoy!

National Dentist Day Gift

As a dentist's wife, I'm always looking for clever dental related anything. I stumbled upon The Tooth Book by Dr. Seuss when I was pregnant and thought it'd be a perfect gift from his daughter-to-be. 

National Dentist Day is on March 6th every year and here's a simple idea for your favorite dentist...especially if he (or she) is a parent. There are a plethera of tooth-related children's books, so this is easily adaptable. And if they're a by-the-code-type-of-dentist and candy is a no-no, you can bet your life that the staff wouldn't mind indulging in a few goodies between cleanings and insurance claims. 

Oh, and please see past my terrible i-phone shots. my iphone was way past it's expiration by this time and I was too pregnant & lazy to pull out the digital SLR. 

Goodie bucket filled with variety of white candies: sixlets, taffy, gumballs, kit-kat white, lifesavers, buttermints and white chocolate reese's peanut butter cups

I wrapped the book up in white paper, and tied it up with a bunch of balloons and delivered it to M's office.

Here's Dr. Daddy reading The Tooth Book to our sweet babe on the day she cut her FIRST tooth! oh, when I walk in on picture-perfect moments like this, I melt. These two have my heart.

If you want to adopt the same tag I created & used, feel free to click and save as on the image below.

I'm back, baby!! Sorta....

Sooo....it's been a while. i know. but seriously, how do I have eleventy-thousand unread emails from this blog? That may be a slight exaggeration, but there are far too many! For that, I am sorry...I did not mean to ignore and purposely neglect your sincere emails with questions, problems downloading files, purchase requests, etc... but you see.... my focus has dramatically shifted over the past year. 

Here's a quick recap: 

Aug 2013

Oct 2013

Apr 2014

....fast forward 8 months to

Dec 2014

and by fast foward, I mean REALLY fast! Holy cow, this little babe has consumed my entire life but I have never loved a job or a calling more...being a mother is my favorite. But, it's true what they say....it goes by way too fast!  My litttle babe is only getting bigger and I intend to spend as much time as I can by her side watching her grow. and kissin' on her sweet cheeks! 

But, I'd like to throw a few posts up on this ole' blog of mine (if for no other reason, because it helps ME keep track of things I've done and a resource to easily access them again). So, look for some new posts coming soon! (and again forgive me for not returning past emails...and let's be honest, for future emails, too. probly. i'll try. ;)

Texas Flag Onesie & Rag Quilt for Baby

Hey y'all! It didn't take long for Texas to take a hold of my heart... but it still amazes me how much Texas pride radiates from this Lone Star State! For example, did you know that in the Texas schools, students not only say the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag, but also the Texas flag? Yup, true story. I've seen it myself in about a dozen schools.

Aaaanyway, I had a new nephew born in March in west Texas...a perfect opportunity to make this lil' Texas Flag Rag Quilt to match a onesie that I bought for him.

{how darn cute is that?! You can find these Texas Flag Onesies at Cavenders in a variety of sizes}

 {no wonder the Texas flag is everywhere...it's SO easy to duplicate! Three cuts of flannel and a few measurements, snips and stitches later makes this light rag quilt...perfect for a Texas baby!}

{this handsome little boy is gonna be all-Texan...can't wait for him to grow into his little onesie!}

For the Quilt:

- I made it a standard crib size: 54" x 72"
- I recommend a 1/2" to 1" seam to allow for plenty of raggy-ness after being washed.
- I used only one layer of flannel.. no doubling up or batting! If you haven't heard, it gets HOT in Texas. One layer of flannel is plenty!
- If you've never done a rag quilt, it's SUPER easy, just look up a tutorial online (there are plenty of them, but I'm afraid I'm not the best for providing one myself. I kinda just piece it together as I go)

Baby BBQ: Baby Girl Shower

I, along with a friend of mine, planned this baby shower over a year ago for my good friend who was expecting her first girl.

We grilled up some chicken shishkabobs to serve with a variety of sauces and also served fresh fruit kabobs, pickle spears, and BBQ potato chips.

We played two games.

(You'll have to excuse me these terrible pictures...Now you'll know for sure that I am no Amy Atlas event planner...like you ever questioned it before, paalease.)

The first game took place throughout the entire shower... the very common don't-say-"baby" game, in which guests started out with a certain number of pacifiers on their ribbon bracelet. If caught saying "baby", a pacifier was taken away. The guest with the most pacifiers at the end won!

For the second, we froze these tiny plastic babies in ice cubes. Guests had to melt their ice cubes (by whatever means necessary) and the first to get the baby out won the game!

Of course, the winners took home a bottle of BBQ Sauce tied with a cute pink ribbon.

For the best part (opening gifts), we laid out a couple of pink plastic table cloths which were the "picnic blankets" of sorts for guests to sit on the grass while Alicia opened her gifts.

Now that little "grill" is over a year old...WHERE does time go? :)

Sweet Baby Shower

When I created this blog, I decided to stop posting regularly on Love Actually and subsequently close my personal/family blog... so they could both merge into this one... (did you follow that? I know. confusing.) BUT, I was sad to see certain posts go off-line. This is one of those posts.

from 2010:

My good friend, Meagan, is having a baby in a month and I hosted her baby shower this weekend. It was really simple, but I hope that it was enjoyed by all...and most of all her!



We enjoyed the Sweet Sundae Bar first...


and then we played one little game...

The idea for this game was from Simply Creative Insanity.
You'll find the list of candy bars and correct answers there.
I selected the ones I could find the candy bar for and made a game card for each guest.

You can download the Baby Shower Candy Bar Game Card below:

Then, the momma-to-be opened gifts. That was all there was to it. Short, Simple, Sweet.

*Don't forget to enter the GIVEAWAY going on until 1/15