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Found: Seriously Awesome Halloween Inspiration

October 25, 2011 1 Comment Uncategorized

Okay, I was puttering around enjoying reading some blogs when I came across this AMAZING party on Hostess with the Mostess. And, while I have some posts lined up for this week and the next I just had to share this find with you.


“Carnevil” Themed Halloween party from Stefanie of Brooklyn Limestone featured on Hostess with the Mostess

So, of course after drooling over the images I had to follow the link over to Brooklyn Limestone where I was FLOORED. The Halloween parties Stefanie throws and the decorations she puts out are AMAZING! Former themes include Spider Infestation, Mad House, Skeleton Invasion and the Freak Show.

Welcome to the Mad House! Photo Credit: Brooklyn Limestone

I am also head over heels for her detailed party invitations!

I’m so inspired to really rev up my invitations next year.

Creature Survival Kit Halloween Invitation—Photo Credit: Brooklyn Limestone

So, go check out Brooklyn Limestone and get even more inspired for this year’s Halloween festivities!

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Excuses, Excuses

October 20, 2011 3 Comments Uncategorized

Yep, I’ve been MIA for a while again. I have good intentions.. I do.

And, I love you all and love blogging… I just have other responsibilities and projects that are taking precedence over this lovely little blog.

Want to see my excuses?

1. The Little Guy

(I think he might always be excuse/reason #1from now on!)

We’ve been really enjoying the Fall weather and many cool events in the Portland area. Two weeks ago we hit the pumpkin patch, last week we checked out the Portland Nursery’s Apple Festival and this week we have plans for another pumpkin patch. I love fall and experiencing it with the little guy and our little family has just been a treasure.

2. Halloween Prep

It is that time of year again and my annual Halloween party prep is well underway. Because of reason number 1 I am WAY behind in getting Halloween ready to go this year.

Sketches of the event with a long to-do list and sketches of my potential Halloween costume!

The invites— If you haven’t gotten one yet don’t fret… I got them done and haven’t put them in the mail yet!

3. Baking & Canning

We recently enjoyed visiting the Portland Nursery’s Apple Tasting (they are open this weekend as well if you are living in the Portland area) where we purchased a TON of apples and pears.

So, I’ve been busy at work cooking, baking and canning all kinds of tasty fall-goodness.

Apple Upside Down Cake—My Fall version of the popular summer pineapple cake. Recipe coming soon!

Cans of Pear Sauce, Apple Sauce, Apple Butter, and Pear & Apple Jam!

So, that is what I’ve been up to and my excuses for not blogging.

I haven’t even had time to read all my favorite blogs… currently my blog reader has 360 unread items. I’ve got to catch up on my blog stalking and comment on some of my favorite posts!

I do have many guest posts, tutorials and party posts in the works… but, for now I am going to go back to enjoying my excuses! Have a great day!

What have you been up to this season? I’d love to know… leave a comment or blog link!

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{Mommy Monday} Flying with an Infant

October 10, 2011 3 Comments Uncategorized

Last week our little family took our first trip back home since the little guy was born. I had been fairly stressed out about the idea of flying with an infant… but, it went surprisingly well!

So, I gathered up some tips that we used and wanted to share them with you!

(Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. I’m not a mom of many. The following tips and suggestions are merely from my limited experience!)

Packing:

Pack extra outfits for your carry-on and in your luggage. Spit up and blown out diapers are going to happen… so, pack an extra outfit (or two) for the little one and a change of shirts for you and your partner. Thankfully we didn’t need to use these on our trip to Oklahoma, but we did use his change of clothes on the trip back home.
Utilize Gallon Zip Lock Bags… I packed each of my little one’s outfits in their own zip lock bag. At first I felt incredibly wasteful, but when trying to grab his outfits on the fly while out and about this worked out fabulously. The tiny clothes would have been completely lost in the midst of all our clothing and accessories. And, I even avoided being wasteful… the gallon bags are now put away in his dresser so I can use them on the next trip!
Pack extra wipes and diapers -OR- mail them to your location beforehand! We use gDiapers so we didn’t really need to pack extra diapers. But, we went through many more wipes than we had anticipated and ended up needing to go purchase more while in Oklahoma. If you are going somewhere and you don’t know if they will have your brand of diapers or wipes then plan ahead and bring them or mail them!

Flying:

Nurse, Nurse, NURSE! (If you breastfeed.) We nursed on the take-off, in the middle of the flight and then again at the landing. The feedings helped to calm our little guy and prevent pressure from building in his little noggin’. Oh, and there is just something about breast milk that knocks my little guy out so he slept almost the entire trip! On our shorter flight we used his pacifier during take-off and nursed during the landing.
If you can afford to buy a seat then do so and bring along your car seat! We couldn’t afford to buy the little guy his own seat, but we brought the car seat to check at the gate. On one of our flights they had extra space and allowed us to bring the seat on-board… it was AMAZING. While I did hold him during much of the flight, it was great to have a place to sit him down for a little bit. On the flight where we didn’t have the seat my arms got incredibly tired and I got no rest at all.
If you have the option try to sit near the back of the plane (or hey, FIRST CLASS would be nice) and on the side with only two seats. Our first flight we were near the back right next to the restrooms and sitting by ourselves so we didn’t need to continually ask someone to get up so we could take him to change his diaper. On our flight back we were sitting next to someone and felt bad for the inconvenience we were causing him. (Although, I have to say that we lucked out and had the NICEST guy in the world sitting next to us!)
Give gifts! Now, this is not a necessity…but, we did this and it was a hit! I saw THESE free printables on Creative Party Ideas by Cheryl and thought the idea was fabulous. Basically, the idea is that you give out small gifts to the people around you on the plane as a way to sweeten their ride with a little one. I made my own printables and attached them to bags full of gum, candy and earplugs. The other passengers LOVED them!

While Traveling:

Have a nice quiet refuge in mind throughout your trip just in case your little one gets over-stimulated. At most of the events we attended and houses we visited we made sure we had a nice quiet place to bring our little guy just in case it was all getting too much. When he seemed really over-stimulated we went to the quiet place, nursed, and then let him rest for a while before bringing him back out.
Be careful of how many people you let handle your little one… and, not just to avoid colds. We were slightly worried about how many people might want to hold our little guy because were didn’t want him getting sick. We handed out the sanitizer and limited his handling some… but, what we discovered later is that our little guy seemed to be hurting after a long day of being passed amongst loving family members. Then someone with many kiddos suggested that he was sore from being handled so much. After a dose of pain killer he was a much happier baby and the rest of the trip we limited how often he changed hands.

Best advice I have… be FLEXIBLE with your plans and relish your first trip together!

If you like the above gifts and would like to make some of your own check out the printables made by birthdaygirlblog.com. I will try getting my printables up shortly… but, if you are seeing this and need some soon please e-mail me and I will send them to you!