Baby Keepsake Shadow Box

When I first saw this shadow box on Pintrest, I knew I had to make my own. I'm such a hoarder when it comes to sentimental things. Ever since my passed way when I was 10, my family always kept things that had sentimental value. So of course I kept all Baby B's things from the hospital. Using the shadow box, not only lets you display your items, but you can keep them away from dust and dirt. I hope to one day give it to Bobby, but I'm not sure if boys are into that kinda thing. What do you think? Well if he doesn't want it I'll just keep it forever! Here's how I did it.

You'll need everything pictured below.

Next I cut my card board to fit the decorative pieces.

Then I hot glued it together. This helped it pop out and not just lie flat on the paper.

Now your going to glue or pin your keepsakes to the paper. I hot glue mine and that worked fine. If you don't want to ruin your items you can pin them to the paper. I used the shirt and hat they gave us in the hospital, as well as mine and his bracelet's we wore.

You should now arrange the letters, pictures , and decorative items how you'd like. I just placed the letter and picture in the box, and glued the other pieces to the paper.

This is your finished product!

Where I found everything

Shadow Box- Joanne's Fabric 50% off came out to 12.50

Decorative Items (paper, stickers, other) Joanne's Fabric- 40% 5.00

The letter I had but you can find one at any craft store for a couple dollars.

I hope you like it and use your saved baby items to make something pretty. If your new please subscribe, because that would make my day!

What I've learned from my 1st year of motherhood!

Every post I write I always want to start off by saying "So...", I have no clue why. Anyway, since Baby B has survived his first year with me as his mother I thought it's only right to share what I've learned over the past year. I have grown into someone I've always wanted to be... A mother! There are days when I feel like I have no clue what's going on, but for the most part I feel like a mother. I have my handsome boy to thank because he's bring out the best in me! 


Now to what I've learned from my 1st year of motherhood....


Breastfeeding is hard! It's not something that come natural for all babies. It's okay if your baby won't breastfeed, formula is a great alternative. It won't kill them or make then prone to being sick, I promise. B is as health as they come!


You will never know the feeling of tired until you've survived the first year. It's normal to feel like a walking zombie all day. I remember before having B I used to have to take sleeping pills to fall asleep. Now I can fall asleep the minute my head hits the pillow, and that's usually at 10 o'clock every night.


Being paranoid in the car has become normal. The roads have become the war zone, and I'm carrying precious cargo. I'm ready to honk my horn and flick you off, at all times. People driving make me very nervous.


It's normal to constantly to compare your kid to other kids their age. Regardless if you realize it or not, your doing it. We all want our kid to be the best, it's just human nature. Right?!?


Alone time is amazing. I love being able to put B to bed, and have a couple hours to myself, regardless if I spend them on Pintrest, I'm still alone doing it.


I've learned the meaning of true love.


It's important to have your little one to be eating health meals, while you have snickers and ice cream for dinner. 


I have more fun chasing my kid around the house yelling like a crazy person, then I think he does.
You will always feel like you could be doing more for them. That I don't think will ever change.


Making it work with your significant other is harder then I could have imagined. Now you get to see people true colors. You never know how people act under stress. But building a health relationship is just as important as building a healthy child.


You will have a different type of love for significant, that's forever.


I never cared too much for advice while I was pregnant, but I find myself giving women that are pregnant advice. I hate being "that" person.


You will always feel like you could be doing more. Spending more time with them, playing more, reading, more, cleaning more, feeding them better, teaching them more. I've learned that since I can't be there all day with him, to make the most out of the time I do spend with him. This has helped me a ton!


I have this incredible little boy, that thinks I'm hilarious, sees me as his protector, needs me for consoling, looks to me for reassurance, and loves me unconditionally. 


There you have it, I hope that wasn't too long! I would love for you to share what you've learned your 1st year of motherhood. And if you not a mama yet share what you've learned this past year! Thanks for reading and please FOLLOW me! he he

Making your own baby food and My Birthday!

I've growing a love for making homemade baby food. It's fun for me and I love knowing that I'm giving him fresh food that's made with love. I always say food that's made with love tastes way better! It's not hard at all and can become kind of time consuming if you don't have the right appliances. I feel that making our own baby food is cheaper then buying the jars. I talked to you before about the Ella's Kitchen Organic baby food that I give to B. This is only because it's hard for me to get green beans made in the right consistency. They also have some amazing combos like spinach. apple, rutabaga that I've given to B. This is still new to me, so once I get the hang of it I'm sure I'll be making it all myself.

 To start your going to need something to puree the food. If you have a food processor at your home, that's perfect to use. I started out with a small grinder, it's perfect if your going to be doing something quick for that day. I didn't know if I would like making the baby food so I didn't want to end up wasting money. I use this for now to make all the baby food. Believe me when I tell you at the end my arm hurts! So hopefully I'll be able to upgrade to the Baby Bullet soon. The Baby Bullet is a another way to puree it does the same job as a food processor but smaller. The good thing about this is it comes with all the storage containers you can refrigerate and freeze all the food you make. This is a popular one among moms. The Baby Brezza is a system that I've been looking at as well. It steams and purees all in one bowl, this would save so much time. It's the most costly of the three, costing about $100.00 on Amazon, but saving time is always a plus.

Munchkin food grinder $10.00 on Amazon

Baby Bullet $60.00 on Amazon

Baby Brezza $100.00 on Amazon

Cuisinart food processor $35.00 on Amazon

 For the first couple months all fruits and veggies should be cooked. Either by steaming, boiling, or baking. I suggest taking a look at my favorite baby food website they have tons of information on which foods should be steamed, boiled, or baked. If you are steaming you can use a food steamer or what I use is a colander inside a large pot of boiling water.

Once your fruits or veggies are cooked your going to puree them into the consistency that right for your baby. You can thin out your puree with water/breast milk/formula or thicken with cereal. I would suggest you do this before you freeze your puree. Once the puree is completely done I use ice cube trays to freeze them. Cover the trays in plastic wrap and place into the freezer. I normally will do enough food to fill 2 trays. Once the puree is frozen you can remove them and place in Ziploc freezer bag. Make sure you write the date on the bag so you'll know. For optimal quality you only want to keep for 3 months, even though they'll remain safe for 6 months. If you choose not to freeze your baby food keep refrigerated for 48 hours (many safety authorities say 72 hours is fine).

When your ready to feed your baby you can thaw the baby food in the microwave, but be careful because this can cause hot spots and burn your little ones mouth. Many bottle warmers also will steam your food to De-thaw, this is what we use most of the time. You can place frozen cubes in a closed container and refrigerate over night.

I know making your baby food may not be an option for everyone, but I hope your able to try it out and see if it's for you or not. You can buy organic or regular old fruit I've found that farmers markets have some great prices. Whole stores like Sam's Club and BJ's also have bulk size fruits and veggies that can be cheaper per pound. With meats you can save a little of whatever you make, for example I made fajitas for dinner and before I seasoned the chicken I took out some for B. I ground it up really small then placed it in his puree. Since he just started out on meats he doesn't need a lot, but I plan on just saving whatever we make for dinner then freezing it for him. I hope you were able to get some ideas and tips, if you have any new information to share with me I would love to hear it.

Today is my birthday and I had a wonderful day celebrating turning 26. My wonderful fiance brought me a watch that I've been eyeing. He made me pancakes this morning and woke me up with the baby signing happy birthday, it was so sweet. Then we spent the day lounging by the pool and just hanging. It's been one of my best birthdays. I got to spend it with my two boys, and for that I couldn't be more thankful!

5 Month Photo Shoot

Hi Guys, I just wanted to share some pictures from our 5 month photo shoot. What a little man my boy has become. It's hard to believe B will be 6 months old in a week! I'm planning a 6 month birthday party for him. So we'll get him a small gift and have cake and ice cream for family. It should be fun, so I'll post pictures I hope everyone had a great weekend! It's been extremely hot here, so we've been staying in the house for the most part. Please make sure you subscribe and comment!!

Bobby's 5 Month Update!

Baby B is 5 months 1 week old. He's a very energetic little man, and wants to touch everything! He refuses to stay on his back, he's always on his stomach. It looks like he will be crawling soon, you can tell he wants to but can't figure it out. He weighed 13lbs 10oz and was 24 inched long at our last doctors appointment. His weight and height are in the 25th percentile. He wants to eat EVERYTHING! It doesn't matter what it is. He doesn't have any teeth yet, but you can see some white, so I know they will be here sooner then later. He sleeps from about 7pm- 2am then wakes every 2 hours until he's up for the day at 6:30, sometimes earlier. Our pedi suggested starting to sleep train, which I've been trying to research as much as possible. We still swaddle, which we are trying to stop, but it's so hard. I think we really screwed ourselves with swaddling and rocking him to sleep. Those are two hard habits to break, but I know we have to do it  sooner then later. B likes to be held all the time. He won't sit in his swing or bouncy seat for more then 5 minutes without crying. That's also something we're trying to work on. He's not into playing independently, or being left alone. He talks all day long. If you call his name he turns to you. He's so ticklish, he will hysterically laugh, it's so cute. He can sit up by himself if I sit him down and watch him. After a minute or two he usually tips over. I've started teaching him sign language, we do finished, mommy, daddy, milk. He looks at me like I'm crazy, but I really want him to learn. I've read that consistency is what babies need to learn sign language. I gave him the sippy cup for the first time. I put a little prune juice or water in it, and he tries so hard to get a sip. He did okay, and got it a few times. Everyday since I've been giving it to him to try. We are still giving him the Enfamil A.R for his spitting up, but for the past couple of days we've given him Gerber and he's not spitting up half as much as he used to. The A.R. makes him very constipated, so the doctor suggested giving him prunes or prune juice. I finally broke down and let my mother-in-law take him out for a little bit. I was a little uneasy and missed him like crazy, but when he got home he was asleep in his car seat, so he was fine. We plan on having him go with her overnight for my birthday in August. I need to get it together, or my kid will be a teen before his first sleep over. What can I say, I'm an overprotective mama-bear!
*P.S. I'm slacking on taking his 5 month photos, so when I do I'll post them. But here are some random 5 month pictures.