Our Christmas Recap!

We celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve because my Dad was going out of town the next day! :p

We got Dad the first and second Home Alone movies!

And a blue-ray player too! 

The Husband got a movie, a video game, and a coupon book from Datevitation!  He's also getting an iphone 5 this weekend :p 

I got candy (of course), a Bath and Body Works gift card, and my favorite, a Sea Shepherd replica ship!
I am pretty dang excited to put it on my desk! Dad also got us gift cards because he rocks :)
I also got a passport holder because my mom and stepdad are taking the husband, me, my little sister, little brother, and his girlfriend on a cruise in March! 

The three of us went out to dinner Christmas Eve, love my Dad :) 

After dinner The Husband and I went to his Grandparents' house to see his Mom's side of the family.
Next year, we're going to be spending Christmas with his Dad and step-mom, I'm excited! 

We got both of our little sisters socks and nail polish, simple but fun! 

My little sister opening her's on Christmas morning at my Mom's. Miss her lots and lots! 

Our Christmas dinner! 

Wonderful Weekends: Birthday Parties and New Beginnings

Saturday: 

Saturday was my little sister-in-law's birthday party. She turned 11 on Friday, so ya know, we're appreciating the days before she hits full teenage-dom. ;)

This is her opening our present... Seriously, her face in the picture on the right, gets me every time. 

The easiest thing to get kids, is money. But I wanted something a little more special, so all I did was get her money in $1 bills, and tied them up. It's so much fun to just give ones, because it always looks like so much more ;) She loved it, and we were really happy she did :) 

I wish I would've gotten a picture of all the different kinds of cupcakes because her mom made some super cute ones :)

 Sunday:

Like our usual Sundays, today was full of watching football and being lazy :P Today was a little bit different though, because tomorrow I start my new job. I know I've mentioned it a little bit, on here & instagram, but I thought I would mention a little more about it. The Husband works at a very large insurance company, and now I work there too! :) It honestly works out so perfectly because we share a car. We are in two different buildings, and down the street from each other, but it will be super easy to have just one car, and will save us a lot of money too ;) I'm not fully sure what my job entails, but I'll know tomorrow. I'm freaking out with anxiety, and I am ready to get my first day over with, but I'm also really excited to get into the routine of working. I'm also on salary, so that means paid time off ;) And I'm off weekends too, I am a very lucky girl :)  I'm going to try as hard as I can to stay on track with my blog schedule, but don't get mad if I miss recipe posts in the next couple weeks ;) 

I have a small obsession with animal USB drives, they are so cute! Office Max has so many of them. I have a turtle, a monkey, and now a penguin! I got this so I don't have to take my laptop to work. Whatever files I need from home, I'll keep on this :) 

These are all the things that will be going in my cubicle :P It looks like a lot, I know. But I like to be prepared, and don't want to have to ask around to get company office supplies, I'd rather just bring my own. And the less I have to carry between home and work, the easier life will be! I even have band-aids and Advil  just because.. I know I will need them at some point ;) 

I needed a cute bag to take to work that would fit my planners inside.. I found this one and they fit perfectly! It was like $30 at Charming Charlie, I love that store, and if you have one by you, I'd definitely check it out :) 

Daddy Kit Take 2 & Baby Love!

So last week I talked about a New Dad Survival Kit.

Soon after I found out my friend was having a baby, 

I found out my older sister was having one too! 

So of course, I made a second one for my brother-in-law!

I did mostly the same thing,

but this one was a little different because

1. I didn't know the sex of the baby

2. It had to be smaller because I was mailing it to them in Seattle. 

I used the same labels from Domestifluff ,

but modified the color to be more gender neutral. 

Added:

Life Savers - "To remind you that parents are life savers" 

Leis - "To remind you to take some time to relax"

Changed (sayings stayed the same): 

I couldn't find boogie wipes this time, 

but these were cute too! 

I was worried about a candle melting, 

so we got glow in the dark things instead! 

 I kept the Advil the same, 

but this time I wrapped it in wrapping paper :) 

Then, I chose to laminate the cards again!

 Packed and ready to go!

When I sent this, we didn't know the sex of the baby. 

But Monday we found out that my sister is having...

A baby girl! 

I am so excited for them, they honestly will be such amazing parents! 

And I can't wait to see her grow up! 

Little girls are just so cute! 

Dad to Be Survival Kit

As soon as I found out a good friend of mine was having a baby, I knew I had to do something special for him!  There are tons of ideas for special things... for the Mom's. Which is totally understandable, but I wanted to do something for the Soon to Be Dad!

I scoured the Internet, and found this site. It wasn't exactly what I wanted, but it gave me a good start one what I wanted to do. I also didn't put any candy because I didn't want to worry about it melting.

I really am surprised there aren't more blog posts or tutorials about this. So I'll try my best to explain what I did :) We got most of the stuff from Target and Party City. And we went to The Container store for the Lego container. 

I like to call this organized chaos... 

It's easier for me to put everything in front of me, and then go from there.

Once I did that, I made the cards with descriptions to go with the items.

I found my labels on pinterest from Domestifluff.

She has a free printable with blank labels, and they are beautiful :)

She even gives permission to change the color,

how awesome is she?

Then, I just used PicMonkey to put words inside of it :) 

I printed a whole page, cut them, and then I laminated each individual one.

You can skip that part, but I wanted them to last longer.

Then I matched the cards and items together.
I found these little blue clothespins from the party store and they were perfect to use!
(I also tied ribbon around the items that didn't have an easy place for the clothespins to attach to)

Pen and Paper - "To write down your thoughts/memories to share when he gets older"

Candle - "So you never feel in the dark"

Safety Pins - "To remind you to keep your baby safe"

Baby Wipes - "For cleaning up those little messes" 

(How cute are these?!)

Mommy Coupons - "For when you find yourself in the dog house"

The Hulk - "To remind you that no matter what, you'll always be his hero"

Smiley faces - "To remind you to keep smiling" 

Paper Clips - "To help hold it all together"

(Yes, those are giant paper clips! Got them at Target!)

Graduation Cap - "To remind you life passes too quickly and enjoy every minute"

I actually wanted a small candy watch or clock for this, but we couldn't find one.

Sucker - "To lick all your problems away"

Earplugs - "For times when you can't hear yourself think" 

Lotion - "To remind you that babies need a lot of soft touches" 

Balloons - "To remind you to teach him to reach for the sky"

Batteries - "For those times when you are running low on energy" 

Mardi Gras Beads - "To remind you to get out and have fun every once in awhile" 

Eraser - "To remind you that all new Dads make mistakes" 

Marbles - "To replace the ones you'll lose"

Playing cards - "Raising and educating a child is risky, but so worth it"

Puzzle piece - "To remind you that you are important piece in his journey"

Rubber band - "To remind you flexibility is key"

Tissues - "To dry those tears. His and yours"

(I thought it would be better if he opened this one last, so I made a note)

Ibuprofen - "When all else fails, take two of these" 

I fit everything into the lego box the best that I could,

it took a few tries!

We put a little note on top.

It says, "We just wanted to give you a little something to help welcome your little prince into the world"

Then put the lid on :) 

Please don't mind my bow... they are not in my skill set. 

The possibilities are endless! And it's so easy to personalize it a little bit from person to person.

A little note about the cost, I think we spent around $55-60 for the stuff inside, 

but we splurged on certain items, such as the boogie wipes, the journal and the Hulk.

So it can definitely be made to be a little more cost effective.

Just depends on what you want to do :)