Before & After Pregnancy Photo/Mom Poem

I just wanted to share this fun Pregnancy picture we took!

Above I am 38 weeks pregnant and below two weeks postpartum!

Here is one more fun idea!
Take a picture of your child's feet in a V shape. Then, I simply added the letters in Illustrator!
It only took me a minute and its such a sweet photo!
You could also put the real letters next to your child's feet
or another idea is to have your other children in the picture holding the letters!

Along with this, I wanted to share a beautiful poem my mom shared with me shortly after having my baby....

I don't know the author! If you do...please leave it in my comments! I love to give credit where deserved!

*Read with caution it WILL make you cry!!!*

Before I was a Mom,

I never tripped over toys

or forgot words to a lullaby.

I didn't worry whether or not

my plants were poisonous.

I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,

I had never been puked on.

Pooped on.

Chewed on.

Peed on.

I had complete control of my mind

and my thoughts

I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,

I never held down a screaming child

so doctors could do tests.

Or give shots.

I never looked into teary eyes and cried.

I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.

I never sat up late hours at night

watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,

I never held a sleeping baby just because

I didn't want to put her down.

I never felt my heart break into a million pieces

when I couldn't stop the hurt.

I never knew that something so small

could affect my life so much.

I never knew that I could love someone so much.

I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,

I didn't know the feeling of

having my heart outside my body...

I didn't know how special it could feel

to feed a hungry baby.

I didn't know that bond

between a mother and her child.

I didn't know that something so small

could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,

I had never gotten up in the middle of the night

every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.

I had never known the warmth,

the joy,

the love,

the heartache,

the wonderment

or the satisfaction of being a Mom.

I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,

before I was a Mom.

Simple Craft idea!

I wanted to share with you all one of my "go to" craft ideas when everyone is bored and Mama doesn't have a lot of time and energy! 

These are the kinds of crafts we have been doing lately because of having a newborn in the house!

Believe me when I say, ALL kids love a huge roll of white paper! 

I have over 15 years of experience with this simple craft!

I don't know what the difference is to children but getting out a huge roll of paper instead of a small sheet is so exciting! There are so many possibilities! 

*You can trace your child's body and then let them have fun coloring it in!

*You can make a special sign for a holiday that is coming up next!

*Sometimes I print out a few favorite characters off of the internet (free coloring pages) and they can cut them out and glue them to the huge poster paper and add them to the scene they are making!

*If it's hot outside you can tape the paper to the driveway and paint with Kool-aid and Ice!

*You can just throw the markers and crayons all over the floor and let them do whatever they want!

This is what we did the other day! I have been really trying to keep Brenden interested in writing over the summer so it's also turned out to be one of Kiki's favorite things! We decided to draw a HUGE caterpillar with the whole alphabet! It was really fun and of course we didn't finish coloring it so I have something to pull out when there is nothing to do! =)

Get Creative! Believe me, if you don't have the ideas for your simple white roll of paper... your child WILL!

Handprint Art Ideas

Having a new baby in the house has been challenging and at the same time so much fun!

As you all know they grow up so fast, one of my favorite things is how small their hands and feet are especially compared to older siblings!

I came up with a few cute ideas, with handprints, that you could do no matter the age of your kids, you don't have to have an infant!

First, I love the idea of handprints being leaves on a tree.
I added a sweet bible verse to the bottom.
I printed the tree and verse on a paper with a design but it might just be better on white so you can read the verse better! I made up a FREE pdf file so you can print your own and just add your kids handprints. My kids chose the colors painted on their hands!

Handprint Tree

I also added a picture of the kids and their names and ages!

After you finish this part, you can just frame yours.

 I wanted to do something different with mine.

I ended up using it as a cover of one of my sketchbooks! I think it turned out awesome!

All you need is Mod Podge and a sketchbook!

 You paint the Mod Podge like glue to the top of the sketchbook then place your tree on top. Then, as pictured below, paint another layer of Mod Podge over to coat & seal it to the book!

 Here it is, my new sketchbook, ready to be used!

The second handprint project I thought of was to make a heart out of my two older kids prints and then add my baby's handprint to the center! If you only have one older child you can just use their left and right print for the heart and your little one in the center!

 I used an ink pad to get my baby's print! It turns out a lot better than paint!

 Here is the finished product! My daughter painted the frame for me!

Check out my post about how I personalized a target step stool! Click HERE!

Lastly, here is an idea that I got off of Pinterest! It's SO CUTE! I just haven't gotten to it yet!

I want to get all 3 of my kids foot prints on one large paper and write at the bottom, "Mommy's Little Butterfly's". Here is the link to the butterfly footprint craft...CLICK HERE!

FREE 4th of July Coloring Page

I saw this neat Idea on a website that I follow! Joel from Made By Joel drew his own 4th of July color sheet for his kids and has it free to print out for anyone!

Here it is! You could follow the link above to print it out and check out his website!

It's pretty cool!

I thought it would be fun to make up my own!

Have fun coloring & Happy 4th Of July!!!

Fourth of July

Present To Big Brother/Big Sister: From New Baby

First of all, I wanted to introduce you to my 8 1/2 pound baby Boy,
Garren Tyler!

Such sweet moments for siblings to welcome a new little one to the family!
I wanted to have something SPECIAL for my two kids from their new baby brother! Not just a toy they were really wanting at the time! The other great thing about this idea is you can make this without spending any money!
I searched the internet for cute generic poems for a new Big Brother and a new Big Sister! I found these two on a mommy board! I'm sad that I can't give credit to whoever wrote them because they are BEAUTIFUL and PERFECT! If you have seen these before and know where they come from and/or who wrote them leave me a comment! 

I created a simple PDF file for you to use and print out!

There is also room to write a personalized note to your child from the new baby on the side of the poem! What I did was write about how happy the new baby was to finally meet Brother/Sister and about how lucky they were to have such a great helper around...etc. Personalize it with your child's interests, they will LOVE it and feel so special!

My Big Brothers Hands Poem My Big Sisters Hands Poem

After I printed out the poems and wrote a little note from their baby brother, I rolled them up like a scroll and tied them with a pretty bow! 

I grabbed a couple fun treats that they could have in the hospital and packaged them in a bottle! 

These bottles are ones we are going to use so we already had them! The kids thought it was fun to get there note in his bottle.... if your child will want to keep the bottle you could always package the stuff in a new fun sippy cup or a bottle from the Dollar Store! 

Here is picture of the first time the kids met their baby brother in the hospital, showing their present!

UPDATE: as of 2014 we have another new addition to our family!!! I did something new for the sibling presents and I also wrote two new sibling poems and made them FREE printables!

Just click on the picture below to see that post!

**A GREAT Idea For Siblings To Do For New Baby**

A great tradition we started when we were expecting our second child was to go to Build A Bear Workshop and have the older sibling make a special doll for the new baby to come! First of all, it really helps the sibling to get excited for the new baby. It also gives them something to bring the baby when they come to the hospital.

At Build A Bear, they really make it a special experience! You child will get to kiss and make a wish on a red heart and put it into the doll that they choose! They get to help stuff the doll!

   

And my FAVORITE part about it all is they can record a special message to the baby and whenever you squeeze the hand it will play!

My kids message to their brother says Keaten~"We love you baby Garren" Brenden~"You're our little Tiger"

I also wanted to add a few pictures of Brenden picking out a doll for Keaten!

In the message Brenden recorded to Keaten he says,

"Bee Kiki I Wove You" 

Which is, Baby Kiki I Love You!

I love pressing it and hearing his cute little two year old voice!

Such a great Keepsake!

You get to wash the doll when you are done making it!

**UPDATE**We are now going to have our 4th child, due December 2014! Click HERE to see what doll the three kids stuffed for him!

Also along with that post I show you how to make your own baby mobile!

A simple and fun way to personalize your nursery!

I also have an older post with another cute idea that older siblings can do for the new baby to come!

They can make a special onesie! It's super Easy and Super cute!

Click HERE to see how to make one!

Kool-Aid & Ice Painting

Here is a FUN project idea for a hot summer day! My kids LOVE this! All you need is Kool-Aid, Ice, and paper! The Kool-Aid acts as your paint when it gets wet with the ice! Kids love to smear it around and see the pretty designs they come up with!

Another FUN thing about this is it smells SOOOOOO good! Also, if your kids lick their fingers, it won't hurt them!

I will tell you it takes a couple of washes for the dye to totally come out of their hands! =)
****TIP, Grape is the only Kool-Aid I don't buy because it doesn't really come out purple, it's more of a brown! It is better to buy blue and red and put them close together to make purple!

I caught him RED handed! =) 

Then after you are all done, you can have some Kool-Aid to drink or popsicles made from Kool-Aid. Or if you want to stay away from the artificial Dyes.... Do what I did and just give your child a Pop made from 100% juice! A Yummy end to a fun craft! 

***Notice the hands in the picture below! This was after they washed them...

However, they were back to normal the next day! =)

PVC Bow and Arrow & Finger Glove for Girls

I was looking through a toy magazine a few weeks ago with my kids and saw that they were selling a GIRLS Bow and Arrow set! They were marketing it after the new movie Brave, which is coming out on June 22nd! They wanted almost 20 dollars for this cheap plastic Bow and Arrow set! I was looking closely at the picture and also there is no real place for the child to rest the arrow before shooting so I think MOST kids would have trouble actually shooting it!

Furthermore, I wanted to add to my post about the Hawkeye costume, which has been getting so many hits, and show you how you can change it up and make a PVC Bow and Arrow set for your GIRL! 

All you have to do is follow the instructions to make your bow HERE!

The only changes we made was we used the 1/2 inch PVC (instead of 3/4 inch) and shortened the two piece of pipe to 1 1/2 feet each (instead of 2 feet each)! This makes the bow 3 feet instead of 4 feet long! Since the bow is smaller, there won't be as much pressure on the center cross connector and it will stay strong!

Then choose your child's favorite color and spray paint the bow!

The next step is optional:

I went off the idea of the Brave movie and painted some celtic designs on the bow, with a K in the center for my daughters name!

If you paint anything on the Bow, seal it with Mod Podge by just painting over your design and letting it dry! I used a Glossy finish Mod Podge so it really makes my design shine! Below is a picture of what it looks like before your Mod Podge dries!

Then, follow the steps to make your arrows HERE! It's the same link as above! I just added a different step! Instead of using tape to decorate your arrows, paint them with pretty colors and seal with Mod Podge! For fun I taped all my wooden dowels together and painted a design across all of them! They turned out cute!

Lastly, I wanted to show you how I made a GIRLS finger glove! I gave this idea in my post about the Finger Glove and Armguard, click HERE to see how to make it!

The only changes I made were to the fabric and ribbon used.... and you don't have to do the step of cutting off the jewels on the rings!

This Finger glove is SO CUTE!!!

Your daughter doesn't need to be into archery to want one of these!

I've already had some little girls eyeing it on my daughter! 

They are so cute and fun to add to the dress up box!

   

Here is a few more pictures of my Kiki and her Bow! She love to pretend to shoot gum balls in peoples mouths instead of actually shooting the arrows!

   

Fun Father's Day Ideas (Dad or Grandpa)

Father's Day is 11 days away!!!! Here are some fun Ideas that we are using this year!

You have probably seen this idea floating around.....Fill a small box with money filled balloons! Most people use it for kids birthdays who live far away BUT why not use this idea for a Grandpa who lives far away for Father's Day! It works even better if your kids call him Papa.....because then you get clever and spell it out "POP-a!"

All you have to do is get your children to draw or write out a special note to Papa for Father's Day on a small piece of paper!

Roll up the cute note and insert it into the balloon. You can also add in some money for a fun surprise! Another awesome thing about this is you can call around to ALL of his Grandchildren and get a special note for each! My Father has three other Grandchildren in different states and he is going to be surprised to see a special message added to the package from them TOO!

 

Then simply insert your pump into the balloon and blow it up! 

   

Such a fun way to receive little notes from everyone!

You can also make this into a game for your kids, just for fun or a birthday idea!

Check out my post Pop The Balloon Game!

Father's Day Questionnaire 

Thanks to Pinterest and all of the examples of questionnaire's for Father's Day.... I came up with this next idea! I actually just figured out how to add PDF files to my blog so I made it easy on you! If you want this questionnaire just click below where it says "Fathers Day" and download the file to print it out!

Fathers Day

I put together my favorite questions which I thought would get the cutest answers from my children! They did really well at answering all of the questions and I am TOTALLY gonna save these for years to come!

I have to tell you what my daughter said when I asked her "his hair is....." she answered "one big hair!"  She also said My daddy is really strong and can lift a "Big Huge Cupcake!"

How can you not LOVE this idea!?!

Simple Golf Bag Pen Holder

Here is another cute idea for a Father or Grandfather who loves golf!

I blogged about how to make this cute golf bag pen holder. Click HERE to find out how!

Also connected to this link are some fun Photo ideas for Father's Day, Christmas, or Daddy's Birthday!

Here is another great idea that a child can do for daddy or grandpa!

A Sharpie mug designed by a child!

Click on the picture to see how we made this!