Tips on Welcoming Your Baby

Hey everyone! I'm excited to have Katie Moore here to guest post today to give us some tips on how to prepare to welcome your baby. I know after reading this, I probably should have been a little more prepared for my 3 little one's :) I hope you all find this informative and helpful! Thanks Katie!

Preparing to Welcome Baby

There is a lot to do during a woman's pregnancy before she gives birth to her baby. Regular prenatal appointments, getting the home ready for the baby, and learning about what will be needed for daily care of a newborn are all important aspects of preparation for motherhood.  In addition there are many preparations that can be made concerning the actual delivery day – here are just a few.

Birthing Classes
Birthing classes can help mothers feel more prepared for labor and delivery, particularly with first-time mothers. The information given by birthing instructors can help prepare mothers for what will happen to their bodies on delivery day, and give them tools and techniques to get through delivery. The birthing classes at hospitals also give mothers information about the hospital's maternity ward and its procedures. The literature given by the hospital can further help prepare mothers for delivery day.

Create a Birth Plan
A birth plan is a written outline of what a mother does and does not want during labor and delivery. Birth plans can be as loose or detailed as a mother wants, and they include information such as what interventions a mother is comfortable with having or whether or not she wants nurses to give her baby a bottle or pacifier. Remember that many unexpected things can happen during delivery that may cause you and your doctor to have to deviate from your birth plan. Keep in mind that holding your healthy baby in your arms is the ultimate goal of everyone so stay flexible when it comes to your birth plan.

Other Considerations
Speak with your doctor ahead of time to understand what sort of treatments and options you think will be best for you and your newborn baby. Considerations such as breastfeeding or using formula, natural or planned delivery are some important options to talk about before your delivery day. Another option to consider is cord blood banking, a process where the umbilical cord blood is collected after your baby is delivered and sent to a cord blood bank to be saved as a potential medical resource for your family.

Organize at Home
To help things go more smoothly, preparing as much as possible at home ahead of time can be a big stress reliever. Making a list of what needs to be taken care of before leaving for the hospital will help make sure everything is organized in plenty of time. This list can include things like arranging for child and pet care, making food ahead of time for after the baby is born, and packing a bag to take to the hospital. Mothers can also have an informal phone tree to make sure that friends and family know when she goes into labor without needing to call everyone on her own.

Getting ready to bring baby home can be an exciting time for mothers. Part of that preparation should be getting ready for the actual labor and delivery. Welcoming a baby into the world begins with his or her first moments of life, and preparing for labor and delivery will help mothers make sure those first moments are joyous ones.

This article was written by Katie Moore. Katie is an active writer within the blogging community who discusses maternity, motherhood, prenatal health, childbirth and other topics within this niche.  If you have any questions or would like to connect with Katie please contact by visiting her blog, Moore From Katie or her twitter @moorekm26.

Friday Faves {no. 12}

1. I want add this cutting board holder to my cabinets. Such a great idea! I have a tiny kitchen and I need all the extra storage I can get!

2. Oh I love love the bubble necklaces from J-Crew but can’t bring myself to spend $150  for one. I absolutely love these from Cheerfully Charmed . The cobalt blue is now officially on my wishlist. Hint hint for the hubby ;) JK he just built me a table (pictures to come) & brought me flowers last week. I think he’s off the hook for awhile!

3. What would a friday faves be without some sort of unhealthy food?? I love Chik-Fil-A because my kids love it and I secretly do too. We may or may not go once a week…don’t judge. Plus, their mints are amazing and so is the chik-fil-a sauce.


4. I am really wanting to chop all of my hair off. I’m so sick of it and really needing a post baby hair do. I really like this haircut with different color, because I’m not feeling that bold.

5. I love this article on Real Simple Cutting x’s in a box is a genius idea for carrying cupcakes. Why didn’t I think of that??

Easiest Taco Soup Recipe

Hey everyone! Do you want the recipe for the easiest/yummiest dinner ever?? Of course you do ;) Honestly we have this at least once a month because you can throw it in the crockpot in the morning and dinner is done! AND you literally just dump everything in! Couldn’t get any easier…Plus it makes a ton, so it’s great for large groups! When I’m feeding another family, I add a couple more cans of beans instead of having to double it. YUM!
 I'm also going to post this at my best friends blog she started called Basic Bites. It's a blog for a whole bunch of yummy recipes!



-1-2 large cans diced tomatoes
-1 can kidney beans
-1 can black bleans
-1 can zesty chili beans (s&w are the best)
-1 can corn
-1 onion (chopped)
-1 packet ranch dressing mix (I buy the big one at Costco and use about 3 Tbl)
-3 Tbls Taco Seasoning
*Throw it all in the crockpot & cook for 7-8 hours on low.
*Top with cheese, sour cream, & Avocado. Eat with an entire bag of tortilla chips ;)

Yay!

Hey guys... I can not believe I'm being featured over at UCREATE today!! Kari's blog was my very first and favorite blog I followed! Thank you Kari for featuring my Maxi skirt today!! And Welcome to all her readers :)

How to Make a Chevron Maxi Skirt

So I had been wanting to make myself a maxi skirt forever. I bought the fabric last November, cut out my skirt pieces and then got put on bed rest. Boo! There’s nothing worse than being so excited for a project and not being able to finish it. I finally finished it in March and pretty much wore it every day until I delivered. It is the comfiest skirt ever. I took pictures when I cut out my pieces and of course they are lost now. So I am going to try and show you the best I can! Just ask me questions if you have any mmmkay?? Here it goes:

Start off with your striped fabric. I chose wide stripes because I knew matching them up to make a chevron would not be fun with small stripes. But to each his own :) I had 3 yards of fabric which was waaay too much. But I am also a shrimp so I’m not sure exactly how much you need. Just make sure it’s plenty long enough for you. Fold your fabric in half (hot dog style) and then in half again (hamburger style) Did that bring you back to your elementary days?? hah
Now you are going to make a pattern for your skirt. Measure your waist or where you want the top of your skirt to hit. Then measure how long you want it to be. (I always make my patterns on tissue paper because it’s easy to pin on fabric and you can see through it to see what you’re doing) Draw a line using your waist measurement and then using a ruler draw a line down for how long you want it to be (adding an inch for seam allowance). I also made mine a tiny bit A-lined. Now fold your pattern in half. We will only be using half of your pattern. Lay it on top of your folded striped fabric at a 45 degree angle. Before you cut make sure your lines are angled enough to make a good chevron! *Mine was a little more than the picture shows but hopefully you get the idea.. **Also cut a little bigger than your pattern to make sure you have plenty of fabric to work with while cutting and sewing.

You should now have a 4 pieces that look like this (2 pieces should have the stripes one way and 2 will be going the other way):

Take two of your pieces that are opposite and sew them right sides together (do the same to the other two pieces) Be very careful to match up the stripes. You want them to look seamless so the chevron is accurate. I pinned like crazy and sewed really slow.:

Now you have two skirt pieces that look like this. And the chevron is born! Lay your pattern (unfolded) down and you can trim your skirt around it. Now sew the two chevrons together (being very careful again to line up your chevrons on the sides) right sides together:

You now have your skirt body ready! Make a waistband from your fabric. I cut 2 rectangles that were: my waist measurement x 6 inches. Fold each rectangle down making it 3 inches with a folded top. Sew your waistband rectangles together, making a tube. Now, sew your waistband to your skirt body right sides together, just like we did in the pencil skirt here.
ANNND you are finished! As I said here I didn’t add elastic because I was pregnant and wanted it to be very comfortable. However I am going to add elastic now to make sure it stays up :) Depending on how stretchy your fabric is, you may or may not need to add elastic in the waistband. You will want to make it smaller than your actual waist measurement though.
I would LOVE to see if you attempt a chevron skirt of your own! Email me and I’d love to see!!

PS Haleigh Rohner photography took my maternity pics and she is fantastic!

Want to make yourself a chevron maxi skirt??

Come back Monday for a full tutorial on how to make yourself a Chevron Maxi Skirt! An easy peasy skirt you will want to wear every day…

Haleigh Rohner Photography took my maternity pictures. I can’t even begin to describe how awkward I am when I get pictures  taken of myself. I have to say I’m glad Haleigh talked me into getting some taken. Even though I was 9 months pregnant :-/ But she is so good at making you comfortable and getting good pictures even if you make dorky faces the entire time :)

Have a GREAT weekend and I’ll see you on Monday!

Friday Faves {no. 11}

Man, this week went by way too fast! Maybe because I've been working on projects like crazy. I am finally feeling like my energy level is up and now I'm ready to get my house in shape! So be on the lookout for some projects I've been doing...if they turn out ;)

1. I absolutely love these plastic cups! They're insulated so they keep your drinks cold. They don't sweat and get water everywhere. And the straws don't come out so the kids aren't constantly pulling them out. LOVE.

2. Sprinkles Red Velvet cupcakes...Man oh man they are sooo delish. I feel like I may need to go there this weekend...

3. I love love this outfit my good friend Tiffany put up on her blog. SO cute! Her blog is adorable you should probably check it out :)

4. Speaking of friends with fun blogs check out Healthy with Sam. I read it and pretend I'm going to be healthy like her. Maybe someday...

Happy Friday everyone! 

Pinned! Food. Food. Food.

I have been loving to cook/bake lately which is odd for me. I'm normally the type to opt for pizza in a heartbeat! I guess pinterest is to blame because I keep seeing all these recipes I want to try. Here are some of the ones I've tried and loved!

A friend from high school started the best food blog! She has all the best recipes that look devine. This bread recipe was SO good! I loved it. I love having fresh homemade bread and had gotten used to making it once a week before the baby. I think I'll have to get back into that routine again...

I made this Creamy Bacon Carbonara the other night and it was DElish!

This was last nights dinner and the husband and kids approved. I love finding meatless meals that are actually filling too! (I may or may not be a little weird about cooking meat. Plus it makes the meal SO much faster and easier to cook!)

Last but not least we tried this marinara sauce a couple weeks ago and it was so good! Plus I had a ton leftover to freeze, which makes for some easy dinners this week!

Have you tried any good recipes lately I need to try?? Do you find all of your recipes from Pinterest like I do? ;)

Friday Faves {no. 10}

We went to Utah for the 4th of July and I feel like I should share my favorite places to go eat. Maybe because that’s all we do while we are there. Eat. We have to schedule out where we are going to eat everyday to make sure we visit all of our favorites.

1. Pizza Factory. This place is a must, and only because I’m obsessed with their breadtwists. I am a huge bread fan and their breadsticks are divine. The salad bar is pretty good too. Funny enough, I’m not a huge fan of their pizza.

 

2. Swig. We were introduced to this little lovely this vacation and I am sold. It’s a cute little place that sells shaved ice. But that’s not the best part. They have sugar cookies that are to die for. Paired with a vanilla coke and I was in heaven. Kyle had a peanut butter cookie and he approved as well. I give it a big 2 thumbs up!

3. Kneaders. Yuuum We went here to celebrate Mi Madre’s birthday and it was way good. I got the turkey artichoke sandwich and it was delish. I also had to sample some of their treats and the chocolate mousse dome was FABulous. We used to go here for breakfast and they have some pretty great french toast.

4. Mi Ranchito. We have to come here every trip at least once. My mom is obsessed. It is pretty yummy and I think I finally truly appreciated it this trip.

5. The creamery off of 95th…Ohhh boy I love their ice cream. Especially Earnestly Chocolate. It is chocolate ice cream with marshmallow & caramel swirl. With chocolate caramel cups mixed in. What more could you ask for??

6. Zupas. We just got one of these in AZ but we still have to visit it in Utah. I love love this place. The nuts about berries salad is one I crave. Along with the Wisconsin Cauliflower soup & the Ultimate Grilled cheese…Anyone hungry yet??

Fresh Salsa Recipe

Cold Salsa in the summer time is probably one of my very favorite snacks. We can go through a batch & a whole bag of chips in one sitting. Don’t judge me.  Pair it with cold fresh fruit and I’m one happy girl. Here is how I make our salsa around here…

Gather all your ingredients:

-3 fresh tomatoes

-1 can of tomatoes

-1 bunch cilantro

-1-2 garlic cloves

-1 jalapeno (seeds removed if you don’t want too spicy)

-1 lime

-Red pepper/green pepper (or red pepper flakes)

-Salt & Pepper

-1/2 onion

Cut up 2 of the tomatoes, your jalapeno, & your pepper and throw it all in the blender/food processor. Add your cilantro,  garlic, can of tomatoes and your salt & pepper to taste. Chop it all up until you get your desired consistancy.

Now we like our a salsa with a little chunk to it so I save one of the tomatoes and chop it up & put it in a big bowl.

Squeeze your lime into the bowl with your tomatoes…

Chop up your onion. My husband’s not a huge fan of onion so I chop ours up real fine.

Dump out the salsa from the blender into your bowl and mix it all up! Now you’re ready to pull out your tortilla chips and dig in! YUM.

If you’re making salsa for a big group try adding another can or two of tomatoes, more cilantro, garlic & maybe another jalapeno. This is a crowd pleaser :)  Hope you all are enjoying your summer so far..

20 Minute Jersey Pencil Skirt

My cute sister-in-law was donating a bunch of clothes the other day and let me take home one of her shirts to use. I’d been wanting to make some fun jersey skirts for my girls for awhile now so I thought this was the perfect opportunity! I whipped it up real quick and now 3 year old Miss B thinks I can make her a skirt everyday. “Mom, I need a new skirt to wear today” “I don’t have anything to wear. Just make me a skirt” “Oh and you’re making me a matching bow with that fabric right??” Not. Happening. But since it is such an easy project you almost could get away with making one every day right?? Here is how I made it. Don’t judge, I’m not a pro.

Start off with an old T-shirt or some jersey knit fabric. measure the waist, and how long you want the skirt to be. I measured it to hit just under the knees. The great thing about using a T-shirt is you don’t have to hem the bottom! Making this skirt the easiest there is…So, for this skirt I measured my daughter and her waist measurement was 21 and the length I wanted was 12. When you cut the shirt it is already doubled. Make sure, if you are using fabric, that it is doubled so you have two rectangles. So I cut 2 rectangles that measured 11 inches wide and 12 1/2 inches long. That leaves plenty of room for seam allowance, since we don’t have to hem. If you are using new fabric you will want to allow for more of a seam. The waistband was cut from more of the fabric and it measured 21 inches by 2 inches. If I had more fabric leftover I probably would have made the waistband 4 inches so it was a little bigger. You also want the waistband to be exactly the measurement of your waist so it’s tight enough to stay up.

Once you have you’re pieces cut, sew the main piece right sides together. Then flip it around, and you have made the main part of the skirt. I forgot to take a picture of the waistband but you just fold it in half, and then sew the ends together to make a tube. Then you sew the waistband to the main body (right sides together) Then when you flip the waistband up your skirt is done! If your jersey is stretchy enough you can get away without using elastic. However I made another one for my other daughter with a different fabric and I’m going to need to add elastic in the waistband. Now, try your skirt on your little one and pull out your camera. Ha I got some pretty sassy poses out of her…she loved this skirt so much, especially with high heels on. She told me she loves it because she looks just like her church teacher...too funny. Now go make yourself one (or two or three!!) **If you have a serger that would be the best way to sew this, but I just used my regular sewing machine and used a stretch stitch. I think I actually just zigzagged this one…

Healthy Muffins

I use the term healthy loosely here. I have no experience in what is healthy and what is not. Especially because I tell myself on a daily basis that Reeses peanut butter cups are healthy because they have peanut butter in them. Which is protein. Am I right?? Bahaha I'm just keeping it real that 9 times out of 10 I will choose something fatty and full of sugar over something healthy. However, I am trying to be better and hoping to give my girls better snack options. So here are some muffins I made that still have sugar and butter in them but also are a little healthier than having oh let's say a cupcake for breakfast like my usual...

I decided to pretend I know how to cook and make up a recipe using random stuff we had and I have to say they turned out pretty good! My girls loved them and so did my husband and I.

Carrot Banana Applesauce Muffins

-A little less than 1/2 cup butter (softened)

-1/2 cup brown sugar

-2 mashed bananas

-1/2 cup grated carrots

-1/2  cup granola

-1/2 cup applesauce

-2 eggs

-1 cup flour

-1 tsp baking soda

-1/2 tsp cinnamon

-1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

-1/2 tsp salt


*Mix all your ingredients in medium bowl and pour batter into greased muffin tin. (I did both mini muffins and regular sized. The mini muffins were a big hit with the toddlers!) Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 min.