Inspiring Video - Peach's Neet Feet

One of my friends forwarded me this inspiring and touching video about Random Acts of Kindness. Grab a few tissues and watch this great video... you will think about life in a whole new way and be grateful for the blessings you have. If you would like to donate to this great cause called Peach's Neet Feet, visit her blog and check out more inspiring stories and ways to contribute to her mission. I am always amazed by the strength of children that are sick or in need and I love the cause that this young lady has started. Say a prayer for children in need and be grateful for the health and blessings you may have in your life!

Welcome to the World Baby Eadin!

Yesterday morning at 10:13am, my best friend Laura had her baby boy Eadin! I got the call at about 2:45am and made it up to hospital just before 4am. Laura was doing fantastic with her contractions and was only in labor for about 8 hours total. Just after 10am she was ready to push and in just two really strong pushes, baby Eadin was welcomed to the world. He weighed 7 lb. 2.4 oz and was 20 inches long. It was such an incredible experience to be in the delivery room with her and experience the miracle of child birth. Laura did amazing and is such a strong woman! Eadin is doing fantastic and very healthy! Here are a few pictures of the sweet baby boy!

Laura and Eadin just a few moments after his birth

Eadin about 8 hours after his birth

Baby Eadin, you have been born into a beautiful world with amazing parents. I adore your mom and you are so lucky to have her unconditional love! I look forward to seeing you grow and learn and being called Auntie Jen. Love you sweet baby boy!

Berry Basket Gift Idea

I absolutely adore the blog Eighteen25 and they have amazing ideas for gifts! I found this project for a Berry Basket a few days ago and knew I needed to add it to my craft project to do list and feature the idea on my blog. 

 

This craft project is a great gift for friends, teachers, and even for Mother's Day. It is also an affordable craft since the goodies are all from Bath and Body Works and the cute little blue baskets are only $5 for 6 of them. Check out the project link to find the free printable tags and you have an adorable little gift pulled together in no time. Enjoy!

New Book Club Selection - The Art of Racing in the Rain

The next book selection for book club is 'The Art of Racing in the Rain' by Garth Stein, which is a very popular book and has received great reviews. I have heard fantastic things about this book and excited to read it. I am looking forward to a low key weekend with lots of relaxing and reading to do. TGIF and Happy Reading!

Banana Cream Pie

This past Saturday we had our friends Laura and Jordan over for dinner and dessert to celebrate their birthdays. Jordan's favorite dessert (and my husband Michael's too) is Banana Cream Pie, so I decided to make it from scratch for the first time. I searched for the recipe on my go to blog for easy recipes, Our Best Bites. 

I found this Banana Cream Pie recipe and could tell just by reading the recipe, that it was going to be a breeze to make. This recipe was super easy to put together and it makes two whole pies (one for dessert and one for Michael to enjoy all on his own)! Jordan and Michael gave their approval and will be requesting this pie again in the future :)

Book Recap and Book Club Menu

I finished the book Summer in Tuscany this morning and overall really enjoyed this book. It was a quick and light read and a sweet romance. There were times that the story seemed just too good to be true, but I guess that is how romance novels can be. My favorite part of the story was the daughter Gemma learning how to understand her mother and her teenager daughter in a whole new way. Through this discovery, Gemma was finally able to find love and happiness after years of heartache. If you are looking for a light summer read, this is a perfect book to read. I read most of this book on my patio in the sunshine and it helped create the feeling of summer, even if I was not in Tuscany.

Book club is tomorrow and I am hosting the gathering this month. I plan on making my favorite party recipe Seven Layer Greek Dip from the blog Our Best Bites. This dip is so delicious and perfect for any kind of get together. I always look forward to getting together with the girls and discussing the book. I will post our next selection in a few days!

Book Update - Summer in Tuscany

Book club is coming up soon and I just started the book a few days ago. I am absolutely in love with the book and have had a hard time putting it down. I love it when a book captures my attention right away and is a quick read. This story is so charming and sweet about a woman trying to reconnect with her mother and her teenager daughter on a trip to Italy. There is an adorable romance that forms while she is there and the story seems to just take me right to Tuscany. I am about half way through the book and loving every page. I hope to read some more tomorrow and finish just in time for book club in a few days. Can't wait to post a recap when I am done!

Baby Shower Gifts

Creating fun baby shower gifts is almost as much fun as throwing the baby shower. It is a tradition with my co-workers that we put together a diaper cake for each new baby in the office. This time we made sure to match the cake design to the shower theme including the bright yellow ribbon and sunflower accents. This diaper cake had over 150 diapers and is a great way to get the new mom started on a healthy supply for the new baby.

The gift that I created for Laura came from an idea I saw on Martha Stewart months ago. These adorable monthly baby onesies were so easy to create and a really special gift for the new baby. I bought the iron on transfers from an Etsy shop and found the different sizes of white onesies at JCPenney. Be sure to wash the onesies before hand and take your time cutting out the iron on transfers and ironing them to the onesies. Once they are done, allow them to cool for awhile before packing them up. Here are a few pictures of the onesies and the final gift in the box.
 

I loved putting together these adorable gifts for Laura and know that she will use these and love them. I can't wait to see pictures of her little boy in these cute little onesies!

Bumble Bee Baby Shower - Recap and Pictures

This past Saturday, I hosted a bumble bee baby shower for one of my best friends Laura who is expecting a baby boy on April 25th. I had been planning this shower since January and wanted all of the details to come together and match the adorable bumble bee theme. I had posted several ideas on the inspiration board on Pinterest and used several of these ideas throughout the shower. 

The shower started with this adorable invitation designed on Tiny Prints.

The menu consisted of carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, chocolate oreos filled with yellow cream, pretzels dipped in yellow chocolate, mini bags of kettle corn, and these adorable yellow burst cake mix cookies.

These adorable mason jars with yellow and grey striped straws were available for lemonade or ice water and these bottled waters were wrapped with yellow scrapbook paper and Lemondrop Twine from The Twinery. 

The favor bags were filled with a variety of yellow candies and a packet of sunflower seeds to be planted when the baby is born. 

We played a fun game called 'what's in your purse' where the ladies had to search for 15 different items in their purses and whoever had the most points won a fun little gift set of Burt's Bee Products.

I also put together cards called 'wishes for baby' and each guest wrote down some wishes they have for Laura's soon to arrive little bundle of joy. You can use this template for ideas and then make your own design on your computer.

The shower was great and Laura enjoyed every bit of it. I love when a party comes together and the bumble bee theme was one of my favorites!