Naptime Rocket Science

Any mom out there knows the struggle of getting your kids to go to sleep either at night or for a nap.

And, every kid is different.

For example, my 8 year old is easy.

He could fall asleep standing up. When he's tired, no noise can stop him from sleeping and he sleeps in the strangest ways. He's usually the first to fall asleep- unless the TV is on. Then, he will watch it all night in a zombie like stare where no one is sure if he's awake or sleeping with his eyes open. I think it's the latter, honestly.

He also plays video games and walks in his sleep from time to time. A true enigma. No idea how he does it. 

Actually, he is exactly like his father in that sense, who, when we were in college, played and beat a game in his sleep and woke up not remembering any of it. Good times.

My 4 year old will do battle before bedtime or a nap, but, once he's tired enough, he will fall asleep, even if there's a rock concert going on. 

He will also fight in his sleep. His little legs are always running, kicking, and squirming in his sleep. He's been known to throw punches and also talks while "sound asleep".

This is another sleeping trait acquired from his father, who I still, to this day, have to have spider sense to block blows if my hubby is having a very physical dream. He never remembers anything and thinks I'm a total fibber, go figure.

Now, my 4 month old. He is rocket science.

My other two, when babies, would easily cry themselves to sleep and after 10 minutes would be out for their normal time.

This one, will cry for 20 minutes, pass out for 10, wake back up and cry again for 20, and so on.

However, if I work my mommy magic (which took forever to figure out), I can get him to go to sleep "properly" (which means stay asleep like he's supposed to).

Here is the process:

1) Get in bed with hoppy, blankets, bottle, paci, and tether.

2) Get him snuggled in blankets, in my arms, with boppy.

3) Start sleep cycle: bottle, paci, tether, finger chewing, bottle, paci, bottle, nothing, bottle, falling asleep, hurry and sneak paci in place of bottle before he notices, he notices and wants bottle back, falls asleep, paci switch, spits out paci, and he's snoring (which means he's finally good and asleep.

4) DONT. MOVE. For about 15 minutes to make sure he's out.

5) Transition to putting him down (which may or may not involve the paci to make him think I'm still holding him so he doesn't wake up) and quietly exit the room.

Whew! Exhausting. He's the most difficult kid so far. Good thing I'm home to take care of him! Lol.

I know I'm not the only mom (or dad) who has needed some crazy routine to get the kiddo to sleep.

I'd love to hear your "Naptime Rocket Science"

He said what? Phone? Haha!

So, this was a conversation I had with my 8 year old today (code name "D" for this convo).

D: I need a phone
Me (after I finally stopped laughing): Oh yeah? Why?
D: So I can see them call my number in the pickup line.
Me: Uh, that's for the teachers. You wouldn't be able to do that. Kid phones are just for making for phone calls. No apps. No games. No internet. Just a phone.
D: Awe man. Ok. Fine. I still want a phone.
Me: Who are you going to call?
D: You, of course (how silly of me lol)
Me: But, you're either at school or with me.
D: I could call you at school.
Me: No. Phones are against the rules. Remember we signed the paper when school started?
D: Oh. Dang it.
Me: Who's going to pay for it? Do you have $100 for a phone and $50 a month for the phone?
D: I can use my tooth fairy money!
Me: You can't lose teeth every month to pay for it. $50 every month.
D: Then, when can I get a phone.
Me: When you get a job and can pay for it.
D: Ok. 13. I'll start working at 13, when the laws say I can.
Me: Uh, ok buddy.

He knows the laws since we had a conversation a while back about him wanting to work so I could stay at home (back before I was a SAHM).

I am encouraged that he is willing to work. 
I'm glad I am working on teaching him responsibility and being wise with his money.
He doesn't need to know that I couldn't afford a phone for him since I am a SAHM.
He doesn't need to know that I could probably add a phone for him cheaper. I'm giving him realistic numbers that will probably be accurate for when he is old enough to get a phone.

I also do not want to give my kid a phone at such a young age.
What does he need it for?

I see kids nowadays with cell phones at his age (I'm sure some of his friends have some and that's where this conversation stemmed from). But, I will not be that mom. (My hubby is also refusing to get on the phone bandwagon until he NEEDS it).
Who is he going to call?
Who is he going to text?
What would he need to use the phone for?
Apps? Cost money.
Games? Cost money.
Take pictures? Ok, that's neat, but that uses a lot of space since my son is like a selfie queen when he gets ahold of anything that takes a picture. 
Take videos? Why? What does he need to record?

My hubby and I didn't have cell phones until we were 18. This was because we were moving away from our family and were always on the run.
Yes, I know. Back when I was 18, cell phones weren't what they are now. Thanks. I needed that reminder that I am now older. Thanks.
But, we lived in the country. It just wasn't a NEED.

We rode bikes. 
We walked in creeks.
We went to the park (by ourselves) and played, then came home (by ourselves).
We walked in the woods.
We played games.
We made movies with an old school video camera (that thing was huge- it was hilarious)
We watched very little TV- TV was boring except for Saturday morning cartoons.
We played outside, worked on farms, took care of animals, or whatever we could do to take up our time.
We entertained ourselves and found something to do.
We came home for dinner, played some more, and made sure to be home when it got dark.
How did I tell time? The light in our yard would come on and that's how I knew it was time to go. Or, it was getting dark. Get home.

Kids today (at least in the city) have everything at their fingertips and need constant entertainment and stimulation (thanks technology for that wonderful advancement).
They think that they need every comfort to survive.
They (thankfully) don't understand going without- without food, without TV, without electricity (if your power went out because of a storm it wasn't coming back on for a day or so), with convenience.

Now, granted, I understand that there are children who are not well off out there. 
I get it.
I'm just talking in general.
They have a case of the "NOWS". 
I want it now
Give it to me now.
I'm hungry now.
I'm thirsty now.
Nevermind the fact that they have just done said thing in the last 20 minutes.

But, I am getting way off my original point and off on a tangent.
So, back to my conversation with my son.

As he gets older, I may cave sooner in case he joins after school sports or activities and needs to call me in the case practice/rehearsal/activities are cancelled or something. Then, there is a NEED. 
But, since he is either in the school's hands or my hands and never really anywhere else, then I don't see the point except a unnecessary monthly cost.

Granted, once he is old enough, I will probably pay for it for him and not make him pay for it like I told him today. But, I'm not going to tell him that now. 
He needs to know that he's not getting a phone anytime soon.
What he also needs to understand is that it is a WANT and not a NEED.

What are your opinions on kids having cell phones?
What age do you find appropriate/necessary?

Cloth Diapers for the Win?

Cloth diapers!
Cloth diapers?
Cloth diapers.

Yep. I went there.

Since I am not working, I decided to take the next step in SAHMdom.

This step included cloth diapers.
A lot of money is spent on disposable diapers. So, I did all the research.
How much is the initial investment in cloth?
How much could I expect to save?
Is the savings worth the investment, time, etc?

So far, I'm thinking they are worth it. But, let's compare the pros and cons.

Pros of cloth
Cloth are more environmentally friendly
Cloth are more cost effective in the long run
Cloth can help with diaper rash
Available in tons of colors, styles, materials, etc
Cloth are more organic/natural (no dyes or gels)
The ones I bought are adjustable, so he can wear them until he potty trains
Babies who wear cloth potty train sooner since they notice wetness sooner

Cons of cloth
Cloth dont absorb as much as disposable (the reason that babies notice the wetness sooner), so you have to change more often typically
Cloth are a BIG initial investment (depending on the brand/type)
Cloth are messy at times (because they don't absorb as much, they can leak)
Cloth are a bit bulky (especially the ones I got, since they are adjustable there is extra material you have to fold down to fit it to him)
Cloth are cumbersome to change (takes a bit longer)
You will be doing more laundry (super stinky laundry)
You will spend more on electricity, water, and detergent
You may choose to use disposable when out (unless you want to carry super bulky stinky diapers around in your diaper bag- thus needing plastic bags to prevent leakage onto everything in the diaper bag and also needing a huge bag to carry everything)

Pros of disposable
Convenience
Easy to change
Most daycares will only do disposable
Simple clean up (just toss and go)
Fewer diapers to change (they absorb more)
Less leakage

Cons of disposable
Even thought there is nothing wrong with it, there are dyes and gels (if you are worried about it)
If they get wet (water park or accidentally in the laundry - yeah my older kids have put diapers in the wash and tub), the gel explodes and gets EVERYWHERE!!!!
Some babies have an allergic reaction to disposable diapers
Disposables easily rip (nothing more frustrating then accidentally ripping off a tab while changing a diaper- the only one left while you are out and about)
Horrible for the environment (they don't decompose by the way)
Makes potty training harder (since they never feel wet due the super absorbency)

I'm not trying to convince anyone either way. Everyone is different. Different lifestyles, budgets, etc mean different choices.

This is what we did:

I bought 20 cloth diapers with inserts for $75 on dhgate (best price I could find anywhere) here:
http://www.dhgate.com/product/babyland-cloth-diapers-10pcs-with-10pcs-insert/154513802.html#myaccount_orderdetail-1-null
They look just like the photo and you can chose your colors

Later, I bought more inserts to add more absorbency (for night time) but haven't used them yet. Since my baby was 2 months early, he is still very little for being 3 months old and doesn't really need the extra inserts. Once he starts sleeping longer at night, I will be adding the inserts.
I use disposable whenever we go out and about or if we have friends come over. I don't want them to have to deal with the stink. And, I don't want to carry around stinky diapers. Plus they are so bulky that I can't fit his onesies on (which is all I have for him to wear), so I can't use them when I go to run errands (since I can't really take a baby out in public naked except for a diaper).

What do I think?

Likes:
Saving money (biggest like since we I don't work anymore and we have a budget)
Saving the environment
His bum is much clearer (he had bad diaper rash before- I think it may have been some sort of reaction to the disposable diapers)

Dislikes:
Stinky (urine and the materials they used to make the diapers together make an interesting smell sometimes - just means I need to wash and change frequently)
More laundry (which I don't really mind since I do laundry every day anyway- I got a family of 5 so there's always something to wash)
Bulky
Can't wear his clothes with diapers on, so he spends all his time at home with just a diaper on- not a bad thing, but still a con.

Getting my school lunch prep on!

So, school is in session again. And, I am now officially a SAHM! Wahoo!
I have never NOT worked. It's different. I like it.
Anyway, back to "school".

This year, my son asked if I could make his lunch every day.
After my initial panic attack, I relaxed and figured "Why not?"!

So, I read a bazillion different blogs online and pinned the heck out of Pinterest trying to get ideas. I wanted to make sure that I didn't spend a lot of money (especially since buying lunch is $2 a day through the school).

As we all know, Pinterest paints this gorgeous picture for you of perfect lunches with cute notes. Everything is perfectly portioned, bagged, labeled, prepped the week prior, and looks like Martha Stewart made it. I am not Martha Stewart. But, I thought I could give it a shot.

So, here's what I did to prepare the week before school started.


1) I made minis!
-muffins
-corndog muffins
-brownies

 

2) Made some yummy peanut butter balls I found online here (she's also got some great lunch ideas)
http://www.mommyskitchen.net/2011/08/back-to-school-lunch-box-ideas_16.html

3) Made mini pizza crusts for DIY Lunchables (also found on the above site)

4) Portioned snack items and put in a bin in the pantry
-goldfish
-pretzels
-snack mix (which I made myself)
-animal crackers

5) Made and portioned sides (cheaper than buying the already packaged stuff)
-jello
-pudding
-applesauce
-yogurt
-mixed fruit (the stuff in a can- I portioned out to make individual sizes)

6) Made my own bread to use for sandwiches with a recipe here
http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-basic-white-sandwich-bread-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-166588

7) Bought an uncrustable maker (still have to figure out how it works though....)

8) Bought "fun food"
-Dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets (hello? fun!)
-Potato wedges
-V8 Splash 2 liters
-Rice crispy treats (yes, I could have made these, but they were on sale)
-Fruit by the foot (I found a recipe to make these from scratch, but haven't had a chance to try it yet)
-Granola bars
-Fruit snacks


I bought some lunch tupperware and got ready. The types I got were sandwich (the square ones), round (2 sizes for portioning sides), and small oval (for dipping sauces). I also got snack size plastic ziplock bags for everything.
Took me a week between errands, shopping, baby stuff, puppy stuff (we got another puppy- what was I thinking lol), and family fun.


There are tons of resources and after I made everything, I realized that I just kind of need to not stress it out, take what I learned reading all the blogs from other mommies, and go cheap! (Kids can't really taste the different between brand name anyway)
What also helped is our Sam's Club membership. Buying in bulk and portioning is awesome!

I hope I can keep my sanity for the whole year

Just 5 minutes

How many of us moms (stay home moms and working moms) say that phrase "Just 5 minutes"
It's very rare that we get what we ask for. Very.
Just 5 minutes to go to bathroom.
Just 5 minutes to shower.
Just 5 minutes to, well, do anything!
And, that 5 minutes, when we get it, we are rushing to do whatever we need to do at that moment before our children come running back with their quips and antics, begging for the attention they need from the mother they adore. And, who can deny them? They just want love. They don't think about what mommy needs (at least not until they are WAY older). They don't understand that mommy has a life of her own (not really anymore) and a mind of her own (which is now constantly filled with everyone else's info, schedules, agendas, to do lists, etc)

Let me tell you about my morning.
My children gave me a great gift and don't even know it.
Let me start with some background.
We have a 2 month old baby, who was 2 months early, so that makes his basically still a newborn. Since we was a preemie and spent about a month in the hospital, he still needs a lot of attention and can't do some of the things that other 2 month olds can do (like sleep for more than 4 hours at a time)
So, I am in mommy zombie mode. You know, the one where you look like crap from lack of sleep, feel like your days have all run together so you don't know what day it is, and forget personal hygiene- you are too busy trying to take care of everyone else to take care of yourself (unless you are going out or meeting friends- then you quickly get yourself together to make it look like you have everything under control)
My other 2 children are 4 and 8. All my children are boys. The 8 year is old enough to be self sufficient, but he either refuses to or pretends to be dumb so he doesn't have to do anything. He also fakes ignorance a lot to get out of chores and helping me, even though in the quite times of the night he tries to tell me that he knows he needs to do more to help and will do more tomorrow (I don't get my hopes up after hearing said phrase for months with no change). My 4 year old acts even more helpless. This is possibly my fault. When he was a baby, my hubby and I worked opposite shifts. He worked days and I worked nights. So, he always had someone there. Plus, my guilt over never spending any time with his older brother because I worked so much when he was a baby made me coddle to him and now he's a "clinger". He needs help with EVERYTHING.

So, now we have a bit of background, let's get to today.
Its starts with last night.
My newborn decided last night that he wanted to be awake from 10pm until 2am. EATING. He ate A LOT. I was glad for it, since I want him to grow as much as possible. I honestly have no idea how he hate more than his own weight in that 4 hour time span, which was half of what he usually takes in during an entire day. I prayed he would finally sleep for a few hours (since he is usually up at 4 am to eat again).
I woke up at 8am and he was still asleep. It was the first time in over a month that I woke up on my own instead of waking up to a crying baby. I checked him to make sure he was ok (ever the worrier, my first thought was "Oh my GOD! Why didn't he wake up? Is something wrong?"), and he was fine and sleeping. So, I left him alone and went back to sleep. He was up around 830/9 to eat. It was bliss to get to sleep.
I figured since he slept so long long earlier that he would be wide awake and ready to play. This was not so. He went right back to sleep after eating for another 2 hours. I decided to take advantage.
What about my older 2 children, you ask?
They had come in at 8 when they heard me get up to feed the baby to ask (they actually whispered too btw) if they could watch a movie. I agreed since, when i went downstairs to get a bottle warmed up for the baby, I saw that my 8 year old had already been up, turned off the alarm, and took his dog outside and had her baby gated up in the kitchen for her paws to dry. I told them to eat breakfast first, then they could watch a movie (btw I took all TV and movies and electronics away for the summer- partly because they have been rotten and partly because its summer and they belong outside). When I came down the stairs at 11 to get another bottle and start my day, they had actually finished eating without me nagging them to eat. Most of it was even cleaned up, too! I was shocked. I typically spend about an hour cleaning up after them. They were happily watching TV together with the dog and, get this, no one was fighting or hurting each other! They were all (I say all because the dog eggs them on sometimes because she's a big german shepherd puppy who loves to rough house too) getting along quietly. I really could not believe my eyes and ears!
So, we all sat together, watching goosebumps, until I was done feeding the baby. Well, its lunch time at this point, right. I was in the mood for breakfast food, but, as a mom, I cater to my boys and asked what they wanted for lunch. They didn't want anything.
What?! My bottomless pit children didn't want to eat? Well, what to do now? The baby was back asleep, I was hungry, and no one else wanted to eat. My older 2 also disappeared upstairs BY THEMSELVES (meaning I didn't have to tell them what to do) to play. Wow.

So begins my wonderful gift from my children that they didn't even know that they gave me.
I wasn't expecting any amount of time. My newborn doesn't typically sleep for long during the day.
I made what I wanted to eat. I made coffee for myself. I made cookies (!) while cooking breakfast. I did some laundry while the food was cooking. I cleaned up. Still no kids.
I sat down at my table at my leisure and ate hot food I just cooked (not microwaved warmed up- fresh made and hot). I enjoyed my hot eggs, over easy, sprinkled with pepper and garlic salt. I ate way too much perfectly cooked hot bacon (not too crispy, not too soft). And, I enjoyed warm toast, smeared with a smattering of grape jelly or apple butter. I drank my cup of hot coffee with cream and sugar (well, not the entire cup- I'm still pump and feeding my baby breastmilk). And, I even had a small glass of cold (not room temp) orange juice. I enjoyed my meal while looking out our large (still dirty, oh well) glass sliding doors into our (scattered with toys, clothes, and mud since it rained a lo yesterday) yard and enjoyed the beauty of the day. I finished everything without one child screaming, fighting, crying, or breaking anything. I can't remember the last time I had a moment like this.

Any mother reading this is probably thinking about how fantastic this sounds. Trust me: it was fantastic. It was blissful. I got 1 whole hour to myself! I feel completely re-energized. I am ready to take on the day (or whats left of it). Granted, I have a huge to do list that I now need to tackle. And, while I was typing this, my children have broken the silence, fought, got over it, ran through the house, asked for a bunch of stuff, the baby needing changed and fed, the dog needed to go out, and now my older 2 are outside in the pool.

The silence doesn't last forever when your house is a circus, but I wouldn't change it for the world. And, maybe my kids will read this some day and wonder how they could've given me a gift and not known. Or, they may think their mom is crazy, if they don't think so already. But, such is life.

I got my 5 minutes and it was great.

Whoever said raising boys was easier than girls....

So, I have been silent lately due to having my third child.
He was 7-8 weeks early due to complications, so we have been busy visiting him in the hospital and taking care of our other 2 boys.
My hubby is already back to work offshore, so I am doing it all myself as well.

Being home with both boys this summer has made me do some thinking.
I remember hearing when I had my first child and second child that boys were so much easier than girls and I should thank my lucky stars that I have boys.
Now that my children are a bit older and I have my third boy (hopefully) coming home soon, I realize that those people that told me boys were easier were either full of crap or completely oblivious to raising boys (meaning, they don't have boys of their own)

Here are some differences:

Fighting

Girls: Evil plotting that takes a long time to enact and typically involves mischevious under handed pranks - serious fights involve hair pulling and crying

Boys: Family Guy vs Chicken Fights - my house gets destroyed in the wake


Drama

Girls: Whining crying and tantrums until they get their way - also gossip and back stabbing and if you have 3 girls, then they gang up on each other, taking turns on who is getting the wrath

Boys: Same as girls (all I hear is tattling and whining), but typically still ends in a family guy-esque fist fight


Eating

Girls: Love to eat but eats mainly at meal times with a possible snack in between- they use silverware and napkin

Boys: Non-stop grazing that makes me think that a plague of locusts has ransacked my house resulting in spending all my money on food - they use hands and food is everywhere as well as dirty plates all over, much like neanderthals. They typically need a hose after a meal


Clothes

Girls: Frilly outfits, tons of shoes and accessories, and spending tons of money on clothes so that they have lots of pretty options to chose from

Boys: Torn blue jeans, muddy shoes, bugs in pants pockets, ripped t-shirts, and still spending tons of money on clothes not for the options factor, but for the fact that they have DESTROYED every article of clothing that they own. Laundry must be done A LOT and there are typically mystery stains on everything. Now, this is also amazing to me since they spend so much time naked. I can't ever get my boys to keep their clothes on, so I find it astonishing that they not only go through so many clothes in one day, but destroy them so quickly. This is also one of the reasons why no one should ever come to my house unannounced. If you do, you will be greeted by a naked child.


Manners

Girls: Say please, thank you, and you're welcome in a cute little voice that makes everyone say "awe" and compliment the parents on raising them well

Boys: Punch each other before being reminded to use their manners, then when they do use them, they do so through gritted teeth and eyes rolling. They NEVER remember to use manners on their own- it just does not occur to them. This includes using inside voices, please and thank you use, calling adults "sir" or "ma'am", being quite in the theater, sitting still for more than 5 minutes, sticking their tongues out at people in public, calling people fat, telling girls that they look like boys just because they have short hair, etc (I could go on forever here)


"Playing"

Girls: Reading books, playing quietly with Barbies or similar, tea parties, nail painting, hair brushing,  dress up, etc

Boys: Gun noises, explosions, sword fights, jumping off roofs, dare devil stunts, bumps, bruises, bleeding, screaming, loud noises nonstop, BB guns, fireworks, frogs, bugs, mud, water, messes, streaking, and anything dangerous. There are many Dr visits and ER/Urgent Care trips involved.



So, just upon reviewing these few aspects, I call BS on whoever said boys are easier. They require a lot of work and patience. I have heard that its easier when they are teenagers. I don't think so. I can only imagine that they will be the same boys, just on a larger scale.

Princess Serenity Costume Progress

If you don't know, I do costumes also.

I don't know how to sew yet, but hope to learn soon.

But, I do know how to do props and other items.

Once I drop this baby weight, I plan on making armor as well with a material called Worbla.

Here is my progress so far on my Princess Serenity

I've been a bit stuck due to weather (can't spray paint when it's raining) and being sick (dang allergies)

I will have more soon and will update it with more once I have more finished.

Items:

Dress

Staff

Earrings

Jewelry

Hair Accessories

Shoes

Wig

Here is a reference photo for what we are looking to accomplish. We will be doing a photo shoot while I am pregnant to imitate this. 

I bought the dress online, but even with me giving them my measurements, the dress was terribly done and didn't fit. So, I have a friend fixing the dress now. I will add a photo of it when I can.

 Step 1 of the staff- making the moon shaped top

I made a pattern in paper, traced it onto styrofoam, then cut it out

 I then covered the styrofoam with paper clay. It takes 1-3 days to completely dry depending on thickness.

Once it is dry, I will sand it smooth to get rid of fingerprints made when sculpting.

 This is the staff while drying

 I took wooden door knobs from Joann fabrics in the wood section and I hot glued them to a PVC pipe I got from Home Depot. This was a 1/2" pipe and matching knobs in size.

This is the bottom of the staff.

 This is the top of the staff made the same as the bottom.

 This is the "crystal" that will be hot glued in the crescent moon shape once the moon is dried, sanded, and painted. 

 This is the crystal turned on. It is an LED light I found in the wedding section of Joann Fabrics. I had to buy a bundle of 8, but it was worth it to have something that would light up and had the shape I wanted. The only party I don't like is the little "handle" on the side for hanging the light. Not sure If I will try to sand it off or just leave it for ease. It changes colors as well.

These hair pins came with my dress, but the peals popped off immediately upon taking them out of the package. I simply hot glued them back on and make sure there was plenty of hot glue all around to secure them on.

Here is the photo showing the wig. I had to restyle it since it was not styled very well. You can also see the dress before I altered it. I am holding about 6 inches of fabric in the back to make it look tighter. This photo was taken about a month ago, so the fitting today didn't need to be taken in quite as much (got a growing belly)

I will be adding sequins and pearls to this dress once my friend is done altering the size.

Other things I am working on right now for this costume:

Flower hairpiece

Pearl necklace

Pearl bracelet

Earrings

Shoes

Project Monsters Inc Baby Shower - The Diaper Cake

So, I have been off the grid for a while.
I have had a lot going on and not a whole lot to share on here, unfortunately.

But, coming soon is our baby shower.
With that, I will have lots of projects in the next 2 weeks in preparation.

The first project is the diaper cake
I haven't finished it, so I will either be updating this post later with the rest of the final touches or I will write a new post to include it. Most likely, the former.

Here are the photos to show what I have so far!
Enjoy!

 Here are most of the materials and costs

-cake pans (I used a 10x2 and 8x2) $20 (will also be using them to bake the party cake)

-rubber bands $.70 (only used 4 rubber bands of this whole bag)

-box of diapers $35 (used 3/4 of a box of 88 diapers)

-receiving blankets $12 (only used 2 of the 4 in the package)

-ribbon $10 (only used a small portion, but had to buy the whole spool)

-safety pins $? (had them in my craft box)

-small figurines $8

-small cardboard paper roll (paper towel or toilet paper) $0 (recycle!)

 I placed the diapers in the cake pans a few at a time and tried to evenly space them around to create a kind of pinwheel effect. This left a small hole in the middle, which I filled with the cardboard roll to make it more sturdy. Then, I took 2 rubber bands and put it around it all to hold it together. Pampers has that yellow line in the middle on the front (to help you tell when a newborn is wet) so I lined them up with that to be a the halfway point. I used about 40 newborn size diapers to fill this pan.

 I did the same for the smaller pan, but there wasn't really any space in the middle.  I made sure to put as many as I could fit in there (about 24 fit this pan) to make it as sturdy as possible. I then put 2 rubber bands around it just like I did the other layer.

 This is how it looks undecorated.

 I took a receiving blanket in the theme of the party (monsters inc) and wrapped it and shoved the ends into the empty cardboard roll to create a look of "fondant" or icing.

 The top layer didn't have the roll to tuck in edges and was very big to try to pin (ended up with a bunch of bulges everywhere), so I folded it in half 2 times longways and wrapped around the outside. I then secured it with one rubber band to hold it together. I originally was going to use safety pins to secure, but it was making a lot of holes in the receiving blanket, which I didn't like.

 Next, I cut ribbon to match the color scheme of the party. I made it just over long enough to wrap around the circumference tightly, then secured it with a safety pin. Since I was using 2 types of ribbon, I wrapped the second layer and safety pinned that one as well and secured it to the first layer.

I repeated that process for the smaller "cake" and put it on top of the larger "cake"

Next will be decoration. 

I am looking up ideas on line and gathering materials for how I would like to decorate it.

All in all, this project was quite easy to do.

I would love to experiment more with these in the future, if given the occasion.

Look for more updates soon as I work on more projects!

**Update**
Here is the top of the cake
I may add some ribbon or something the day of the shower, but it is pretty much done.
My first attempt wasn't too bad I suppose
The "roses" are washcloths (learned how to fold from tutorials online)
The top is a Sully blanket from Babies R Us that has a rattle attached.
It's (the blankie and rattle portion) held up with another toilet paper roll to prevent it from falling over when moved.

Lego Party Results

We have just been so busy that I haven't had time to post all the rest of the Lego Stuff!

So, this is just going to be a bunch of pictures, pretty much.
Here we go!

 Here are the invitations that we sent the week prior

See my previous posts for the link of where to download this.

 These were all the print outs I made.

See my previous posts for links of where to download all these.

 I ordered this awesome piñata online (Etsy)

The person who made it did a great job. It was EXTREMELY sturdy. It took everything all the kids at the party had to bust it open. 

 I made these with the molds that I got on Amazon.

They were a bit challenging to work with at first since I wasn't used to working with candy molds.

Once I got the hang of it, they turned out great.

This was the games table. We had the favor bags (which were great for putting all the candy and toys from the piñata inside), treat boxes (which were used for the interlocking lego candy we got from Amazon), the maze, the word search, coloring pages, crayons, face paint, a lego head for decoration, and legos shaped to say "Dane" and "8" (his name and age).

 Here are the water bottles again. The kids thought they were awesome and even took some of the empty bottles home with them.

 I only did a handful of these. I used sharpie on plates.

Here are the party favor bags again. I just bought the bags and cut out a bunch of circles. Next time I do a project like this, I am buying a paper punch. I found one AFTER I spent hours making these and had hand cramps from cutting all the little circles.

Inside the bags were little party favors from Party City. There were little airplanes, bouncy balls, and compass rings. Nothing really Lego themed since Party City apparently doesn't carry anything "Lego".

 These were just covered juice boxes. I had printed Lego brand looking circles from online somewhere, but they ended up being took big for these little juice boxes. If I had bought the slightly bigger (and of course, more expensive) ones, then the print outs would have worked. Instead, I had to draw them on myself, which the kids didn't care either way.

 These were the sugar cookies made with the Lego cookie cutters ordered from Amazon.

Instead of spending time decorating them myself, I left out icing in several different colors for the kids to decorate their own lego people. This was totally a hit. We had a few icing accidents, but that's no biggie and easy to clean up. Letting them decorate their own saved me time and occupied the kids at the party for a bit.

 This was the cake. It was my first time making a cake, so I know its not awesome. I had bought what I thought was fondant sheets, and it ended up being edible paper sheets. I was not happy. Good thing was that I had some tub icing that I used and used spray icing to decorate the sides. My kiddo loved it. I also used the lego candy bricks and lego candy people that I made with the molds to decorate it. Unfortunately, the icing bottle that I used to write "Happy Birthday" came out in spurts and looked awful. I swear, I am way better at writing with icing then this, but it was already on the cake, so I just had to leave it.

 I made a Lego Emmet photo booth board. The kids had a great time putting their face in and letting their parents take photos. The adults had fun with it too, so it was a mega win! I used a projector to put the image on the board and trace it, then painted it with acrylic paint and outlined it in sharpie. This was the thing I was most proud of, mostly because when my son saw it he told me I was the "best mom ever" (which is what every mom wants to hear).

 Marshmallow pops. I followed steps online. (Don't have the link right now- just google it and tons of options come up) I used sticks to make the heads with a large marshmallow and a small marshmallow, then covered with yellow candy coating. Once it was hardened/dry, I used a candy marker to make the faces. I put them in a piece of styrofoam to dry, then decided it looked good as a display and left them like that for the party.

 These were the cupcakes. I used the same cake mix as the main cake. I covered the tops with spray icing then added mini M&Ms and the candy lego men from the molds.

 Here's another photo of the treat boxes that I printed and cutout and shaped. Also in this photo is the thank you cards that went in the party favor bags.

Here is how the food table looked.

We had tons of food even though I didn't have many RSVPs. It ended up being a good thing since a bunch of people showed up! Always a good thing to plan for extra.