B on a Slide

Last Hurrah

After B had a crazy-good time camping last year, we really wanted to squeeze in a trip again this year. But with baby #2 due at the end of the month, we were running out of time! So last weekend we packed up our sleeping bags and headed to the campground. We went somewhere new this time (no lake for swimming - boo.) but it was down near my parents so we were able to go see my sisters in a play one night and my family got to join the camping fun.

It was the perfect chance to break in N's father's day present - a new tent! It's seriously huge. And awesome. During a couple rain showers we could invite everyone in to play games. And there was much snuggle napping.

We found out pretty fast that we are not as awesome at camping as we thought. At least not on the food front. To start with we brought probably three times as much food as we needed. Oops. And then there was the cooking. Let's look at Exhibit A...

That was a foil packet dinner. It may look empty, but don't be fooled. It started with a piece of chicken in it. If you look closely, you can see the bones. I swear we checked it like 5 minutes before and it was raw. The good news is, to burn something that badly you need a fire... and we had finally figured out how to start one! The first day my pregnant dramatic self was certain we would starve because all the food we brought required cooking and the fire was not happening.

Some things turned out better. These kabobs were delicious! Never mind the fact it took us a solid 3 hours to cook them. Even with the fire started, it took us a good while to figure out how to cook the stinkin' things on it.

But let's not forget the star of the show. B had a fabulous time, just like we hoped. He was a little iffy about sleeping in a tent the first night (he kept asking to go "in-ide, close eyes.") But once he made it through the night he was all on board.

His aunty brought a little pool to keep him entertained at the campsite.

Baby Doll Diapers {pattern & tutorial}

I'm in full nesting mode over here. I'm running around like a crazy chicken trying to complete a totally random to-do list. And my poor husband is being a real trooper with all my panicked calls like "WE HAVE 2 BOY OUTFITS AND 3 GIRL OUTFITS AND THAT'S NOT EVEN!" Seriously, guys, I'm a gem when I'm pregnant. But besides washing the baby clothes, prepping the diapers, and generally tearing this house apart, we really want to prepare B as much as we can for his his new role as a big brother. One thing we're trying is a baby doll. We took him shopping to pick one out and have been working on things like being gentle with a baby and telling him mama's going to have a baby too. We'll see if it helps. But a certain little boy realized right away that baby doll was missing something important - and insisted it wear one of the baby's diapers. Ha. So I whipped up a couple little diapers just for baby doll.

Supplies:

• fabric - you'll need two pieces about 9 x 9" (one for the outside and one for the lining). you can use just about anything but flannel is great because it's cheap, cute, and easy to work with (I let B dig through my flannel stash and pick out a few favorites)
• thread - I just used white for all my diapers
• snaps or velcro - I used snaps because I had them already, but velcro would be easier for little fingers
• pattern - download it and make sure your printer doesn't "fit to page" or your sizing will be off. check that the box on the page is 1" after printing. These diapers fit our basic 13" tall baby doll.

download the pattern here

Yard Sale Catch-Up

I've been really good this summer, guys. Most of the time I've been totally sticking to my guns, searching through yard sales for the things I really need and leaving behind anything else. Which means I've been mostly snatching up any 3T little boy clothes I can find.

Well, any I can find for around $0.50 a piece. I know in my area there are plenty of people who sell kids clothes that cheap and if I'm patient I'll find everything I need for a super-steal! I figure B will probably move up to that size this winter so I'm trying to stock up now rather than have to buy new clothes later.

It's been a slow process so far - it turns out 3T is kind of hard to come by! But piece by piece I'm getting there. I'm still looking for a few more things, but there's still a lot of summer left.

I've also been keeping my eye open for any super-cute newborn clothes. We don't really need much since we saved a bunch of stuff from B, but I've picked up a few things. Especially girl things, just in case. :) But I also know B didn't fit newborn clothes very long so I'm trying to get a few 0-3 month things for girls too.

I also couldn't pass up some soft-soled baby shoes and boots (for $0.50 - $1.00)

Seriously guys, I've limited myself to that kind of shopping all summer. Until last weekend. When I kind of cracked like an egg. There were some really good sales! Here's what I ended up with: