Birthday Wishes

Today is the birthday of one of my favorite people in the whole world! I have known Monique for not quite a year yet but she is cemented in my life. She is sweet, beautiful, caring, giving, intelligent and I miss her when she isn't around. Happy birthday my amazing friend!!


To celebrate Monique today I am taking her for lunch at the super yummy Rebar armed with a beautiful bunch of flowers and her gift which is this amazing clutch wallet in the Ocean Voyage design which I discovered over at Dear Sukie.

Sunday Sweets

I am sure that last weeks Sunday Sweets has been keeping you busy scouring through the beautiful and scary creations in Cake at Cake Wrecks so this week I thought I would bring your attention to something equally as sweet but smaller in size, cupcakes!! Now I know no better place to drool over cupcakes then at Cupcakes Take the Cake (but if you think you do be sure to let me know!) Not only do the ladies of this amazing blog feature tons of beautiful awe inspiring cupcakes, they share recipies, interviews with the sweet shop owners, locations for tasting these bite size wonders and lots more in cupcakes!

Happy Earth Day

Image Source

Our planet and our impact on it has become more and more forefront in our minds in recent years. Recycling, Reusing, Composting and reducing waste has become increasingly mainstream in our society. In honor of Earth Day I would like to share with you one of my favorite Earth Friendly contributions - Cloth diapering! Not only is cloth diapering earth friendly it is baby and pocket book friendly too! BONUS!!

Cloth Diapering is no longer limited to diaper pins and prefolds. With many options, designs, colors, patterns, etc out there I strongly suggest exploring the cloth diapering communities to learn more about what would work best for you, your baby and your lifestyle.

To get you started I recommend checking out Jamtots, Diaper Pin, and Diaperswappers.

Now for a few of my favorite diapers, check out these sweet designs:

Carter (17 months) wearing a customized Berry Plush diaper embroidered with the world and the inscription "Saving the World One Diaper at a time" Photo Taken By Amanda McBurney of Inspired Images Photography

AMP Diaper

Carter (1 year) wearing a custom Fuzzi Bunz diaper embroidered with a gecko and the inscription "Carter". Photo taken by Amanda McBurney of Inspired Images Photography

Got Milk? No? Get cookies!!

Anyone that knows me is aware that I am very pro breastfeeding and most also know that I had a lot of struggles with breastfeeding which lead to a lot of reading, a lot of research and a lot of advice from professionals (both accredited and practical experienced). In the end I was able to continue a breastfeeding relationship with my youngest son for a year, I would have liked longer but a year was a great accomplishment for us and one to be proud of.

To make a long story short my breastfeeding struggles came down to what we believed to be quality of milk and my son was not getting the nutrients he required. In order to increase my volume and hopefully provide him with more nutrients I sought the advice of an amazing doctor, Dr. Jack Newman as well as conversations with local breastfeeding professionals and my family doctor I was armed with some great ways to increase milk supply and continue to nurse my beautiful baby boy. I believe breastfeeding is a beautiful, natural and amazing thing. It provides your baby with the best possible food as well as antibodies and vitamins. Breastfeeding doesn't come easy to everyone and for some woman (through breast reductions, adoption or other factors) it is not a possibility without intervention of some amazing products and herbs. My youngest and last child is now three so I am past this stage in my life, however I recently told you about the amazing birth I witnessed and that friend is now struggling with her own breastfeeding experience which has brought a lot of this back to me. When she called me the other day looking for advice I was happy to give her whatever help she needed as well as bake 9 dozen Lactation cookies last night!! I would like to share my experience with as many woman as possible, so here it is.

Herbs and Medications that increase milk production - Domperidone and Fenugreek

Devices that can prove helpful with breastfeeding (if you are not having troubles breastfeeding you should avoid the use of these items as you and your baby could become relient on them)

Supplemental Nursing System (SNS) - This product is an amazing devices that allows you to supplement your breastmilk with previously pumped or donated milk or formula while breastfeeding. It is great for those women that like me had milk but the nutritional value was in question or do not have enough milk and can not increase the volume through previously tried methods or have adopted their child but still wish to experience nursing.

Nipple Shield - This product is used for a number of reasons though my experience with it and my recommendation for its use is for the purpose of thrush. If you and/or your baby do contract thrush I recomend the use of a nipple shield while nursing until you are able to clear up the thrush. A problem I had and is fairly common with thrush is that you and your baby will pass it back and forth making it almost impossible to clear up. If you use a nipple shield while your nursing you can elimanate this until you are both free of thrush.

Lactation Cookies!! - This is by far the best prescription you can recieve. These cookies are super yummy and aid in the produciton of milk due to the content of Flax meal and Brewers yeast. The recomendation is 4 per day.

There are many more products, herbs, medication and advice available then listed here. The information I have provided is based on my personal breastfeeding experience, If you are having trouble with breastfeeding please be sure to consult your doctor and the La Leche League in your area for guidance. I also recommend consulting Dr. Jack Newman.

Sunday Sweets

I have decided that I need a regular feature on the blog, and since I have a pretty major sweet obsession, all things sugar seems appropriate. So to get this Sunday started I would like to share my obsession with Cake Wrecks and the true inspiration for my feature title! I love love the wrecks but even more I love their Sunday Sweets. These are a few of my recent favorite but be sure to head over to Cake Wrecks and check them out for youself.

Simply Beautiful!

Quick drop everything and head on over to Craftaholics Anonymous for a fab Lora Elizabeth Stamped Jewelry giveaway!! All her jewelry is beautiful but I am conviting this amazing piece, what a great mother's day gift it would make.

New baby smell

My best friend had a beautiful baby girl this weekend!! Her name is Tabetha, she was 17lbs 15 oz and born in three hours it was fast and amazing and I loved being there for every moment of it. This is the third labor I have witnessed, aside from my own two, it was by far the quickest and it was so very special being that it was my best friend from grade school. Now I am planning the best, perfect, over the top PINK baby shower to celebrate this beautiful creature. Here are some of the things I have come across that have inspired my design ideas so far, do you have anything wonderful of your own to share, or something you have come across that you think is a must for a swanky pink baby shower? Please share!!

Photo Source: Cherry on Top Photography

Photo Source: The TomKat Studio

Photo Source: Unknown (but if you do please let me know!)


I am going to be doing a bunch of looking and creating tonight! I will share more later this week.

Getting back in the groove

I have come to a realization recently, I can't do it all!! With work, home, school and crafting I don't have time to blog about it everyday too. So I am back and I am going to blog but not everyday and it won't always be something that I created. I am going to share other wonderful finds, great tutorials, contest information, amazing etsy items, things that inspire me and yes some of my own creations.

So to get things started I am going to share some photo's that have been inspiring me to get ready for spring.

Image from Making it Lovely


Image source unknown

Image from Trek Earth

Image from Whatever