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3 DIY Activities for Babies

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If you follow me on Instagram, then you know I’ve been posting the DIY activities I’ve been doing with our 11 month old girl. With the influx of lockdowns in states across the country, we are home with our babies A LOT more. Now is the time to do all of those activities with your babies that you pinned months ago. Here are my 3 activities that we gave a go in the past week! These activities get their neurons firing and senses overloaded.

Keep in mind, the attention span is 3 to 5 minutes per year of age. So don’t be surprised if your little one only finds joy in these for a minute or so.

Mess Free Painting

You will need:

-Paper

-Gallon Baggies

-Paint (preferably washable)

-Packing tape (a strong tape)

Take a sheet of a paper and put dabs of paint all over it. Carefully place in a gallon bag and zip. Tape bag down flat on a high chair, table or the floor. Then let your babe “finger paint”, moving the colors around, feeling the texture and explaining each color. When finished, take out the paper of the bag and let dry!

Sensory Spagetti

Things you’ll need:

-1/2 box Spaghetti or any pasta

-Pot (for boiling spaghetti)

-Strainer

-Food Coloring

-Baggies

-Oil (vegetable/olive)

Okay, this has been our favorite. Cook spaghetti as you normally would but leave it a little more al dente so that it doesn’t mush. Strain pasta and let dry a little. Separate the pasta into baggies (as many colors as you’d like) and place 10-20 drops of food coloring with a 1/2 tbsp of oil into each bag and shake up! Once coloring is even on pasta, rinse and strain so theres no excess coloring on it. Lay on a pan with paper towels to dry and soak additional colorings. Then place in a tub/container and play! It’s fun to point out colors and let them feel the textures. Warning: they will probably eat it!!

Colored Bag Hanging

Things You’ll Need:

-Gallon Baggies

-Water

-Food Coloring

-Strong Tape (I used packing tape)

Fill each bag with about 3 cups of water. Place 5-10 drops of food coloring in each bag (as many colors as you’d like). Zip bags up and tape to a glass door or even the stove window! Babies will love squeezing and seeing the colors shine. Our girl loved this and we kept it up for a few days!

Sensory activities are a great way to introduce new things to your child. They help stimulate the brain and create nueron pathways to improve sensory processing. It may take a bit for time to gather these activities but I’m sure they’ll be a hit to keep our crazy kiddos busy!

The Best Baby Black Friday Deals

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the best baby Black Friday deals 2019

*This post contains no affiliate links. Every item is something we love and receive no commission from you shopping these great items.*

It’s that time of year again! Time to get those credits cards out and snag some deals on our favorite baby items this Black Friday. Black Friday falls on November 29th, 2019 this year with some sales beginning November 25th. I’ve taken some time to put together the deals that have caught my eye already. Most are small shops that we love personally and others are items that just have a great price we can’t pass on!

Baby

Freshly Picked– 30% storewide starting 11/25. You can join their Fringe Rewards program to save an additional 20% on top of sale prices. They have the cutest moccasins and best leather diaper bags! (the Classic is on my list)

SnuggleMe Organic– Begins 11/18 at 6:30. Infant loungers are $68 (reg. $99), Toddler loungers are $99 (reg. $149), Infant covers are $35 (reg. $48), and Toddler covers are $45 (reg. $64). Text BLACKFRIDAY to 81787 for the secret link when sales go live!

Lou Lou and Company– They are offering exclusive sales every day before Black Friday! You must join their email list to get the daily discount code. You can sign up HERE.

Copper Pearl- 10% of all orders, 15% off orders over $75, and 20% off orders over $150 beginning 11/29 at 8 am MST. These are the softest swaddles! We have a few!

Kyte Baby– 25% site wide starting 11/29. They are offering a “Pre-Black Friday” sale with urge to fill your wishlist for easy purchasing when the sale goes live!

BabyBreez– 30% off sitewide now! Starting pajama shopping a little early with 30% site wide. Just use code FRIDAY30.

Lulu and Roo– 25% off sitewide + daily deals starting 11/26 at 12 AM MST. All of their super cute clothing is handmade! Made in the USA.

Bloom Headwraps– 25% storewide!

Target: Prices are good 11/28-30 with in store sales beginning at 5 pm.

  • – Chicco Bravo travel system– $100 off bringing it to $279.99 + tax. This popular stroller has 4.5 stars on every site and is highly recommended among mamas!

Buy Buy Baby– They are listing ALL of their sale items on one page, HERE. Many sales are happening now!

Willow: Wearable Breast Pump- 15% off with code 150FF starting now to cyber Monday. They also have free shipping on all pumps!

Itzy Ritzy– 40% off on 11/25 only for Itzy Rewards members! Non-members can receive 40% on 11/26 with code EXTRA. 11/27-11/29 will have 30% off with code MAGICAL. They have everything from diaper bags to clothes!

Nanit Smart Baby Monitor– 20% off at Best Buy starting 11/29. There may possibly be a deal on their direct website as well.

These are my favorite Black Friday sales for 2019! I love the curation of small shops and our favorite products. I’d love to hear what deals you’re planning on snagging this year! Share below!

Floral Baby Shower

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(photographer: Angel Adriana Photography)

When we found out we were having a baby girl, I was a little unsure what kind of theme I wanted to go with. We had our hearts set on a neutral safari themed room for a little boy but I knew that I want all pink for a girl. I wanted something that can grow with her and be trendy opposed to the traditional Winnie the Pooh or Mickey Mouse. We landed on a pink floral theme. Our wonderful extended family hosted this gorgeous shower for us and she did not disappoint!

Location

For all my Tampa locals, we decided to host it at Foundation Coffee Co. Tampa Heights. It is located in an old historic brick building just near Tampa Riverwalk. There is such charm in the fact that is located in a restored building. They have an door sitting area along with an eclectic outdoor space with greenery and a pergola. Outdoor seated roughly 40 people and very reasonably priced. We opted for the back patio since it was spring in Florida and couldn’t pass up the gorgeous weather.

Theme

Everything was stemmed from the actual wallpaper we used in the nursery. (You can find it HERE) We had custom napkins made with the actual wallpaper graphic. What a gorgeous touch!

Desserts

My favorite part, DUH! Our only request was great desserts and she did not disappoint when arranging them.

We had mini cupcakes which I’m all about! There was a Guinness Chocolate, Cookie Dough, and Vanilla. The cookie dough was so good, but I may be biased because I love chocolate chip cookies.

Of course there was cake, what is a baby shower without one? We had a simple white cake and vanilla buttercream naked cake from Publix. I was so impressed with the quality of the cake. Definitely would order another for an event.

For some grab and go desserts, we also had pretzel rods and cake pops. The cake pops were traditional vanilla flavor but the wow factor was the detail of design. Almost too good to eat!

Games

Since we had a co-ed shower, we tried to keep the games to a minimum so guys didn’t feel obligated. To appeal to the guys, we did a bottle chug race. This was a race of who can drink the apple juice out of the baby bottle the fastest! You could also do it with beer (guys would definitely like that LOL).

A fun way to stock up our diaper pile was to do a Diaper Raffle. We asked everyone to bring a pack of diapers and in return we chose a random name to win a prize.

A really nice touch was that my sister-in-law handed out advice cards. She asked everyone to write a piece of advice down for us. It was so sweet for us to read through these once we got home. Most advice was to sleep when possible, remember to date each other, and don’t worry about keeping your home clean.

Favors

At most showers, they give a favor that you usually toss away. Following along with our sugar addiction, we gave custom sugar cookies as our favors. They had a beautiful “V” for Vivian. Let me tell you, these things were delicious! I totally am a supporter of cookies as a favor at any event!

We were extremely blessed with family and friends who have given their unlimited love and support during our journey. It’s incredible what positivity and love a little baby brings to so many people. So incredible to showered with joy and love. We thank everyone along this road.