Posted on

Mommy Monday Tip: Everybody Etsy Now!

Today we’re participating in the Mommy Monday Tip with the fine ladies over at the Mommy Community. My Mommy Monday Tip is to tell you about a great website I recently discovered to find great unique handmade items for you and your kiddos: Etsy! Etsy is an online marketplace where you can browse, buy, and sell all things handmade. There are hundreds of sellers and you can find anything and everything, from bibs to cloth diaper covers to chic purses for Mommy. It’s great to find that special outfit or essential baby item that’s just a little different. I mainly dress my daughter in Carter’s but sometimes I want something that not all the other babies at the playground already have.

I learned about Etsy from my friend Jessica, who is very crafty and has her own Etsy store called Pumpkin Head Baby Co. Her baby & kid items are very fun and unique. I’ve bought several for myself and friends, including two of these soakproof bibs for Sophia. They are amazing – truly soakproof! Sophie is a champion drooler so I always put one of her Pumpkin Head Baby Co. bibs on her when we are going to be out for a long day. That way I don’t have to take several bibs with me. Jessica has tons of fabric to choose from, and I chose two funky purple prints that really dress up her outfits. I also love these sock monkey bibs!


Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

These make great baby gifts when you are looking for something distincitve, or are shopping for someone whose tastes aren’t quite status quo. For my friend Kelly, pregnant with a little girl but not absolutely devoted to pink, I bought a gorgeous brown, red, & gold patterned minky blanket & matching soakproof bib. They were feminine yet funky and really made Mommy happy! I also love the custom toddler clothes. Check out this adorable ice cream shirt I just bought for my cousin Ellie’s little girl’s 1st birthday (surprise Ellie! I mailed it Thursday!):

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

How cute is that? I just love giving things that were handmade just for the recipient, even if it wasn’t me who made it. I mean, after all, no one would want anything made by me, ‘cause I can’t even sew a button. Which is why, for Emily’s birthday, I had Jessica make her this fab-U-lous purse:

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Now don’t you wish you were on my gift list?

So do yourself a favor and go browse Etsy! Some of my other favorite sellers are Onegirliegirl, where I got Sophia this fabulous hair clip, and SassySisters – two cute elementary age girls who design great jewelry. I recently bought a great pair of earrings from these girlies and they make me ridiculously happy! As does the fantastic headband I just purchased from their mom, who has her own store, Chubby Baby Designs. I think I have an Etsy addiction…

Now, go Etsy Everybody! If you see anything you like at Onegirliegirl’s shop, just mention “Mommin’ It Up” in the notes to the seller to receive 10% off your order!

Post to Twitter

Posted on

Rewind 10/09/03: In which I Bid my Boobs “Adieu”

To: Emily
From: Jenny
Date: 10/09/2003
Subj: Pregnant Boobs

Cousin,

Have you noticed any boob changes yet? Not to get too personal, but mine are TOTALLY freaking me out. They used to be pointy and now they are saggy. And my nipples used to be in the middle and now they are pointing south. AND I am getting stretch marks on them. AAAHHH!!! Goodbye, boobs of my youth!!

(The beauty of hindsight: when I wrote this email to Emily, I was about halfway through my pregnancy with my first baby. If I had known at that moment how sad my boobs would be after nursing said baby, I wouldn’t have complained about the pregnant version. They seem much more attractive from this side of the fence…oh well…small price to pay for a miracle….)

Post to Twitter

Posted on

Two Pink Lines

I’ll never forget the first time I saw two pink lines on a pregnancy test. It was June 18, 2003. I was 25 years old and had been married a little over three years. Bobby and I had been trying to get pregnant for about three months, and I wasn’t too stressed out about it yet, but I was getting a little nervous. After all, you never know how that’s all going to go until you try.

My period was only one day late, but I was never late, so I went ahead and bought a test. I had read that you need to test with your first pee of the day, so I got up that morning and rushed into the bathroom. I had to hurry to get the thing unwrapped because I really had to go! I barely had time to read the instructions and hoped I was “doing it right”. After I’d done the deed, (mmm… double entendre anyone?) I laid the test flat on the top of the toilet and tried not to look at it. But, as I was brushing my teeth about 30 seconds later, I accidentally looked. Seriously, it was an accident. I swear! What I saw made me gasp and swallow a great deal more toothpaste than is appropriate. There on the pee-pee test were two pink lines, announcing with their rosy duplicity that I was somebody’s mother.

I picked up the test and stared at it to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating, finished brushing my teeth (little did I know how soon I wouldn’t be able to brush them without puking!), and jumped around the bathroom in excitement. My husband was already at work so I had to wait alllllllllll daaaaaaaaaaaay before I got to tell him (I had to do it in person of course!) He said those three little words that all men say upon hearing such an announcement – say it with me ladies – “Are you sure?” When I confirmed that yes I was sure, he broke out in the world’s biggest smile. The same smile he gives his son when he arrives home from work every day. That boy’s made us smile a million times since that moment, and I expect we’ll never stop smiling about him.

To read more great stories from other bloggers on this topic, go to MomsBlogging.com!

Post to Twitter