Working Momma

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, my boys are the cutest.  Yes, that’s right: THE CUTEST.  I know, I know, every mom thinks that about their own kids (and hubby).  I just started my busiest time of year at work and I only have a sliver of free time when we get done with dinner, dishes, bathes, etc.  Not fun.  I’m exhausted.  I went to bed last night at 8:45p.  Yep, 8:45p.  I apologized to my hubby for my tiredness, I felt bad that we didn't have time to talk, he replied, “Our marriage is better that way”.  Ha ha, but seriously, he also replied, “go to bed, you’re tired, I know you have to get up in the middle of the night to feed Robert”.  Ok, that doesn’t sound sweet, but it was really super sweet (especially for my non-gushy hubby) and exactly what I needed to hear.  This has been our life for a while now, me passed out on the couch before dark. I’m sure my hubby is secretly in seventh heaven at night having the house to himself.  

  

While we are just smitten with our newest little baby (he turned 6 months old today!) I have friends that are just as smitten with their own new arrivals.  In one of my social circles I was the start of the baby rush this year with my little guy being born in February followed by three of my friends having their babies each in March, April, and May!  Followed by another earlier this month.  Can you believe it?  Four babies in four months!  Five in 6 months!  So much fun!  The other four babies were girls. All girls!

You know, babies = baby gifts!  Lots and lots of cute baby gifts.  I thought I would share some of the gifts that I made for my friends and their newest family additions.  First up are burp clothes.  All first time moms need burp clothes.  I already wrote about how much I HATED my burp clothes the first time around.  The store bought clothes just don’t cut it.  They are small, awkwardly shaped, and non-absorbent.  I showed you the ones that I made for my new baby in THE LITTLE THINGS.  The ones I made for myself were made with flannel on one side and chenille on the other.  Since that post, I have discovered that chenille is hard to come by and is not sold in ANY local fabric stores in my area (so sad).  So the burb clothes I made for the April baby were made using pre-fold cloth diapers available anywhere (I happened to buy mine at Target).  

If any of you know me, you will know that I am painfully slow at deciding on gifts.  PAINFULLY.  I take a long time to buy gifts for people because I really want them to be personalized (as much as possible) and I want people to know that I put time and effort into their gifts (especially for new babies and weddings).   So that being said, I made these burp clothes for the new momma so they were not “girly girl” because I know this momma likes more gender neutral items.   I spent a good month shopping for the perfect fabric to pair together.  Not only does this fabric fit my requirement to be gender neutral but it also fit the new momma’s nursery theme of animals.   Nailed it.

It is hard to imagine but these are even easier than the burp clothes I made for myself.  I made these while trying to get my own baby out of my body.  It was day three of being overdue and I was sick and tired of being pregnant.  I thought a good sewing project might get my own baby out of my belly.  While sewing these I was dancing to Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake's skit, “History of Rap 2”.  Over and over and over and over again (seriously, no joke).  While I didn’t think the sewing would work, I thought FOR SURE Jimmy and Justin together would push that baby right out of me.  No luck.  I hope they won’t be offended, in fairness actual labor didn’t get that baby out of my belly either. 

Anyway, back to the gift.   Super easy!  After you wash and dry all your fabric (including the cloth diapers, the only time I hope to ever use a cloth diaper), you just cut a piece of flannel one inch longer and wider than the finished product you want.  I cut mine 18” by 6”, this allows for a ½” seam allowance on each side which I find much easier to work with than a little ¼” seam, but you choose what is easiest for you.  Press your hem, pin onto the diaper, and sew.  That’s it!  Like a said: super easy. I promise.  If you feel like you need more directions, check out this great blog post by Petite Lemon. 

You can make these faster than you could read this blog post (well almost).  Later I’ll be showing you a “girly girl” gift that I made for the next baby girl.