Serendipitous Encounters

Do you believe in serendipitous encounters? I sure do!

With the libraries still closed due to Covid-19, lately, I’ve been wanting to buy Jackson new books to add to his library collection. We use to go to the library on a regular, at least once a month, and we would get new books to read along with the book collection he already has. So since March, we’ve been reading the same 10 checked out library books along with the existing book collection he owns, which is A LOT, but if you are familiar with our reading routine (3-4 books, 2 times a day, everyday), you’d see how quickly we’d read through them all, multiple times around.

Late last night while visiting my parents in the San Fernando Valley, I stumbled upon a post a friend shared on Facebook:

“Hi California friends!
Our friend’s son is working on his his Eagle scouts project and selling his books to fund his goals. Please consider buying some books.”
(With a shared link to Books for Hands Facebook page.)

Buying books to help fund a project goal caught my eye at first, but when I learned more about Matthew’s Eagle project, I was just so amazed and proud of this boy that I have never even met before. 

“You can give hope to children with limb differences by buying books. Prosthetic limbs are very costly for families because children quickly outgrow their new limbs. For my Eagle Project, I will use my 3D printer to print hands for children. So that I can give these hands to families free of cost, I will be selling my childhood books, as well as some donated adult books and some magazines, so that your friends and family can enjoy these books just like I did.”

Books for Hands

Buy used books to help fund a great cause??? It was a win-win in my book and since I was currently in the area, I took advantage and ordered a bunch of great books last night, which got delivered to my parents doorstep the next day. Thanks so much Matthew! We are so excited to add these books to Jackson’s book collection.

Just to know such thoughtful little beings exist in our world, like Matthew, gives me such great hope for our future. Please visit this page for more info and see how you can help make a difference.

A Daily Reminder

A quote by Fred Rogers:

“You rarely have time for everything you want in this life, so you need to make choices. And hopefully your choices can come from a deep sense of who you are.”

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles 2nd Birthday Party

Last week, our little man turned two, so we invited some family over to celebrate with a small backyard party.

Jackson is about all things transportation right now. So I thought it fitting to have a Planes, Trains and Automobiles themed birthday party.

I started with a digital invitation and let that set the look and feel of the party.

I thought it would be fun to incorporate one of those balloon arches as a backdrop, but with wanting to keep the budget real low this year, I decided to try my hand at creating one on my own. 120 hand pumped balloons later, here is how it turned out.

I’m used to creating my own banners and menu signs, but this was the first time I decided to do a DIY food station as well. One of Jackson’s favorite dishes is my spaghetti, so I decided to do a Pasta Station.

And of course no party, big or small, is complete without a dessert table spread.

Freshly baked homemade cookies and other sweet treats made up the dessert station.

A big thanks to my sister for, yet again, baking the delicious cupcakes!

The driveway was decorated with a little road and other sidewalk chalk creations so Jackson and the other little kids could drive around in his little car and motorcycle toys.

Happy 2nd Birthday Jackson Danny!

Jackson Danny Turns ONE

I still can’t believe a year went by already and we celebrated my baby boy, Jackson Danny turning ONE last week. Here’s a look into the custom invitation I designed for him and a few images from the party showcasing the party details. The theme was a mixture of a black & white monochromatic color scheme with pops of blue green, with a wild one, tribal, outdoorsy adventure feel.

I always love the idea of sending out invites that act as small little gifts for guests to unwrap.
Jackson’s monogram logo, which I created for the Baby Shower, was used again on the invite and as a part of the party’s decor.
I thought it would be fun to make his invite open up into something bigger like his birth announcement.
The invite opened up to monthly photos I took throughout the year along with details of some of Jackson’s firsts and favorites.
So taking care of Jackson 24/7 requires me to be very creative with my time. So when baby boy was playing in his room, I took the opportunity to assemble the invites in the rocking chair, using the foot rest as my table.
We had a teepee set up outside for his gifts. Although I got the teepee with the party in mind, I also knew it would make for a great play space for either indoor or outdoor use, which Jackson has done already.
I also wanted to make sure there were fun creative activities for both the kids and adults to enjoy. If you follow me on Instagram you’ll see that one of our nightly routines is reading a book (or two) before Jackson’s bedtime. For the bookmarks, I printed out a few different images I found online for guests to color.

On the backside is a quote from Jackson’s favorite book,
Whoever You Are by Mem Fox
“Joys are the same,
and love is the same.
Pain is the same,
and blood is the same.
Smiles are the same,
and hearts are just the same-
wherever they are,
wherever you are,
wherever we are,
all over the world.”
The second activity was to create your own dreamcatcher. I found these cute little dreamcatcher kits online and loved that they were individually packaged with everything you need to create the dreamcatcher, including the instructions. It worked out perfectly because I was able to send the little kits home with people that didn’t have a chance to make one at the party.
I took the decorated 1 from his invite and created a custom shirt for Jackson to wear.
For the cake topper, I used leftover material from his invites. The paper straws were leftover from my Baby Shower. All the amazing cakes & cupcakes were once again baked by my sister, Ilona.
Guests were sent home with homemade trail mix.

“THANK YOU
Please take some trail mix to fuel your future adventures.”

I found this fun S’mores Trail Mix recipe, here. I couldn’t resist packaging them up in these kraft tin tie bags and topping each one with a little thank you sticker.
I kept the decor pretty simple by using wooden dowels to create little teepees with feather decorated mason jars.
The highlight of Jackson’s birthday party for me was definitely his cake smash. I knew his personality would come out the minute the cake was placed in front of him. I LOVE his initial reaction to the cake. PRICELESS!
I specifically asked my sister to place blueberries on top as I knew he’d eat them one by one first before even touching the rest of the cake.
It was funny to see him bypass most of the actual cake to just get to the berries hidden within each layer.
Everyone told me how fast the time goes and how quickly Jackson would grow, but I didn’t realize it would be as fast as a blink of an eye. He has brought so much more joy, laughter and love to our family this past year. I am in constant awe at how smart he already is. I love seeing him reveal his sweet and silly personality each and every day. And I am so proud of the kindness he already possess. 

Maternity Leave

Currently both Etsy shops are temporarily closed while I take maternity leave for the months of February and March.  Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause, but hopefully you will return in April to place your order.

In the meantime, here are a couple pics of the somewhat complete nursery room.  I say somewhat, because I know this room will constantly be changing as we adjust, but for now this room awaits the arrival of our little guy.

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I made sure several handmade items were scattered throughout the nursery as I felt that added little touch was really important to me. The bird mobiles that hang above the crib and changing table were inspired by Jen Hewett‘s bird mobile blog post that I’ve had bookmarked from over 10 years ago. With the extra fabric, I made the “YOU ARE OUR GREATEST ADVENTURE” sign that hangs over the crib.

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I had these custom triangle shelves made by a family friend.  I sanded and stained them to match the grey decor. The blocks on display were created by family and friends from my baby shower when we asked them to “Decorate a Block.”

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