First Giveaway... AllieLou Baby

Just a heads up that I will be hosting a giveaway on this blog soon. The wonderful AllieLou Baby shop from Etsy is providing the prize - a beautiful baby set (to be revealed soon).

Still deciding how to run the contest entry portion... For you readers that have entered blog giveaways before... what are your favorite entry methods? Facebook like? Comment? A click-to-enter button? I certainly don't want to have a page-long list of things you must do in order to be entered ("like this," "like that," "comment here," "tweet this," "share that," etc).

Comment below or tweet me @elrussell10 to let me know your thoughts!

AllieLou Baby Bib Review

Disclosure: I received a bib from AllieLou Baby as a trade for a review. All opinions expressed are my own. 

I was introduced to AllieLou Baby, an Etsy shop, through my Ecocentric Mom box subscription. In my last box was a wooden teething ring from the shop. (For my review of that item, click here). Which, by the way, I need to replace, because my naughty dog got a hold of it and broke the ring in half. (Grr, Ace!) Anyway, I love the shop - there are a lot of cute bibs, teething rings, burp cloths and more! You can even have bibs embroidered with a monogram.

Many of the items are organic, and they come in some really cute prints that aren't your stereotypical pink and blue baby fabrics. 

The bib I received was printed with yellow bicycles and backed with chenille. It's 100% organic cotton and has a white plastic snap closure. The chenille fabric is very soft and absorbent - a requirement since the top cotton fabric is not absorbent. I love the bicycle print - the grey bike amidst the yellow ones is very modern.

 

The bib is quite large - it came almost to the crotch of my chunky 3-month-old (who is in the 90th percentile for height/weight). So it would likely swallow a smaller or younger baby. But, I like that it's long. My little man has been drooling a lot lately, and the front of his onesies always end up soaked. I can't always catch the drool off his chin before it pools on his chest! This way, he's completely covered/protected from drool, and if the bib gets wet I can just take it off and not have to change him completely. Only, the OCD in me won't let me put him in clashing prints - his bibs have to match the rest of his outfit. (I can't be the only one, right?)

He seemed to like the bib! Easy for him to grab and stuff into his mouth.
But that little bit of his onesie showing drives me bonkers! The two prints don't go together! haha.

The bib still looks brand new even after washing - which, for a handmade bib, is impressive. I've made some of my own, and they always come out of the dryer looking a little wonky.

All in all, I love the bib. It's cute, soft and does what it's supposed to! I'm eyeing another bib from the shop... a linen one with utensils embroidered on the front. So chic! :)

Birth Preferences (infographic)

This will be a short post...
I am not going to go into the details of creating a birth plan and choosing what to put on it right now. I just wanted to share a Birth Prefrences infographic that I just created on Easel.ly
I had created my birth "plan" (which is what they're usually called, but you can't always plan for everything and I know you may not get what you plan for... so I use the term loosely) on a word document, nicely typed with a friendly introduction ("We are so excited to be birthing our baby at Mission Hospital!" etc) before going into my bulleted requests for my labor and delivery. My husband did help create it and then our doula looked over it as well to give her suggestions.
Though I still plan to use my typed one, I saw a cute infographic-style birth plan on pinterest (that you could have someone personalize for you on Etsy for $10) and just had to make my own!

Here is the one you can have made for you on Etsy:

And here is the one I made! I actually made two... one with my contact info on it and this one here, which has no name or contact info (for sharing online... don't need my phone number floating around the cyber-universe!) I'm not sure if I will actually use it, but I was bored and enjoy playing around creating different things like this.

 

Happy to hear your thoughts on it!

Thanks for reading!


UPDATE 3/1/14

I edited my birth preferences infographic to be a little more printer-friendly (less color).
There's an open space at the bottom below the feet, that is where I put my name and contact information.