If I wasn't in terrible pain... or the size of a small tractor, I would almost think this pregnancy wasn't real by the lack of its appearance on my social media pages! (*joke)
However, my doctors appointment this week reassured this pregnancy is VERY real and we are cooking right along.
After two weeks of traveling my body has had it.
Swelling, unbearable pain and blood flow issues in my leg have made for a very uncomfortable 3rd trimester!
It's been such a different experience than I had with my other two pregnancies.
With Hunter and Hayden everything was very "rainbows and butterflies" the whole pregnancy. My body changed and it was a miraculous and beautiful experience.
This time I see no rainbows.. no butterflies and my body changes are anything but beautiful.
Still, I feel beyond blessed to be welcoming a new baby into our family.
Both children are so excited and tell everyone that 'Santa' is bringing them a baby for Christmas.
If Baby #3 comes as early as Hunter we can expect a sibling the first week of December.
Lets just pray this baby comes healthy and when he/she is good and ready.
Here are some 29 week updates.
I've gained 13 pounds.
I have a masterpiece of spider veins on the back of my left leg.
I'm sleeping well again.
I'm craving everything except beef.
I HATE climbing up stairs...
(sucky when you have two flights INSIDE your house you climb daily).
I LOVE watching Hunter & Hayden saying hi to the baby or help rub lotion on my belly.
They're going to make the best big brother and sister.
I'm also still VERY OPEN to name suggestions.
We have a handful of names we like for both genders but not knowing what baby is has definitely not allowed us to feel that "THIS IS THE ONE" name.
Leave name ideas below: H first name ideas and E middle names.
Thanks for following along with FordOlogy Baby #3's journey.
This month I have teamed up with the lovely Shani from Sunshine and Munchkins to bring you a fun DIY Toddler and Budget Friendly Halloween Party.
Shani and I met at a blogger event in August and became quick blogging friends. With both of us having toddlers ages 4 and 2 it was an fun fit. One afternoon at a bump in at Hobby Lobby we started talking about having a playdate which quickly during into ideas for a fun toddler Halloween party. Shani and I both know the excitement and pressure that comes with putting together fun holiday activities for our kids.
In the blogger world there is even more pressure to get sponsors and "free stuff" to throw the picture perfect party or playdate.
Today, Shani and I are excited to bring you a Halloween Party idea that is completely toddler and budget friendly for any mama! All of the ideas could even be used for a week of daily activities.
Follow along below for step by step instructions to give your littles a holiday activity to remember!
Step 1. Team up with another Mama.
Shani and I thought it would be fun to work together because of the similar ages of our kids and the fun ideas we both had for Halloween activities.
Teaming up with another mama allows for you to split the work so you're not feeling overwhelmed or stressed trying to plan an afternoon of activities alone.
The More The Merrier!
While everything we do in this party is completely doable with just you and your littles, it's always fun to invite friends and watch your kids interact and play with others!
2. Plan and Prepare.
Shani and I emailed and texted back and forth for a few days the ideas we had for the Halloween Party.
Next we decided what activities we wanted to do, listed out each idea (craft, game, treasure hunt, goodie bags, food, decorations/photo booth) and then divided up responsibility for each idea.
The craft we chose was to decorate pumpkins. I went to the grocery store and chose 4 little pumpkins. Each pumpkin cost $.29/lb and each weighed about 3 pounds.
I spent $4 for all 4 pumpkins.
We had stickers, eyeballs, pom-poms, confetti, paint, glitter and glue, most of which we already owned, for the kids to decorate the pumpkins with.
The game Shani put together was a fun and easy pumpkin toss. She picked up 3 buckets from The Dollar Store for $3 and made homemade bean bags for another $3.
We sent the kids on a fun treasure hunt to find their goodie bags. Shani found festive clues from Imagination Soup and printed them right from her home computer.
Goodie Bags are usually every toddlers favorite part of an event and we were able to put together 4 fun filled bags for $6!
Inside the goodie bags was 1 small bag of candy corn, 2 pencils, 4 spider rings, pumpkin bubbles, glow in the dark vampire teeth, a notebook, and 4 Halloween coloring page. Each treat came in a 4 (or more) pack so I was able split them up between the each kids bags. Each treat was from the Target dollar section.
Shani printed out the 4 cute Halloween coloring pages (half sheet sizes) and we stapled them together.
Easiest Goodie Bags Ever!
For food we chose a few cute Halloween inspired snacks we could feed the kids at lunchtime.
Ghost and Pumpkin shaped PB&J sandwiches, Ghoul String Cheeses, Pumpkin Mandarins and Mummy Juice Boxes. The mandarins and string cheese were simply made using a sharpie and the adorable juice boxes were made using scrap fabric and google eyes.
Shani also made the most delicious festive jello popcorn for the kids to munch on during crafts and games.
Each of us had most of the food and snacks in our pantries so cost for food was $7 for the whole event.
The decorations, photo booth and table setting was easily thrown together with signs, cobwebs, spiders, plates, napkins etc I already had in my 'halloween box'. The cute photo props I found at Target for $3 and the Happy Halloween sign was $1.
(One TIP I do love to pass on for any holiday is STOCK UP for next year. Products go on sale for 50%, 75% and sometimes 90% in the few weeks after a holiday, so stock up on decor, plates, toys etc... during this time)
We were super fortunate to have Creative Juice Cafe donate tassel's and popcorn buckets for our party also.
3. Set Up.
Set up came together very painlessly. I set up the decor, table and photo booth the night prior to the party and Shani came over early the morning of to help with finishing touches.
We prepped the food, set up the game, prepared the craft and hid the treasure hunt clues/goodie bags, all within 30-40 minutes before we began.
4. Party.
Once all the prepping and planning was complete it was time to PARTY.
We scheduled a two hour time frame to allow plenty of time for everything we planned, but with toddlers, sometimes it's over in what feels like a matter of minutes.
All four kids had a blast getting to dress up, craft, play games, eat yummy treats and get fun goodie bags.
We found that the activities and crafts were all awesome and age/attention appropriate for both the 4 year olds and 2 year olds, however the 2 year olds did make a little bit more of a mess with the craft and 2 year olds struggled a bit with aim during the pumpkin toss.
Everyone had tons of fun.
We hope this post will inspire you to do some fun Halloween activities with your kids!
Our main goal was to put together some budget friendly ideas that anyone could easily do.
You don't have to be super crafty, have "connections" or have lots of money to have some festive fun right at home with your kids.
We hope we've given you some fun ideas!
Thanks again to Shani and her sweet kids for partying it up with us.
It was so fun to watch our kids play and craft and have fun!
I bet Shani and I will work together again in the future so stay tuned for some more toddler and budget friendly posts from Sunshine & Munchkins and FordOlogy!
Happy Halloween Partying Mamas!
