Big Brother Luke and Baby Jake

We've been trying to prepare Luke for becoming a big brother.  He's not even quite 2 yet, but he is a pretty smart kid- so he knows something is up with my belly.  We got him a little baby brother doll, just to give him the general idea of some things we might be doing with the baby.  He points out babies all the time when we are out, and he even seems to like them!  Luke is such a sweet boy, so I know he will be a great big brother.  Most days he kisses and hugs my belly all on his own, and says "Hi Baby Jake."

We pulled out the infant carseat so I could get it cleaned up.  Luke immediately jumped in- I think he is a little big now though... Then we practiced putting the baby in and buckling him up.

This one was completely his idea.  He wanted baby brother doll to ride the bike with him.  He was even trying to sit him on the seat and teach him by himself.

This will be Baby Jake's going home from the hospital outfit.  I thought it was adorable.

And here is the cutest little face that I just can't wait to see.  Ok, I can wait 2.5 more months for him to bake, but then I can't wait to see him!

And his little baby feets all curled up.  For the half a second that he wasn't kicking me and moving around in there.

We can't wait to be the parents of two crazy little boys.  Chasing each other around, playing with some sort of ball all day long, playing race cars, and hopefully lots of cuddling will continue!

Brown Sugar Body Scrub gifts

This year I wanted to make something for my female friends and family that was fun and easy and girly.  I also wanted to make it so I could use it myself!  I love using the sugar and salt scrubs in the shower.  Through the magic of Pinterest, I learned that they could be pretty easy to just make at home as well.  It took a few tests of different types of oil and different smells. 

I liked the smell of coconut oil in them, but in the shower it really smelled awful.  It could be the pregnancy nose, but there was no way I was going to give that to people I like.

So it turned out that I just used pure glycerin and Vitamin E oil for the moisturizing part of the scrub.

Here is the final recipe:

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

4 Tablespoons Pure Glycerin (I found it at CVS)

2 Tablespoons Vitamin E oil (Trader Joe's)

2 Tablespoons salt (to preserve)

A few drops of Jasmine oil to your smell preference.  

I found the little scoops through Etsy.  Got the jars from the Container Store.  I found the free printable labels through this site.

I was pretty happy with the way they turned out, and I use mine in the shower almost every day.  Feels especially good as a foot scrub.  I like that it's natural and not full of the chemicals you might find in store bought varieties.  It was really simple and easy to tailor to your own smell preferences as well.