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I should have admitted this to myself about a year and a half ago… evidently the toddler years end around age 2 1/2. I’ve been holding onto that term “toddler” because I am not quite ready to admit my little guy is growing up. I’m in love with each and every stage he has leaped right through. I’m happy he is growing up. It just seems so fast!

Four years ago today I was in labor waiting to meet my little man. This weekend we will be celebrating his 4th birthday. How does it all happen so quickly?

I’m of course in the midst of planning his 4th birthday party. Last year we did a simple pizza party with friends and family and I don’t think I even took any photos because I was just enjoying the day. This year, being his last birthday as an only-child, I wanted to do something to make it a little more special. I don’t believe parties have to be big or elaborate to be special, so it is still a small pizza party with friends and family. But, we are pulling out a few special items to help give him a few moments before little brother gets here and the attention gets shared.

This year we are doing a “rock n’ roll” themed party, because my kid is completely rock n’ roll. He loves music, clothes, the spot light, mohawks, and just “rocking out.” Our gift to him, which is larger than any gift we would normally give, is actually a double gift in a way that it is going to be our way of continually and intentionally connecting with him after baby brother arrives. He will be getting drum lessons from his drummer uncle and then my husband and I will take turns going out and practicing with him on his brand new set of drums. We will get half an hour to a full hour of one on one time with him and will get to learn something fun and new. We’ve seen him on a drum set before and know he loves them. I hope that he loves this gift!

Drums as Fourth Birthday Present

My kiddo is turning four... how did that happen so fast?

 

This little guy grew up on this blog and I thought I’d share some of my favorite posts dedicated to my Well Crafted Kid…

 

A Well Crafted Kid:

 

A Well Crafted Kid’s Birthday Parties:

 

And, because it is World Breastfeeding Week check out my series on breast feeding (both the ups and downs) that was published in 2012 and featured the experiences of several different moms!

 

A few months ago, near the beginning of my pregnancy, I had the pleasure of visiting our local Dream Dinners for a blogger dining experience. I had a great time at the event, getting to make the meals was super easy and it was a ton of fun seeing blogging friends and catching up while making the meals. The whole time I couldn’t help but think how the event would have been perfect for a baby shower or baby sprinkle.

The Dream Dinners Experience

When you sign up for the Dream Dinners experience you get the opportunity to pick a date to visit the store, a variety of dishes (the menu changes each month) and number of servings. On the date of your visit you get to join others in prepping your meals. At the end of the two hours you’ll go home with your meals ready to go into the freezer for whenever you are ready for a quick and delicious meal with all the instructions ready to go. You can choose to do this experience on any of the open sessions, invite friends along or schedule a private session for just you and your friends.

Throw a Baby Shower with Dream Dinners — A Well Crafted Party

Throw a Baby Shower with Dream Dinners — A Well Crafted Party

Okay, okay… so, maybe the idea of prepping dinners doesn’t sound super thrilling to you. I get it. When I have to cook dinner I don’t especially love the process. But, what I do love, is going to a place where everything has been prepped for me and I don’t have to do any of the dishes! Check out the organization skills… gotta love the good use of a label maker.

The cost of the meal includes all of the food items that you can follow to the recipe or decide to customize by leaving out ingredients that picky eaters may not enjoy. It also includes the packaging and cooking instructions. There are additional sides and meals already prepped and ready for purchase in the store as well. I bought a few sides and breakfast meals to throw in our freezer at home in addition to the meals I made at the event.

So, how does it all taste?

It was great! The whole family really loved the meals that we tried and the instructions were super easy to follow. My husband actually made all three meals the days that we ate them and didn’t have any problems following the instructions. He isn’t a novice in the kitchen, but there is no way he’d have been able to whip up the Chateau Chicken with Almond Butter Sauce on his own. In addition to the Chateau Chicken I tried Arroz Con Pollo and Limoncello Shrimp with Coconut Rice.

Note: Dream Dinners does have some availability in customizing a recipe or two by leaving out an ingredient you may or may not like. But, it isn’t super customizable when it comes to items that are gluten, allergy or meat free. Check out the site’s Health and Nutrition FAQs for more info on this. The menus are available on-line as well, so you do get quite a few options in what meals you and your family would like. In addition, the packaging includes lots of plastic bags and aluminum. While much better than a frozen meal at the grocery store, it isn’t the most eco-friendly.

 

Throw a Baby Shower with Dream Dinners — A Well Crafted Party

How to throw a Dream Dinners Baby Shower

When I was in my first pregnancy I worked about 25 hours a week and I had maybe a 15 minute commute. I also didn’t have a toddler. I prepped for the baby coming by making a LOT of frozen meals. As a matter of fact, I was prepping large portions of spaghetti and meatballs for freezing the whole beginning stages of labor. The meals were so fantastic the first month of our kiddo’s life.

This pregnancy has been….well, different. I have a full time gig, commute 1 hour each way and a toddler. Not complaining, I love my life. But, the idea of spending my little free time prepping meals for after the baby arrives is not super appealing. A showering of pre-made meals sounds like the perfect baby shower or baby sprinkle for someone who may have most of the baby gear all ready to go.

Read on to find out how to throw a Dream Dinners baby shower!

This bright pregnancy announcement is welcoming the new addition to the party! // A Well Crafted Party

A few months ago we got the news that we are adding one more to our little party. The new addition has RSVPd for November 10, 2015 and we can’t wait to welcome him or her to our family!

If you know me, you know I like to celebrate the tiniest of moments. Sharing the news that we are having our second child feels like just the right type of thing to celebrate! I’ve struggled with the fact that the second pregnancy doesn’t feel as special to me as the first one did. I’m just as happy about it, just as excited for baby number two, but if feels a little less celebrated none-the-less. It became important to me to make sure I took a little time to celebrate the news of this baby. Of course, we are saving our pennies for the second baby (we know how expensive these things are now!), so didn’t want to do anything over-the-top, but still wanted to celebrate the new addition.

I partnered with Kohl’s to help me celebrate baby number two. Kohl’s is currently striving to be top of mind for families as they celebrate the special moments in life, big or small, together. Their current goal to help be present in the everyday and the extra special moments in life made me very excited to see how they could help me celebrate my second baby. I already love Kohl’s and shop there often. The deals that they offer are hard to beat, and I can find something for the entire family in one shopping trip.

We're welcoming baby number two with a small celebration welcoming him or her to our family. // A Well Crafted Party We aren't sure if he is more excited about getting to eat the cupcake or becoming a big brother! Our family is excited to welcome baby number two to this crazy party that is our life! Our family is excited to welcome baby number two to this crazy party that is our life! I've had all the typical pregnancy cravings including peanut butter and pickles! A welcoming celebration for baby isn't complete without them!

Kohl’s helped us celebrate in a variety of different ways! I knew I’d be able to find the men in the family some clothes for the party, but what I didn’t know is that they also carried baby items, housewares AND maternity wear! The items we found at Kohl’s included:

  • Ninja Blender which is not only good for a daily smoothie packed full of nutritious items that are good for the growing baby, but will come in handy after the baby is here and I’m making his or her food. (Stay tuned for a fun non-alcoholic dessert smoothie coming to the blog this week!)
  • Food Network’s Three Tiered Party Platter…awesome for all the obvious reasons.
  • Evenflo Convertible Highchair – We gave away nearly all of our baby items from when my son was a baby. Finding an affordable high chair on Kohls.com that would grow with the baby made my day. This highchair comes apart and becomes a small chair and table that is perfect for a toddler!
  • Just Born Security Blankets – these are my favorite blankets to swaddle the little one with after delivery. I was thrilled that Kohl’s had them in the grey and yellow print.
  • Small cuddle toy with blanket
  • Maternity Dress
  • Toddler Shirt
  • Men’s Shirt

The best part is that I was able to get all of the above items with a savings of nearly 50% off if I had gotten them all at full price. It made our money go further, which is more important than ever right now!

These free printables are perfect for your own welcome baby celebration! // A Well Crafted Party

You know me… no party is complete without free printables! Click the items below to download and print off your own celebration!

Thank you to Kohl’s for sending me a gift card to explore how your products could help me celebrate a life event. I’ve been a fan of Kohl’s for some time and spent my own money as well as the gift card. All opinions are my own. Thank you to readers for supporting the companies that help support this blog.