Lets train

Now that I have had 3 kids, I have been thinking about how my parenting has changed & evolved over the past 5 1/2 years of Motherhood.

One of the most obvious things that has changed from Baby #1 to Baby #3 is my diaper bag (or lack of).

This was my diaper bag when I had Kate:

I took it EVERYWHERE with me. It was huge. And, because I was a first time mom, I wanted a "name brand" diaper bag. I researched & researched diaper bags & got this Peutina Pickle Bottom at Nordstrom for a ridiculous amount of money. (Shaking my head)

This is what I had in Kate's diaper bag:

This is what I used when I had Claire.

I ditched the huge Diaper Bag and used this:

It contained a built in changing pad & fit in my big purse.
This held:

Fast forward a few years & here I am with Baby #3.

It has been YEARS since I carried a diaper bag 

(Luke is almost 4 years younger than Claire & 5.5 year younger than Kate)

 I didn't want to use a diaper bag with him, so this is what he gets:

That's right. 

A ziplock bag that I keep in my purse with a couple of diapers & a pack of wipes.

No change of outfit, no pacifier, no spare onesie. 

In fact, he had a blow out the other day and since I had no back up outfit, he just rode home in a diaper with no clothes on.

But, hey! Luke's "diaper bag" is the only one that is "monogrammed" Ha!

I am much more relaxed & go with the flow this time around & my diaper bag situation is proof of that!

Any other moms out there who ditched the diaper bag after their 1st or 2nd baby?

We love to have friends over to play in our backyard.

Our yard is huge (for our city) and perfect for t-ball, Frisbee, volleyball, and football.

I thought it would be fun to add a bean bag toss game to our collection.

Using scraps from the garage, my handy husband made a pair. 

Then, I sewed two sets of bean bags. 

(I helped a little with the woodwork, and he helped me cut out the fabric. We make a good team!)

Here's how to make your own bag bean toss game:

First, we cut the plywood to equal sizes. 

Johnny added front support to the wood to raise it off the ground. 

He used wood glue to attach the front 2x4 and then clamped it down.

We used an old paint can to trace the circle.

We were lacking a jigsaw, so we used a saw-zall (aka a reciprocating saw) to cut the shape.

Not bad huh?

After they were built, we sanded down the rough edges and the front of the games. 

We gave them a coat of bright blue paint, which was leftover from painting the nursery three years ago.

While the blue paint dried, I sewed six bean bags. Three were a poinsettia fabric, and the other three were another Christmas fabric. Yes, you read correctly. . . Christmas fabric. I didn't know I was out of scrap fabric until I had the sewing machine all set up, and the store was closed. 

 We've had a lot of fun tossing these bean bags around. 

I hope these pictures help you create your own game!