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Baby Rabies

pregnancy & parenting

  • Start Here
    • About Baby Rabies
    • Baby Registry Top Picks
    • Favorite Pregnancy Apps
  • The Book
  • Pregnancy
    • Birth Stories
    • Perinatal Mood Disorders
  • Parenthood
    • Babies
    • Toddlers
    • School Age Kids
    • Parenting LOLZ
  • Photography
    • Photography

      6 Stunning Photos You Would Never Guess Were…

      February 11, 2019

      Photography

      Simple Tips For Editing Snow Photos On Your…

      December 13, 2018

      Photography

      I Wrote A Photography eBook And This Is…

      December 6, 2018

      Photography

      Creative Lighting Ideas To Help You Take Great…

      November 27, 2018

      Photography

      Learn How To Take And Edit Photos On…

      November 19, 2018

  • Reviews
    • Reviews

      The Answer To Last Minute Holiday Gifting For…

      December 19, 2018

      Reviews

      I Was Never A Barbie Girl Until Now

      October 1, 2018

      Reviews

      Finally! Jeans For My Jean-Averse Kids!

      August 22, 2018

      Reviews

      If Your Kid Loves Dump Trucks & Garbage…

      August 13, 2018

      Reviews

      Nobody Tell My Kids ABC Mouse Is Part…

      September 4, 2017

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minted

5 Things I’m Loving This Cyber Monday
BabiesLifestyleTech

5 Things I’m Loving This Cyber Monday

by Jill November 28, 2016
written by Jill

The turkey is officially all gone at our house, thanks to a giant pot of turkey soup I made for dinner last night. (It’s just chicken soup, but with turkey because I am super creative.)  The trees are up. The toddler is sneaking candy canes every chance he gets. Joy! Merry! Bring on the holidays!

So while I’m in holiday prep/nesting mode, I thought I’d share a few things I’m loving right now that you might love, too.

1. First, the Santa’s Bag app is rocking my Christmas list right now, while also holding me accountable to a budget.

screen-shot-2016-11-27-at-10-43-34-pm

I love that it’s so easy to add gift ideas for each person, then mark them as purchased, wrapped, given, and even allows you to add a note about where it’s stored! How many gifts have I forgotten I’ve purchased until I randomly find them the next year? It’s embarrassing. Only thing to be careful about is there doesn’t seem to be a password function, so prying eyes may be able to easily access all this info if they know how to work their way around your phone.

2. Another great app that I’m checking a lot right now is the Slickdeals app (it’s also on Google Play). Even if you just check the “Frontpage” a few times a day, you’re going to find some really great deals. Be sure to read the comments. You can learn a lot about a deal and if it’s a good fit for what you need.  The biggest con to having this app is the urge to buy stuff just because it’s such a great sale. Related: I’m using an app that holds me to a budget this year.

3. We are about 3 weeks-ish out from baby’s arrival, so it’s this weird place where I don’t want to send out holiday cards before he comes. Plus, I don’t want to stress about birth announcements in addition to holiday cards. I’ve worked with Minted a lot over the years, and they are stepping in to save the day again, this time with combo holiday/birth announcement cards! Here are a few designs I’m currently considering…

minted_babyrabies_2

Ideally, I’ll have all my addresses updated in the Address Assistant by the time baby gets here. Then all I have to do is upload our pictures as soon as I have them, and Minted will print the cards AND the envelopes, complete with addresses. Recipient addressing is free! All we’ll have to do is stuff, seal, and stamp. I’m hoping I can pay the kids to do that part.

If you’re in the market for holiday cards still, or anything that Minted sells (and they sell SO much beautiful stuff), their Cyber Monday deal is 20% off EVERYTHING with code CM2016.

4. One of the best stocking stuffers I ever got for Scott was a gift card to Dollar Shave Club. They aren’t having any big CM deals that I can find, but if you’re as stumped as I am about what to put in your partner’s stocking (and this is also EXCELLENT for women, too- I exclusively use their razors), get you one of these.

5. Finally, if you want to get a head start on Giving Tuesday (which is tomorrow) and still want to take advantage of come Cyber Monday free shipping, check out the St. Jude Gift Book. You may remember I got to visit St. Jude Children’s Hospital earlier this year. It was an eye-opening experience in so many ways, and I truly think they are a worthy cause to support.

You can view their gift book here:

And order online here.

They have so much, from cute coffee mugs and t-shirts, to aprons and home decor. And a portion of every sale goes straight to St. Jude.

This Maya Angelou Inspirational Lantern is one of my very favorite pieces.

screen-shot-2016-11-28-at-10-56-39-am

Okay, gotta go! To Target! Did you know you get 15% off storewide there today? (A few exclusions apply.) I saved SO much money yesterday, but forgot a few things we…er… need. Yeah, we need them. We need them more than I need to clean this house. Promise.

November 28, 2016 2 comments
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Minted Holiday Happiness- 3 Winners!
LifestylePhotographyReviews

Minted Holiday Happiness- 3 Winners!

by Jill November 19, 2015
written by Jill

There are few routines we have in our life that I honor as much as the holiday photo card.

Okay, so sometimes we’ve had to make them New Years cards… and then there was the one year when I was in the first trimester with Lowell. I shot, designed and printed the cards, and then I neglected to actually mail them. Oops!

All that matters, though, is that we end up with one to frame and put out with the rest of our Christmas decorations. I mean, yeah, of course I want to send tidings of good cheer to the people we love. Of course!

But nothing warms my heart as much as the sight of them all lined up and framed, going way back to the very first Christmas Scott and I spent together. Naturally, we took pictures with our dogs back then. (And I thought that was hard…. lolol! Hashtag: toddlers.)

A photo posted by Jill Krause (@babyrabies) on Dec 21, 2014 at 1:29pm PST

We’ve used a lot of companies over the years, but Minted is, for sure, at the top of my list. I love that they use independent artists to design for them, and the print quality is top notch.

IMG_5684

My very favorite feature, though, is the addressing. I spent an hour typing in addresses via my Minted account a couple years ago, and now it’s super easy to select, edit, or add recipients. Then BOOM. They come with addresses printed on the front, and I upgrade to have our return address printed on the back because that’s 100% worth it.

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Trust me when I say that this picture is adorable. Trying not to spoil it for our friends and family. You’ve already seen my outfit that Stitch Fix helped me put together.

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There’s no way these aren’t getting sent. And that gold foil? Gonna look soooo good framed and on our mantle. And also in my loved one’s mailboxes. Of course!

Okay- BEST NEWS! I’ve got THREE $100 credits to Minted to giveaway. THREE!!

Just go here to enter. That’s it. Good luck!!

3 winners will be chosen randomly by Minted at 11:59 pm on 11/24/15 and will be notified via email shortly after.

Big thanks to Minted for providing our cards for us this year. Minted links are affiliate. 

November 19, 2015 2 comments
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Family Photos Made Easier & A Stitch Fix Giveaway
Fashion & FitnessParenthoodPhotographyReviews

Family Photos Made Easier & A Stitch Fix Giveaway

by Jill November 11, 2015
written by Jill

Stitch Fix is sponsoring this post, which means I have a sweet giveaway for you at the end!

I have a love/hate relationship with family photos. I think we probably all do.

I love the finished product.

I hate how stressed I feel leading up to them- getting the kids dressed and begging them to cooperate, worrying that someone will find a piece of chocolate minutes before we leave and smear it all over their shirt, pleading for everyone to PLEASE keep their fingers out of their mouth and nose for literally 2 seconds at a time while pictures are snapped, reminding all to smile but not like that, you don’t have to show ALL your teeth! Let’s not forget how hard it is to torture my daughter by brushing her hair.

And that doesn’t even touch the pressure of finding everyone something to wear… of finding ME something to wear.

This year I got my Stitch Fix stylist involved, and everything came together so much easier. I’ve been using Stitch Fix for nearly 2 years now! My stylist has a very special place in my heart. She gets me. So I told her I had family pictures coming up, and she took control, sending me a great pair of pants that could be paired with a lot of what I already have or one of the 3 tops in my fix.

Oh yeah, you can totally do that! I always tell friends to be super descriptive and clear about what you want from your next fix. And if you have family photos coming up, tell them! If you want to be dressed in certain colors, tell them! Tell them where you’re getting the pictures taken. Pin inspiration photos to your Stitch Fix board. (You do have one of those, right?)

Read why I’m okay with Stitch Fix’s prices.

Sure enough, my stylist nailed it. I fell in love with the combo of the Jonathon Skinny Cords by Kut From The Kloth, and the Wiley Split Neck Blouse by Daniel Rainn. Scott has a great gray sweater that would coordinate, but not be too matchy matchy so I pulled that out and took a picture of all three pieces together to use as inspiration as I planned the rest.

clothes

Here’s how I went about tying us all together:

  1. I started with my outfit. It’s 100x easier to find clothes for every other member in this family. I based what everyone wore around what I loved on me the most. Because I’m the mom and I can, dammit.
  2. I chose a neutral color family that coordinated with my outfit- gray & black. I stuck with this for the boys, being sure to not dress them identically.
  3. I picked one color to accent with. The tiny pops of mint in my shirt were my inspiration for Leyna’s sweater.
  4. I didn’t avoid patterns but I was sure to keep them varied in scale. The print on my shirt is small and intricate, the snowflakes on Kendall’s shirt are larger, the polka dots on Leyna’s skirt are less pronounced. Scott and Lowell’s neutral tops helped with the cohesiveness.

Now, this isn’t the best photo we got, or the one that’s going to end up on our Minted holiday cards, but it shows our outfits off pretty well.

IMG_5548

Next week, I’ll have the official Minted cards to show you. I took advantage of their Free Foil Event (20% off all foil products, including prints until 11/16), and can’t wait to see the finished product when they get here!

Since Stitch Fix & Minted are a sweet little dream of a couple when it comes to getting swoon-worthy holiday cards, I’m SO pumped about this. In this post, I’m giving away TWO $50 Stitch Fix credits! And next week? Stay tuned for some Minted happiness.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

November 11, 2015 5 comments
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When You Move In November, Your Holiday Pix Include Boxes & Paintbrushes
Home Decor & DIYReviews

When You Move In November, Your Holiday Pix Include Boxes & Paintbrushes

by Jill December 23, 2014
written by Jill

Guess what?! I got our cards out before Christmas this year!

Guess what else? I ordered them so long ago because they were supposed to go out before December.

 

Christmas Moving Announcement- Decorate a ladder with tinsel, bows and a paint can. Stage some moving boxes with bows. Tie the kids to the dolly with lights. Pose with paint brushes! | BabyRabies.com

When Minted offered to do our cards again this year, I was so excited, but then thought maybe I should do moving announcements instead. People were going to need to know our new address before they sent out cards.

The Minted team then pointed me to the perfect solution- holiday moving announcements! And I found the perfect one.

Amongst many boxes and paint cans, we pulled together a self-timed photo….

Christmas Moving Announcement- Decorate a ladder with tinsel, bows and a paint can. Stage some moving boxes with bows. Tie the kids to the dolly with lights. Pose with paint brushes! | BabyRabies.com

After about 27 tries…

Christmas Moving Announcement- Decorate a ladder with tinsel, bows and a paint can. Stage some moving boxes with bows. Tie the kids to the dolly with lights. Pose with paint brushes! | BabyRabies.com

Annnnnd then I didn’t mail the cards out until last Friday- after I answered many, many texts, emails and calls requesting our new mailing address.

Whoops!

For me, happiness is largely dictated by lowering expectations at times like this, so YAY for the cards going out before Christmas!

 

December 23, 2014 15 comments
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Puppy Themed 1st Birthday Party
BabiesCrafty!EntertainingReviews

Puppy Themed 1st Birthday Party

by Jill August 4, 2014
written by Jill

PuppyThemed1stBirthday

A huge thanks to Minted for sponsoring Lowell’s birthday party and this post!

Lowell is always happy. His open mouth smiles, and eager greetings, his love for fetching balls, and his slobbery kisses have meant from nearly the moment he came into our lives he was our “little puppy.” That, in combination with his actual love (and I mean loooovvvvvee) for our chocolate lab, lead to an easy idea for his 1st birthday party.

Note: I will call this a “Puppy Party” but please know there were no actual puppies involved.

I began searching for and pinning ideas for his party earlier this year, but I wondered if, realistically, I’d pull any of it off. He’s my 3rd baby. Life is super chaotic these days. He’s. My. 3rd. Baby.

Enter Minted. I’ve worked with them before on holiday cards and Lowell’s birth announcements. When I learned they had customizable party decor in a puppy party theme, I felt like I actually could pull the whole thing off.

I ordered a few custom touches that made the whole event, from invitations to the favors that left with our guests, feel like it was custom in a this-took-a-lot-of-time way. Except it didn’t. And that was perfect because, again, 3rd baby.

Puppy Party Bunting

Let me pause here to say that 1st birthdays are, like, my favorite. Because they are not for the babies. They are for my husband and me. They are for US surviving another year with an infant. There are grownups and grownup drinks and grownup conversation. Kendall and Leyna both had awesome 1st birthdays, and I wasn’t about to miss out on that this time around.

I half-homemade the cake and “pup-cakes.” Starting with some box cake mix, and adding some homemade cream cheese frosting. I got the inspiration for the “kibble” on top from this blog, but went with Reeses cereal instead because I loved the mixed colors.

PuppyCakeByBabyRabies

Lowell’s smash cake was so stupid easy and just super lucky. I lucked out on the actual dog bowl (more on that in a bit), and that the small cake pan I already had made a cake that fit inside it perfectly. From there, all I had to do was frost and top with cereal and a candle.

Puppy Party Kibble Favors

I also filled paper lunch bags that we already had with Reeses Puffs cereal, and sealed them with some Minted puppy stickers. Then popped a label on the front that read “LoLo Kibble Co.” (We adopted the nickname LoLo for him from our 3 year old daughter.)

Puppy Party Favors

I feel like this party theme was destiny because one late night a month ago, I stumbled upon these chalkboard dog bowls from Williams Sonoma on super clearance with an additional 20% off and free shipping. I got 12 of them shipped for $75.

I am a sucker for fun favors, and I especially love when they are practical. These bowls are food safe, and make great cereal bowls! So each kid took home a bowl, a bag of LoLo Kibble Co. cereal and a tennis ball.

Puppy Party Bone Buffet

That fire hydrant was on sale from Land of Nod, and the cupcake holder was simply a cardboard Wilton cupcake stand decorated with a roll of mini Duck Tape.

Puppy Party Bone Buffet Sign

The table runner and signage were all by Minted. We decided a simple “bone buffet” would be a great way to feed everyone. The “bones” consisted of pretzel sticks, chicken strips, pb&j and cream cheese & honey sandwiches cut out with a bone cookie cutter, and Scooby-Doo graham crackers.

Puppy Party Bone Buffet

Most of it was served in inexpensive (new) stainless steel dog bowls that we can re-purpose or donate to the local animal shelter.

For drinks, we served beer, wine, sangria and soda for the adults….

Toilet Water for Puppy Party

And “toilet water” for the kids (h/t to a Facebook commenter who suggested that!). It was just blue fruit punch.

Puppy Party drinks for kids

I wasn’t about to give 12 kids blue fruit punch in cups with no lids, so we stocked up on some Take-n-Toss straw cups, and replaced the straws with paper straws, decorated with flags from Minted.

puppy party drinks for kids

Minted also sent me this gorgeous art print of one of my favorite pics I’ve taken of Lowell, loving on our dog. It made a beautiful, subtle decoration on the mantle of our fireplace, and will soon find a home on a wall.

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We rented a bounce house for the day. That was not a bad use of money.

1st birthday bounce house

We called it the “dog house.” Obviously.

Puppy party bounce house dog house

And despite being super sleepy because he was too excited to take a single nap that day…

sleepy baby at puppy party

the birthday boy had a great time.

puppy party 1st birthday

So suspicious of the fire.

puppy party 1st birthday

Oh look! Fire looks fun!

puppy party 1st birthday

I think he initially thought I failed as a mother and gave him a bowl of cereal. Puppy Party smash cake

But then he discovered the cake within, and all was well.

puppy party smash cake

1st Birthday Party, the 3rd time complete! And I only went a little bit crazy planning it. 

August 4, 2014 159 comments
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