Confession: I’ve been a bad portrait mom. As much as I try to keep up with everything, between work and home and family, one of the casualties of this busy life has been the ritual of sit-down, formal portaits of my children. Fortunately, I’m blessed with some serious photographic talent in my family, so we have actually shot random portraits, but until recently, I haven’t followed through with printing/framing/hanging very well. This makes my mother-in-law crazy, but she still loves me. {wink}

Why does the above confession matter? The holidays are fast approaching, and I decided that for Christmas this year I would like to create small Shutterfly albums for each of my three kiddos chronicling the first year of their lives (because I’ve also been a bad scrapbook mom). I started sifting through digital files and quickly pulled together sweet little books for my younger two, then realized I didn’t have much on file of my darling first-born. How does this happen? Well, the short answer is: the digital camera we had when she was little is so archaic the files had to be specially converted, and somehow over the years, we’ve lost a lot of images. (Back to that printing problem I’ve already explained.) Boo.

This morning Grammie came to the rescue! She dropped by with an external drive filled with portrait sessions of my babies, sessions I had completely forgotten. One of those sessions included this image of my sweet little one in her original Jessa blessing dress. Phew!

So this whole episode got me to thinking: do you have similar experiences? Do you find that some things you’d like to do fall by the wayside in the crush of busy-ness and responsibility that is the life of a mother or grandmother today? I’d love to know what those things are…and that I’m not alone in not having *everything* as together as I’d like.  

Just for fun: all those who join in conversation in the comments section of this post before 10 p.m. (Mountain Time) Wednesday, September 15th will be entered in a random drawing for a $25 gift certificate to One Small Child. One entry per person, but feel free to converse away!

We’ve been talking a lot lately about christening celebrations, and I’m thrilled to be able to share details from this at-home event. Life-long friends Stephanie and Kimberle just launched a beautiful new website called Nurtured Path, and posted there about Stephanie’s recent backyard christening.

I love that they put so much thought into what worked for their family and friends, and that everything came together in an elegant, comfortable way with attention to the most important details.

Take a moment to drop by Nurtured Path, read more about this lovely event, and soak in all the loveliness there!

A cheerful smile compliments of Holly’s baby boy (Sigh. The sight of a little guy who just KNOWS he’s adorable gets me every time!).

“Just wanted to send a thank-you! My son looked so handsome on his baptism day and we got a lot of compliments on his outfit. Many people asked me where I got it! … His outfit will be a cherished keepsake to me always.”

Whew–our warehouse sale was a great success, and we so enjoyed seeing our local friends! I wish you all could have come.

With that, it’s on to new fun stuff, starting with this little guy you see here. Isn’t baby Stratton to-die-for-adorable? He’s modeling our classic Dillon christening outfit, which as of today, has been marked down from $64.99 to $44.99…you can’t beat a $20 savings, and this short-leg, short-sleeved blessing outfit is perfect for late summer events. Order yours today!

(Sale prices not applicable to previous purchases.)

It’s getting close! Over the past weeks, I’ve been unpacking and hanging and sorting and moving an unreal amount of pretties for our first-ever Warehouse Sale coming up this Friday and Saturday. There’s still tons to do to get ready, but I thought I’d share a few teasers. {grin}

If you’re local (or even relatively local), be sure to come, and bring friends! This is a perfect opportunity to stock up on an amazing selection of finery for babies and girls at prices up to 90% off retail! They’ll come in handy for future blessings, baptisms, weddings, portraits…you name it.

The sale runs Friday and Saturday from 8 am to 2 pm (we’ll stay longer if needed). Our warehouse is located at 26 N. 470 W. Blackfoot, Idaho (just off Highway 39). Call (208-785-2521) or email with questions. Gotta run…lots to do to get ready!

(P.S. Congrats to R. Martin, the winner of our Beau-Coup $25 gift certificate!)

Your child’s blessing or baptism day is a once in a lifetime event, a day you’ll remember for the rest of your life. It can take a lot of time and effort to put everything together: there’s the ceremony to arrange, pretty christening clothes (of course!) to find, invitations to send, after-ceremony dinners and parties to plan, photographs to document it all. We do these things to mark the significance of the glad occasion, and to enjoy the companionship and support of our friends and loved ones.

Here’s a time-saving tip for any who might be drowning in details: order personalized party favors! Favors are a great way to show a small token of thanks to those who come forward to participate and rejoice with you; they lend a touch of thoughtfulness and a punch of personality to your party…and they can be very time consuming. Fortunately, the talented folks at Beau Coup offer an extensive selection of favors for all your celebration needs, and each is easily personalized to fit your event. Here are a few of my favorites from their gorgeous line of Baptism and Christening favors:

Mmmm, darling jars of sweet honey:

Personalized ribbon: your own name, date or special phrase added to this luscious satin ribbon will lend an elegant, sentimental air to anything you wrap it with…the options are endless!

Personalized hand sanitizer…so practical! And CUTE!

And my all time favorite: caramel popcorn…good times, there!

Beau Coup has generously offered a $25 gift certificate for one lucky reader! To enter, share your favorite Beau Coup party favor in a comment on this post. For additional entries, follow us on Twitter or tweet about the giveaway…just drop another comment here to notify me of your add/tweet. This giveaway will end on Monday, July 12th at 10:00 pm MDST.

If you’re currently melting in sweltering heat, take a moment to gaze at this adorable baby boy, visualize the sensation of being all cozy when it’s freezing outside, and get back to enjoying your summer! Thanks to his mama for sharing!

“I just wanted to say we loved the Braxton outfit for our son. It was perfect for a winter Baptism and he looked adorable. We searched for a long time and were so happy to find something that worked.” – Kimberly

That’s right! We’ve been cleaning house, and boy, do we have a lot of scorching deals for everyone within driving distance! Here’s the lowdown:

When: July 30 & 31, 2010 … from 8 am to 2 pm
Where: 26 N. 470 W. Blackfoot, Idaho

We’ll have a large selection of:
christening ~ baptism ~ blessing gowns and outfits
flower girl dresses
communion ~ LDS baptism dresses
baby blankets, booties, bonnets
beautiful knit baby sweaters, rompers and dresses
warm and cozy velour baby outfits and blankets
wide variety of holiday baby dresses

Prices start at $3.00, nothing over $35.00!

Feel free to contact us with any questions…we’d love to hear from you and can’t wait to see you, your friends and family–let them all know!

P.S. Thanks to all who entered our christening bodysuit giveaway this week, and congratulations to our winner, Claude, we’ll send your AWESOME set of camisole bodysuits out right away!

No doubt about it, when it comes to planning your christening or other special occasion, there is a lot to think about! Personally, I find myself easily overwhelmed at the idea of putting a big event together, and the perfectionist in me feeds the procrastinator…which turns into its own vicious cycle. {wink}

If you’re like me, the best place to begin is to take a bit of time and think about what is most important to you, envision how you want this special day to look and feel, find some inspiration (like these photos from Christi at P is for Party!, who featured this absolutely gorgeous christening and adoption celebration) and then make a list of the details that are most important to you. Figure out your time frame, make a budget and an actionable checklist and dig in! Enlist the help of willing family and friends, do what you can do, and most important, remember to relax and enjoy your special day. 

When it comes down to it, the activities and events you plan are closely tied to tradition. Each family and culture has its own style of entertaining and celebrating special events. The amount of planning and preparation involved in these gatherings is directly proportional to that style and covers a broad spectrum. Is your style impromptu, no-frills and laid-back or formal and elegant with minute attention to detail?

Finally! Warm weather is here, and I couldn’t be happier. I’m loving sleeping with open windows, feeling sweet, gentle breezes on my skin, and picnics with my kiddos. 

To celebrate, we’ve decided to offer a giveaway for one of my all-time favorite products: our sleeveless infant bodysuits! I put my last baby in them, and have to tell you that it was a sad day for me when she grew out of them. These  fit perfectly under anything and provide that little touch of coverage you need for diapers and covering the gap between a warm day and a cool evening…and maybe it’s just me, but I always had that cutie pie riding on my hip, and wrapping my arm around a onesie-clad body was a lot more comfortable than a clammy naked torso. {wink}

We offer styles for both girls AND boys…winner gets their pick of THREE plush pima cotton bodysuits. Leave a comment to enter. For additional entries, you can follow us on Twitter, or join us on Facebook…just drop a comment here to notify me of your add. This giveaway will end on Thursday, July 1st at 10:00 pm MDST.

And enjoy your summer, mmmkay?  

photo credit: Paisley Studios