Year: 2014

The Isabella Collection: Girls Christening Gowns

We love the convenience of one-stop shopping. That’s why we love our Girls Christening Gowns collections. Today, we’re featuring the Isabella Collection. This is a gorgeous silk gown, and a personal favorite. It is so pretty in pictures, but just wait until you see it in person!

The Isabella is a classic A-line design gown. A sumptuous silk sash ties in back. Puffed sleeves add a feminine touch. The bodice, and bonnet feature beaded lace. Silk ribbons and bows finish off this stunning design. The Isabella dress includes a cotton slip and the matching bonnet. Add a couple of our embroidery options to the slip for a keepsake that’s truly personal.

Complete the Collection

{Preslee Blanket | Preslee Bib}

Complete the Isabella Collection with the matching accessories! The Preslee blanket features the same beaded lace over silk as our Isabella gown, Preslee bib and Preslee slippers (below). A headband is less-formal, not to mention adorable! Our Preslee headband matches the Isabella gown flawlessly. Don’t forget to add a soft pima bodysuit, for baby’s ultimate comfort under her gown! Everything you’re looking for to make her special event sparkle!

{Preslee Slippers | Preslee Headband}

If you like the Isabella, we know you’ll love our Kate and Preslee Girls Christening Gowns! Each can be coordinated with the same accessories listed above for your own collection!

Boys Christening Suits: Kingston

{Kingston Silk Boys Christening Suits}

We love when little boys are all dressed up, and nothing beats our silk boys Christening suits! We’ve added the new Kingston to our collection of event outfits for boys. Let me tell you all about it! We started with a soft cotton bodyshirt. (A comfortable and classic addition to any little gentleman’s wardrobe.) Then we added clean-cut silk dress shorts and an adorable three-button suit jacket. A classic tie and visor beret hat polish off his look. We love the layers of this outfit! They add tons of versatility, so you can change up his look to get just what you want!

To complete the look we recommend: our pima sleeveless bodysuit, ribbed ankle socks, our silk booties for boys, our personalized name and date bib in silk and our silk blanket.

The Jessa Collection: Christening Gowns for Girls

The Jessa Collection

We are excited to reintroduce our Jessa christening gown as well as the matching accessories so you can have the complete collection! The Jessa is one of our best selling Christening gowns for girls, and you can see why! With its feminine ruffles and just the right touch of pink, it is simply perfect for your little girl.

The Jessa gown is made of silk dupioni, a rich creamy color, which is beautiful on baby.

The gown comes with a cotton slip, and bonnet.

If a bonnet isn’t your thing, you can purchase the Jessa headband, which matches perfectly.

We also have a blanket and shoes that are made to match the Jessa gown with the soft pink floral trim and silk dupioni.

For those that would rather not have pink, we also have the Jessa in white, just select white in the drop down menu.

Remember our post from last week about personalizing your christening outfit or gown? Well, the Jessa gown can be personalized, so it can become a keepsake for your little one.

See more Christening gowns for girls from One Small Child!

Mom Talk: What We’re Learning from Motherhood

There are three of us bloggers here at One Small Child, and like many of you, we are wearing the multi-tasking hats of mom and working woman. We are each in different stages of motherhood: Samantha is just starting out with her first little girl, now 6 months old. Katy has two spunky toddler boys (plus a darling tween girl), and Audrey is living smack in the middle of the tween zone. We regularly meet together as a team to discuss business affairs, and invariably, lots of ‘mom talk’ gets sprinkled into our conversation. Each of us is highly committed to our families, and we are all learning the art of motherhood.

We believe that one of the best ways to become a better mother is to share ideas with other mothers. It’s best not to re-invent the wheel, right? We learn so much from others who have been there before, and sometimes we just need a fresh perspective. With all this in mind, we really wanted to share our ‘mom talk’ with all you mothers out there. We hope that you’ll join in, too!

With that, we’d like to introduce ourselves and share with you what we’re learning from our current stages of motherhood.

Samantha

I’ve just started my long-awaited motherhood journey, and I love my baby girl dearly! So many feelings–unconditional love, joy and intimidation–have lingered since she arrived. Motherhood has definitely proved to be a lot different from what I expected! It is tough and a joy, beauty and boogers, all wrapped into one! I’ve come to rely (again) on my own mother for advice and support. The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know!

I’m learning to follow that ‘mom instinct’ that fortunately guides us every once in a while. It is such a learning curve, caring for a baby! Sometimes it’s hard to know what to do and what not to do. I’ve found that my gut feeling is usually right. My little family is working hard at making sure things don’t come before our time together. Developing routines that enable us to spend quality time together, while still accomplishing our commitments is definitely a balancing act! This is a tough transition, but we’re determined!

One of my favorite things to do is watch my little one while she goes about her play. Everything is so new and wonderful in her observant little eyes. I cherish the moments that I take time to live in!

How excited I am to keep growing as a mother, as my baby grows as well.

Katy

Hi, I am Katy and I am the mother of 3 little miracles. My story is unique in the fact that my family grew in ways I never imagined, but wouldn’t trade for the world. I am the mother to a 10 year old daughter, two boys, a 4 year old and 20 month old. My 10 year old is my biological daughter and my boys came to us through the miracle of adoption.

As you can imagine I am one very busy mama.

In my current stage of motherhood I am overwhelmingly grateful. After the birth of my oldest daughter we came to the realization that we may not have any more children. But through the miracle of adoption our family has grown exponentially. What a miracle! I have learned not to take these moments for granted, for they almost didn’t happen. I had always wanted a big family and to see my dream come true through a birth mother who placed her trust in me and my husband to give her children the family that she desired them to have is a very humbling experience and I want to do the best that I can.

I have learned to calm down and enjoy the noise and all the craziness that comes with these little ones. It goes by super fast.

While my job at work is important, I never want my children to feel that it was more important than them. I try hard to find a good balance and to not over commit to other projects or people, that it is okay to say “no” when needed.

These are the days to let go of the extra and focus on the day to day with my children.

Audrey

I am Mom to three kiddos, ages 8, 10 and 12 (girl, boy, girl), but everyone else calls me Audrey. I love so much about the current stage I’m in with my trio of tweens! They keep me just as busy now as they did when they were tiny(maybe even more so), but I’m truly enjoying the experience of helping them develop their talents and interests as they continue to learn and grow. It’s amazing to me how each is living true to the personality they were born with.

I think the lesson I’m learning most from motherhood right now is the need to slow down and l-i-s-t-e-n. My little family is blessed with many opportunities to work and perform and contribute, and with that comes a lot of distraction as we rush from one place to another. Life is busy, it just is. We’re all running at full steam all day (at least at my house). In all honesty, I’ve heard at least two of my children ask me to “just listen” in the last twelve hours. Sometimes it makes me sad that it’s so difficult to learn this lesson. But I’m glad for the chance to keep trying, and so I do!

We’d love to hear your thoughts: what are you learning from motherhood?

Summer Styles 2014: Elijah Blue Christening Outfits

{Elijah Blue Christening Outfits}

What says ‘little boy’ more than blue and overalls? The Elijah is our newest addition to our blue Christening outfits. We love this colorful version of our classic overall christening outfit-the Johnny. A dressy polyester shantung fabric gives the overalls a sophisticated flair. The soft white cotton bodyshirt ensures comfort for your wee one. He’ll be able to move freely in the short sleeves and legs. Covered buttons accent the overalls and an adorable visor beret hat is the perfect finishing touch. This machine washable outfit is adorable and easy to keep clean. We love these bold blue Christening outfits!

Not sure about blue for baby’s main event? The Elijah makes a colorful after-Christening outfit!

Win a Sleeveless Baby Bodysuit 3-Pack with a Free Monogram! {Closed}

Sleeveless Baby Bodysuit 3-Pack Giveaway

Our July Giveaway is going to be a quickie! Exactly how did this month zoom by so fast? Oh yeah. It’s SUMMER! Does anyone else find that to be one big juggling act? Let’s talk more about that in a few days.

So, on to the good stuff: we’d love to send you a 3-pack of our luxurious sleeveless baby bodysuits (you can pick from our camisole or sleeveless styles). To sweeten the deal, we’re offering a free monogram embroidery on one of them! Just follow the directions below to enter. Act fast, this giveaway ends in 3 days!

How to Enter this Giveaway

It’s SO EASY to enter: simply leave your name and email address in the form below. Giveaway ends Thursday, July 31st at 11:59 pm mountain time. Earn additional entries by:

-following @onesmallchild on Instagram: comment on this post with your username
-sharing our giveaway on Instagram: #oscjulygiveaway
-following us on Pinterest: comment on this post with your username
-liking us on Facebook: comment on this post with your username
-following us on Google+: comment on this post with your username

{Giveaway terms and conditions}

Summer Styles 2014: Everleigh Cotton Eyelet Dress

{Everleigh Cotton Eyelet Dress}

We’ve added another summer dress to our baby girl collection–the Everleigh. This bright white cotton eyelet dress is soft and timeless! (Did we mention machine washable?) Puffed sleeves add a feminine touch to the classic A-line structure. This shortie dress ends mid-thigh to upper knee on baby. Perfect for your little crawler! We love how versatile the Everleigh dress is! It’s perfect for summer picnic socials or as a comfy after-event dress. It also makes a sweet and simple Christening, Baptism or LDS blessing dress.

Complete the look with our cotton diaper cover, and pima-cotton camisole bodysuit. Add any of our adorable headbands to accessorize!

Summer Styles 2014: Alex Boys Christening Outfits

{The Alex Christening Outfit is a three-piece set. Includes short cotton romper, waffle-textured vest, and visor beret hat.}

We are excited to announce another addition to our summer boys Christening outfits—the Alex! This stately three-piece set is perfect for your little tiger! A subtle texture gives masculine variety to a classic three-button vest–layered comfortably over a soft cotton romper. Satin-covered buttons finish the vest and accent the beret. Short sleeves and legs keep baby cool and comfortable on his big day. Top it all off with an adorable visor beret hat! The Alex is a classic outfit that is sure to be a hit at your baby’s Christening event!

Complete his look with our pima sleeveless bodysuit, waffle textured socks and poly-cotton oxford shoes.

Happy Fourth of July from One Small Child

Holiday Fun: Family Fourth of July Activities Pinterest Roundup

Are you looking forward to all the Independence Day celebrations as much as I am this year? It’s always fun to get together with family. My family loves to play games, do crafts and watch the fun firework displays. It’s a time that we can all get together and catch up with each other.

I have been in charge of my family party on the Fourth of July for several years now, and I needed a few new Fourth of July activities for all the kids this year. I have to entertain every age from toddler to teen, which can be challenging! Not to mention I’m short on time to prepare, and I really don’t want to break the bank. So I went searching on Pinterest and found some great ideas for kids of all ages. (Are you following us on Pinterest?) Most are very inexpensive and simple to prepare. I wanted to include a craft, at least one thinking activity and a couple ‘get up and move’ activities for each age group. Here’s what I came up with:

Fourth of July Activities for Toddlers

Let’s start with the little ones: I picked a straw fireworks paint activity for their craft from ArtsyMomma.com. For their thinking activity, I chose a simple felt build-a-flag activity from LittleFamilyFun.com. The get up and move activities are water bottle bowling from RootsandWingsCo.blogspot.com and an awesome hand and foot-print flag from ParentMap.com. (Wouldn’t this be fun to involve all the kids and compare the flags as they grow each year?)

Fourth of July Activities for Kids

Next up is the kiddos. I chose a fun can wind catcher for their craft from MamaOlie.blogspot.com. I scored with this free printable patriotic bingo from Makoodle.com for their thinking game. And for their get up and move activities, I chose a simple water bottle ring toss from RootsandWingsCo.blogspot.com and fun can-do stilts from Spoonful.com. (To simplify decorating the cans, I may have construction paper to wrap the cans, and use star stickers instead of trying to let the kids paint the metal and let it dry, etc. Crepe paper would also be a less expensive alternative to ribbons for the wind-catcher.)

Fourth of July Activities for Pre-teens and Teens

Now for the older kids. I’ve planned on all these activities at least entertaining the pre-teen kids, and I’m hoping the teens will jump in and enjoy them as well. I chose ribbon dancers for their craft (A little juvenile for a teen, I know. But their “not into crafts” anyway, yeah?) from theGoldJellyBean.com. I’ll use crepe paper for these as well. Their thinking activity is a word search from FourthofJuly2013.com. (I might also do a Declaration of Independence matching game I saw briefly on theRedHeadedHostess.com that would be more challenging for the older kids.) Their get up and move activities are a balloon dart game from RootsandWingsCo.blogspot.com and a fun scavenger hunt from PartyGamesNow.com. Whew! Glad that’s all figured out!

The Challenge

Okay, here’s the monkey wrench. There is a very large, very fun fireworks display that is about 45 minutes away from our small town. After a day of food and fun activities, it’s always fun to go watch this particular firework display. However, we need to show up to claim our spot on the nice soft grass reasonably early. Otherwise we will end up with sleepy kids laying on asphalt or a big tree blocking our view. So, I need a few Fourth of July activities to take along, so the kids are entertained while we wait for the big firework show. Can I just say, Pinterest is a lifesaver? I saw this awesome pin from SugarBeeCrafts.com that is perfect! These games don’t take up a lot of travel space, and they’re very inexpensive. It’s nice that you don’t have to worry about something getting broken or left behind when packing away all the sleepy kids. (Honestly, I’ll probably end up tossing them in the trash on the way out.)

I’m excited to try out all these fun Fourth of July activities this year! I’d love your input! Have you tried any of them? Do you have any other fun Independence Day games or tips?