Please Pray

I'm passing along a huge prayer request. Our bestest friends, Eric and Erin are in the process of adopting a baby boy, Julien. He was born on Monday, and doing Ok until yesterday when he was moved to the NICU first and then to the Children's Hospital. There is an acid build up in his body and something metabolically is not breaking down (doctors mentioned fats or proteins). So far the acid has not caused damage to his liver, kidneys or brain. We are appealing to everyone to pray (with the blessing of Eric and Erin) for a full, speedy recovery for Julien.

Taking Matters Into My Own Hands

I'm so excited to put this up, cause I'm proud that aside from some loose tension on my sewing machine, this project has really worked out!!!
I have always been dissatisfied with diaper bags. When Emma was born we got a large chunk of money from someone, so I treated myself to an expensive bag from BabyStyle, that was one of the only ones I found that just looked liked a regular bag. It had no bottle pockets on the outside (which scream, "I'm a diaper bag!"), and it just looked like a regular messenger bag in a camo green. Inside, however, it only had 1 zipper pocket, and there were 2 pockets on the outside that held my wallet and phone. Being super organized (the Container Store makes my heart skip a beat) I have always wanted lots of pockets inside my diaper bag, but it seems that its almost impossible to find a regular looking bag with lots of pockets...that is also affordable!
When Siri was born I bought a cute bag from PacSun (I'm addicted to their bags) and used velcro to add some reinforced dividers that I made. I put in a little "room" on the bottom for those just-in-case items (extra sleeper, onsie, blanket, & diaper), and this worked really well, but it only closed with a magnetic snap, so things could get wet, and wouldn't work for 3 kids.
I had been looking on etsy.com through lots and lots of bags and came across some patterns, finally finding the perfect one from a Jen Giddens (http://www.etsy.com/shop/jengiddens). I added a top flap, made the strap adjustable, and added lots of custom pockets inside: one for diapers, one for wipes, a little nuk pocket, a short bottle pocket (cause I use the short, fat bottles), 2 pockets for my girls' Nalgene sippy cups; and the "mom pockets" are the cream ones: one for my wallet, iPhone, keys, and pens. It is also super roomy for all the times that extra things need to be in there, like service activities, snacks, etc. for Emma and Siri. I think I'm going to add a drawstring bag for the just-in-case items to put on the bottom.
This being done, I'm pretty excited for this baby to come so I can use my new diaper bag!