Finding “Me” Time

I just finished an excellent book that I borrowed from a friend – The Fringe Hours, by Jessica Turner of The Mom Creative. I highly recommend this for moms of little ones, for when it seems like there is never time to get anything done for yourself! I journaled alongside reading it but would still love a copy of my own! And no, this is not a sponsored post. Just thought it was great.

First – finding the time to read the book. Luckily, it’s a quick read because of its workbook format. I spend a LOT of time nursing the baby while (sometimes aimlessly) scrolling through my phone. I set social media down for about 2 days and put this book in my hand instead. BOOM. Done. Checked it off my summer bucket list and on to the next book.

Since reading Jessica’s book, I’ve actually found some of those hidden pockets of time to work on several little DIYs that I’ve been wanting to do… projects that all seemed daunting before reading this book because I was waiting til I had entire afternoons or days to devote to completing them. I realized that every time I have a pocket of 5 minutes, instead of spending it scrolling through my phone or cleaning up toys, I should put that time toward a checklist of little tasks that add up to a completed project! Like reserving books online at the library when I have 5 minutes, then running in and grabbing them when I’m there a few days later for storytime with my kids. It just takes some planning ahead.

For another example, to make some jean shorts – I broke up that project into little tasks that each took less than 5 minutes:

• go in the attic to find old jeans to cut up to make shorts
• find my sewing tape measure
• watch youtube tutorials on the best way to distress denim
• cut the jeans to the desired length
• ask hubby for sandpaper
• practice distressing the unused denim using a variety of techniques to find the best method
• look online at the best way to stain the shorts a darker wash

While I did these tasks, I watched a movie on my summer bucket list (reserved online from library) in short, 5-minute increments until I finished it! I am rarely one to sit and watch a full movie, and never at home. In fact, I’m not allowed to – my orthopedic surgeon told me never to sit for more than 2 hours because of my spine condition. So even at the movie theatre, I sometimes have to get up and walk around the lobby.

Another similarly-executed project was the process of lanolizing wool overnight shorties for my new little heavy-wetter! The shorties sat around for weeks because I didn’t think I had the time. But I finally broke the project up into DAYS of 5-minute steps until the shorties were lanolized and ready to use!

Even trying a new recipe! First, I found a recipe using the search term “easy basil dinner.” Another time, I wrote a list of ingredients needed. BOOM. It was ready to make after the next shopping trip.

My husband and I had an Amway Ribbon gift catalog from our baby shower that is older than our 8-month-old. I think in theory, the concept of the gift is to make it easy for the parents to select what they really need. Well, the baby has long-since outgrown most of the newborn and infant items in the catalog, but I finally broke the process of selecting a gift into 5-minute tasks:

• browse the catalog
• lookup the actual items on Amazon to compare retail values. The variety of price ranges is insane!
• log in to the website
• realize all of the items in our catalog were no longer available, all replaced with newer items
• start process all over again
• select an item that we both wanted (bonus: it was also the most expensive retail item)
• order the item – a waterproof, easy-to-clean, play mat! This wasn’t even listed in our catalog.
• our gift arrived today! Went outside and got it off the porch. Just before the baby turns 9 months old

Jessica’s advice has really helped me to streamline the party-planning for my son’s 3rd birthday. I had actually considered taking him on a fun trip instead of dedicating the time and effort into a party, but I also don’t want to skip celebrating this milestone with his little friends! Party planning was broken into a series of 5-minute tasks:

• gathering ideas
• making an invite list
• making a list of things to buy/make
• making a food list
• designing simple invites in PicMonkey using a free template
• finding free printables as party decor that fits my theme – so easy!
• printing the printables
• cutting out the printables
• addressing invites, etc.

My next big project might take the whole summer, but my goal is to finish it in the next 2.5 weeks. When I listed it on my summer bucket list, it seemed daunting, but the trick was just to START. Start with the first step! I give myself grace to know that it’s not going to happen all at once. I may never see a 4-hour chunk of time to myself in the next 18 years, but 5 minutes here and there eventually adds up to the time I will need to complete the things that matter to me, things worth doing.

I’m not talking about the big things – going to my women’s Bible study, volunteering (and I’m learning to say “no” more often now that I have little ones unless I know what I’m doing is truly meaningful), spending time with family, going to work — all that stuff is LIFE.

In fact, if my kids are awake, I try to prioritize so that I’m spending almost all my time with them. Don’t get me wrong, I want them to know I have hobbies, and I want them to be able to entertain themselves and be creative and have their own outlets, but when they’re grown up, I also want them to remember me and my husband playing with them, reading to them, listening to them, and including them in everyday tasks – like cooking, or our garden.

The little projects or hobbies are just little things that give me an outlet for myself in a crazy infant/toddler world when that time to myself is SO.HARD. to come by. And as an introvert, I NEED it. I’ll be interested to see how this works during the school year when I’m working and not at home with the boys.

And no…  I didn’t write this blog post all at once! And yes, all I still want for my birthday is this breakfast at Panera BY MYSELF! 😉

Nursery Transformation

Much like how any actual progress on our nursery transformation went down, I wrote most of this blog post on 7/3/14 and then didn’t return to it until today. We decided to move our oldest son out of his nursery and into a toddler room, and convert the nursery into a guest room/nursery with new decor.

We don’t have a theme for our new nursery other than “rustic,” but things are coming together. I don’t like themes because I think they lead to collections. Our first order of business was a closet makeover. It’s still a work-in-progress, but much more functional and keeps a lot of toys off the floor.

We worked our design around a crate we found at Homegoods. We never found the match after searching every Homegoods in a 3-hour radius, but we did find 2 matching smaller crates. My husband designed, built, and painted shelving along the bottom of the closet to fit the crate. We removed the closet doors, making that area of the room so much more open. Once I rearranged the furniture, it became a larger play area.

[Wow. My child doesn’t look like this anymore]

Next up was the dresser. We have a super-nice baby dresser from my sister, and I was itching to try chalk paint – the dresser was the perfect piece, since its wood is already a different color than everything else in the nursery.

I watched a ton of Annie Sloan chalk paint tutorials, but in the end, the paint dealers were always either closed or out of what I needed, so I went with CeCe Caldwell’s chalk paint in Sedona Red. I had a one-day window in which to finish while my son finished out daycare for the year, so CeCe’s it was! I was able to support a small local business with this purchase – a win-win!

With chalk paint, there is no prep work or sanding required. I loved painting haphazardly on purpose! That’s what gives it interesting texture, especially when it’s time to add the wax.

After two layers of chalk paint, I applied a coat of clear wax:

And before you start thinking it looks too pink or coral for a boy… let’s change lighting. It reminds me of the red of a weathered picnic table. Or the natural clay at Arches National Park.

On to the hardware. I removed the existing hardware and searched high and low for spherical dresser pulls to cover. I eventually found what I needed at Michaels and bought 120 feet of twine (to resemble jute rope), which was just enough for my husband to cover all nine knobs with a monkey fist knot. He drilled into the knobs to make them compatible with the hardware from the original knobs, and they fit perfectly! These would have been expensive to custom-order, so I’m glad he knew how to do it.

Okay. Picking up now where I left off. Fast-forward 10 months. The baby is almost 8 months old and has barely visited the nursery. We’ve had a pallet in our yard since before he was born, waiting to be turned into wall art. While my husband tilled our new garden yesterday, I went to work on the pallet, removing 4 boards to expose the inner slats. My son helped me scrub it, and then I sanded off the rougher sides. I added a touch of wood glue here and there, and then hung it today – it’s so secure that you could probably climb on it. But don’t tell my kids that.

I cleaned the nursery up a bit and tried to hide the awful skirt on the guestbed that my vacuum burned. I took a few pics, although it was late and they’re dark! All we need now is the newest tenant to move in! But I’m not ready for him to leave my room just yet! 🙂

I’m terribly sentimental, so everything has a special meaning to me:

• Ladder/medal rack: displays medals from 4/6 races I ran while pregnant with the baby, including 2 full marathons!
• Laminated quotes from my “beautiful mess” baby shower and a Radio Flyer wagon painted by the art teacher at my elementary school
• The bear card is also a watercolor by the same art teacher, but it was from my baby shower with E
• Pallet art – by me! – full of all kinds of pieces sentimental to me. I think this might be my new quiet place!
• The pail of daisies was one of our wedding centerpieces, and the clay handprints and footprints were molded when Sage was a week old
• The bandana quilt was a labor of love from my mom

It’s kind of eclectic, but I love that it doesn’t scream “baby.” Which is good, because we wouldn’t want to wake him up. You know, if he ever moves in.

Five on Friday

Linking up for Five on Friday with Darci, Christina, April, and Natasha, and oh hey, Friday with Karli and Amy.

Summer is within reach, and I’m trying to prioritize our summer plans, many of which would require buying passes (pool, lake, amusement parks, admission to local events – so many choices!). Recently, I’ve chosen some thrifty habits that will help us save our pennies for what really matters!

one | Contests

I’ve always been lucky at contests – it’s how I won most of my cloth diaper stash, for example. When my midwife practice offered up 30 chances at family passes to a private screening of “Home” at our movie theatre, I tried my luck and won! With little ones at home, we never go to the movies. N-E-V-E-R. So this was a huge deal for us. It will be both boys’ first movie in a theatre. I still remember mine – Bambi! I also recently won a baby product at our local cloth diaper store and am hoping for more freebies at an upcoming cloth diaper event.

two | Promos

I try to take advantage of promos when I can, like when JC Penney sends me “$10 off a $10 purchase” coupons. Our ice cream shop just offered free cones to anyone who entered their Easter coloring contest, so both boys came away with free ice cream. (I might have ordered a lemon gingersnap cone…A-MAZE.) Busch Gardens offers free passes to preschoolers (ages 3-5), so we snagged one for E; it’s good through September!

three | Warranties

Sometimes when things break, I’m quick to replace them. But recently when my breastpump (which I got free through insurance!) malfunctioned, I called the company first before buying a spare part, and they had the new part airlifted to me by lunchtime the next day, free of charge. It never hurts to ask – especially politely! Companies want to support their products.

four | DIY

I’m all abou DIYs when I can find the time. I even skipped the salon to attempt haircuts myself last week. Recently I made much of the decor for a bridal shower and returned what I didn’t use to the store afterward.

five | Planning ahead

I don’t really have a knack for thinking of gifts spur-of-the-moment. But if I can collect things over time as I come across them, I can get good deals. The kids’ Easter baskets, for example. Almost everything was free.

And here are the boys enjoying some of their favorite (free) activities. We are also big fans of our library and enjoyed their programming over spring break.

Happy Friday!

Weekending | Out of Hibernation

Our spring weekends are suddenly booked and filled with all things spring – from bridal showers and weddings, to hikes and church happenings. This weekend was an excellent start to kicking off spring.

On Thursday, we participated in a local consignment sale of baby clothes and toys. I was able to buy many spring clothes and shoes in the next size up (nothing more than $4) for both boys while selling lots of their old baby stuff we no longer need.

I also took advantage of Target’s dress sale for a few upcoming spring weddings. I tried on about 14 dresses but stuck with two.

Saturday morning, I got in a run and then spent some time in Michaels collecting what I needed to decorate for a bridal shower this weekend. They now have an entire aisle dedicated to chalkboard art!

That afternoon, we visited the library and drove to a giant playground to enjoy the stunning spring weather. E has been begging me to go back to the library for awhile now – he really misses the puppets, guitars, and cookies from storytime, and I feel sooo guilty that I work and can’t take him now! Maternity leave was such a priceless gift.

Baby Sage is coming up on his half birthday, so we tried him on his first solid food (other than ice cream). Much unlike his brother, he gobbled up every bit of 2 servings of rice cereal. He grabbed the spoon from me and shoved it in his mouth and then went for the bowl! Poor thing doesn’t know peas and squash are next on the menu.

We spent time in worship at church on Sunday then headed out to spend time with my husband’s family. We hung out, celebrated several birthdays, and worked on bridal shower plans. E’s favorite part was riding the tractor with Pops.

While my husband and I got competitive at darts, the cousins engineered some Chuggington tracks together.

Our visit ended abruptly with a family emergency, so we headed home late and were thrown back into the workweek.

Is it Friday again yet??

Five on Friday

Linking up for Five on Friday with Darci, Christina, April, and Natasha, and oh hey, Friday with Karli and Amy.

one | We spent time with friends this weekend, and had the most gorgeous scenic drive to their house!

two | We took a second road trip to my in-laws’ to work on plans for an upcoming bridal shower. While we were there, we scoped out the next big DIY project on our plates… or should I say, under them.

My in-laws live near a Trader Joe’s, so I picked up some treats for my coworkers after we finally submitted the yearbook we designed!

three | St. Patrick’s Day was a fun day to dress up and reminisce about the time I spent gallivanting around Ireland with my college roomie.

That same day, I dropped off 115 baby items to sell at a local kids’ consignment sale that sets up shop twice a year. While out and about, I redeemed some freebies at the mall and tried on a few jackets for spring. (I was taking pictures to compare jackets from 3 different stores – I don’t usually take mirror selfies!) It was sooo weird to be shopping sans kids, like a dream. I would have pinched myself, but I was wearing green.

four | School pictures came back! While I only bought their class group photos and none of the ones pictured below, a couple of their poses were cute!

five | As Sage gets old enough to really interact more and more with his big brother, I’m so grateful that I wanted them close together in age. I love that E loves having a baby brother.

Oh hey, Friday

Linking up at the last minute with Five on Friday with Darci, Christina, April, and Natasha, and oh hey, Friday with Karli and Amy.

one | Valentines Day! We enjoyed a Parents’ Night Out on Friday as a fundraiser for a mission trip at church, so my husband and I went to our favorite restaurant downtown while the kids did all kinds of fun activities. Later that weekend, we exchanged small gifts – I gave him chocolates and a bag of TJ’s chia seeds, and he gave me Russell Stover chocolates and a gold Nate Berkus Swingline that I’ve been stalking. LOVEBIRDS I tell you.

We traveled to New Kent, VA to run a frosty 10k “Race for the Chocolate” on Saturday, then visited with a lot of my family. Race recap here!

two | On Monday, I took my infant to his routine 4-month checkup before the snow began falling. His health and stats looked good (once again, 98% for his head – you’re slipping, kid – brother has always been 100%…). The pediatrician had one concern and is referring us to a specialist before he’ll need surgery around his birthday. Trying to be brave about this.

three | I planned all sorts of indoor activities for our snow days this week, some wins and some fails:

Painting – WIN.

Indoor snow tray with sand toys – WIN. And I didn’t have to take the baby outside!

Paint in a bag – FAIL. He was excited until I started pouring his beloved paint into a bag and sealing it. MELTDOWN.

Watercolor coffee filter snowflakes – BIG WIN. Plus, I enjoyed this, too!

four | We played out in the 4.5″ of snow, too. E had no interest in tray sledding, but the baby enjoyed it – he had no choice, since I was wearing him and I wanted to sled!

five | In addition to my newfound love of finding cute hand-me-downs on Instagram, The Baby Gap outlet in my hometown is one of my favorite places for kids’ clothes. The clothes are cute, soft/stretchy, and fit my kids really well. I can find good deals (as low as $1.50 on some pieces). I spent my last snow day organizing closets and tagging all their baby clothes to consign for a sale in March to make room for the next sizes up!

Happy Friday! 🙂

Five on Friday | Growing Like Weeds

Finalllllly back for a Five on Friday. Last week I fell asleep tucking my son into his new bed EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. I literally got nothing done but had endless toddler cuddles. That’s okay with me. This week, I was more on top of things. I picked up free CFA iced vanilla coffee every day after work and hopped on the treadmill once we were all home and settled in the evenings – thus keeping me awake.

one | My kids had a sports-themed jersey spirit day at school last week in preparation for the Super Bowl. I love their theme days! And any chance to dress them alike. My husband made their bracelets.

two | We set up the bunk beds and finally decided on bedding – jersey knit sheets with arrow prints and the softest quilts known to man. For a pop of interest, I’m going to make pillows and a throw-quilt for the end of the bottom bunk. Ignore the wall art, that’s all leaving.

three | I sewed this little guy a beanie to match his Valentine leggings, which he is quickly outgrowing. 

four | And speaking of outgrowing, I’ve been making piles of baby clothes and gear to consign. I’m entering about 200 items into the computer for tagging and have my dropoff scheduled in a few weeks. I bought most of it secondhand, so it will be nice to return the favor for my community.

five | For the next size up, my friend let me look through the clothes her son has outgrown before she consigns them. I was able to purchase tons of cute pieces for next year. Win-win! And they’ll eventually fit Sage, too.

Happy Friday!

Five on Friday | Homemade and DIY

Linking up for Five on Friday with Darci, Christina, April, and Natasha, and oh hey, Friday with Karli and Amy. This week has been a little crazy – we’ve been prepping for a busy weekend, and then yesterday I was in a car accident with my 2 boys. My toddler’s version of the story: “Mommy hit the truck. It was scary! Waaa! Mommy say sorry. The sirens came. Weeeeeoooooowwwwweeeeeooooo. Sirens opened my door. They checked on me. They had big hats!” Lately, I’ve been explaining to him what “sirens” are for, and we pray for them when we hear them drive past.

Now on to the lighter post I scheduled before all that happened:

one | Before the baby was born, I crafted a fall burlap wreath, and I had enough leftover burlap to make a winter one, adding sparkly gold burlap into the design this time! So easy!

two | I don’t know what to call these, but a friend posted a how-to the other night, and I threw it together since we had all the ingredients. Omelette muffins, perhaps? I added cheese, peppers, hash browns, ham, and sour cream.

three | When I painted these feather tips gold, it was for a nursery mobile. I made the mobile and didn’t like it, so I repurposed them, along with a shadowbox I already had, and plan to hang this behind the boys’ teepee.

 

four | Something was missing from this baby frame when I put in the 8 x 10… so I made a bow using a tutorial I found on Pinterest. This required 3 pieces of ribbon, staples, and hot glue, believe it or not! Next time I think I’ll just tie it.

five | My last DIY is a gift, so instead let’s talk about boy fashion. I’ve been trying to figure out what my boys should wear to my brother’s winter wedding. I’ve scoured Etsy, Pinterest, Target, and Instagram and have decided it would be cool to learn to sew bow ties and baby moccs, because they are NOT cheap. I’ll let you know once I figure all that out. 🙂 In the meantime, I ordered a bow tie from Etsy and moccs from MWA moccs.

We are looking forward to our gingerbread-house-decorating PJ party this weekend, along with meeting Santa! So blessed that we’re all healthy and safe to be able to make these traditions even after the crash.

Countdown to Halloween | Linkup

Linking up with Sweet Turtle Soup, The Chronicles of We, Cocktails & Carseats, and Tickled Pink for Countdown to Halloween! Here are snippets of all the whimsical fall festivities we’ve enjoyed so far this October!

Dressing the Part

Having a baby born at the end of September pretty much guaranteed that we’d get all sorts of adorable Halloween newborn outfits… too many to even picture! He has 3 pumpkin hats and at least 3 Halloween costumes already, plus a crocheted pumpkin onesie and several of Old Navy’s Halloween graphic onesies.

Comfort Foods

We’ve been so blessed by our friends who have dropped off meals all week so that we could savor extra cuddles with the baby in the evenings. Other than their delicious meals, we’ve been partaking in pumpkin bakery items, food trucks (2 of them), and brewed-at-home pumpkin beverages. We’ve also made pumpkin bread and pumpkin dip, as well as warm comfort foods – pork tacos, stuffed peppers, chicken/broccoli/cheddar soup, and more!

(Running season will commence on November 10th!)

Crafting

Most of our crafting lately has been spent making sweet baby keepsakes and Christmas ornaments while the baby is still teeny-tiny, but we have squeaked out a few seasonal projects – I made an autumn burlap wreath and my kids painted their handprints on (fake) white pumpkins that they’ll add a new print to as the years go by. I also finished my maternity Shutterfly photo book and my fall bucket list (middle picture) and have been keeping the baby book up-to-date (no 2nd-child syndrome here!)

I’ll save fall decorations, festivals, costumes, and seasonal books for another week!

oh hey | Five on Friday!

This past week has been especially precious to me. I gave birth to our second son early Saturday morning! I’ll be posting my birth story and about our nursing journey soon, but for now, I will leave you with some sweet moments from our first week of getting to know our new little pea.

one | Fall is my absolute favorite season, and our plans and traditions will still continue with a pumpkin patch visit, apple picking, Halloween, foliage photography, and lots of fall festivals! We don’t have any fall races on the calendar, but we will have a new pumpkin in tow for all of our other seasonal favorites! He has already been to school picture day, Life Group, and his first pediatrician visit.

| Target |

two | The first thing I noticed about this kid when he was delivered was his HAIR. My.word. For him being so fair, there was a lot of it! And it was perfectly styled into a little mohawk that lasted for days.

three | I couldn’t have asked for E to be a better big brother (they’re 26 months apart). From the start, he’s been so loving and helpful. Sure, he’s said “mine!” a lot more this week, but at least he’s very black and white when it comes to his things and the baby’s things. And it’s precious that every morning, he asks about the baby as soon as he wakes up.

And just for kicks, some side-by-side “oooo that face!” wrinkly forehead pics comparing the two of them. I can’t help it – it’s my favorite newborn face and I hope I never forget it. E is on the left (July 2012) and S is on the right (Sept. 2014).

Same swaddle.

four | We put him in his first cloth diaper on Thursday. These are specifically newborn-sized (BumGenius), but the BG ones that his big brother E currently wears fit 8-35 pounds, so they’ll be sharing soon.

five | This time around, I realize how quickly he will grow and change. I’m not saving cute clothes for special occasions – he’s wearing them daily. I’m taking pictures of everything, writing down as much as I can, and I did a Day in the Life post on Wednesday. I’m holding him all the time, rarely putting him down. I know in a week or two, he’ll look like a completely different baby. They’ll be subtle changes, but I know he won’t be as fragile or small as his wrinkly newborn frame begins to fill out. So I’m making keepsakes like this while he’s still so tiny:

Happy Friday! Linking up with Karli and Amy for oh hey Friday and April, Natasha, Christina, and Darci for Five on Friday!