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DIY upcycled denim napkins
am i alone here or can you never have enough pretty serving ware?! like honestly i don’t even host dinner parties (especially these days), yet i cannot ever resist a cute wood cheeseboard or tablecloth.
so when esurance challenged me to have #madeitmine and upcycle something with meaning, i immediately knew i wanted to make a set of napkins since the holidays are coming up. and what better to use than my old maternity jeans (don’t worry, i am planning on having a second baby, but this pair was never my favorite). you know these are no-sew too, ain’t no one got time to ever learn to sew. (ugh someday i will)Read More
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arlo : four months
arlo has changed so much this month! he has so much personality, i mean, he always did — but now he’s more like a little guy versus a little baby. no one can ever believe his age when they ask how old he is. because he’s huge, but also i think because he acts older. yes i’m totally one of those moms who thinks their baby is sooo advanced. Read More
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how to setup a romantic picnic (for three)
THIS POST IS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH FISHER-PRICE.
ALL OPINIONS ARE 100% MY OWN.
i know it’ll get easier, but i’ve found it very hard to find any leisure time with the baby here. of course. occasionally during his naps, i’ll just chill and watch TV, but usually those precious free moments are spent doing laundry, cleaning, answering emails and inhaling some food. so i look forward to weekends so much more than i ever did now — when gid is home to lighten the load of tasks, and the mood. we’ve been trying to spend more and more time with the baby doing things outside the house, as challenging as they are. arlo and i are cooped up so much during the week in the house that i think some fresh air is really good for both of us.
so i was so happy when fisher-price gave us their on-the-go baby dome to try, a portable play area/nap space that shields him from the sun. honestly we’ve totally struggled to figure out what to do with him when we’re outside. we’ve tried wearing him and we’ve tried putting him in a bouncer chair under an umbrella, but it’s kind of all really challenging. the dome also folds up really compact, making it super easy to just throw in your trunk. i wasn’t sure if he’d actually like it because we buy him things constantly he doesn’t like — but he does! so stoked.
maybe it’s because we live in the valley or maybe because we’re complete homebodies, but our favorite outdoor activity is to just go out to our backyard and veg. we used to sit in our kiddie pool, or have wine or coffee on the couch, sit in the hammock, eat dinner out there — all things we haven’t been able to do since he got here. so i’m happy to have something to put arlo in finally while we’re outside TRYING to enjoy ourselves (if he allows it).
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how to have nice furniture AND cats
i get asked constantly about how i deal with having three cats and a fairly tidy house and nice furniture — and to be honest, it’s a constant struggle because all three of our cats are assholes in different ways (assholes whom i love). but here are the tips i do have, hopefully they can help you decide to adopt that cat that needs a home!Read More
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sheetpan greek chicken
after making this for the first time a few weeks ago, we quickly decided it’s our favorite go-to easy dinner. i have been doing a ton of sheet pan dinners lately, they’re simple enough to throw together while wearing arlo during witching hour and have the easiest cleanup.
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surviving the first three months
This post is brought to you by CJ Affiliate’s VIP Content Service. Thank you Kmart for sponsoring this post. While this was a sponsored opportunity from Kmart, all content and opinions expressed here are my own.
its now been three months since arlo arrived, and that means the “fourth trimester” has officially come to an end. it’s amazing how much i’ve learned about him in these three months, how much i’ve learned about myself, about my marriage and husband, and at the risk of sounding so corny — about life, and how time really is so fleeting! today i’ve partnered with Kmart to tell you about their new baby clothing line spencer by jaclyn smith, which just recently launched online, and to share my experiences as a new mom.
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arlo : three months
and now he’s 3 months old!
he is still my big huge chubby boy, he’s getting so heavy to carry around but at least it’s probably good exercise (and the only exercise i’m getting). what if my arms get super toned! that’d be cool.
he has been teething for weeks now, but seems like right now we’re doing ok with it — he sucks the shit out of his fists and my arm and i put an amber anklet on him everyday which honestly does seem to help maybe? who knows. tylenol works better. he’s usually bad at day time naps, but he sleeps at night like a champ. like 7-9 hour stretches. it’s amazing.
we’ve had some rough days this month, but i’m getting to know him better and how to deal with the meltdowns — a lot of them stem from excursions and the transition of being in the car and then coming home. he’s not one of those babies that sleeps in the car, he usually prefers to scream the whole. entire. way.
…but we’ve discovered his undying love for raffi, who can make even a horrible car ride more pleasant! it’s so funny to see him crying and try so hard to stay upset but the happiness comes tearing through. i listened to a ton of howard stern while i was pregnant so i thought howards voice would soothe him, but not as much as raffi — so i guess we’re just gonna be one of those cars where raffi is always playing.
he also now loves sitting on my lap facing out which is so cute that he’s gotten more curious and also it’s chill for me because i can sit and watch tv — which he seems to also like! he is getting much better at supporting his huge head, and i’m so excited for when he can sit up.
i’m almost an old pro at wearing him, which i find myself doing almost daily at witching hour, and it’s made life a lot easier. i go outside to get him to fall asleep and get fresh air for myself, and i’ve been able to start cooking dinners which is always so good for me to do. i feel so proud of myself when gid comes home and i’ve accomplished keeping arlo alive and cooking a meal!
but most of all, he is the happiest baby i’ve ever seen! he is so loving and sweet and joyful and fun and i am just madly in love!
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my favorite baby book by artifact uprising (+ a giveaway)
while my mom didn’t really “finish” my baby book, i cherish the entries she did put in there — about our first outing to “the bagel” and my first visitors and words and tooth, so i was for sure going to do one for arlo. and then i went a little nuts. i got three different books because i couldn’t decide and i liked them all for different reasons — and i actually thought i’d be able to mildly keep up with each of them too. so then i decided gid would have one book and i would have another and arlo was so lucky he’d have a baby book documented by both his mom and his dad. well i spent about an hour with my book until i realized that was a stupid idea and completely unrealistic and if we have free time like that, we should probably be doing something more fun than silently filling out our own baby books. then i discovered artifact uprising’s “the story of you”.
it’s exactly what i wanted, a perfect balance of wordy and photo-based, so i wouldn’t feel like writing entries was this big daunting task every month, and it’s a really good excuse to print photos regularly so that i can make sure all these photos i take of arlo daily aren’t just getting lost into oblivion. so i am so happy to have teamed up with artifact uprising today to give away one of these!
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DIY earring dome organizer
look! a DIY! there are a few things that inspired me to make this — i have so many stud earrings lying around waiting to get lost, i felt like making something very quickly during a nap, and i am really into pink rn. this project could not be easier or simpler, and i think it came out super cute!Read More
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postpartum essentials
now that we’re almost three months out and i’m finally feeling a little more normal (in some ways), i can look back with a little clarity even though that first month and a half was a complete crazy blur. it’s kinda weird how you think you’ll need certain things and expect some items to be crucial and then end up never using them — everyone is different but for my first month with the baby, these were the things i could NOT have survived without. Read More
