French Farmhouse Haul from IKEA

Hello Friends! I hope this Monday is treating you well, and you are ready and refreshed for the week ahead! As our home renovation has progressed, we are finally moving in to the decorating stage (my favorite part of all). Due to my tendency to research things to a hilt, I often find the exact perfect piece for a room, but sadly it is usually out of our budget range. This past weekend, my mom and I had to pop into IKEA to get a few things. I hadn't been in a while, and they actually had some things that fit my style. Personally, I lean more toward traditional decor, however, Ian likes more rustic and industrial things. Those two blended falls usually in the french farmhouse style, and thankfully we usually have an easy time finding and arranging things. 

Preparing Your Toddler To Be A Sibling

Change. We all have different feelings about the subject, but I think one thing is for sure - change is more enjoyable when you are properly prepared for new territory.  Obviously we can't fully know all the details of what will happen until we traverse new waters ourselves, but some forethought and practical preparation can give a sense of ease and confidence when we are walking through previously unknown territory. I did a lot of thinking about this when we found out we were expecting our second baby. I had heard countless stories of how bringing a new sibling into the family really was hard on the older sibling, and I wanted to try my very best to make things as easy as possible. Three months in, and I can honestly say this transition has been so wonderful, and I am really thankful for how smooth everything has gone.

On The Go & At Home: Binxy Hammock & Ollie Swaddle Product Review

Growing up, the time of year from January - May seemed slow. The holiday season was over and there wasn’t much to break up the rhythm of school, work, etc. Now that we have children in the mix, each week feels like it’s jam packed with things to do, places to visit and people to see. I am not one to have a ton of commitments, and desire home to be the safe haven for my family. A place to rest and enjoy time and meals together. I think this gets easier as kids grow and bedtime and regular schedules aren’t so out of sync with he rhythms of daily life. One thing I am thankful for in this quest of creating happy daily rhythm whether at home or out and about. Today I’m going to share about two baby products thus far - the Binxy Baby Hammock and the Ollie swaddle.

Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs

This is Logan’s second Easter, and since he is almost two I decided to have our first go at egg dying. This is the first holiday we are getting to do an activity together and it fills my heart to the brim to be making these sweet memories with him. I haven’t dyed eggs for years, but knew I wanted to keep things organic and for the eggs to be edible, I decided to try my hand at making dye from various foods. I did some reading and found the most common foods used for this purpose are red cabbage, beets, turmeric and coffee. I brainstormed what other foods might yield nice shades and decided to also use radishes and spirulina powder.

Baby & Toddler Easter Basket Gift Guide

 

Easter is a few weeks away, and I always feel like this holiday marks the begining of spring. I love Easter Sunday as we get to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who conquered death so that we might have peace with God and eternal life in Him. (If you have questions about why Easter is so significant - click here!). Growing up we usually went to the sunrise service at church, and then would come home to have a time of celebration with family. I have vivid memories of my mom and I going to pick out an Easter dress the weeks before; and also getting Easter baskets on Sunday. My mom always made holidays special with little things, and I hope to do the same for our children. Ours were mostly eggs of candies and treats, but also some fun things to play with.

Homemade Chicken Pot Pie | Whole30 / Paleo / Dairy Free Recipe

On March 1st, I started my first round of the popular eating program Whole30. If you aren't familiar with it, it is a month long program of clean eating, designed to reset your eating habits, food mentality and taste. It can help you detect if any food groups are negatively affecting your overall health and gives you practical tools for eating real, whole foods. You can read more about it on their website, but this basically means no: added sugar, grains, legumes, alcohol, dairy, MSG, sulfates, carageenan or treats. Ian and I do eat pretty clean most of the time, but I wanted to sort of cleanse myself and get back into better habits, which I had deviated from due to pregnancy, moving and having a baby. There was an offer to join a group of gals for an online support group on facebook (I highly recommend this if you are considering doing the program.) so I decided to join in!

Dining Chair Renovation | DIY

Happy Tuesday! If you follow me over on instagram, you may remember this past fall I had posted about some dining chairs Ian found that I was refinishing. After two months, a move, and a baby, they are all done, and we have been enjoying them immensely!
When Ian and I got married we inherited a dining table from his sister. It was the one he grew up using and the perfect size for our little duplex. We thought we would use it until we could find a table and chairs we loved. Fat forward two years and we still had yet to decide on a table. When we bought our house Ian got rid of the chairs we had, and we thought it would be easy to pick new ones. Well, turns out we did find a table and chairs we love, but it is way too big for our current living situation, and we decided that Ian is going to build it after we add on a new kitchen. So that left us with a need for chairs. Do we buy four now (what we have room for), and risk not getting the same style a few years from now? Or buy eight and store some?