Next to the bed we keep our basket of board books (these are books the baby can pull out, too!) and a box of wooden blocks (also baby-friendly).
Wednesday, September 14
Organizing the Boys' Room + Free Printable Toy Labels!
We have to make a choice. Keep the toys under control, or be overrun. We're doing our best to choose the former, and we've found two main weapons in this battle - limiting the number of toys we keep, and finding a way to organize/manage the ones we have. Most of the toys are stored in the boys' room, so that's where we've been targeting our organization tactics.
We want them to have plenty of space to play with the toys we have. Because toys do their job better when the boys have room to spread out and stretch their imaginations. Keeping fewer toys stored on the floor helps, and so does our Ikea bunk bed.
Next to the bed we keep our basket of board books (these are books the baby can pull out, too!) and a box of wooden blocks (also baby-friendly).
Next to the bed we keep our basket of board books (these are books the baby can pull out, too!) and a box of wooden blocks (also baby-friendly).
Monday, September 12
Backpack Diaper Bag - the What & the Why
Update: I'm still loving a backpack diaper bag, but I upgraded to this LAND backpack and it changed my life. So organized. So compact (yet spacious... how?!). Definitely recommend it!
The diaper bag. It's no fun to lug around, but you don't want to be caught without it. So we do the best we can to make our diaper bag work for us, not slow us down. But this season of life has us ditching the traditional diaper bag and reaching for something a little different - a backpack!
With three little boys to corral, I need my hands free as much as possible! Even having our messenger-style Stroller Friendly Diaper Bag swinging around has frustrated me. The last straw was a hike down to a creek at a local park. When it was time to leave, the boys pulled the old "my legs are too tired! I can't walk!" and left us dragging three children and an unruly bag all the way back up the hill. That was the moment I decided to go backpack shopping.
So today I thought I'd shared a quick peek inside our pack at what carry in it for our 5 year old, 3 year old, and 10 month old. This backpack is from Target and has one small zipper pocket inside and one outside. So let's start with the outside pocket! We keep the smaller things we don't want to search for in here: a teething ring, small CJ's BUTTer diaper cream, tissues, a pen, ziploc bags for boys to collect treasures in, bug spray, and a couple small snacks.
Inside is one large compartment. One of my favorite things about this bag is that the zippers can pull all the way down to open the front of the bag, so it's easy to find things even at the bottom.
The diaper bag. It's no fun to lug around, but you don't want to be caught without it. So we do the best we can to make our diaper bag work for us, not slow us down. But this season of life has us ditching the traditional diaper bag and reaching for something a little different - a backpack!
With three little boys to corral, I need my hands free as much as possible! Even having our messenger-style Stroller Friendly Diaper Bag swinging around has frustrated me. The last straw was a hike down to a creek at a local park. When it was time to leave, the boys pulled the old "my legs are too tired! I can't walk!" and left us dragging three children and an unruly bag all the way back up the hill. That was the moment I decided to go backpack shopping.
So today I thought I'd shared a quick peek inside our pack at what carry in it for our 5 year old, 3 year old, and 10 month old. This backpack is from Target and has one small zipper pocket inside and one outside. So let's start with the outside pocket! We keep the smaller things we don't want to search for in here: a teething ring, small CJ's BUTTer diaper cream, tissues, a pen, ziploc bags for boys to collect treasures in, bug spray, and a couple small snacks.
Inside is one large compartment. One of my favorite things about this bag is that the zippers can pull all the way down to open the front of the bag, so it's easy to find things even at the bottom.
Thursday, September 8
DIY Shorty Wrap (plus three ways I wear it)
Getting things done with a baby in the house can be hard. Which is one of the reasons babywearing can be a life-saver! This summer in an attempt to beat the heat I tried out a new lighter, cooler baby carrier - the shorty wrap!
I love my homemade ring sling and stretchy wraps for a newborn, but with a hefty 9 month old I've moved into more supportive waters. I've made a couple Mei Tai carriers that I haven't reached for lately (the ease-of-use is great, but I'm planning to make one with wider straps to see if I can get it a bit more comfy). So that has left me falling more in love with woven wraps. And it probably helps that Husband got me the wrap I've been dreaming of for my birthday last year. But both the dream wrap and my homemade wrap are pretty long (a size 5 and a size 7) and require several passes. More passes = more layers = more heat. So when I started thinking about something cooler for summer, a shorty seemed like it was worth a try!
A "shorty" is woven wrap that is... short. Ha. Size 4 or shorter. The one I made is only a size 2 (more info on wrap sizing here). I've actually made one shorty before using a $6 tablecloth (tutorial here) but I didn't really know how to use it and gave up pretty quickly. But a couple months ago I came across the shorty carry tutorials by Wrap You in Love, and the whole shorty world opened up before me.
I love my homemade ring sling and stretchy wraps for a newborn, but with a hefty 9 month old I've moved into more supportive waters. I've made a couple Mei Tai carriers that I haven't reached for lately (the ease-of-use is great, but I'm planning to make one with wider straps to see if I can get it a bit more comfy). So that has left me falling more in love with woven wraps. And it probably helps that Husband got me the wrap I've been dreaming of for my birthday last year. But both the dream wrap and my homemade wrap are pretty long (a size 5 and a size 7) and require several passes. More passes = more layers = more heat. So when I started thinking about something cooler for summer, a shorty seemed like it was worth a try!
A "shorty" is woven wrap that is... short. Ha. Size 4 or shorter. The one I made is only a size 2 (more info on wrap sizing here). I've actually made one shorty before using a $6 tablecloth (tutorial here) but I didn't really know how to use it and gave up pretty quickly. But a couple months ago I came across the shorty carry tutorials by Wrap You in Love, and the whole shorty world opened up before me.
Sunday, September 4
Simple School Bench
Our boys have always seen us building lots of different projects, but last month they hopped in with a project of their own. With some help, of course. But they are so proud of their work, and it turned out great!
We needed a place to store things like puzzles & books in our "school room" and we had a perfect spot under the chalk board to tuck in a little storage bench.
So I drew it up with the boys and took them shopping for the wood. We let them do everything they could help with - drilling, putting in the screws, sanding and staining. It was a great little first project, and just what we needed for the space!
We needed a place to store things like puzzles & books in our "school room" and we had a perfect spot under the chalk board to tuck in a little storage bench.
So I drew it up with the boys and took them shopping for the wood. We let them do everything they could help with - drilling, putting in the screws, sanding and staining. It was a great little first project, and just what we needed for the space!
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