DIY Co-Sleeper Guide Coming Soon...

Ever since we posted about our co-sleeper, over the past year we've been receiving emails from readers looking to build something similar. Some people have even asked if we had thought about making them and selling them. We don't have any plans of selling them for two reasons:

1. It doesn't feel right. We based our co-sleeper on the Culla Belly design and it doesn't feel like it's our idea to sell.

- and -

2. Ideally, every one we make would have to be custom fitted to the bed it's going to attach to and to the baby it will hold. It's just not a construction that lends itself to mass production (at least with the materials and methods we are using). Maybe that's why the Culla Belly has yet to be produced.

With that said, we are in the process of trying to put together a guide of sorts on how to make one yourself. It won't contain any specific dimensions because everyone's bed set up is a bit different. But the guide will lay out the things to consider and the options you have when building it yourself. Hopefully we'll be able to get this together in a timely manner!

One last note. We are happy to share our process and make recommendations, but in the end it will be up to you to make sure it's safe and secure for your baby.

Stay tuned...

-c.

Baby Q Movies: One year of Growing!

Here are the last two installments of Q's first year in video! Awhile back, after making a video of his first three months, we decided to do a video recap every three months for the first year to document his cuteness. And also as a reminder for when he is 16 and full of angst that for a brief moment he was our baby boy who needed us and wanted to hang out with us and wasn't embarrassed by our weirdness.


Music: "Slow Dance" by Art Sorority for Girls

And here he is being all big and stuff.


Music: "Go Outside" by Cults

If you haven't seen the first two, you can view Q: 0-3 Months here, and Q: 3-6 Months here. Enjoy!

-c.

Mid-Century Modern

Does anyone know what this piece of furniture is called? A china cabinet? A hutch?

Whatever it's called, it's awesome and beautiful and it was Andrew's surprise early-Mother's Day gift to me!

This past weekend we went on a little thrifting trip and came across this china cabinet (that's what I'll call it for now until someone corrects me) at a local thrift store that is usually hit or miss. This particular store can sometimes look like those hoarder houses on A&E, but they usually have really good prices on large items. So much so that I am willing to look past the old lady who chain-smokes and the cat in the corner giving birth (no joke).

We saw this china cabinet and we both really liked it, but it wouldn't fit in our car. So we had to pass on it. The minute we left I knew we were passing up on something good, but there wasn't anything we could do! I was feeling some serious non-buyers remorse. Is there such a thing?

Anyway, Monday I come home from work and it's in our living room. Andrew had gone back with his Dad's truck and got it for me! What a guy!

We're still unsure of what our plans are for it, but you can be sure I'll be posting about it again soon.

-c.

Kids Rain Coat

They weren't kidding with the whole "April Showers" bit, were they? Yesterday was quite horrible. Walking to my car after work, I was almost that person with the inside-out umbrella. I definitely was that person who wore the wrong shoes and had silt and all matter of disgusting things washing over the sides of my ballet flats. So much so that I looked like I had hobo feet by the time I got in my car. Anyway!

Thanks to our good friend Rachel, this boy can now weather all types of... weather! Isn't this raincoat awesome? It is a hand-me-down from our friend Rachel's little boy (who is now getting to be a big boy) and was sent to us when Q was a wee one.  I remember thinking "it'll be years before he fits in this!" What the heck? When did our baby boy become a little boy with little boy things like raincoats and jeans? Sheesh.

-c.

Post-P90X

Image by sparth via Flickr

Ok, so this past week was my worst week yet. I'm going to blame it on PMS. Maybe that's too much information, but I'm not going to be all holier-than-thou and act like I'm immune to its forces. I bitch and moan and stomp around. Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about.

I only worked out two of the requisite six times last week. According to my calculations, I'm now two weeks behind schedule on this P90X thing but I WILL finish. This week would have been my last week if I hadn't been such a slacker. So now, three more weeks! I'm going to try my absolute best to just finish strong and not miss any more days. We'll see how that goes.

My post-P90X plan is to try this running thing again. I've mentioned this in earlier posts but I'm just going to expound on this idea for a second. I really like the idea of running. I think in another life, maybe i was a runner. But in this life, I hate running and suck at it. I mean, I can run for a couple minutes and feel fine. But I don't enjoy doing it for any significant amount of time. I don't know why I have this feeling that I should enjoy running. I think it's because I have this romanticized image in my head of me effortlessly running with nothing but a stretch of open road and beautiful landscape ahead of me. But the real image is me huffing and puffing around a track while complaining about how tired I am and how much I just want to stop. It's not pretty. And yet! I'm still compelled to give it another try.

Any runners out there have any tips for a runner-wannabe?

-c.

yhs: Fruits & Vegetables - Garden Plans 2011

(I posted this image of our garden last year, but I love it so I'm posting it again, deal with it!)

So all the signs are pointing to the beginning of our gardening season! Friends and colleagues have been talking about their plans and efforts for this year; and last night while browsing the latest issue of Organic Gardening, I got all giddy with ideas for our garden this year.

It's still early for us to get anything in the ground. I know some people have already started planting but we live in a valley so we like to wait about a week after the last frost date before we get anything into the ground. Also, it's been so wet lately that we haven't been able to till the soil.

Our first year, we started most everything from seed. But for right now, buying starts is just easier. I think as Q gets a little older and can get excited about planting too (and not just eating anything he can grab and shove in his mouth), we will go back to starting seeds.

Overall, last year was pretty successful. And every year we learn new things and how to improve for next year. So, what did we learn?

1.) Deer fencing is awesome and worth investing in. There is nothing worse than waiting patiently for all the bounty of your efforts only to have it completely destroyed by some damn deer!

2.) Unless you absolutely LOVE zucchini and yellow squash, plant only one plant. These things produce like bunny rabbits and next thing you know, you will have more than you can handle. I mean, you gotta really love this stuff. Like, breakfast-lunch-and-dinner love.

• If you DO plant too much of anything, share the wealth and donate!
• When it comes to zucchini and yellow squash, check your plants for fruit often and pick often or else you will end up with only a couple gigantic ones that will scare you and your co-workers.

(Ok, I've posted this image before too. I'm lazy)

3.) Make sure trellis' are securely anchored into the ground. Or you will be cursing the wind as well as the deer.

4.) We are not fans of the mixed salad green packets of seeds. There is always one thing in the mix that goes bitter before everything else and ruins your salad.

5.) Beetles will live just to annoy the hell out of you. To combat this annoyance, go out early in the morning and pick their sleepy asses off your plants and put them in a jar of soapy water. Then their corpses will annoy you with their god awful stink.

Those are just a couple things that I can think of off the top of my head. If I can think of more, I'll be sure to post. A post on our plans for this year's garden will be coming soon!

-c.

Thrifted Hoodie

This hoodie was another great find from the Kids Garage Sale I posted about the other week. Elbow patches? Hell yes.

Q is modeling his new look in front of our Tetris screen door.

-c.

Method & Craft

Image by Timothy Sandstrom via Flickr

I'm pretty sure that bloggers are the perfect mix between exhibitionist and voyeur. As much as I love sharing, I also immensely enjoy having a glimpse into other peoples minds, lives, inspirations, etc. It's just fascinating to me.

So it's no surprise that I would love this site: Method & Craft

 
About Method & Craft:

We like to think of Method and Craft as the DVD extras of design: the stories behind the work, who made it, how they did it, and the techniques people have developed throughout their professional career. We all use the same tools, but we use them differently. We strive to educate you on more efficient, creative, and engaging ways to create your design. This site will not only be valuable to creative veterans, but also educational to those new to the design field. It's like looking over the shoulder of your favorite designer.

If you are looking for inspiration or are curious about other designer's processes, you should definitely check out the site.  Love love love it!

-c.

Morning Boy

This is what mornings look like around here with the weather getting warm. Come ON warm weather! Baby boy can't wait to run around the yard half-naked.
-c.

Granny Square Poncho Tutorial

As promised, I whipped up this tutorial for the ponchos I posted about a couple weeks ago. This is my first tutorial, so bear with me. Writing tutorials is hard work. Especially when I could only work on it for mere minutes at a time. I'm hoping that I don't confuse anyone with my directions.

Granny Square Poncho Tutorial
Materials: Yarn, Crochet hook, embroidery needle and safety pins
Step 1: Crochet four Granny Squares of equal size. If you aren't familiar with how a Granny Square is made, read Purl Bee's tutorial on the Classic Granny Square Pattern.

The size of the poncho is going to depend on the size Granny Square you make. The diagonal measurement of the square equals the length of the poncho from neck opening to the bottom of the poncho point, like so:

Step 2: When you've completed your squares (i'm sure they look lovely), arrange the squares according to this diagram and attach edges together using safety pins.

Step 3: Using an embroidery needle and yarn, begin sewing together sides. Remove safety pins as you go.

(Optional) Step 4: To create a smaller neck opening or to build up a little bit of a cowl neckline: Single crochet around the neck opening to the desired height. Done!

If you have any questions, feel free to comment of email me directly. I'm not sure such a simple project warranted such a lengthy explanation, but oh well! You're welcome! :)

I also spent some minutes putting together a printable version of this tutorial, you know, just in case you're like me and have binders full of project ideas that I never get around to doing. (Though, I really hope you try this one and tell me how it goes. Oh! And send pictures of your creations too!)

Download the Granny Square Poncho Tutorial here.

Enjoy!
- c.

P.S. Just one last thing before I let you get crafting, this pattern is for personal use only. Please don't sell this pattern or any project made from this pattern. Feel free to share this and make as many as you please for everyone you know, BUT please please don't sell them.  Thank you!

Exercise Make Up Days

Image by Christopher Paul via Designpiration

In the famous words of Tony Horton, I've been doggin' it. Not sure what exactly that means, but basically, I've been slacking in my routine. I missed 2 days last week. I never thought I would feel bad about working out ONLY 4 days instead of 6. That's what exercise does, it turns you into a crazy person! And last night I might have, maybe, possibly, just skipped doing Ab Ripper. Ha!

So, my solution to this problem is that every workout I miss I have to make up. P90X is a 90 day routine, hence the name. It's been roughly 40 days since I started, but now am about a week behind schedule due to a combination of everyday life and laziness. But in all honesty, my main issue is that most days I can't get to my workout until around 9PM. By that time all my enthusiasm, patience, and general good naturedness (not a word) has all but dissipated and I begrudgingly work my way through the exercises fueled only by negative thoughts and a desire for the workout to be over! It's no way to live!

I really need to work towards being more positive. I keep thinking about all the bad vibes I'm putting out into the world with negative thoughts. And I don't want to contribute to that.

On a positive note! I weighed myself this morning for the first time in awhile and I have officially lost 15lbs since the beginning of the year. Oh yeah!

-c.

UPDATE: So, not only does exercise make you crazy but it apparently also effects your mind's ability to do simple calculations. I said I had been doing P90X for roughly 40 days... try 60!! Jeez, all that pain and suffering completely disregarded.

Hello Spring!!!!

The weather this weekend was beautiful. We took a walk in the fields and woods looking for this summer's camping site and Quil gave spring a warm welcome!

Hooray for Spring!

-c.

Kids Garage Sale

I think we paid $1 for this cuteness. (The jacket, not the boy.)

Last weekend we attended the bi-annual Kids Garage Sale at our local rec center. Twice a year you can browse, garage-sale style, an ungodly amount of baby and kid stuff all under one roof. Most of the stuff is a really great deal, especially if you hit it up towards the end. People are practically giving the stuff away just to get it out of their house! Though I have to admit, it's a bit overwhelming. If you go with a purpose, it's a lot easier to manage. This was our second time going and I think we made out pretty well. We got a few great outfits for Q and I think we spent less than $10 total. How awesome is this?



There are other items, but I haven't had a chance to photograph them. But I will at some point. The cuteness is extreme around here.

-c.

New Look

Image by Andrew@CubaGallery via Flickr

This has been a long time coming. If you didn't notice, we have a new header image! This is just the start of fun and exciting things to come. What those things are, I'm still not sure. But I am confident they are good things. We're just sort of winging it around these parts, which seems to be the way to do things when time and brain function is limited. So, until these "fun and exciting" things start happening, you can at least enjoy the new scenery!

If you can't remember what the header looked like (it was just yesterday people, c'mon!) this was it:



I still like the old one, but I just felt it needed to be...freshened up or something. Maybe I was just sick of looking at it. Whatever the case, I'm happy with the direction we're moving in. Progress people!

-c.

Sake Sets

My Mom just came back from a 5-month trip to the Philippines. (Welcome home Mom!)

As per usual, she came bearing gifts from abroad and these two beauties were amongst them. She has a small obsession with Sake sets. I don't think she actually enjoys drinking it, but she sure does love collecting those little cups with matching pitchers. Pitchers? That can't be the correct term.

-c.

Baby Bath

Image by Smabs Sputzer via Flickr

Does anyone else have only a shower stall in their house? Has anyone else wanted to pull their hair out trying to bathe a one-year-old in a shower stall? Am I alone in my frustration with bath time?

After Q grew out of his baby bath tub we tried a few different things that worked with varying levels of success. Mostly low levels of success. We've tried the kitchen sink, our modified galvanized tub bathroom sink, a blow up ducky bathtub, and our recent incarnation of a bathtub being a big plastic flex tub/bucket from Target. Here are my issues:

Kitchen Sink: Too much water everywhere! Dude likes to splash and trying to rinse his hair with minimal spraying outside the sink area is nearly impossible.

Bathroom Sink: We have an unusual bathroom sink. It's pretty much a round galvanized tub that we converted into a sink so it's deep enough for him to bathe in. The splashing is a factor again here too especially since there is an electrical outlet right below the sink (don't ask). Spraying is not an issue, since there is no sprayer which sucks just as much.

Blow Up Ducky Tub: This worked okay for a little while and is great if you are traveling. We took it with us to NYC with us when Q was about 7 months old. But he's grown too big for it.

Plastic Flex Tub: This is what we are currently using and Q seems to like sitting in the brightly colored tub. But there's no drainage so it's basically the worst thing ever when you want to empty the water before rinsing.

Another frustrating thing about bath time is that Q seems to have an aversion to standing while bathing so it's hard to get him rinsed well. He'll only stand during a bath if I'm holding him up even though he is fully capable of standing on his own. This is also another reason we haven't yet tried to just bathe him directly in the shower stall. We try to clean our shower often, but we still don't feel comfortable with him sitting directly on the shower floor. I know there is a simple solution to this problem but it's evading me with all it's might.

How do you get a one-year old to stand during bath time? Is a thorough rinse even that important? What if he peed in the water? Am I over-analyzing this?

Anyone have a solution to this nonsense?

-c.

Working It Out

Image by Molly | Orangette via Design is Mine

I'm on day 64 of 90 in P90X. I missed my workout yesterday, ugh. Yeah, I know it sucks. That just means I'll be working out on Sunday instead.

Tonight is Chest, Shoulders and Triceps PLUS Ab Ripper. This workout kicks my ass so hard. I can't do push-ups to save my life and this workout is pretty much all push-ups. It's so dumb. I complain throughout the whole thing every time. Ab Ripper sucks too, but I've actually seen improvement in my performance during that workout so I don't hate it as much.

So, I know I talk about the workouts a lot but I don't think I've elaborated much on the diet. This part sucks too (but not as much as I thought it would). Basically, for the first 30 days you eat a ton of protein and veggies with a little bit of fruit, a tiny amount of carbs, and no sugar. For the next 30 days it's basically the same, but with a little less protein and a little more carbs. I was pretty strict for the first month, but I've relaxed a little now that I'm further along in the program. I still limit carbs and sugar, but I'm not a freak about it.

If you're wondering, I eat the same thing almost every day with the exception of dinner. And weekends can be a crap shoot but here is what I eat most days, if you care to know such things:

Breakfast:
2 Turkey Sausages
1 Egg
1 Whole wheat bagel - OR - 1 cup of oatmeal with a banana and berries
1 cup of Tea with skim milk, no sugar

Morning Snack:
1 small/medium Apple - OR- Banana

Lunch:
Salad with Chicken and Balsamic Vinaigrette

Afternoon Snack:
Cheese or Yogurt

I drink water unless I want a special treat, then I drink flavored seltzer water. Dinner is usually whatever Andrew feels like making. He's good about taking my diet into consideration, plus Q eats what we eat so it's usually something pretty healthy. We try to be conscientious about what we feed Q. We keep processed foods and sweets out of his diet as much as possible, so I started thinking this would be a good rule to live by: "Don't eat anything I wouldn't feed to my son."

I think it's important to enjoy eating even if I'm trying to lose weight. So I treat myself , but only on occasion. Anyone else have any tips for staying healthy AND happy?

-c.

Made from Scratch

I'm pretty sure I want to own some chickens in the near future.

Yesterday I started reading Made From Scratch by Jenna Woginrich. I actually first learned about this book when I read an excerpt from it in one of the Mother Earth News: Wiser Living Issues awhile back. Then Cole over at Pacing the Panic Room mentioned it on their blog and I saw there was a digital version that I could read on the iPad and figured I should check it out since I really enjoyed the small portion that I initially read.

Sustainability and self-sufficiency are two things that Andrew and I are constantly striving for in our lives. For Andrew, I think it's the logical aspects of sustainability that appeal to him. I'm not going to speak for him, but I know him well enough to assume this. To Andrew it makes sense to build a life that is sustainable, simple as that :)

As for me, the decisions I make in life weigh very heavy on me. I'm emotional like that. So this, amongst other things, motivates me to want to create a life for our family that we can feel good about. Also, it helps that both Andrew and I are very hands on. We have no problem putting the extra effort into things we think are important to us.



So this bring me back to the chickens. The first chapter of the book is all about raising chickens and the benefits of having them. I've been contemplated chickens for awhile, so this book was already preaching to the choir. But it did help me feel like it is something we could do. I need a chicken mentor, anyone have any advice?

P.S. I took these pictures when we went to visit Earth Song Discovery Farm a couple years back. This place is amazing!

-c.

Weight-Loss Challenge

Image via oliviathebig

I started a new job at the beginning of the year. A few days into my new job my team of co-workers in the marketing department decided to start a weight-loss challenge. I figured, why not? I had some baby weight that I still wanted to lose, so I figured it would be good incentive to try to get back to where I was before I got pregnant.

I guess I should preface the outcome of this story with some information about me. I am naturally a small person. I eat healthy (though I do have a pretty bad sweet tooth) but I never got into the habit of exercising on a regular basis. I've remained basically the same size throughout my adult life and hadn't had to lose any significant amount of weight for someone my size. Until I had a baby.

I wasn't one of those lucky ladies whose body agrees with pregnancy and who comes out of it looking and feeling better than they did before. For all of you who aren't familiar with the rules of pregnancy and such, the recommended weight gain for someone who is of average weight is 25-30lbs. I gained 50. Both Andrew and I were baffled especially since I had gestational diabetes and was on a diabetic diet (low carbs, no sweets) for a good part of my pregnancy. After giving birth and losing the initial post-pregnancy weight I was still 20lbs over what I was when I got pregnant.

The weight-loss challenge started on January 5th and today was our final weigh in. Aaaand....... I WON!! Awesome, right?

I honestly didn't think I would win. And really, I wasn't trying to. Pretty much for the whole month of January, I didn't do anything. But then in February I started P90X and have since lost 9.42% of my body weight.

I didn't start P90X to win the weight-loss challenge. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to win and feel like I really accomplished a goal. But ultimately I just really wanted to get healthy and feel good.

Just 5 1/2 more weeks of P90X to go...

-c.