My Favorite Things: 4 Months

Better late than never! Here’s a list of our favorites from when Lila was Four months old. Drum roll please!1. Sassy Baby Books- These soft books feature a lot of black and white, which she loved. Then, once she was …

29 Years Old with a 29 Week Old.

The key word here is OLD.  So the weeks just keep rolling by. Wasn’t it JUST March? My newborn will be 7 months old next week? Are you kidding me? And I’m how old? But I still get carded all …

Lila is 6 Months & Blog Hippity Hop

So I’m a little freaked out that time is passing so quickly. I haven’t had time to gather my favorite products for a post for the past couple months, so I’m going blog hopping and finding some for us. I …

Peas were a hit.

We mixed some peas in with some rice cereal tonight. She loved it! And was unsure. And shuddered. Then smiled. Awesome! It was a dried pea mixture by Nurturme that was in my February Bluum box that came so late …

Poll: Baby Food Processors

Lila is quickly approaching the 6 month mark, (her half birthday! So excited!) and we are excited to start experimenting with solid foods. I would love to make my own baby food, and it would be nice to have something …

It’s a candle festival up in here

Yesterday we started spring cleaning. Along the way, I noticed I finally had enough half-burned candles to combine into new layered candles. I pinned this awesome idea on Pinterest about a year ago, and I am so excited about the …

My Favorite Things: For Mommy

For all you new Mommies & Mommy-to-be’s, here is my list of things I couldn’t live without for the first 4 months. Half of them I didn’t even know about until after she was born. So hopefully this list helps!

Lil’ Mama Nottingham’s Favorite Things: for Mommy

1. Philosophy Amazing Grace Body Wash- I used this all through my pregnancy. Very clean smell. I still love it.

2 .Purell Hand Sanitizer- Please don’t touch my newborn with your dirty hands. We have this in the den, in her room, in my diaper bag. Call me OCD, I don’t care.

3. Kalencom Diaper Bag- I got 2 of these as gifts, and I love them. Big enough to carry diapers, wipes, extra outfit just in case, a couple toys, burp cloth, and also my essentials so I can leave the purse at home. I have always carried big purses- so this isn’t a huge transition for me. It comes with a changing pad, bottle carrier, and zippered pouch. Plus the patterns are fun and cute.

4. Chicco Keyfit Caddy Stroller- I was on bed rest the whole month before Lila was born, and a stroller is one thing we didn’t get around to buying before she got here. My OB actually recommended this to me for quick errands and shopping. It’s really light, and is easy to unfold and collapse in my Jeep. My Chicco Keyfit 30 snaps right into it. Graco also makes one like it for it’s infant seats.

5. Nursing Tanks- I love these. I got a few from Target, and they are awesome. If you plan on breastfeeding in public, then your midsection remains hidden. Brilliant!

6. Medela Calma Nipple- This makes it easier to switch back and forth from breast to bottle. The baby has to “work” for the milk to come out, and doesn’t get lazy! Also, no spills. It isn’t cheap, but it is my choice for when we use bottles. We got one for $17 from the hospital shop, but Babies R Us had a set for a few dollars more that also included (2) 8oz bottles. Plus Babies R Us has tons of coupons and sales, so I bet you could get it cheaper.

7. Medela Milk Storage Bags- If you are pumping, milk storage bags are a necessity. I like these, and storing milk in 2-4 oz portions helps cut down on waste.

8. Lansinoh Nursing Pads- Next time around, I am making or purchasing some fabric ones off of Etsy. But if you want disposable ones, these are comfortable and cheap.

9. Pumpease Pumping Bra- I got mine off of Zulily, and it’s basically a strapless bra with holes in it. You can also take a sports bra and make one easily. Hands-free pumping is so much easier, trust me.

10. Baby Bargains Book- A mom friend reccomended this after I told her how overwehelmed I was with shopping for cribs, car seats, and other essentials. THIS BOOK IS AWESOME. I consulted it before every major purchase, even last week when we bought a high chair. It has everything you could imagine and is updated every year. They also have BABY 411 which is a good book to reference every time your baby sneezes, poops, or hiccups. Just kidding, but not really.

So thats it! Enjoy. BUY THE BABY BARGAINS BOOK. (I swear no one is paying me to say that).

Remodeling Project: Man Cave to Family Room

When we bought our house in 2009 it felt huge! We had our living room, kitchen, dining area, “master” bedroom (maybe in the 50′s it was big- but now it’s a joke…), spare bedroom (now nursery), and an office. The previous owners had finished the basement, which had a large living area, back yard access, and then a hall to the laundry room, and my studio. On our list of must-haves for our house was a studio for me (I bring a lot of projects home and it’s messy!), a man cave for Joey, and a suitable entertaining area. I did not get some things on my list with this house, such as, a covered front (or back) porch, fireplace, large master bedroom/bath. But I settled for a back deck off the kitchen, and the possibility of combining some rooms to make a bigger master. I’m already making my new list. How much you learn the first time you buy a house! We loved all the space this house had. And it did have a lot. But there is a phenomenon that I didn’t quite understand till now. Like a goldfish that is put in a pond or bath tub, your “stuff” will grow to fit your space. (Weird).

Giant Goldfish. Click to read how they say this is actually a myth.

So we decided last January that we would gut the downstairs and make a Master suite and move my studio upstairs to our old master bedroom. Great idea. We ripped all the paneling off (and by “we” I mean Joey and his dad of course!) which we had to do anyways because we were having water leak issues (long and boring story) and proceeded to rip down walls, built-ins, had a big yard sale with extra furniture, yada yada. Then we found out we were having a baby- and the whole project got put on hold to make a nursery.

Manly Man Cave- great for watching Football! Go Hogs GO!

My old studio was going to be our new closet.

Taking out the wall, paneling, built-in cabinets

Wall coming down

Ripping out the Hallway

Laundry Room

Inside this wall we found the house blueprints!!

Joey thinks this is the easy part!

Project supplies.

This is the view from the stairs before the tv and cabinets were taken out.

New Floors!

We ended up having to get new floors because the one we had from Home Depot were discontinued, and we needed one more box to patch where the cabinets had been. So we ended up getting some laminate flooring from Lumber Liquidators that I just love.

So it was almost October after Lila was born, that we decided that we didn’t want the master suite downstairs, since her nursery is right next to our room now. And we are now putting the downstairs back together.

Our 2600 sq foot home has been missing about 700 square feet of living space and we are going stir crazy tripping over dogs, cats, bouncers, jumperoos…. So we are resolving the water issues, we paid someone to finish dry walling, and Joey and his Dad are finishing putting the floors in this weekend. We will be picking out colors for paint soon. I’m excited. I have great ideas for the space. What color would look good with this deep brown wood? 

I will post more progress pics soon. Stay tuned!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I hope you had a great day! After a really rough night with my sweetie, (growth spurt?? teething?? both??) I felt like I had the biggest hangover ever. I think maybe she wanted to tell me “Happy Valentine’s Day” over …