New Stuff

Have any of you been trying new things you've found on Pinterest lately? If so, I'd love for you to share. Let me know and we can do a Pinterest link up.

I've been trying lots of stuff lately and thought I'd share my explorations with you:

Rice Box- We've had the craziest Winter weather this year and haven't spent as much time outside as we'd like. One day when Lil Man asked me to play trucks for the gazillionth time and Steve was out of town, I found an empty plastic box, grabbed some rice and threw in some of J's toys.  It kept him busy for 45 minutes. It was bliss. I put a plastic sheet under it so the rice didn't get anywhere but a couple weeks later and I still find rice under chairs and on couches.  The peace and quiet while he plays is well worth it.

The mama who posted this idea, colored her rice which looks really fun and festive, but since I can't put the dyed rice outside to dry, I nixed it.  Still fun.

 Buttermilk Blueberry Lemon Breakfast Cake- I NEVER just happen to have all the ingredients I need for something that sounds soo good. BUT the stars were aligned or the moon was full or something because sure enough I had everything I needed to make this little treasure. I will definitely be making this again. Not super sweet- there's a little tang with the buttermilk and the lemon but the crusty sugar on top gives it a nice crunch. Perfect companion to coffee:)

Crockpot Steelcut Oats- This is sooo yummy and such a nice way to start the day.  Yesterday morning I substituted pears for apples, and we had some leftover so this morning I reheated in the microwave with a bit of milk, added a banana and some walnuts on top. Delish.  This breakfast is sooo good for you and filling.

The only thing is that the edges of the oatmeal are burned by the time the morning comes which renders them unusable. Not a huge deal and doesn't impact the rest.

Crockpot Veggie Lasagna-  OMG. Can you tell I'm pregs? So many food recipes:)  Okay so Steveo isn't a huge Lasagna fan and so I was wondering if he'd dig this. I made it last night for dinner and he loved it! The cutting takes a bit of work but I think it's probably a lot less time intensive than regular oven lasagnas (ie you don't have to pre-cook the noodles etc).  Since we had some, I added shredded carrots and I juliened some butternut squash too.  It's definitely a keeper.

White Bean, Avocado, Sprout Sandwich- Super easy sandwich consisting of white beans, smashed up with a fork, with a little salt & pepper and some olive oil. Spread that bad boy on bread, add your sprouts and avocado (and cheese if you're a cheese head like me) and BAM. Lunch is served.  Really good.

DIY Pore Strips- Okay we're moving on now to beauty. Since I've determined that we are having a girl (and she's stealing my beauty with the copious breakouts), I decided to try these bad-boys.  I did this this morning and my skin is still tingling and it's sooo soft and would definitely rival that of a newborn baby (girl's) bum. Verrry soft my friends. I will be doing this once a week. Love it.

and finally....

Shave cream bath tub art- I busted this out last week and Lil Man went wild. I have to say, I am not a fan of food coloring. It kinda heebiejeebs me out. I don't like "Dye" being in my kid's bathwater- which incidentally I had to drain and then refill before the "cleaning the bits and pieces" portion of the program could commence. So not so eco-friendly. BUT. I will do this again but will probably forgo the food coloring.  I was concerned at first that the color would dye the bathtub-it didn't. Or my kids' skin- it didn't. But again. Not a fan of dye products sloshing around my son's skin. The colors are fun but I still think J would have a blast doing this with just plain white too:)

Phew. Okay. That's what we've been up to lately.  What about you?

PS If you'd like to join the Pinterest obsession and need an invite, email me: sarah@yourbabybooty.com  I'll send you one.  Or leave a comment below.

Project Simplify: Saving $500 a year

Our 2012 overhaul continues. The house is being decluttered and so are our finances. 

We kissed our cable and home phone bye bye.

It was quite comical actually, telling the Comcast lady that we wanted to keep internet only.

"She said, you mean you're going without phone AND cable?"
"yep"
"May I ask why?"

Of course you may ask. The answer is simple. We're simplifying. By not having cable TV, we're saving money and I (the tv watcher of the family) am not tempted to watch tv when I should be doing other things that are more important.

So cheers to saving almost $500 smackers this year on cable and phone.

You guys doing anything radical over in your neck of the woods? Do share.

Project Simplify: Daily Declutter

So you know how I've been mentioning my Pinterest obsession lately? Well even though it seems like Pinterest is just another social media time sucker, I have to say that I have stumbled across some super cool things-things that actually contribute to some aspect of my life rather than suck time away.

Since we've hopped on board the SIMPLIFY express I wanted to share with you a super cool tool that I found.  It's a DECLUTTER CALENDAR! (click that link to download it)

Talk about genius.  It's free. You download the calendar and simply follow the daily prompts for decluttering.

So it looks like I will be decluttering my nightstand today. I can totally do that.

What things are you doing to declutter or simplify around your house?

Stay tuned: Next time I'm going to tell you something that we just did to save time & money,

some may consider it radical. I consider it brilliant.

Project Simplify: Fillin' Up the Tank.

Sometime in the middle of last year I had an epiphany. Steve and I were in year 9 of our marriage and our communication just wasn't what it used to be. {anyone relate?}

So we started talking about Love Languages- anyone read this?  Yeah. Well the thing is, I may have a different idea of what "acts of service" or "encouragement" or any of the other love languages (and FYI there are more than 5;) than Steve does. So to get around this little communication hiccup, we decided that at the end of the day we would ask each other if we each felt loved that day and what it was that made us feel loved.

I'm not gonna lie. This has been HUGE for us.

I now know that Steve feels loved when there's no clutter on the tops of our counters and dressers. Steve now knows that I feel loved when the dishwasher is emptied or laundry started without me mentioning it. Of course there are a myriad of other things, but those are just a couple.

To start off 2012 with a bang, I decided to make this process even more simple- and fun- I drew some inspiration from one of my new obsessions. I saw this and wanted to put my own unique spin on it. Mostly because the reason I love my hunk of burning love,  isn't because of anything he does or says- you get my drift right?

Anyway this little DIY project cost me ZERO dollars {my fave}. I just printed it up on a white piece of paper and used an old frame I had already, used a dry-erase marker we already had and here she is...

beautiful isn't it?

Bam.  

Let the sweet messages of how we feel loved fill up our tanks.

***PS  I walked by later in the day and saw this gem.***

sometimes feeling loved has less to do with an elaborate night on
the town and more about putting my boots away, all 4 pairs.

A new (2012) revolution

I was talking to Hubs the other day about the upcoming year.
We both have a sense of anticipation and excitement.

As many of you know, in 2011 we started this and our goal is to work hard to make it our full-time, paid "employment." This is our primary goal for 2012. It's daunting, it's unconventional, it's going to take even more sacrifice- but we're committed and excited about it.  Why? Cause we've figured out what we're passionate about- helping to educate mamas (and papas) about their choices and decisions when it comes to having kiddos.

Love that we know what we're passionate about.....finally.  It took a lot of prayer, contemplation, journaling,  mentoring, counseling and old fashioned soul searching and oh God. Yep. God answered our prayers and helped us figure it out. But we had to do the work. It was hard and discouraging at times but we continued on.

Anyway, back to 2012. Aside from our online business financially supporting us (as if that's not a big enough goal), our other Revolution or theme for 2012 is SIMPLICITY.

Simplicity in ALL things. In style of life, things, clothes, stuff, toys, finances, spending time, etc.

So to bring in the new year, I spent about 3 hours going through our home office and sorting, organizing, throwing away and donating STUFF.  It feels good. It's the easiest way to shed pounds that I have found yet:)

Here's to 2012- 

a year of fulfilling a dream and keeping it simple. 

How'd I Do?

So remember how I'm not a super huge goal-oriented person? Yeah, I established one revolution to accomplish during the year 2011- that was to refrain from multitasking. So how'd I do?

While I still maintain that it IS important to focus on one thing at a time- I also realized throughout last year that sometimes it's just plain impossible and that's okay.

A few things I routinely did were to shut down my laptop, quit doing dishes or other tasks while Lil Man was eating meals- and decided to sit down with him and eat too- and talk- and ask him questions and have the most amazing, fun, laughter-filled moments than any dishes, computer, or laundry could ever hope to provide. This tradition will remain- especially because Lil Man will ask me when I'm going to sit next to him to eat (swoon).

There were days though that it was just plain impossible to focus on only one thing (or little person) and I discovered that this was good in a way. Good because Lil Man was forced to play on his own, or "help" me while I folded laundry (I use the term "help" verrrrry loosely). It's good for a child who hangs with mom and dad 99% of the day to have to fend for himself in the play department.

Steve and I were looking at videos from just a year ago and realized how Itty Bitty J looked! It was only 1 year ago and yet he looked like a mere baby! We were both shocked and realized that so much growth happens in just 1 year of life- both in kiddos' lives and also in our own- to be consumed or distracted with things that don't matter- just doesn't pay off.

Here's to continuing to focus on the Whats and Whos who matter :)

My next post: what my new revolution is for 2012.

What does yuletide mean anyway?

This is the first, okay , now that I think about it- the second Christmas in ten years that we will be HOME! I can't lie, I'm stoked. Stoked we don't have to pack up. Stoked we don't have to travel and deal with weather. Stoked that we can put up our Christmas decos and enjoy them fully. Stoked.

I am currently working on round 3 of Christmas treats. Round 1 started with Peanut Butter Blossoms that I made for Thanksgiving (I was feeling perky and festive). Then round 2 was for a Cookie Exchange I went to- I made Peanut Butter Balls (see a theme here?) and now I made these sweet things..... and these. Seriously, I can't get away from peanut butter and chocolate- and honestly, I don't want to.

 I'm in love.

Here are some pics of the yuletide flava we're decked out with...

What do you guys got going on at your houses?

P.S. Notice the only snowflakes happening are paper ones, WTW? 

Anyone else have snow? Lucky.

Merry Christmas!!

Preggo Week 7

I'm posting over at the Booty Blog today about week 7 of pregnancy. Check 'er out!

Advent Calendar

I grew up with fabulous Christmas traditions that I plan on doing with our little family, like the annual Christmas pageant (me playing Mary, Dad was always Joseph and walked on his knees), going to a candlelight Christmas Eve service at church, eating appetizers, opening gifts on Christmas Eve (we didn't believe in Santa growing up... GASP).

No wonder my dad has knee problems.

Steve always wondered how Christmas was magical for me as a kid when I didn't believe in Santa. I guess if you haven't done it any other way, it's hard to imagine, but Thanks to my mama, we had plenty of magic and tradition and more importantly MEANING.

One thing we didn't do though was celebrate Advent. I love Advent. I love being purposeful and reflecting on the birth of Jesus. I feel like it helps me to soak up every second, instead of wondering where the season went.

This year I am stoked. Lil Man is 2 and is SUPER into all things- including Christmas. I decided to get in touch with my crafty side and whip up an Advent calendar. First I went here to my bff's blog and got some inspiration. Then I hit Hobby Lobby. What are the chances that nothing (with the exception of scrapbook paper) was on sale? Yeah, that's what happens when you wait until 2 days before Advent to get the crafting party started.

I planned out the boxes on the board and then traced the lids on the back of the paper.

Modge Podge is my new BFF, I just modge podged those bad boys together.

Then I painted the cork board. Don't you love the color? I'm diggin'.

I did realize over halfway through that I had made 25 boxes instead of 24...doh! Clearly I'm not used to all these crafty shenanigans:) So I took 1 away (which then jacked up my color/box planning but whatevs).

Then I busted out my stickers, put some more modge podge.

I was planning on using velcro, but then decided on push pins to put the boxes on the board- since it is a cork board afterall.

Alittle free-hand "Advent" with paint on top and bam. Done.

What do you think?

Not being the craftiest person alive, I'm pretty pleased with myself.

I downloaded this awesome Advent book. It comes with templates, lists, and literally 24 days of Scriptures and ornament crafts to do with your kids. I'm so excited to do these with Lil Man. I'll share some of what we do:)

Detox

I've been detoxing my closets lately.

I wouldn't say it's purging, cause it's way more than that.

In a nutshell, I just threw away all of this.

I would say that's a couple hundred dollars worth of product.

Am I a total nutjob?

Well, maybe.

After years of slathering lots of these products on my hair, my skin and my face- I realized exactly what I'm putting in/on my body and it's freaking me out.

The New Your Baby Booty project that I've mentioned recently, has led me to interviewing some really fascinating people. Some of the people are super smart researcher people, who study the effects of toxins (chemicals, environmental factors, whatever you want to call it) on us, our kids, our bambinos.

I'm going to break down what I've learned.

1. Our country does a freaking poor job of regulating cosmetics and beauty products. There basically is none.

2. As a result, all kinds of crap ends up in the stuff we slather all over ourselves AND our wee ones!

3. Because of 1 and 2, companies get away with not even labeling what's in their products, or if they do, they're not consumer-friendly words, terms that really tell us what the ingredient is.

There are a couple things we CAN look for on labels.

1. Parabens- the majority of the products in the photo above have parabens in them. Parabens are a preservative in cosmetics, make up, pharmaceuticals, etc. You can easily find them listed on the ingredients of your fave brands- just look for "propylparaben" or "methylparaben" or anything with "paraben" at the end of the word.

Why are they a "no no?" - research shows that parabens can actually mimic the hormone estrogen. And in some cases, estrogen is a factor in breast cancer. Additionally think about the men in your life- when exposed to extra estrogen, this can jack up their reproduction. If this doesn't make you cringe, I don't know what will.

2. Retinyl Palmitate- a.k.a.Vitamin A.

Why are they a "no no?" -A research study done by the US. Government in 2009 suggests that there could be a link between skin cancer being accelerated and the use of Vitamin A when sunbathing. Many sunscreens use Vitamin A because it has soothing properties and has been thought to slow skin aging. The Environmental Working group posted this article which has tons of primary sources at the bottom for your reading pleasure.

I don't know about you, but the fact that there ARE raised eyebrows about this ingredient being in sunscreen, makes me want to avoid it, especially slathering it all over my son's body. Instead, I prefer to make my own which is SPF 15 and smells amazing. Plus, I know exactly what's in it.

...............next time, I'll tell you about how my new resolve to keep toxic stuff out of my house, led me to coloring my hair for a half a day. This is riveting stuff...don't miss.