eleanor goes to arkansas...

so were going to arkansas for easter! we are pretty excited. evan and i cant wait to get away for a bit.
we have never traveled with a baby so this should be interesting.
its 9 hours from lincoln to conway.
were leaving at 4pm tomorrow and hopefully driving the entire way. if we need to stop we have friends family in rogers we can stay with.
thank God.

i dont know how eleanor is going to do in her car seat for that long.
this is how i hope the trip goes...

we stop once in kansas city for her to eat. then she sleeps the rest of the way.


and this is how it could end up

frick.
am i in trouble??

the other thing about traveling with a baby is all of the crap stuff you have to bring.
i mean theres a bathtub, rocker chair, pack n play, stroller, diapers&diaper detergent(i refuse to spend the money on disposables)….

ahhh, so much extra stuff

were also bringing gertrude too.
of course we are
how could we not?

i will let everyone know how it goes
and if i cry.

do you have any tips for spending 9 hours (each way) in a car with a  3  almost 4 month old??
HELP!
now i'm scared.

so this is us now

we have chickens.

loretta

6 of them.
we were only going to get 2 but we had some trouble with where we were getting them and how many they would let you get so we came home with 6.
oops!
i love them all. so far we have

henrietta

she's a very curious brave little chick

penelopeep

(thanks for the name maggie)

she's the littlest cutest baby(and my favorite) with the best name!

martha

shes pretty, proper and while all the other chicks feathers are a mess martha doesn't have one out of place.

and then there are these 2 no names.

poor babies, we just haven't found a name that fits them yet.

evan built repurposed this awesome brooding box for the babies. he used an old dresser we had in the garage. i was going to paint it and make it pretty but that never happened so now the chicks have a very fancy home.
he even put some boards in there for the little girls to climb on!
henrietta likes to jump and is trying to fly already so we used an old window screen to put on top! 

they love it in there!!

every animal in our house is spoiled. i don't know why or how it even happens but it does.

and they are.

look at gertrude meeting penelopeep….. she's not too sure about these birds yet.

i'm sure they will love each other very soon.

baby girl problems

this is how i spent my saturday night.
i made this awesome bow holder for eleanor!! i've wanted to make this for a while but was just able to get all of the supplies yesterday while e and ev took a nap!!
i also got a pedi with lyn and her mom!! and loved it….
i've decided time out of the house alone is pretty great when you're a mom.

i bought this frame at hobby lobby for 15$
all of their open frames are 50% off right now!

this sheet metal is from lowes. i had to buy a giant square(like 2x4) for 24$ so i guess i'll be finding more uses for it :)

i laid the metal on top of the frame and used a permeant marker to trace the size i needed.
now that i think about it i' bet i could have just measured out 11x14, and not traced anything, but that would have been easier so of course i didn't do it that way.

then i used wire cutters to cut it down ….. 

i'm sure something else would have been easier, but i had these around and evan wasn't home to help so i made due.

i hot glued the metal to the frame and covered the ugly edge with ribbon. (even though its on the back, i just wanted it to looked "finished"

then i started putting e's hair clips on. 

...the problem is i went to hobby lobby for the frame and left with 4 more flowers for her hair. 
oops.

i can't help it!

so now this lovely thing is hanging on the wall in her room!!

but i better be careful or i will have to make another for all of the hair things i have yet to buy, seeing as how she is only 3 months old and this is her stash so far :)

what i made with mom

ok, here is is. everything my mom and i made while she was here…


this:

a super cute rag blanket for eleanor to play on.

it was pretty easy and great sewing practice for me! i did it all by myself, my mom didn't help at all, which is a big freaking deal!!!

i was and am proud of myself for this one!!

we used this tutorial.

but didn't bind the edges…. we cut them like the rest of the blanket because i liked it better it was easier!

and this:

a wet bag for our cloth diapers. this was my first time sewing in a zipper and it turned out ok!
its for sure not the easiest thing to sew but getting better!
i also made a million burp rags, and by million i mean 4.
but i did make one to match this bag

not too shabby if i do say so myself!!

we just found out a few of our friends are having babies and i hope they're ready to get burp rags from me!! i love making them!!

then theres this:

a big wet bag that hangs in eleanors room, we but the dirty diapers in here. 

but since its out in the open i wanted it to be cute. 

my mom did most of this one, i sewed up the bottom and put the handles on.

who knows how long it would have taken me and she whipped it out in 10 min.

she's amazing like that!

so there you go. everything we did while she was here. well everything other than love her granddaughter every second!

take that pinterest

while my mom was here we made so many things. i will share them with you now soon.
but first i wanted to show you what i made
and and thought up on my own, no help from pinterest!
this:

the blanket. well i made the baby too but not on my own :)
this is our nakie baby blanket.  i feel like eleanor needs to air out every now and then since she's in diapers every second... plus look how cute her bare bottom is!

so i had the bright idea to make a waterproof blanket so if she goes to the bathroom while being naked i don't have a mess to clean up. just throw in the wash and were good to go!

its just 2 pieces of fabric.
this (which is just cotton fabric with a waterproof core) and the cute pink flannel.
i got a yard of each, sewed them together.
and done.
thanks to this blanket nakie baby time is now part of our bedtime routine.

i love it, and so does eleanor!

so take that pinterest, i can still come up with things on my own!!

i love my mom

my mom just left. she went back to arkansas today and i almost cried. she was here for a week and a half and that wasn't long enough.

she's great. while she was here we made all kinds of things(i'll show you later), and she cooked dinner almost every night, she watched eleanor so evan and i could go on a date, and my kitchen was always clean.

i love my mom.

my mom and i have always been close. and the older i get the closer we get. we talk everyday. 

every.single.day.

but having a baby changed our relationship. 

before eleanor was born i wasn't exactly the sweetest daughter around, basically…

i was a brat.

i loved her. and told her, but got upset with her a lot... 

and i was a brat.

i always thought whatever reason i had to get mad at her was valid. but it wasn't... 

and i was a brat.

now that i have a daughter, and i love her more than i ever knew i could love, i know how much my mom loves me.

and i was wrong. so wrong for being a brat.

i've told her all of this. apologized for everything i ever did. told her how wrong i was and how my heart would/will break when/if eleanor acts that way to me.

but i just wanted everyone else to know how wonderful she is and how much i love her and how amazing it is to finally know how much she loves me. no matter how many times i was/will be a brat!

something that works

since i've posted so many things i've tried that don't work i thought i'd share something i make that does!!

baby wipes
i've been making these since e was born.
they. are. amazing.
and so much cheaper than buying wipes
-maybe not cheaper than all wipes(i haven't done much pricing) but if i buy wipes i buy pampers sensitive because thats what they gave us at the hospital and i don't want to risk eleanor reacting to anything else(… i know, first time mom). and i get them at target, so this ends up being cheaper than that!
i also love that i know every single ingredient and i love that i make them. i think anything homemade is better!

you need
paper towels  (i use viva paper towels, they're my favorite and super soft!)
baby shampoo
baby oil, or coconut oil (i like baby better)
tea tree oil
and other essential oil for smell if you want

thats all.
oh and a container to put them in, i bought mine at target, it fits 1/2 of a roll.

when i first started making these i cut the roll of paper towels in half. but i had problems with mold, because it took us forever to go through the entire half roll.
so now i cut the roll in thirds and it works much better!!

in your container mix
1 to 2 tbl baby oil
2 tbl baby shampoo
3 drops tea tree oil

(tea tree oil is a natural antiseptic, helps with mildew, and is strong so be sure and count the drops!)

1.5 to 2 cups water

and a few drops essential oils if you want

stir together and add paper towel roll.
turn over and let sit 30 min.
pull out the cardboard in the center of the roll when it is completely wet and it will just come right out.



when i cut the roll in thirds i didn't have any trouble with mildew but i also don't put the lid on the all the way so they can get a little air.
i love them so much.
this time i used lavender oil and they smell so good!