My two favorite books from March

I don't have a lot of time to read these days but I do make room during Hudson's morning nap, to read at least a chapter. I don't trust myself to read before bed because I am a "one more chapter" kind of girl and before I know it the book is done and it's 4 am!
Last Month I read two great books, the first is a MUST READ for anyone with a baby (or two) ;). Seriously Healthy Child, Healthy World is an amazing book. It made me strive harder to create a green home for our little Hudson! This is a great read even if you don't have a baby around!

Next was Reading with Babies, Toddlers and Twos "A guide to laughing, learning and growing together through books". This has been my go to guide for reading with Hudson. It talks a lot about the importance of reading to children but it goes even further and lists the best books for each age group. Hudson has loved every suggestion and it has really inspired me to slow down and read with him more often. We went from 1 or 2 books a day, to  10 - 12 books a day!!!

I hope you'll give one of these books a try, honestly they have been two of my favorites!!

In other news: WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!!! ;) More info on that in another post but I just wanted to let you know! ;)

It's black . . . it's white

It's black it's white,
It's a pillow for my living room!

The above was funnier if you think about Michael Jackson's 'Black or White' song! Only a little funnier . . . maybe not funny at all. :(

Since I tackled those black and white elephant curtains for Hudson's nursery, I have been on a major black and white kick. I don't know what it is but something about black and white warmed up with a little light beige is seriously floating my boat these days. I was at Ikea looking for some toy organization options (trying to avoid just piling them into baskets) and this railroad pillow was calling to me! It's Ikea's Stockholm pillow and for $19.99 you get the pillow cover and a feather insert! :) I paired it with a little light beige pillow on our wingback chair!

Next black and white purchase was . . . this baby blanket from Spearmint Baby. The Eco Cross blanket was a bit of a splurge item for us but it was well worth it! I always put a blanket on the living room floor for Hudson so I thought something that looked nice was important, something that holds up to the occasional spit up or bottle spill was equally important! It's made from 80% recycled cotton and it has held up to many . . . many washings well.

I hope you are enjoying our little black and white touches as much as I am!
From these pictures you can probably tell we have switched the living room up . . . yet again! I am writing the post for that up this week, should be up by Wednesday. Long story short . . . we needed more room for Hudson's track and field training (aka. learning to walk)

I'll be back tomorrow with my two favorite books from March!

Hudson's Nursery Update

There is so much cuteness available for babies! It is all I can do to keep my wallet shut while shopping. I am working on our new must haves list for babies (if you haven't seen my last list it's here). But I wanted to share a couple updates on Hudson's nursery. First off it is still my favorite room in the house, the two toned paint scheme really floats my boat and with a couple of added touches it's finally done . . . just in time to move. ;).

We didn't change much, well we really change anything, we just added some special touches. First we added different pillows to the chair. It's a long story involving pee, and some pretty amazing poop, long story short the chair was cleaned and we had to get new pillows. They are both from Ikea. I love the black and white one, and the teal one has such a nice velvet texture to it.

We couldn't fit a lamp or a floor lamp in Hudson's room so I was thinking of maybe adding a sconce? But while I was at Ikea buying pillow covers I saw this eye chart sign that lights up! Perfect!! It's kind of graphic and sits flat against the wall.

Next was my absolute favorite purchase for Hudson ever . . . this Danish Mobile. It cost almost as much as his crib but I loved it!!! I can see it hanging inside a tent when he's older, or just in the corner of his room! Heck, I love it so much if he doesn't want it when he's older I might just hang it above my bed! ;)

With Hudson up and trying to walk with the grace of a three legged, sleepy baby deer I figured something soft in his room might be a good idea. I ordered this floor pouf from etsy (here's the link to the store). The shop owner let you pick the fabric and the piping and I should also mention that it is very good construction. The pouf cost just over $50 with stuffing and everything.

We needed a small table beside the chair. We were just placing the bottles on the ground and that led to the great bottle leak of 2013 on the carpet so I found this ceramic OWL side table. I loved the little table and if you can't put a huge ceramic owl with a flat head in a babies room . . . where else are you going to put one?

The owl is from Urban Barn.
The corner of his room is looking about the same, a few more books and toys but generally the same as it did 8 months ago.

Lastly, I had to share the best $7 I have every spent. Sneaking in and out of a babies room has never been easier! I ordered mine off of Etsy, the store is called Latchy Catchy.  It catches the door latch so you just open and close the door. Lee noticed it and asked how much it cost. I thought he was going to say it was silly, I answered $7 and he said it's worth $100!! ;) haha

I hope you like Hudson's room as much as we do. I was a little sad that we had just finished his nursery and now we are moving, but it has given me some ideas on things I definitely want to do again in his new nursery, and some ideas of things I wouldn't do again. More on that in another post! :)

4 Steps to an Organic Bed

I am not sure I have ever valued sleep more in my life than I do right now. . . a 9 month old baby can make that happen. I have spent more than 1 early morning laying in bed, staring at the video monitor praying for those wiggly arms and legs to calm down and fall back asleep. And I'm not going to lie . . . I have bartered with god at some very un-godly hour for just 10 more minutes of sleep. There was also one very desperate morning when I offered Lee $100 to get the baby . . . I think he could sense my desperation because he didn't even point out that we are a single income family so, me giving him $100 was essentially, him giving himself $100. ;)

We decided that investing in our sleep at this point in our life would be a very good idea. I searched for organic bedding, mattress pads and pillows. Creating a completely organic bed has been on my wish list for a few years now, and while we haven't taken the plunge with an organic latex mattress, we did take the plunge on an organic latex mattress pad and organic latex pillows

I started with an organic latex mattress topper, after sleeping on it for 4+ months I can honestly say it was so worth the investment. We were planning on eventually investing in an organic latex mattress, but the mattress pad is working out so well for us we've put any plans for a new mattress on hold.

Here's our Organic 100% natural Latex Mattress Topper details:
-It's from Sleeponlatex.com We were really happy with their customer service, they helped us pick out the right firmness for us and shipping was fast.
-No Fillers or synthetic latex, only natural latex.
-It is OKEO standard certified to be free of any harmful chemicals and is certified to only contain latex from organically grown rubber trees.

Lee mentioned that he felt cooler at night, so I looked it up and because these toppers have holes in the latex foam it actually keeps you cooler. That was enough for Lee to hear and ordered up the pillows as well, because nothing is as satisfying as the cool side of the pillow. They are made from the same Natural Latex as the mattress topper, except in a rounder shape (if that makes sense), and they are kind of like sleeping on a cloud! Honestly if you don't need a new mattress topper or it's not in your budget right now, a couple of these pillows will rock your world. They also have different pillows for side sleepers and for back sleepers. I am a side sleeper, and Lee is a back snorer . . . errr I mean sleeper, so we each got our own pillow fit perfectly for us.

So after the mattress topper and pillows were ordered we had the healthy foundation set, on to the fluff . . . organic fluff that is. We chose organic sheets from Target . . . seriously organic sheets for around $50 I am in!
We used the same organic cotton, woven blanket also from Target. And because I need something a little warmer (we live in Canada), we picked up the organic pin tucked duvet cover from West Elm.

And that's all there is. It was a bit of an investment but seriously, sleep is at a premium these days so it was money well spent. We are very happy with our sleeping situation. One thing we weren't expecting but some of Lee's back pain went away. He has always had a bit of back pain (nothing serious) but it's mostly gone now. :) I have recently had some back pain start up but I blame that on our 26 lb 9 month old not our bed. ;)

In conclusion, my 4 Steps to an organic bed are:

1. An Organic Latex Mattress or and Organic Latex Mattress Topper 
2. Organic Latex Pillows
3. Organic Sheets
4. Organic Duvet Cover

*I received a few questions on the second photo, yes that is a zippered mattress pad cover. They are made from 100% Bamboo and are completely washable. I would definitely recommend the covers from Sleep on Latex as well. Then you can just wash away the dust bunnies or dead skin (gross I know but somebody had to say it).

Good Housekeeping

Too excited not to share, looks like we snuck into Good Housekeeping's

April Issue!!!

A small feature but seriously a dream come true! There was a phone interview and everything, it was pretty cool. I have flipped through the pages of Good Housekeeping since I was a kid, dreaming of what my future house would look like. My mom and grandmother have always had stacks of Good Housekeeping around so to be inside the magazine feels very full circle for me!

Thank you again to all of our readers! Things like this are only possible with the support of amazing readers like you.

 

I will be back tomorrow to share our new organic bed :) Because with a 9 month old sleep has become a precious commodity. ;)

Pack it up, Pack it in

Let me begin . . .

We are MOVING!!!! And we are pretty excited about it!

I will start from the beginning. Lee has always had a bit of a commute to work, about 50 minutes each way . . . that's almost 2 whole hours lost in traffic (and that's assuming there were no major accidents or incidents on the roads).
That alone was enough to have us thinking about moving, but Hudson is another major reason. He is a little boy and all the 'warnings' I've received about little boys from friends basically leads me to believe we needed a bigger yard, and stain resistant everything. ;)

We decided to list the house Feb.27th and we had 5 offers from 6 showings by Feb. 28th. We weren't expecting it to go that quickly so we hadn't bought or really looked at anything, so we are a bit behind the gun. So what I really mean is we're homeless, with an 9 month old baby. ;) We are lucky and have late closing dates so we don't have to be out of here until the end of May.

While we don't have a house yet we do have an area picked out. We are moving to a beautiful town with a small town feel, close to beaches and not too far the city! And the best part is, it will be 10 minutes from Lee's work!!!! To say we are excited would be a huge understatement.

As soon as we know where we are moving I will let you know. We are moving to a more expensive area so while we will be increasing our budget, we will be decreasing our house size by almost 1000 square feet, and definitely looking at older homes. But older homes have tons of character, so I am super excited . . . at least until I have to downsize my shoe collection, say it ain't so!! ;)

So that's our BIG news.

It's Official

Hi, my name is Ashli.

I have been gone so long I feel like I needed to introduce myself again. ;)

All joking aside I wanted to thank everyone who sent me an email or a tweet or a message making sure we were ok. We were just fine. Life gets busy with a baby around, I wanted to get our routine and life under control before I could find time for my first baby (the blog).
It's been a really nice break and I can now report that most days, our life is routine and under control . . . most days. Although once a month, on the full moon, he goes a little crazy and is a little hard to handle (I now have a better idea of how Lee feels once a month ;).

Hudson is a bouncing 9 month old baby now. He can walk with limited assistance, he can pull up on everything, but has almost no interest in crawling! He eats everything that's put down in front of him (including a lemon wedge once, he made a sour face then went back for more). He is such an easy baby, he can go days at a time without crying, he sleeps through the night, and easily entertains himself. Although he doesn't travel well, he has about a 30 minute limit in his carseat before he turns into part baby, part zombie and starts growling and trying to eat his feet.

Honestly the last 9 months have been amazing, especially this month because . . .
Hudson's Adoption Order finally came in the mail and he is now officially our SON!!!!!! There is no word big enough to explain how happy we are. I am a mom, Lee is a dad and Hudson is our son, we are a family!

I put together a little video to commemorate this huge milestone in our lives, if you have a second please have a peek.

 The journey might not have looked exactly like I thought it would, but what I wake up to everyday looks exactly as I always dreamed (although honestly in my dreams my baby didn't wake up until at least 9am, reality looks slightly different . . . about 3 hours different to be exact). ;)


I will be back this week with an update on Hudson's nursery, an update on our new bed (errr. . .  kind of) and a HUGE announcement tomorrow!!!

Thank you again for all the love and support while I was gone!

It's Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!!! 

Seriously I know I am biased but, isn't he just the cutest?? 

It feels like it has been forever since I've posted . . . okay it has been forever. Life with an almost 6 month old is BUSY!! I love every minute . . . well almost every minute! ;) We managed to get a tree up and are currently enjoying our last Christmas with breakable ornaments on the tree. ;)

I think it is safe to say our tree is LOADED!! I don't think that it could fit one more decoration. I don't think I have ever loaded a tree up this much but I am loving the look!!!

The stockings were hung with care . . . all three of them! :)

Some rustic candle holders and a garland on the mantel,

and some metal peace decorations finish off the mantel.

and lastly, I chose a black, gold, and kraft paper theme for our wrapping paper and it's my favorite scheme to date!! It's kind of glam and kind of rustic!

I hope you all have an amazing Holiday season with your families!!! I hope to put together a gift guide before Christmas. I was able to find some seriously cute gifts for the two men in my life and of course I wanted to share them with you.
Oh and I almost forgot . . . my favorite tree ornament:

This H from Chapters/Indigo. H for Hudson!!!

Olive Leaf Stencils Giveaway

I am so excited to share today's giveaway with you today!! Seriously, I love stencils. When Olive Leaf Stencils contacted me about a giveaway I jumped on it faster then a cat jumps out of the bathtub (if you have ever bathed a cat you know, that's pretty fast).

Olive Leaf has some amazing stencils, everything from wall patterns to a giant octopus (I swear if I didn't think this octopus would scare Hudson I would totally pop it on his wall).

But my personal favorite stencil would be the bird stencils!! A little Edgar Alan Poe, I love them!

Now it's your chance to let us know what your favorite stencil is, come back and let us know for your chance to win it!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good Luck!!!!

Baby Elephant

Hudson's first Halloween was a success. We had the cutest baby elephant on our hands, this was the only picture I was able to snap without his hand in his mouth (darn teething).

I hope everyone had a great Halloween, I will be back tomorrow with another great giveaway and later this week with my latest organizing project!

Attiser Pillow Giveaway

Ugg, still out sick! Sick baby + sick Mama = not a very happy home. But we are on the mend with some antibiotics and some grandparent visits! All I have to say is thank goodness for grandparents.

I was able to wrangle you another fabulous giveaway to apologize for my absence. This one is from Attiser, their motto is "Kindling passion in color, discovering beauty in imperfections." I love that!

Attiser has a beautiful line of linens ranging from bedding to shower curtains, Table linens to curtain panels all with a colorful bohemian feel!

I am Loving the blue print on the shower curtain but I am seriously in love with the pink sheet set and quilt. 

_________________________________________________________

Today they have offered one lucky reader a chance to win a set of their Amethyst Amore Throw Pillow Covers!!

They are 17" x 17", 100% cotton throw pillow covers. Each pillow is printed individually, by hand using wood blocks!  I love their bright bohemian feel!!

Here's the Details: 

To Enter: Like Attiser's Facebook page, come back and let us know you did. It's that simple!
Bonus Entry: Visit Attiser's Site and let us know what your favorite item is, come back and let us know.

Prize: A set of Amethyst Amore Throw Pillows
Open to: Canada and the United States
Contest Closes: Nov. 6, 2013 11:59pm

Sassy Steal Giveaway

 I am so excited to share today's giveaway with you today. I have been locked up at home with a sick little baby, poor Hudson caught a bad cold with a fever that wouldn't go away. But we are both on the mend and to celebrate we are giving away a $50 gift certificate to Sassy Steals.

Sassy Steals offers daily online deals on Woman's jewelry, trendy clothing and other handmade crafts. And by Deals . . . they really mean deals!!! Many of their deals are under $10, like this set of stainless straws for $5.99!

Or these bubble necklaces for $8.99.

Or just in time for Christmas some personalized gift tags or mailing labels. They also have some fabulous burlap stockings that I am ordering for our mantel this year.

Of course this is just a sampling of what they have to offer and it changes daily! I love that so many of the deals are handmade items and the prices really are a steal,  I saw a peacoat for $20.99 on there last night!! ;)

Enter Below and Good luck!!!

For those of you who want to get your Sassy Steal on now, they have offered our readers a coupon code for 15% off your first purchase . . . just type in Sassy15

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Easy Biscuits and Butter

If this blog was to be called something else . . . I would seriously consider calling it Biscuits and Butter! I highly question if there is something better than warm biscuits out of the oven with butter . . . or jam . . . or both. 

I am neither a Grandmother, nor am I from the South so I don't blame you if you are skeptical about my biscuit knowledge, but I am going to break the southern grandmother stereotype and this Canadian Girl is going to share her easy and delicious biscuit recipe! haha

2 cups Flour
3 Tbsp Sugar
3 Tsp Baking Powder
1 Tsp Salt
1/4 Cup of Cold Butter (or shortening)
2/3 Cup of Cold Buttermilk  (if your dough is too dry add a splash more milk)
        * You could substitute regular milk if you don't have any buttermilk
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

Sift all dry ingredients into a large bowl. Cut in Butter with a pastry cutter or if you work quick enough not to melt the butter use your fingers.
Add Milk and stir until the dough combines, add more milk if it's still too dry. 

Roll out dough until it's 1/2" thick. 

Using a round cutter cut out your rounds . . . if you like them more rustic then just cut them into squares.

Then you arrange them on an ungreased baking sheet. Now, if you like crispy biscuits, like I do, arrange them about 1" apart on the sheet. If you like softer biscuit arrange them so that the edges are just touching each other, I thought that was pretty cool . . . my granny taught us that!

In a 425 degree oven, bake them for anywhere from 10-13 minutes. Keep an eye on them!!

There you have it . . . biscuits worthy of any Southern Grandma.
Always served with some warm Sour Cherry Jam!!!

Lastly, I am in LOVE with these ceramic berry containers from Anthropologie!! I love it when ordinary, disposable items are made permanent. So cute and odd at the same time. I love items with a little bit of quirk to them . . . like my white ceramic gnome.

I hope you'll try this simple biscuit recipe, they may have you say'in:

"Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit, that girl can bake!!"  :) haha

Baby Kit!

The number 1 rule around here seems to be "Don't Wake the Baby!" haha.

It seems like as soon as I mix a bottle, grab the baby, grab the pillow and sit down on the couch . . . I will immediately need something, a pacifier, a burp cloth, the nail clippers (because the only time I can clip his nails is when he's asleep on me). I was tired of having to wake up a sleeping baby to grab any of these things. So I set up a "Baby Kit".

A Baby Kit just contains all the little bits and pieces that come with having a baby in the house.

• First, since I always change Hudson upstairs but there has been an "incident" or two that required an emergency diaper so I keep an extra diaper or two in the kit.
• WIPES, very very important to have easily within reach. 
• Bibs!! He's a bit of a drool machine right now, so having a few bibs in reach is a must have. These bibs are from Ikea, and they are super cute and cozy. 
• Nail Clippers.  
• Sock, extra baby socks are always good to have on hand, because apparently baby feet repel baby socks.  
• Dimpleskin Naturals Boo Boo Goo. Good for any little scratch or rash. 
• Natural teething remedy, some Camilla Drops! I am not convinced they work but they definitely distract him from his gums for a minute or two. 
• A Thermometer. Ours is the Kidz Med scanner. It good because I am a little paranoid about him over heating so this thermometer let's me check him with out waking him up! :)
• A dangly elephant that rattles.
• A wood rattle.
• And a pacimal! A pacifier attached to a stuffed animal. These are perfect for little babies that can't keep the pacifier in their mouth. 

 And of course . . . Aden and Anias Burp Cloths!!!

I keep the kit, in a 3 Sprouts bag, complete with a little mouse! I like these bags because they have pockets on the outside and they are lined on the inside so they are waterproof!

I hope you like the "Baby Kit" as much as I do. It has really helped control the baby clutter in our living room.  

A living room to LIVE in!

This whole living room situation (as Lee likes to call it) takes some explaining, stick with me it will make sense in a second.
Back in May we had finished our Homestudy and had our minds on baby (although there was no baby yet). We knew that the original way we had our living room set up wasn't going to work . . . there was NO open floor space and no where to put a swing or an exersaucer, or even a little blanket on the floor. We also wanted to move our sectional sofa into the basement where it could be used for movie watching.
So,
We bought our existing sofa from Homesense for $240 . . . it's really more of a loveseat but it would work and it would give us way more room for baby items. Thank goodness we did the living room change up because not even a month later we had Hudson home, along with all the baby gear!

The rocking chair was in the corner by the TV but that thing is more uncomfortable than sitting on your bony grandmother's knee. I thought something wicker would be nice since it's kind of rustic . . . I found these two chairs at Ikea in their as-is section for half price almost $50 each. The white seat cushions were extra but well worth it.
These Ikea Byholma chairs are actually very comfortable! With the thick seat cushions they are a bit high but we are both tall and don't seem to notice, it was actually a vertically challenged friend (aka. a short friend) of mine that pointed out that they were high as her feet dangled above the floor.

We also replaced the large coffee table with a small farmhouse bench we've had forever. The coffee table switch up definitely gave us more room for a wiggly baby. I don't think the bench will stay in the living room forever . . . eventually I would like to see a round tufted leather ottoman in the middle of our living space. But for now the bench works just fine and gives Hudson tons of room to do his tummy time and general baby floor wiggling.

Since it was fall we also layered in our red ikea rug! For a little fall interest.

And Lastly, it's a bit hard to see but we found a sofa table off Craigslist. It's originally an ikea Stockholm table I believe, but I don't think they still sell it. It wasn't exactly what I had pictured behind the sofa, but the price was right, the scale was right and with a little paint and maybe some wheels it will be perfect!

So there's our living room as it looks today . . . okay, maybe not exactly how it looks today. Add in a nursing pillow, a baby activity mat, an exersaucer and some random wood toys around and you'll have EXACTLY what it looks like. ;)

Baby Must Haves

I am so excited to share my Baby Must Haves with you today!!! Before I share them, I will say that I think all babies are different and what our little Hudson LOVES might not be loved by all babies ;). But I will also add that there are other little babes we know (I'm talking about you Emma) that also love some of these Must Haves.

It seems like almost all of our Must Haves fall under the same few companies, Mamas and Papas, Aden and Anias, Skip Hop and Seventh Generation. 

First, Bed and Bath Products.

Although they hardly need my endorsement after Royal Baby George was seen in their swaddle blanket, I LOVE Aden and Anais products. Hudson's bed sheets, blankets, change pad cover and burp cloths and bibs are all made by Aden and Anais! I can't get enough.
1) Muslin baby Swaddle blankets in the Up, Up and Away pattern. They were perfect for summer, but now they make Cozy Muslin blankets for Winter.  We have 6 of them and they are well used!
2) Cozy Sleep Sacks also made by Aden and Anais. We have two in each size as well as a thinner summer one, I love the Liam the Brave pattern.
3) Baby Bee Diaper Ointment. This stuff WORKS. Hudson has insanely sensitive skin and this cream gets rid of any signs of diaper rash. We went for 3 months without any diaper rash, then he got a touch sick and he got a little bum rash, we were using California Baby diaper cream but it didn't make the rash any better, then 2 days of Baby Bee and it was gone!! 100% natural!!
4) Aden and Anais Burp Cloths. These things are amazing!! They are HUGE so they cover your whole shoulder (very important), they are super absorbent (also very important), and as a bonus they have a little snap and they turn into a bib!! We have 4!!
5) Aden and Anais Bamboo Security Blankets. I noticed Hudson was always grabbing his blankets or his outfit, I mentioned it to my friend Sara, and she said she noticed that as well and bought her baby girl these little security blankets and that she loved them. I pick up a pack for Hudson (they come in a pack of 2) and he LOVES them!
6) Silkberry Sleepers. They are so soft, and so stretchy! They are expensive but worth it, we have 3 of them and Hudson has basically lived in them!
7) Seventh Generation baby shampoo and lotion. Like I mentioned before Hudson has very sensitive skin, and the shampoo and wash doesn't irritate his skin. The lotion has helped us keep his eczema away, any sign of dryness the lotion goes on and so far we've been able to keep any flare ups at bay!

Next, Meals and Wheels baby must haves.

1)  Mamas and Papas Loop high chair. This was a recent purchase for us, but I already regret not getting it sooner. He loves to sit in it and watch me make dinner! It tilts back and it spins, but the main reason we bought it is because the height is easily adjustable so I can feed him standing in the kitchen or sitting at the dining table.
2) My Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bag. It turns into a back pack if it gets too heavy . . . enough said! ;)
3) Glass Dr. Brown's Bottles, we didn't want to use plastic bottles and I had heard that Dr.Browns help with colic (Hudson wasn't colic but why risk it) haha. I noticed that he had way fewer toots and burps when using these bottles. They are a PAIN to clean though.
4) We are getting close to solid food time, I am planning on making Hudson's baby food so I needed little jars to store it in. I found and LOVE these little glass Wean Tubs. Again, we didn't want to use plastic so we were willing to spend a little more for the glass tubs.
5) Again my friend Sara found this product, this Skip Hop stroller caddy has saved more than one shopping trip. It's a perfect cup holder and it also has a detachable wallet in the front, and space for all the little bits and bobs that come with leaving the house with a baby. It will fit a bunch of different strollers as well, it fits my Urbo and my friends Britax.
6) Speaking of our stroller. We have a Mamas and Papas Urbo, and we LOVE IT!!!! Couldn't live with out it. It is definitely made for Urban life . . . so no off roading with this guy. It is so light, and so maneuverable, I can hold a door open with one hand and wheel the stroller in easily with the other. The frame is metal so it's super sturdy. The handle telescopes in and out so it fits me at 5'9" or Lee at 6'8". And best of all it fits into the back of my tiny car (Toyota Yaris). We Purchased the Bassinet in addition to the seat it came with, we weren't sure if we should or shouldn't get the bassinet but it was worth every penny!!! We still use that bassinet even though his little legs are starting to hang out the bottom!! I loved that the seat can either face us (for when he's little still) or face out for when he's older (the seat is rated up to 55 lbs).
7) This bottle drying rack is not only cute!! It's also really functional. It fits all 8 of his bottles and all the bits and pieces that come with Dr.Brown's bottles. I would definitely recommend this!!!

Next, TOYS!!!

1) Skip Hop Mobile. What's not to love Owls, birds! I thought I could get away with a simple pastel mobile but one look at his friends brightly colored mobile and suddenly we had to get him one too . . . I know I know, get use to it right!!
2) Skip Hop Activity Gym, I love it, he loves it. It is by far the least ugly play mat I could find.
3) Skip Hop wood blocks. I love wood toys! Give me the option and I will choose wood over plastic any day! And what little boy doesn't love building blocks??
4) A wood rattle. He has two versions of these wood rattles, both made by Hape. We have a love affair with Hape toys right now. So so cute!
5) Lastly, Hudson's Favorite toy!!! This crocheted Snake made by Pebble. He can't nap without it. I do find it funny that the snakes head rattles but not his tail . . . but I guess they weren't going for realism (because a blue and teal snake is soooo realistic).

The down and Dirty must haves.

 1) Seventh Generation Diapers. They are great for Hudson's skin, we haven't noticed any diaper rash (except for the week he was sick), and they are Chlorine free!!
2) Seventh Generation Wipes. For the same natural reasons as using the diapers, plus they are thicker than other wipes I've tried. I like the thickest possible barrier between my hand and the contents of diapers (Definitely enough said).
3) Natursutten Pacifiers. Pacifiers made from natural rubber, with no creases or crevices.

And last but not least . . . . .

A SLEEP SHEEP! Hudson LOVES his sleep sheep!

That's my list!! But I am dying to know what's on your baby must have list???

Slow Cooker Asian Garlic Chicken

       Since the arrival of Hudson in our lives . . . I have been cooking with either the phone (i.e. takeout) or the slow cooker. :) I think instead of giving traditional baby gifts . . . I am going to start giving new moms a crock pot! (Somehow I don't think that will go over super well ;) haha

       This is a MUST TRY recipe. I only share recipes that we love on the blog and I would never recommend a recipe that we didn't think was amazing, this recipe is in a bit of a league of it's own. It's right up there with Lee's favorite Beef Bourguignon, and my favorite key lime pie.
But what makes this recipe extra amazing is that it is so fast and so easy, seriously 5 minutes of prep! We like to serve ours over rice, but it would be equally good over noodles, (maybe even better), and for a vegetable I just chopped up some red peppers on the side.

Asian Garlic Chicken 

      4 boneless skinless chicken breast (or substitute chicken thighs)
      1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
      5 cloves minced fresh garlic
      1  1/2 cups brown sugar
      3 tablespoons soy sauce
      1/2 cup gingerale (you can substitute sprite, 7 up)
      1/2 tsp - 1 tsp red pepper flakes (*optional, adjust to personal tolerance for spice)

      2 tbsp water
      1 tbsp cornstarch

1) Combine vinegar, garlic, sugar, soy, pepper flakes and gingerale in crock pot. Mix until sugar has dissolved (this doesn't take more than 1 minute).
2) Now, place chicken into crock pot with liquid.
3) Turn crock pot to high and cook for 4 hours! (You can also turn the crock pot to low and cook for 8 hours),
4) When the chicken in ready (after 4 hours on high) pull the chicken out and cut into chunks. Take the liquid from the crock pot and pour it into a small sauce pot on the stove. Bring liquid to a boil. Mix water and cornstarch together and pour into liquid. Heat until the sauce is thickened (feel free to add more cornstarch and water if you would like your sauce thicker).
5) Eat!
6) Come back and let us know if you loved it as much as we do!!!

Nursery Reveal

       Hudson's almost 9 weeks old now and we can finally call his room finished. I wanted to keep the main elements timeless and neutral . . . things like the wall color and the trim detail (you can read more about those choices here). I wanted them to be able to grow up with him. The trim and paint also happen to be my favorite part of the room, I would love to paint the entire house those two colors!

       I wanted to add some whimsy (or a lot of whimsy as the case may be) in the form of drapes. I am not much of a "theme" person but somehow his little nursery ended up with a bit of an elephant theme. What I like about the drapes is that while it's obviously elephants up close . . . from far away it almost looks just like a patterned black and white fabric (you can read more about the drapes here).
       I found this curtain rod at Lowes for less than $20. I thought it was perfect for a nursery. I love that it looks like a branch with some little leaves off the end. I even love the antique brass finish . . . a little warmer than nickle or chrome.

       The crib was more than a bit of a dilemma. We originally bought Ikea's Sniglar crib. I really loved the clean lines and how thin and delicate it was, I especially liked the price at $79.99. What I didn't like was that it was natural wood (I was just hoping for something painted). So we bought it anyway . . . and picked up some no voc paint. The plan was that we would paint the crib with a no voc paint, then seal it with a no voc sealer. We knew that we had about a month before he would be sleeping in it . . . so that should be more than enough time for it to cure and all the smell to leave. One month later . . . the paint was still tacky . . . the smell was stronger than ever and in the end I just didn't feel comfortable with him sleeping in his room  . . . with the door closed and that crib inside. So back to the drawing board, or back to Ikea I should say, for their Gulliver crib. It is really similar in its style, very simple clean lines. The four corner pieces are a little thicker than the sniglar crib but generally the same idea. A bonus is that it was already a warm cream color, and it didn't stink. ;)

       We had no debate over what crib mattress to get Hudson . . . we knew we wanted one that had an infant side and a toddler side (although I am pretty sure most of them do). But mostly we wanted to ensure that it was made of organic cotton. I researched tons of different mattresses to find one that was a reasonable price, we ended up with the Simmons "Natures Best" mattress.  We found it on sale at Sears for $159.

       Attached to the crib is a Cloud B sleep sheep. Hudson loves it, he loves it so much we ended up buying the travel sized sleep sheep that we can take with us in the car and on trips. The sheep has 4 white noises, rain and ocean are Hudson's favorite. We use Rain for bedtime and we use Ocean for nap times. It's awesome . . . as soon as he hears the rain sound you can actually see him getting sleepy.

       In the crib we chose a Muslin crib sheet made by Aden and Anais, it's their Up, Up and Away pattern. I have more than a small crush on Aden and Anais products right now, we have the swaddle blankets, the sleep sacks, the burp cloths and the bibs. They are beautiful and breathable, even Lee likes them and he is pretty much immune to baby stuff. He said he doesn't understand why I think baby shoes are so cute because "They are just like adult shoes but small". haha

       Beside the crib is our old craft cabinet. We were given so many adorable baby gifts and so many books, we wanted somewhere to keep all the cute baby gear. The drawer at the bottom is especially useful to store extra diapers and wipes.

       I found the sign above the cabinet at Homesense. I went in for pillows (more on the pillows in a second) and I saw the sign . . . I knew we had to have it for Hudson's room. I am sure he will get to be a certain age and not want that up in his room any more but for now it's perfect!

       The mobile above his bed was a bit of a struggle for me. I couldn't find a mobile that I loved. I could find ones that I liked . . . but even those ones were well over $50. So I set out to make my own, errr . . . kind of. I found the wire mobile harness on Amazon for less than $10. Then I found these little monkeys at the dollar store for a dollar ;). I just clipped them on the bum (ouch). Hudson loves it. When I find little elephants I will swap out the little monkeys but for now the colors are perfect and if Hudson is happy with it, then I'm happy.

       On the other side of his room is his dresser (aka. Change table) and a chair. The mirror is a huge hit with Hudson. The change pad is the Naturepedic Organic Change pad (while Hudson doesn't spend a lot of time on his change pad . . . we still chose to go organic because we didn't want it off gassing in his room). We covered it in the matching Muslin Aden and Anais cover! We keep his diapers and wipes in the top drawer of the dresser, that way we didn't need to try and squeeze in a BIG, long dresser or change table.

       You might recognize the chair, it's our old living room chair (originally our library chair). We are planning on adding a glider mechanism to the bottom but for right now it's as is. The pillows are from Homesense and they were the inspiration for the whole room.

       Lastly, above the chair we attached a picture ledge (an old one from Ikea) to the wall and hung a very calming piece of black and white art work (originally from Ikea as well).

I also keep his little elephant rattle and diaper cream up there, because I give him the rattle when I change him and if I need the diaper cream it's within easy reach.

We also added a ceiling fan where the old light fixture was before. Having a fan in the room reduces the risk of SIDS so it was the first thing we installed when we knew Hudson was coming home.

Whew, that was a long post . . . and I hope you like his little nursery as much as we do. It's my favorite room in the house now. Like hands down, no contest, my favorite room! It makes me want to install trim and do a two toned paint scheme for the whole house!

Make sure to pop back tomorrow, I have been using our crock pot a ton since Hudson's arrival and I made the BEST and Easiest chicken dish, recipe up on the blog tomorrow morning!