Baby-proofing with beanbags
I’ve always been a big fan of the beanbag chair. It’s great for snuggling while watching TV, sprawling out solo with a good book, chilling with a pet, starting conversations at parties, breaking physical barriers between people, and easy to move when it’s time to vacuum. You can even take a beanbag camping with you and lounge under the stars in comfort. A good beanbag chair can make a room feel fun, casual, playful, and cozy. Turns out, beanbags also make awesome baby-proofing.
How do I keep my baby cool during the summer?
My daughter is seven months old, and we are quickly approaching summer in Texas. Temperatures here can get HOT — average temperature of 100° F in August, anyone? I’d really like tips for keeping cool in the car, in the stroller, and running in and out of places while on errands. I’m also interested in finding out everyone’s favorite brand of baby sunblock and/or umbrella hats.
How can we celebrate our non-blood family with our daughter?
I come from a fairly abusive background, and am perfectly happy with most of my biological family not being in our life. However, I’m finding it increasingly hard to find ways to celebrate the friends that we have made family. I want my daughter to know that she is surrounded by love — even though we don’t have what you would call a conventional family unit.
A secular baby welcoming ceremony jampacked with love and sweets
We left the day feeling very much like we did after leaving our wedding. We tend not to do things in the “traditional” ways, and often get a lot of funny looks from people when we describe what we have in mind. With Margot’s ceremony, and our wedding before it, we got some push back from people who thought what we had planned was weird, or just… had lots of questions like “um, what the heck is a welcome ceremony?” So, we feel especially pleased when those same people come up to us to say “That was so lovely!” or “This was the nicest wedding/baby ceremony I have ever been to!”
How do you celebrate your kid’s birthdays together when divorced grandparents don’t get along?
I’m the product of divorced parents who are happily remarried, but that don’t get along well with one another. Now that my husband and I have brought our three families’ first grandbaby in the world, I’m wondering how we’re going to handle birthdays and other celebrations when two sets of grandparents don’t jive.
Breastfeeding was crazy hard — then it clicked
Of all the things people felt like giving advice on while I was pregnant, no one ever told me that breastfeeding might be hard. One person warned me that sometimes it just doesn’t work, but I didn’t really get it. Why would it just not work?
Henri and his wondrous carnival-themed striped nursery
I totally squealed when these photos of Henri’s carnival-themed nursery popped up in our Flickr pool — I love these glimpses into people’s worlds! Henri’s room is adorbz, and (BONUS POINTS) his parents even found a way to feature a clown that isn’t a creepy. Let’s check it out.
How to spend $5 or less and make your own back seat mirror for your car
A back seat mirror can run you $10-20 on a regular day, but why spend all of that if you can spend $5 (or LESS) and make your own? I originally tried this out using hot glue, which I advise against (it melts) — but now I’ve got all the kinks worked out, and this mirror works like a dream.