Registry Roundup: Toys

When the hubster and I registered, we originally did not pick out any toys. This was something that we assumed people would probably buy for us, but we weren't sure that it necessarily needed to be on our registry. Luckily, a few mommy friends of mine took a look at my registry and encouraged me to not only register for toys, but to research them. Turns out that I really do have opinions on what I want my baby to be playing with, and I'm glad that I took their advice.

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Now I don't consider myself an extreme person. I think everything in moderation is a great attitude to have for many things in life. Being a teacher, however, who sees chidren with attention issues daily, I really think it is important to think about how we are entertaining our children.

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I ended up naturally shying away from (but not shunning) most plastic, light up, crazily colored toys. Anything that seemed ridiculously stimulating in general. This wasn't my plan starting out, it's just what I ended up being comfortable with. I'm certainly not putting down anyone who loves this kind of thing, but it just didn't seem like the right fit for us. And while I'm sure the occasional plastic or light-up toy will make it into our home, I really didn't want that to be the be all and end all of toyland for our baby.

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So without further ado, here are a few of the toys that made the cut and ended up on the registry for Violet's enjoyment:

I seriously love that the little jingle ball is from an etsy store called 'Violet', so it has my baby's name on it! I really am in love with the IKEA baby gym. Not only does it look cute, but it looks like you could easily change out the toys when baby starts to get bored.

Clockwise from top left:

Wooden Squish Toy - Amazon
Cloth Jingle Ball - Etsy Seller Violet
Cloth Teething Toy - kaikids
Crocheted Flower Rattle - Etsy Seller For Stitches Sake
Roller Coaster - Amazon
Organic Wooden Blocks - Etsy Seller little sapling toys
Rag Doll - Etsy Seller poppy and ted
Wooden Ring Toy - Amazon
Sensory Owl - Etsy Seller Softie Cafe
Wooden Gym - IKEA

Birthday Wish

I'm seriously in LOVE with this ottoman from Anthropologie:

Other Anthro items I may be a bit obsessed with:

 

 

 

  

I could go on. Seriously if I had a shopping spree here, it would be scary. Too bad most of their products aren't exactly in my price range...*sigh*

Organization Around the House

I think I'm in the nesting stage of pregnancy for sure. I feel the need to organize every room in my house! Here are some ideas I've come across to help me with my messy house:

I'd like to do this in my kitchen:

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We currently have hooks for keys, but I never know where to put my mail and paperwork. I need it to be somewhere visible so I don't forget about it, and it usually ends up on the dining room table. It works, but not so attractive.

And I'd like to do something like this in my master bedroom:

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We currently have a built in section of cabinets and drawers that is attached to a rad cover. Not only is it unattractive, but we will be getting rid of the radiator shortly (we put in a MUCH smaller and less noticeable one), so the whole structure will have to go. I love how this looks and I love its function even more. I could really use more space for shoes, jewelry, purses, etc. I'm not a fashion diva by any stretch, but we don't have a lot of closet space to begin with in our tiny 1930's Tudor.

This is an adorable solution for our closet-less nursery:

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IKEA Lack shelves + a Bygel rod = Easy, breezy, beautiful. 

I also want to create a household manual. My filing system has kind of gone south. I haven't really been keeping up with it. I'd like to create something that functions better for me. Plus I don't really need a huge filing cabinet full of papers. 

Hopefully I'll have that finished by next week sometime. In the meantime, you should definitely check out Organized Home. It's an awesome site with tons of ideas and tips. A Nestie recently posted a link to a ton of printable pages to use in your household manual that will be assisting me with my task:

 I can't wait to sift through all of these and print them out! 

Finally, don't forget to check out Lauren over at Pure Style Home. She is doing weekly organization challenges. She's currently doing a Christmas shoot with Better Homes & Gardens (sooo awesome), but has still managed to keep up with her weekly organizational goals!  

If you have done an organization-related posts lately in your blog that you'd like to share, I can use all of the inspiration I can get! (Or if you have a favorite organization link to share in general) Just link to your favorite one via McLinky here:


 

I'm Loving...

These maternity clothes:

From top left to top right:
Blue Jersey Tiered-Sleeve Tee - Old Navy Maternity - $7.50
Blue Striped Dress - Asos - $44.38
Grey Striped Tee - TopShop - $36.00
Navy Flutter Tunic - Posh Maternity - $64.00


From bottom left to bottom right:
Grey Cowl Neck Sweater - Target - $21.99
Grey Striped Dress - TopShop - $55.00
Black Tights - Assets - $18.00
Grey & Black Mock Sweater - Motherhood & Maternity - $24.99

So far I own the sweater from Motherhood & Maternity (which fits great and is very flattering) and the tights from Assets. I LOVE the tights. They are incredibly comfortable.

As far as some maternity fashion advice, I definitely recommend getting pants with a FULL panel at the top:

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You may not feel like you need them in first tri or even second, but trust me, when third tri rolls around you will be sorry if your pants don't have full tummy coverage!

Buy a BellaBand:

It's a stretchy band that helps hold up your pants. It will let you wear your non-maternity pants for a longer period of time. It will also help hold up maternity pants (some of them keep stretching and stretching as you wear them and start to fall down).

Ask your mommy friends if you can borrow some of their maternity clothing. I did this and it saved me lots of $$. And if they get pregnant again, you can return the favor! Happy shopping :)

If any of you pregnant ladies or moms have any other maternity fashion advice or favorite places to shop, I'd love to hear about it - a girl can use all the help she can get!

A Bare Bedroom

Recently, Jenny wrote to me for help with accessorizing her bedroom:

Hi Lauren, 

I ran across this site and loved your style! I think I was on here for over an hour. I would love your ideas for our bedroom:

It has been this way for over a year.  I would love the furniture to stay.  The elliptical trainer is now out of the room.  The bedding is from Restoration Hardware, and I guess it can stay (though it could go). I would also like to keep the paint color as well.  I really need help with accessories. I am so indecisive when it comes to that.  My style I would say is Transitional, a bit of modern with traditional.  I love Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, Ethan Allen type of styles but on a Target budget.  I hope you have time to squeeze in my design dilemma!  Thanks!


Jenny



As Dorothy Draper said, "It is just as disastrous to have the wrong accessories in your room as it is to wear sport shoes with an evening dress." So here are some accessories that I think would be right for your space, Jenny:

And suggestions for where to place them:

• Swing Arm Sconces flanking the bed
• Nautical Prints above the bed
• Add more color with these indigo curtains (if you want to keep the white it would work, but I'd consider going with a cleaner rod-pocket or grommet top rather than the tie tabs)
• Mirrored tray, vase, and candles on top of the shorter wider dresser with the square mirror above. If you have any personal photos you'd like to include in the room, this would be a great place to do it. Some sort of metallic or mirrored frames would look nice.
• Birds, lamp, and cubist wall art above the taller more narrow dresser. There are three different lamp finishes at West Elm - I think any would work, but this would be my choice.
• Small mirrors hung vertically on the empty wall on the other side of the entryway to the bedroom
• Two chocolate pillows and one or two damask pillows added to the bed.

Have fun spicing up your boudoir Jenny - I'd love to see after photos!

Dreaming of Spring...

Is it too early? I could really use some freshness and sunshine these days. These photos make me think of peaches, sunshine, robin's eggs, flowers...I can't wait!

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Thanks & Inspiration

I just wanted to thank Valentine at west by midwest for the awesome award:

 

Since I recently did a post about myself for the Happy 101 Award,  I thought I'd share seven interesting inspiration photos in lieu of the seven interesting facts about myself:

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Happy weekend everyone!

Building a Bassinet AKA Creating a Co-sleeper

We got a surprise gift in the mail the other day - our bassinet! I was so excited when I saw the label on the package. We decided to set it up in the living room for now, but we'll obviously also use it in our bedroom. I love that it is not only a bassinet but also a co-sleeper. (So I couldn't decide what best to name this post lol) The side folds down very easily and it attaches to the side of the bed. I'm hoping it makes for super easy nighttime feeding and changing.

As far as putting it together, it wasn't too bad, but the directions were pretty terrible. The good thing is it's only four main pieces, a few screws, and a lot of velcro. In the end it's nice and sturdy, looks pretty, and is very functional. Not only does it have the dual bassinet/co-sleeper function, it also has a storage basket beneath the skirt and extra space below that. Perfect for an underbed storage box from the Container Store. Here are some shots of the process (with supervisor Charlie again of course)

Our favorite fluffy supervisor, Charlie, hard at work

Thank you Charlie for demonstrating the storage function of the bassinet for us. Now get out! The little rascal snuck in their while we were putting everything together - he is a sneaky little boy.

The hubster said that Charlie is in so many pics, it's going to look like we're putting him there on purpose. As cute as he is, we don't plan to have him in most of our shots. He is just one of those curious, nose-in-everyone's business kind of cats. I keep trying to tell him that curiosity can kill cats, but the message just doesn't seem to be sinking in. So now we have the challenge of not only keeping the cats out of the crib, but also keeping them out of the bassinet. They look at us all innocently like, "But isn't it a cat bed/jungle gym???"

You may also wonder why you always see Charlie and not Moe. One reason is that they are very opposite - Charlie is into everything, while Moe is pretty timid. The other reason is that Moe is literally just hard to see. We call him the black blob because that's usually what he looks like in pictures:

Do you see him in the background? The poor guy loves having that chair by the window so that he can look out more comfortably at the squirrels, but it had to make way for Violet's gear. Baby comes first, sorry boys!

I'm glad that we're setting these things up early so that the cats don't associate us chasing them away with the baby. We don't want them to get off on the wrong foot with Violet. Have a great weekend everyone!