Easy DIY Baby Bib Scarves

Almost a year ago I said (http://lifewithmylittlekraut.blogspot.com/2015/06/my-favorite-baby-products.html) that bib scarves are among my favorite baby products and that they're super easy to make from old shirts and fabric scraps. When one of my dear friend's baby started drooling like crazy and another announced that she was pregnant a few weeks ago, I decided it was time to make some baby bib scarves again. We had just hit a sweet spot with bed time and when both kids were sleeping at 7:30 pm one day I just got started (that also explains the not so ideal lighting in my pictures...). I think it took me three evenings to make them and it was a great distraction that was totally relaxing. I think they turned out super cute. I love them for my own kids and they make such great gifts. 

Baby Essentials for Baby #2

We're almost 6 months into being a family of four, so I thought it was time for an update on must have essentials for a second baby. I talked about favorite baby products last year, but have to say that not all of them turned out to be essentials for baby #2, so here's an updated list.

Dinner Planning - Week Two

I'm happy to announce we made it through another week of successful dinner planning. In case you missed it, here's week one. I have to tell you, I'm hooked. I'm really not the most organized person, but planning dinners has been a game changer. We had quick yummy and diverse meals, and we're not stuck with any leftovers for the weekend. Success! So why wouldn't I share what we ate last week? But before we get to that, let's look my list of dinner options. Every week, I'm choosing five meals from this list to make during the week. Eventually I'll add more recipes and I'm sure this will change in the summer (anyone else out there who could grill 7 days a week all summer long?), but this is a good go-to-list for us. If you do have any family favorites, I'd love it if you left a comment on this post for me! 

Dinner Planning - Week One

I've never been so organized in my life and feel super proud and accomplished after last week. Dinner time is important for us; it's the one hour during the day that we all spend time together, talk, laugh, and eat. We all enjoy cooking and eating, but usually have about 45 minutes from the time one of us gets home until dinner needs to be on the table. If that doesn't happen, Noah gets cranky, starts whining, demands nothing but a bagel for dinner, and can't be reasoned with. Which means that this one peaceful family hour of the day won't be quite so peaceful anymore; and that just stresses everyone out and impacts the rest of the evening. So - quick dinner options are a must. 

Wardrobe Essentials

When I first heard about capsule wardrobes, I was intrigued by the idea. Having only items that you love and could wear every single day in your closet sounded too good to be true. My closet had been full of clothes that I kind of liked, or used to like, but didn’t quite fit my style anymore, or that I really liked, but just didn’t fit right. I would often spend a lot of time going through outfit options in the mornings, wasting so much time, and leaving a big mess in my room. And on top of it, it didn’t exactly make me feel good when I tossed pretty things to the side because they just didn’t look right on me, only to default to my favorite pair of jeans with a basic black shirt. Not that there’s anything wrong with that outfit – it’s what’s comfortable and fits my style, but going through the process of seeing things on me that I wished looked good but just didn’t was often frustrating. 

So one day, a few weeks after Ava was born, before I fit back into my normal clothes, I decided to get rid of everything that I didn’t absolutely love and make room for a few new basics. The goal was to have a closet full of items that fit me well, are my style, and are easily combined with other items in my wardrobe, so that I could make quicker decisions in the mornings what to wear, and be happy with whatever outfit I chose. 

My Lunch in a Box

There are three main things I'm spending money on during my work week: my morning coffee, lunch, and the commute. I’m sure all of you Starbucks lovers have done (or avoided to do) the math of what it costs to get your daily dose of caffeine. While I love my occasional fancy coffee, I make a basic pour over coffee with milk to go every morning at home. It saves so much money and is actually my favorite way to drink coffee anyway, so – win win! 

Before Ava was born I used to take a commuter bus to work every day which is also an obvious way to save money. I have a free bus pass from work and only have to drive 10 minutes to a park and ride. Since it’s a commuter bus, it’s not actually that bad, but having to walk to and from work adds a good amount of time that I’d rather spend with my kids. The other benefit of taking the bus is that it’s quiet time for me – I can read, listen to music, take a nap, or – as I’m currently doing – work on my blog. Because it’s such a time commitment though, I have decided to get a monthly parking pass and drive into work more often. I’m currently on a wait list for a parking spot. This isn’t exactly cheap, so I decided I needed to save some money elsewhere. 

This is where lunch comes in. We have a great salad bar at work with decent prices, and many other delicious options in the area, but it adds up when you’re spending an average of about $7 for lunch every day. So I decided I would allow myself to drive to work only if I brought my own lunch. And so far it has been working out really well. I bought a Bento box and have been very happy with my lunch for the last couple of weeks. Since I already make Noah’s lunch in the evenings, it hasn’t been difficult to adjust my routine to prepare my lunch for the next day. 

I had such a hard time making a decision on which Bento Box to get; Amazon.com has just way too many options. I finally saw one at Bartell’s that I liked and I’ve been very happy with it. One of the benefits, which I hadn’t thought of before I purchased it, is that it has two compartments, so I can easily warm up only one half of my meal in the microwave. 

Here’s what I had for lunch during my first week of being back to work. Excuse the low quality cell phone pictures :)

Day 1: green salad with carrots and chicken, apple slices, blueberries, crackers, and home made energy balls. 

Day 2: leftover lasagna, yogurt with blueberries, a kiwi, and energy balls.

Day 3: cheese/cream cheese roll up, left over pulled pork with bbq sauce, carrots, radishes, snap peas, blueberries, a kiwi, and energy balls.

Day 4: leftover chicken Marsala over rice, carrots, snap peas, a kiwi, blueberries, and energy balls.  

Day 5: fried rice with egg, snap peas, apple slices, blueberries, carrots, and energy balls. 

What's your favorite thing to eat for lunch? 

Making Pumping at Work Work

It’s my second week back to work and I’m so relieved how well pumping at work is going so far. I struggled with keeping it up with Noah and we started supplementing with formula about two months after I had gone back to work. I don’t regret that decision at all and I have an even more relaxed attitude about it now. I’ll pump as long as I feel good about it, but the moment it becomes stressful, I will slow down and supplement with formula. My sanity is simply higher up on my priority list. In a perfect world I would breastfeed exclusively, but as I have previously said, it’s more important to me not to be stressed out about it than to avoid formula at all cost. I already am under enough pressure as it is, and exclusively breastfeeding is simply something that’s not the highest on my priority list (anymore). Having said that, I’m really glad (and care more than I thought I would, to the point where I feel proud at the end of the day) that it has been going so smoothly. 

My daily schedule now looks something like this: My alarm goes off at 4:50am, I hit snooze once, then get up at 5am. I get dressed, brush my teeth, make a cup of coffee and breakfast to go, grab my lunch out of the fridge (yes, I’ve been making my lunch every single day so far!), and pump. Ava usually nurses at around 4am, so by 5:30am I pump about 3oz which go straight into the freezer (yay!). I leave the house between 5:45am and 6am and get to work just before 7am.