The 365 Project: Day 292 (Oct 20)

Mama's pretty girl. She's getting to be so much more alert the past few days. We get a few short, unfussy, awake breaks everyday now. It's pretty awesome. 

Her Aunt Pat came over for a visit today. I love having visitors from my mom's generation. They don't tense up when she gets fussy. They're not in a hurry to get anywhere or do anything. They're perfectly content to just sit and hold the babe for hours. Which means I get to catch up on some sewing! Slowly but surely we're building our village...

The 365 Project: Day 291 (Oct 19)

More books! We got this basket of readable goodness from one of our neighbors. Have I mentioned how much I love living here?

The 365 Project: Day 290 (Oct 18)

Yet another fabulous borrowed item from Karaliese--the Beco baby carrier. I LOVE this carrier. I have multiple options at home, but was finding the wraps too difficult to get tight enough to hold her itty bitty-ness close to me, she was too floppy in the Bjorn, and they all left my lower back hurting after any significant amount of time. But the Beco has an infant insert that keeps her high and close, and a waist belt to help distribute the weight--so everybody is comfortable and happy! 

The great thing about carrying a baby is that typically after a few minutes of fussing (if any), they knock right out! Or at least stay mellow. For hours! Hands free baby cuddling for hours?! Count me in! The only bummer is if I try to sit, Lana lets me know she's having none of it. It's the movement that keeps her happy, and there's none of that when I'm sitting. Dang!

Today's Challenge: learning to spit over the baby and her carrier! Good news--I was successful.

Evidence of the awesome knock-out capabilities of the carrier! Another nice thing with the Beco--you can remove the carrier without having to totally man-handle the baby--which means you might actually get a few extra minutes of quiet time while she sleeps! 

The 365 Project: Day 289 (Oct 17)

Um, I don't know about this thing, Mom...

Testing out the new (used Craigslist find) Bjorn Babysitter. I think she's a little too small to make it work in the active mode--her kicking is more frantic "get me the heck outta this thing" than "ooohh, this is fun" at this point, but I have high hopes for the coming months!

And the highlight of the day: visit with Kaylie!! Yay!

The 365 Project: Day 288 (Oct 16)

The 365 Project: Day 287 (Oct 15)

Look...a sink! Not THE sink, but A sink. We're hoping to find or build a more custom fit vanity eventually, but the size of this space is funky, so it's not as easy as you might think. In the meantime, this Craigslist find will do the trick. Especially since it means we now have 2, count them: TWO! fully functioning bathrooms! (FYI, "fully functioning" means water is flowing through a tub, toilet, and sink. No frills, like towel hangers or mirrors, included.)

And check out our cool little paneled accent wall. Fun, right?! Not orange (it was coming out too pumpkin-y), but still fun!

The 365 Project: Day 286 (Oct 14)

The 365 Project: Day 285 (Oct 13)

And we're back! Sorry for the most recent blog silence. Blogger decided to be lame for a few days and stop recognizing my latest photo imports. But it seems the issue has been resolved, so I'll see what I can do about catching up!

We picked up a swing (among other tools and toys!) from Karaliese and Maddy last week. So far, it's been a sanity saver! It doesn't work every time, but it's pretty much the only place (other than on us) that Lana will get some pretty settled sleep. It requires a combination of a super tight swaddle and some warm bundling, but hey, if it works today, we'll take it! Whatever keeps her happy--and us sleeping!

If I Had 2 Free Hands & Lots More Energy

I would make one of these in a color combination that would look fabulous on our obnoxious orange front door. Or, perhaps yarn and the great outdoors are not such good friends, so I could do it in this precise color combination and keep it inside to enjoy.

So, who wants to bring over a skein of yarn and be on baby holding duty for however many hours it takes to wrap a wreath?

Found via Oh My Handmade Goodness; instructions via Take Heart.

The babe is *still* asleep, so I'm taking some time to peruse and enjoy the Take Heart blog. She also put together these adorable animal magnets...

...and posted this video, which, of course, has me in tears.

The 365 Project: Day 284 (Oct 12)

More new friends! Julia and Chris dropped by to bring us some grub, and test out the revamped glider. Hopefully it still looks this good by the time Jules decides to have kids. But judging by Lana's spit-up skills, I wouldn't count on it!

Loungin in the Boppy! I must have been taking a nap during this little photo shoot, cuz I have no recollection of it whatsoever!