He has me and I am free

Owen has like five little toys and an exersaucer. I've been beating myself up that we don't have the money to get him EVERYSINGLETOYINTHEWORLD. I worried (my crazy, irrational Mama worry) that he would be dumber, or slower or damaged because we can't afford a baby basketball game or a LIGHT-UP-SOUND-SHAPE-SORTER-EXTRORDINAIRE table. Like he isn't going know his shapes and colors because he doesn't have a toy to teach him. I got really upset about it with Jeremy one night after he told me he didn't think we needed toys to make O happy or smart. Jeremy feels so guilty that he's gone all the time and doesn't bring home much money as a resident. With me not working things are tight, but just before we went to bed he said to me, "Tam whatever you need to buy to make you feel okay about this, we'll buy for him. If you think he needs more for his development, we'll find a way to make it work"

and then it dawned on me. My husband was so right.

All Owen needs is me. My love and my attention. We are making sacrifices because I want to be home with him. Would I rather work and have extra money for toys? Hell no! The next day I grabbed his set of stacking cups and I put them in a big plastic bowl from the kitchen. I pile the cups in the bowl and Owen takes them out. He loves this game. Once the bowl is empty he puts it on his head or bites it. He laughs and waits for me to refill the bowl.

We have one ball. I roll it to him and try to get him to roll it back to me. As soon as I say the word "ball" he smiles and looks around for it. He knows we play ball together.

I really wanted THIS TOY for Owen. One of the kids at playgroup has one and Owen LOVES to play with the shaker and the bells. I just couldn't bring myself to pay $20 for it. A few weeks ago I was at a garage sale. There was a box of infant toys that said $0.25 each or 5 for $1.00. And there they were. I almost cried when I saw those two random toy pieces and I swiped them up like it was Black Friday and there was a line of googly-eyed women with fanny packs behind me just waiting at the chance to plow me over for the deal (there weren't of course, it was just me). I felt like I had won the lottery. The two pieces that Owen loves playing with THE MOST in absolutely perfect condition. I rushed home with my treasures and after dumping half a bottle of disinfectant on them (rinse and repeat) I presented them to a VERY pleased baby Owen. They snap together but most of the time he likes to shake them separately so that I can shake one and he can shake one while I sing, "Shake it like a Polaroid picture! Shake it! Shake it! -- Shake it! Shake it!"

So for $0.50 - I added it to our plastic bowl. The songs come free with being his Mama.

This isn't a post about our budget - its a post about me being stupid enough to spend a single minute dwelling on something that didn't matter. When the only thing that does matter, is us  - our hugs, our songs, me spending every waking minute talking to him. That is how he will learn, that is what makes him happiest, THAT is what's important -- that and whatever other things I can find in the kitchen ;)

Playtime

Owen is finally starting to interact with his toys. He *loves* Peter, and is enjoying his time on the play mat. He even smiles and swats at the safari animals hanging from the bouncer.

My heart melts with all of this adorableness going on in my living room. ABSOLUTELY MELTS.

Just a spoon full of sugar

How AH-DOORable are these little personalized baby spoons! I'm not one for belly casts or bronzed baby bootie memorabilia but this seems like the perfect little keepsake.

via the vintage pearl

Sneak peak nursery ideas!!

We're not setting up a nursery for the little one because we're moving soon after he's born. Putting together a nursery is such a huge part of the nesting process, so I'm sad that I'm not venturing into a freshly painted room to sit in a rocker, fold baby clothes and dream about smelling his baby hair and snuggling him in my arms. But I'm okay with waiting, I knew this was how our timeline would work out and I am actually even more excited to find out where we match because then we can find a place with a perfect room for him.

I wanted a gender neutral nursery. Why not reuse crib bedding with subsequent children? I didn't want anything overly "theme-y" with dominant colors such as pink or blue. I'm looking for a mix of things to make it feel calm, lived in and special.

I chose this bedding before we found out we were having a boy. It's called "Circles" from the Dwell Studio line sold at Target. Unfortunately, it was discontinued by the time I was far along enough to start buying things, so I was forced to bid on it on Ebay. Thankfully, I scored a brand new set!


I slept in a Jennie Lind crib as a baby, and at first I wanted my children to do the same. After doing some looking around I was more drawn to sleek, modern designs and found this reasonably priced crib at Walmart (Baby Mod Park Lane). It's small, gets great reviews and I think it meets our needs perfectly.

I was swooning over this ABC Love print the second I saw it on a design website. I was fortunate enough to score the orginal print on Etsy and now we're on a hunt for the perfect frame.


This is another print I custom ordered from Etsy. I matched the blue to the bedding and I think its masculine, yet charming. I was really happy with how it turned out.


For lighting, I was SO THRILLED when one of my questions was featured on the OHDEEOH nursery design site. I had heard that touch lamps are great in a nursery because you can use the dim setting without waking the baby but I had a hard time finding one. Other bloggers directed me to these brushed nickel lamps from Bed Bath & Beyond. They were only $20 and we put them in our bedroom and loved them so much that we bought an extra set for the nursery.

Ever since I found out I was pregnant I've been drawn to to owls. When I was in Mexico I bought a beautiful handmade pewter owl. I am going to hang it on the wall. I'm also drawn to alphabet cards displayed on the wall for baby to see. I especially like these animal print cards from eeBoo.


Reading was such a HUGE part of my childhood and I cannot wait to make a special nook in our nursery to share my favorite stories with our little cub. Once we find out where we're living I might have my dad try to make a library reading display similar to this one.



This is by no means a completed project, or even a started project, but I feel like these ideas will come together to make a treasured space that our little boy will grow to enjoy.

Scrub a dub dub, there's no room for that tub

My husband and I have an aversion to plastic baby items, particularly LARGE PLASTIC BABY ITEMS. Once people indulge in their own fecundity, they seem to go crazy buying large, brightly colored plastic thingamajigs for their new 8 lb family member: gyms, bouncers, play kitchens, play houses, toys, plastic bins for toys - the list is endless. And while I'm sure we'll succumb to a few of these items after the birth of our son, for now - we just don't have the room for it. With our living situation totally up in the air, we're trying a minimalistic approach. As of right now, the sleeping arrangements for our bundle of screaming joy are an open drawer or a kitty bed. Just kidding. Kind of. But we're being cautious about what we purchase before our move.

One of the things that Jeremy is adamantly opposed to is a baby bath. A big plastic baby bath - plastic bath toys, plastic bath toy CONTAINERS or any other type of cumbersome plastic item seen by society as necessary when attempting to cleanse your child. Which lead to this conversation:

Jeremy: We're NOT getting one of those big plastic baby tubs.

Me: Okay, but how are we going to wash the baby?

Jeremy: In the sink. I'm pretty sure you can just put the baby in the sink.

Me: I think those bath tubs go in the sink.

Jeremy: What's wrong with just the sink?

Me: I think babies are slippery and floppy at first... and you can't get the belly button wet and stuff. I think.

Jeremy: Well then, we'll wait to wash him until he's not floppy!

So since washing slippery newborns is not in our current skill set, I've tried to research ways that I can clean my child while not offending my husband with plastic washing items.

And after many sleepless nights and dreams of a booger-crusted, dirty poo baby, I came across several raving mommy reviews for the Puj Tub.


Check out how this ROCK STAR mom in the video washes her newborn in the Puj Tub ONE HANDED!



Only downfall, $99.99 - but **for a limited time** they are available for $39.99. I haven't bought too many things for baby, but I used my shopping finger to acquire this easy-to-store, environmentally friendly baby bath.

And I did it for the sanitation of my unborn son with the added bonus of not aggravating my husband's psychological allergy to all things plastic.

Let's play doctor!

via The Corner Stork

It even comes with a surgical cap! Oh my, the cuteness is overwhelming me! I might need to add this to the registry along with the bladder.

My daddy is a urologist, so I play with my bladder a lot

via i Heart Guts!

Needless to say, we're registering for this and putting it under the "must have" column.

Keeping baby warm during naked butt time

Several months ago I was telling Jeremy about these leg warmers for babies that I saw in a magazine. OOZING WITH CUTE! I mean if legwarmers were still the rage - I'D BE WEARING SOME RIGHT NOW.

Today he called me to tell me he saw that they were on sale HERE. ON SALE! BABY LEGS! WITH FREE SHIPPING!

I haven't bought too many things for baby seeing as though we don't know the gender yet but I HAD TO HAVE THESE. I found two gender neutral pairs, slapped those snugly socks in my cart, used my trusty shopping finger to click BUY and had them shipped free to my doorstep.

I cannot wait to have a pair of sweet little sausage legs to slip these cozy warmers on.