Paper jewelry, and also another reason I love my job.

Posted on August 14, 2010 by andreaalley

As I'm gearing up to post my first giveaway EVER (so excited!), I wanted to share the spoils of our last giveaway over at the TomKat Studio. One VERY lucky winner walked away with a $100 credit for Blush Envy, where she sells amazing jewelry made out of paper.

You heard me right. PAPER.

I didn't believe it when I read that she made her pieces from such a fragile textile, BUT THEN. I went over to Kim's house last week and got this lovely PINK surprise that I haven't been able to take off my finger since!

Check out that packaging- gorgeous! Many thanks to Brandy for thinking of me when she sent the lovely goodies over to Kim!

Hop on over to her shop and show her some love by purchasing one of her handmade treasures! Or feel free to pick a fave and put it on your wish list. Wouldn't these rings make lovely bridesmaid's gifts or a fun gift for a mom-to-be to make her feel pretty? No doubt my dainty and timeless piece will be handed down to LJ when she's old enough to know not to put it in her mouth or play with it in the mud. In other words, she can wear it on her wedding day 🙂

My new lover.

Posted on July 29, 2010 by andreaalley

I have a confession to make: I'm cheating on my husband.

I've been saying for a while now that I DESPERATELY NEEEEEEEEEEEEEDED a DSLR camera because I NEEEEEEEEEEED to be able to take the BEST pictures POSSIBLE of Linnea while she's growing up.

That's my excuse, anyway.

We have a great point-and-shoot camera that Cody's mom gave us for our anniversary- we absolutely love it and take it with us everywhere. I officially caught the SLR camera bug when I went to my mom and dad's house and came across this beauty:

My grandpa's old Voigtlander Vitomatic II that he bought in Germany back in 1958.

No idea how to use it. All I kept hearing from my parents was, "It takes the most GORGEOUS pictures EVER," but didn't have time for a crash course on how to use a fully manually operated camera. As a consolation prize, I dug out my old 35mm Canon EOS Rebel 2000 SLR
(that I bought waaaaaay back in 1999 when I was a photography major for a semester) and took it with us up to Flagstaff for a day trip.

Four rolls of film, one set of camera batteries and $53 later, we had our developed pictures back the next day. And don't get me wrong- they were great. But some of them were underexposed. Some were overexposed. Some weren't framed right. Sure, I could mail in the negatives to a scanning shop and get the negatives on disk… at $0.69 a pop. Needless to say… I loved shooting with this camera, but it was starting to get ridiculously expensive.

So we finally did it. I had already been researching cameras and decided on the Canon EOS Rebel T2i AND I LOVE IT. It was a HUGE splurge, but to me it was worth every penny we have to pinch in the meantime. I'm still learning how to use it, and so far it has taken some amazing pictures. Meet my lover, Leon:

I know the basics, but I will be DEVOURING the tutorials on The Pioneer Woman.

So what if my kid was the perfect excuse to get a fancy camera? She's the perfect subject. Can you blame me for wanting the best photos possible of the two loves of my life?

Sorry, Leon. As exciting as you are and as much fun as we have together, I'll never leave him for you.

Know any fun photography tutorials? Share them here!

Thoughts on Food, Inc. and a carrot massacre.

Posted on June 14, 2010 by andreaalley

Yesterday we made carrots for Linnea- and boy, was it ever a mess! Our pediatrician warned us about this… but of course, the messier the feeding process, the CUTER the baby! It was simply amazing. Here's a video:

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=12529926&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=ff0179&fullscreen=1

We used a nifty little baby food steamer and processor that my father-in-law and stepmother dearest gave to us- it's fantastic! It's called the Beaba Babycook Baby Food Maker and although we steamed the carrots seperately (I jumped the gun- we'll try it with the next round of food!) it worked wonders as a processor. I got the recipe from Top 100 Baby Purees: 100 Quick and Easy Meals for a Healthy and Happy Baby and it was so simple. Next on the menu: sweet potatoes!

We watched Food, Inc. last night, and it was fascinating. I read The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals a couple of years ago, and this movie sums up a lot of the ideas in the book. It definitely made me re-think the way our family eats and especially what we eat and where our food comes from.

One of the things we plan to do in our backyard is start a garden, but
we need to learn what we are doing first. There is a community garden
at Agritopia that I may look into to get a handle on what I'm doing-
and what a great way to learn! My dear friend Vanessa gave us some
zucchini, a red onion and parsley from her garden plot there and they were simply
delicious. I must say- any time we make anything from scratch with
home-grown or organic, locally-grown produce,it tastes amazing in comparison to the regular produce at the store! For now, we're starting small- we have some potted basil, yellow bell pepper and cherry tomatoes sitting on our front porch:

We've already managed to kill a strawberry plant. The pot didn't have a hole for drainage… oops. It's a learning process!

I would love to hear from you about your family's eating habits. It seems as if healthy, whole food is not interchangable with a tight budget. Saving money is top on our list of priorities, but not at the cost of our family's long-term health. It's sad that a healthy lifestyle seems to come at a steep price in our society. So if you are feeding your family organic fruits and veggies, whole grains, and grass-fed meats, how do you make it work? Do you have any tips on how to save money while doing so? Do you grow your own fruits and veggies?

An update and Trumpettes.

Posted on June 7, 2010 by andreaalley

First thing's first, people: DAD CAME HOME ON SATURDAY! I am so happy to share with you that the surgery on his aneurysm was a huge success and didn't require that they open him up again- the surgeon was able to go through the femoral artery to take care of it, so his recovery has been amazing. I've seen him twice since then, and while he definitely has to travel the road toward full recovery, he is up and about and none of us can wait until he's at the mall again, covering every square foot of Fashion Square- four times. So thanks again for your prayers- you made a huge difference in the life of our family! The fact that we have more time to cherish with Dad means the world to all of us!

***

Before Linnea was born, I had this idea that we would buy her a pair of tiny newborn Chuck Taylors
and we would all wear our Converse for the newborn shoot with Session Nine. But, alas, Linnea arrived, and her feet were so tiny that newborn socks looked like a cast! Case in point:

Never mind the fact that her feet look like skis. That has nothing to do with me or my feet… really. Moving on.

My friend told me that once she saw a little one wearing the cutest little socks that looked like Chucks, so naturally I had to have them! I Googled and Googled, but nothing came up. Then, when I was on a jaunt with my nephew in Tucson, we went into the cutest little baby boutique and I discovered Trumpettes. A pair of Mary Jane Trumpettes were given to us by some friends, and I adore them! I mean, seriously, does it get any cuter??!!?

Summer.maryjanes.with.box_2

So, needless to say, these are a must for teeny tiny little feet! Even though she's growing up a storm (12 lbs. 8 oz. at her appointment this morning! Yay!) these will fit her for the first year of her life. I've gotta get some of those Summer Mary Janes… and believe it or not, one of these has inspired me for a possible theme for her first birthday/my husband's 31st!

Cloth diapering FTW!

Posted on May 30, 2010 by andreaalley

That's "for the win," in case you weren't ITK ("in the know") with the Twitter lingo.

As you know (what the heck is this, a poetry contest? With all the rhyming?), we made the jump into full-time cloth diapering and… wait for it… it's been fantastic! I seriously can't say enough good things about it. When I was out of town, I decided not to bring the cloth diapers because I was sure my BFF wouldn't want to deal with poopy diapers in her washing machine, and boy did I miss them! I especially missed them when I was burping Linnea and she pooped, and then peed, and IT CAME OUT THE FRONT AND GOT ALL OVER MY SHIRT. Yep, I've never missed anything more in my life. The sad thing is that the expensive disposables are the only ones she didn't leak out of on a regular basis, and they still didn't do the job.

That being said, there is no comparison between any disposable I've tried and the Fuzzibunz one-size diapers we invested in. We got a screaming deal from Go Go Natural when they were clearancing out the old color collection to make room for the new Fuzzibunz colors. Typically, when you buy larger quantities of Fuzzibunz at most retailers – in our case, 12 or more – you get a $1.00 off per diaper. So we ordered 28. And then we got 15% off on top of that! SCORE! The $700+ investment we were preparing for ended up being less than $450, and she is set for the rest of her diapering days! And so are any future kids we may have. And they work better than any disposable we tried – and we tried many. Ahh, it's a beautiful thing.

Not to mention… her li'l fluffy bum could not possibly be any cuter in these cloth diapers if she tried. We got a slew of colors so she'll always be coordinated. Check her out:

The laundry process is for a whole other blog. So stay tuned, and I'll keep you ITK.

By the way, the bow she is wearing is a very special bow. It's called the Taylor Bow, and it was made in honor of a tiny baby girl who died of SIDS in mid-April at five months of age. All proceeds were donated to Taylor's family. You can read their story and find additional links here, and I purchased the bow here (I didn't realize it sold out- otherwise I would have posted the info so much sooner!).

Current favorite toy.

Posted on May 21, 2010 by andreaalley

When I was in California (more on that later), I picked up a new play gym to keep Linnea occupied when I am trying to get some work done. While she loves the play gym she already has, it was time for a little change of scenery. And let me tell you, she LOVES IT! I got her a Petals and Friends Activity Gym from Bright Starts, which is one of my favorite brands for infant toys. It has teethers, a mirror, links, rattles and a musical birdie (perfect for her room!). She literally plays on it for hours at a time and seems happy as a clam! She's learning cause and effect like crazy because she pulls on the birdie and makes it sing over and over and she's enamored with the bright colors. Here's a little video of tummy time. Just a li'l peek of everyday life around here 🙂

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=11904129&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=ff0179&fullscreen=1

Meanwhile, Linnea is like, "Mom, get that camera out of my face, I just wanna chew on my lion teether…"

Novice cloth diapering.

Posted on April 18, 2010 by andreaalley

When we found out I was pregnant, Cody and I immediately began stocking up on diapers at the recommendation of… well… every parent we knew. We stocked up on size ones because we didn't know what to expect as far as what her weight would be, and most people had big babies, and we might too, and even if we had a small baby she would eventually grow into the size ones so let's just go with that. And before we knew it, we had a closet full of size one diapers, mostly the value brand from Fry's. Dirt cheap and we heard they work just as well as the more expensive brands!

Not so for us. Apparently we have a little diaper snob on our hands. Sad, sad day.

As soon as Linnea grew into the size ones (three months after she was born!), we ripped into the packages, stoked to try out the cheap diapers because, what can I say, it doesn't take much to excite us these days. Cheap diapers that work is pretty rad to a new set of parents. But her first night into it, she woke up in a puddle of her own pee. Poor baby. Poor Mom and Dad. Poor Mom and Dad's bank account.

So we had two options: spend big bucks on the diapers that work… or start a gradual investment in cloth diapers. At the rate our child goes through diapers, the thought of bankruptcy via Pampers started to sink in, and I started to revisit the cloth diapering idea. If you remember, it was an idea we tossed around for a while but never fully embraced. We had visited Wildflower Diapers up in Scottsdale but weren't married to the cloth diapering trend… yet. They were very helpful and answered all of our questions, and we were able to narrow it down to the type of diaper we wanted to invest in if we decided to make the leap and commitment it required to cloth diaper Linnea.

Last week, we made our first purchase: a pair of Fuzzibunz One-size Pocket Diapers in pink. In order to diaper full-time, we need to purchase at least 24 (and maybe even 36, because apparently THE UNIVERSE IS IMPLODING any time Linnea has even the slightest wet diaper), so we decided that we will use my income for that purpose until we have everything we need. The colors we get from here on out will be gender-neutral, which- I'm not gonna lie- kind of breaks my heart a little bit, but I know it's better to go that route instead of buying all the girly colors like I want to. I'm already itching to have another baby (but we're not any time soon… just saying. We'll be diaper-ready when the time comes), and the thought of never having to drop another dime on diapers for our kids is definitely an appealing one!

The poop, on the other hand… not so much. I know that people cloth-diaper all the time and there was a time when that was the only option anyone had, so it's not like it's this impossible thing. But my two biggest reservations about this whole ordeal is the poop and cloth-diapering on-the-go. But have no fear, dear readers. Cody and I will be brave and face the Poop Demon head on. Because you know it's coming.

YOU KNOW IT'S COMING.

***

Are you a cloth-diapering mama? I want to hear from you! Share your experience with my readers and me and tell us what you love (and maybe even what you hate) about cloth-diapering your little one.

Adventures in babywearing.

Posted on April 10, 2010 by andreaalley

OK, so I caved. I've hopped on the babywearing bandwagon via the Moby Wrap.

Lately I have found that Linnea is simply inconsolable unless she's being held, and being a busy work-at-home mama, holding her all the time just doesn't work; but neither does letting the poor little thing cry and scream for hours on end. I've heard great things about babywearing, one benefit in particular being that a parent is freed up to actually get things done AND have a happy child at the same time… SOLD. Not to mention that some experts say that babywearing improves sleep habits, reduces stress and crying, and helps develop secure (but not dependent) attachments to mom and dad. Sounds like a good plan to me.

I have to admit that, at first, babywearing was off to a rough start for us. While Linnea is a very curious, alert little girl and loves to be propped up on a shoulder so she can see everything, and while she loves to be held, she also likes to have freedom to move. The first hold I tried with the Moby Wrap was the Hug Hold, which is basically her facing me front and center with her little legs dangling out below. And let me tell ya… when she was awake, she was NOT. A. FAN. She likes to be able to look around, and Mom's chest is not acceptable scenery. So we turned her around a la the Lotus Hold, and she loved it! Given that she's probably gonna be a runner like her mama (I mean, seriously, she's built just like me! With her dad's face! Haha), we let her legs be free and she kicks around excitedly when we're on the move. That's one thing- while babywearing, she's not happy unless we're moving. Hopefully that will change.

The Moby Wrap can be a little intimidating at first- it's literally a twelve-foot-or-so-long piece of fabric that you have to learn to wrap around yourself properly, or else it won't work. If it's not tight enough, it won't work. If it's too tight, it won't work. And as with pretty much everything else, it fits everyone differently. I chose the organic wrap because of its notable softness and pretty light green color (called Celery) and once I got the fit right, we were good to go. Linnea is a whole nine pounds now and growing, and the Moby Wrap is good up to 35 pounds- not sure how I feel about carrying her around at that size, but we'll see…

Hanging out around the house with Mama:

Poolside in Fountain Hills with the Lentz family:

Helping mama in the kitchen (and before you start FREAKING OUT, this was only for show- I didn't actually have her near any hot pots or ovens! No Linneas were harmed during the taking of this picture).

The whole babywearing thing is still a work in progress, but it's fun and hopefully she will learn to love it as much as I do! As long as I don't get pooped on!

Next in the line-up: a cloth diaper trial.

The color of grace collection.

Posted on March 3, 2010 by andreaalley

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a HUGE fan of philosophy skin care. I started using their products loyally leading up to my wedding, and haven't been able to avoid the splurge on their skin care since- especially purity and the microdelivery exfoliating wash. I buy the big giant bottles because they are a good deal and they last FOREVER. I also LOVE their fragrance collection! I am sad to say that they discontinued my favorite fragrance, simply called "philosophy the fragrance," which was fresh, clean and citrus-y. YUM. If anyone comes across a bottle of it for sale, let me know! A close runner-up is their original "amazing grace" scent. It reminds me of a bar of French soap- simple, lovely and feminine. This is their signature scent, so fortunately it won't be going anywhere soon.

Anyway. I subscribe to their e-mail list and get specials and debuts of new lines. Today I discovered their "color of grace" collection and it is gorgeous! Finding the right shade of pink can be tough but these shades look like perfection in a palatte. Spring time is the perfect time for pink makeup, but sometimes it can just be obnoxious if the shade isn't a good fit for my skin tone. And since I am on a huge pink kick thanks to my little girl, I cannot wait to get my hands on some! I've been entering their birthday girl giveaway daily hoping that I'll hit the philosophy jackpot 🙂

See? Gorgeous! Hoping this mommy can make the splurge soon and be pretty in pink with her pretty little girl!

Advice on cloth diapering, please…

Posted on January 24, 2010 by andreaalley

To cloth or not to cloth…that is the question.

I've been looking more into cloth diapering recently and have to admit that I am still a bit intimidated by the whole thing, mainly because- not gonna lie- I don't deal well with what is contained in the diaper itself. I've heard awesome things about cloth diapers, and have done some research on sites like Wildflower Diapers in Scottsdale- which I can't wait to visit in person- but I need some advice from moms out there who have actually done it or are currently.Things I wanna know:

Do you love it or hate it?
What's the biggest challenge?
Is it more of a hassle than it's worth?
Do you ever mix it up with disposables- for example, is it an inconvenience to deal with cloth diapers when you're out and about?
Any inkling on what your child prefers?
Did you find it more or less expensive than disposable diapers?

Because at the rate our 6-lb. child is going through disposables, she is going to bankrupt us before she's potty trained! Ha! She is completely worth it but COME ON. I figure there has to be a better way to do this thing.

So shoot me a comment with your thoughts! I'd love to hear what you have to say- and you'll really help me make the right decision moving forward.

Baby Steps to Mom

When motherhood and all its joys take you completely by surprise.

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