starting solids

We've been doing a lot of this lately...

HaHa


I can't believe he is 5 months old already. Where did the time go? 
We just started giving him solids and so far he likes it, even though it doesn't look like it in that last picture. I still nurse him the same but I am starting to imagine the day when he will decide that he is done nursing and I am already sad about it. 


See, we had a rough time in the beginning...
There was the initial pain because you're not used to having someone trying to extract milk from there, especially not someone who is just as inexperienced as you are. Then there is more pain when your milk finally decides to come in full force and you feel like you are going to explode. There is also the frustration of realizing that the pain doesn't just go away after a few weeks, because it takes both of you much longer to figure this thing out.


But you stick with it and through the pain and frustration because you know it's the best for both of you. So you use all the creams and try all the techniques, you go to the BF support groups, you start pumping and you stop pumping, and slowly you both figure out just what works for you.
And then in the end you finally get to the point where you are both relaxed and comfortable, sharing these special moments, the smiles and the deep sighs when a belly is full. The heavy eyelids and the long hugs and cuddles - I never want them to stop.


I know I will miss those moments once he decides he doesn't need me anymore. I also know he is nowhere near ready to be done and that I have at least another 7 months, as long as everything goes smooth. 
I guess I am just a little sentimental at the thought of him growing older and getting so much more independent. I want to freeze all these special moments in time and relive them over and over. 


Well, I bet you mommas out there know what I'm talking about. No matter if you nursed or bottle fed your baby, I think we all have these special moments with our little ones that we never want to end. 
My mom is here from Germany this week to help out and enjoy her grandbaby. She's been cooking and cleaning, doing laundry and entertaining the babe. I really miss having my family around, especially now that I am a mom myself. Can't wait to spend some quality time back home soon :) 

{style files} mustard and gray

I'm wearing: Old Navy Sweater, AE Shirt, Juicy Couture Striped Tank, Seven Jeans, Ankle Boots bought in Germany,  Mango Leather Jacket, Lisa Leonard Bracelet and Michael Kors Watch.

The weather was nice yesterday so we actually got to take these pictures outside :) 

The hubby watched the bubs so that my mom and I could go shop for a while. I got a whole bunch of sippy cups and tiny little utensils and plates at TJ Maxx where I also found some American Crafts Cardstock for $1.99. I couldn't resist that deal. I am a serious craft hoarder, just ask the hubby...

It's so nice to have my mom around to help out and of course to shop with. 

It's funny how in every store I automatically look for baby stuff and cute little clothes. 

I think my little man is the best dressed 5 months old in town ;) 

diy: yarn wrapped painted jars

If you got here from Pinterest, Welcome :) This post has been quite popular and I'm glad you found it as well. If you like this tutorial please take a look at what else my blog has to offer. For more DIY posts simply click HERE. 

This was inspired by something I came across on the internet a while ago but never pinned and now I can't find it anymore. Go figure! 

I remembered that the original glass was white and had lines all over, so I figured I would just use some yarn and warp it around my jars and spray paint them to create the effect. 

Here is what you'll need:

- Several cleaned jars. I always keep mine for projects. Soak them in water to get the tags off and use some Goo Gone for the glue residue. Make sure to clean them with soap to get all the Goo Gone off or else the paint won't stick.
- Yarn or some sort of string. If the yarn has a lot of fuzzy fibers they may stick to the jar a little but it won't be very noticeable so don't worry about it too much
- A can of white spray paint. I used Flat. You can use any color you want but with winter coming up I though white was best suited. 
- You'll also need something to cover whatever surface you'll be spraying on. Spray paint doesn't work as well when it's cold outside so it will take longer to dry. Make sure to give it some extra time before you touch the jars. 

I used some regular packaging string and some yard with texture. Wrap the string around the jar tightly and tie a knot. Now wrap the string around the rest of the jar tightly criss-crossing and overlapping until you like what you see. Then just tie the end to the leftover string where you started and cut off the ends.

Place the jars onto your covered surface upside down and spray paint them evenly with 2-3 coats. Make sure to let them dry for 5-10 minutes in between coats. Once they are fully dried just cut the string in one place and unwrap. Now you can place a tea light inside and decorate away :) 

I think it would also look cute to wrap some twine around the bases of the jars for some more texture. 

I love the different effects the skinny string and the textured yarn create. The jars that were wrapped with the thicker yarn look like they have puffy clouds floating in the sky. 
This project is also super cheap since the jars were free and I had the string and yarn on hand, all it cost me was a can of spray paint. They would also make great little gifts, just tie a ribbon and bow around 3 and you're ready to go. 

{diy} entertainment center from pallets

I've had this idea in my head for a while now: Use pallets to build a real piece of furniture. 
Yeah, I know it's not all that original and a lot of people are pinning pallet projects all over Pinterest lately but they are all such great ideas.


So I didn't let that deter me and a few weeks ago I asked my father in law to pick up some pallets from work and drop them off at our house. We had to wait a week or so until he came across the right ones, ones that were in good enough condition to use for a piece of furniture. Then we spent an entire weekend prepping the pallets.

We cut 3 pallets in half and stacked them, bottoms facing to create the larger openings, on top of each other. Because the wall that holds the TV is wider we decided we needed to add to the unit for it to be large enough. So we cut another 3 pallets in half but this time in both directions and added the smaller cubbies on the side. Does that make ay sense? 

After figuring out how to configure the whole thing we sanded the heck out of all the pieces. This wasn't a lot of fun to do but totally necessary. Pallets are pretty rough and if you don't want to get a splinter every time you touch it you need to sand a LOT!!! Use power tools and don't try to sand by hand. 
The whole process probably took us 4 days since we also have a baby to take care of and the weather didn't always cooperate. If you stick with it more than we could you should be able to do this in 2 days.


After the sanding was done we mixed some white stain from Ikea (left over from our stairs and doors) with Polyurethane. Spend the extra money and get the one that cleans up with soap and water. The brand we used was Valspar.

We put on an even coat and let them dry. If you want to do this 'right' you should now sand again and do another two coats of stain with a sanding in between. I'm not patient enough and I also didn't want the wood to get too white. So we only did one coat ;)


We then brought everything inside and stacked the pallets the way we wanted. Hubby got some metal plates and caster wheels from Lowes and we went to town.
Be prepared to adjust the pallets a little bit, since they may not be square, by clamping them and attaching one piece at a time. It took both of us a few hours to get it all screwed together. 
Lastly we attached the caster wheels to the bottom, so now we can easily move it around if we want to.

I love it! I love the industrial look a la Restoration Hardware but with a waaaayyyy smaller price tag. 
I also like that it's not perfect. There is so much visual interest there and I just can't stop looking at all the details. 


Overall the project cost us:


$27 for all the brakets
$30 for the caster wheels
$30 for the Polyurethane 
The pallets were free :) 


So it wasn't a super cheap project but it was well worth the money we spent. 


Have you built anything from pallets lately? If you build something similar make sure to let me know, I would love to see it :) 

{style files} comfy fall

I'm wearing: Leggins (Target), T-Shirt ( Tresics), Sweater (JCrew), Jacket (Forever21)  Scarf (Target), Socks (Sockdreams.com) and Riding Boots (GoMax)

It was a pretty gray and rainy day yesterday. The hubs worked his first day since the season ended and the little guy and I spent the day at home, cuddled up in the window seat with the puppies, some coffee for mom and lots of passing cars to watch :)
He's been such a great little boy, taking two long naps during the day (on his own, in his room) and usually going to bed no problem around 8 pm. 
He loves his Little Einstein Jumper where he entertains himself while I make food or do other things around the house.


Don't get me wrong here though, we have had our issues too. We worked very hard to get him to this point but it was well worth it :) I'm sure once he starts teething this will all be a whole different story again...


He has also become so mobile during the last few weeks. He isn't even 5 months yet but already gets on all fours and rocks back and forth. Any day we expect him to start crawling, he wants to so badly. 
If we put him on the floor he seriously is all over the place checking things out. What a curious little bean. 

move.learn.eat

We came across these gorgeous videos on Vimeo a few months ago and I meant to share them but kept forgetting.


If you haven't seen them yet you need to take 3 minutes out of your day now and watch. Trust me, you won't regret it :) 



MOVE from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.





LEARN from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.





EAT from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.




Soooo??? What do you think? Pretty awesome, right? And the guy isn't too hard on the eyes either... (j/k hubs, you're my one and only).


It's pretty rainy here today, hopefully you all are getting more sunshine than me :) 

family fashion haul

We live about 5 minutes from a Tanger Outlet Center. That is good and bad in sooooo many ways ;) I am sure you get the picture already...
I used to work up there before the baby, while I was still in college. 
Last Friday we went because it's nice to take a stroll around there with the bubs and because we had nothing better to do. Of course we didn't leave empty handed. Do we ever? 


Old Navy is having a Fall Haul Sale and additional 30% off their clearance. Many items around the store were 75% off. They sure need to have a sale with the amount of product they had on the floor, and that doesn't even include the Christmas merchandise yet.
Anyways, I was glad to take some stuff off their hands ;)

Old Navy/J Crew Haul by babesandsages featuring knit tops

The purple shirt is from J Crew. I got another top there but couldn't find an image.


I know a lot of people liked the look of the suede wedges from Old Navy but reviews were a little mixed. Some people found them to run small and look kind of cheap. 
Well here is my honest opinion:
They do run small. I wear an 8 and had to go up to a 9. They are now a little loose around the ankle but that shouldn't be a problem with some thicker socks. 
As for whether they look cheap or not, well, they are cheap ;) I only paid $18 for them so I didn't expect great quality to begin with. I think the gray is the best color and looks the most 'sophisticated'. You can see where the suede upper was glued to the rubber wedge but who really looks that closely at your shoes? 
All in all I think they will be just fine for a season or two and they are right on trend. If you're looking for something higher quality you probably shouldn't buy these from ON. 


I also really loved the breezy blouses. I wish they had come out with them a little earlier since the weather here in PA is now almost too cold to wear them without a cardigan and maybe even a jacket. Since they were such a steal though I don't mind wearing them once it warms up again. 


The white t-shirt only cost me $2.69 :) You can never have too many white t-shirts. 


Here is what the hubby got at J Crew and what we got the little guy at Oshkosh B'Gosh. 

I had an eye on this shirt all summer and it finally went on clearance for $12.49 :)  Image via here

These Summer Weight Chinos are the hubby's fave. This is the second pair. He's had them for months and they still look like new. They also barely wrinkle in the dryer and iron like a charm :) Image via Shopstyle.com

70% off. This is something my Dad would wear, so now the little guy and his Opa can look handsome together. 

I haven't bought these yet. I am gonna wait until a better sale comes up. They are fleece lined and will keep him nice and cozy all winter. 

Flannel Shirt 70% off

Haven't bought these yet either. He is just growing out of his current pair so these will be in the near future. All Oshkosh images via their website. 

Have you done any extensive shopping lately? Any good deals? 
Also, guess what I just realized? The little guy has been napping in his room for almost an hour and a half now :) 


Ha, I'm such a mom ;) 


Enjoy your day!
XOXO
Soph