2018 Goals and Resolutions Update

As the first quarter of the year is drawing to a close, I  have decided to look back on how my goals and resolutions are going.  

1.)  Send more happy mail.  This goal has been going really well!  We have had a lot of "happy mail" to send in the past few months, including birth announcements and thank you cards.  Most recently we sent out homemade Easter cards to family.  Miss. E is happy to share her artwork with the people that we love!

2.)  Catch up photobooks.  This has not happened yet.

3.)  Upload photos monthly.  I have really stuck to this.  I find it so much easier to make our photobook as the year progresses.

4.)  Organize blog and implement changes.  This has yet to happen, as well.

5.)  Embrace frugality.    This is coming along.  I have been trimming our budget.  Hubby and I have decided to do a no spend April.  I haven't felt a big urge to spend money on myself since ending my no spend year, which has been very helpful!  I am excited to see how a no-spend month goes as a family.

My word of the year was adapt.  This has gone well.  There is always a curve when your life changes for any reason.  I think that knowing my life was going to be different and that I would have to be flexible has really shaped my mindset for the year.  Things have been going well and I am learning just roll with the changes.

How are your goals going this year?  I would love to hear all about it!

A Neutral Palette for my Capsule Wardrobe

My closet looks pretty boring colour wise right now.  I usually have an array of colours hanging up in my closet, but my postpartum capsule is rather neutral.  I have found that most of the capsule wardrobes that I have seen done by other people have a neutral palette.  I used to think that the lack of colour would bother me so I never really went that way when I was planning my capsules.  I have discovered that although I like to see  colour in my closet, I don't often choose to wear it.  I like wearing neutrals with a few pops of colour here and there.  My capsule has been super easy to use this time because everything is so easy to pair.

I love this outfit because it is basically all neutral except for the pops of colour on the trim of this cardigan.  Basically black and grey are my favourite colours to wear. 

This cardigan is adorable.  I love that the length gives great bum coverage (because #leggings) and the fact that it has pockets.  If you are a Mom, you need pockets.  Seriously.  The floral pattern is so pretty and brings some life to the outfit.  My friend Charlotte made this cardigan and I really love it.  You can find her clothing shop on Facebook (here).  Her shop is called Lions and Lambs.  She makes women's and children's clothes.  Her items are beautiful and unique.  This is not an ad, I just really love her stuff!

Happy Wednesday!

5 Minute Project- The Jeep

I have such trouble keeping my SUV organized.  I keep trying to achieve some sort of system but nothing has worked so far.  We have certain items that we have to keep in the vehicle.  I always have a blanket in case of car trouble, an extension cord so I can plug the Jeep in when it is cold, a first aid kit (because...kids) and a few other odds and ends.  I often have the stroller and a potty in the back of the Jeep, so I wanted to find a better way to contain our stuff.

Before:

My husband was around when I was trying to figure out how to deal with all of this stuff.  He kindly suggested that we leave the reusable shopping bags in the garage and only haul them along when we are actually going to the grocery store.  The shopping bags are often in my way so I agreed.  I did stick one shopping bag in the new container, just in case we have an impromptu grocery stop.

After:

I chose a container with a locking lid.  This will help keep everything in place.  The container is also tall and narrow, which will take up less space in the Jeep.  The roadside emergency kit doesn't fit in the container, but it does have velcro on the bottom.  The velcro helps it stay in one spot and out of the way.

I hope that this containment system works out in the real world.  I post an update once we have used it for a while.

How do you keep your car items organized?

Why I Have Gone Back to a Capsule Wardrobe

I haven't done a capsule wardrobe since 2016.  I have worked with a smaller number of items in my closet, but I haven't created an actual capsule in over a year.  I have come back to the capsule wardrobe because it provides some great benefits. 

1.)  Outfits are easy to grab.  My capsule is about half the size of my previous capsules and it has been wonderful.  I actually think that I made my other capsules too big!  It takes no time for me to get dressed.  When our daughter was airlifted to the city, my husband was able to go in the plane with her.  I drove up behind with Miss. Em.  I stopped at the house to grab a few overnight items for all of us and my diaper bag.  My capsule made it easy for me to quickly grab what I needed so that I could get on the road. 

2.)  It works for my life now.  Let's be real.  I don't have anything fancy to attend.  I am a mom and I spend most of my days at home, running errands, going for walks and doing playschool drop off/pick up.  I don't need to look particularly fashionable.  I do want to look put together and I want my clothes to be practical.  This wardrobe is really serving that purpose.  It is functional, looks decent and allows access for nursing.  

3.)  Everything fits and works with my current body.  I have set aside most of my pre-pregnancy clothes for the time being.  My capsule only contains clothes that fit me right now.  I was starting to feel down every time I got dressed because I would inevitably grab something that fit before I was pregnant.  Of course, most of those clothes don't fit right now.  Even the clothes that I can get on don't fit well.  It helps to have a selection of clothes that I know are going to fit.  There is no disappointment when I am getting ready, which is better for my self-confidence.

This sweatshirt has been on repeat lately.  I love it because it is comfy and warm.

I have a couple quick capsule wardrobe notes to share.

   -I wear nursing tank tops under my sweatshirts.  I don't include them in my capsule total because I never wear them on their own.  I truly treat them like underwear.

   -My capsule actually totals at 17 pieces.  I have a long sleeve black nursing top that I forgot to include in the original count.

   -I won't ever have shoes in these picture because I don't want my dirty winter boots in the inside of my house.  My boots are super cute, though, so I am including a picture of them.

Happy Wednesday!

Mom of 2- What I Have Learned (So far...)

Our youngest is just over 2 months old.  We are thrilled that our family has expanded and we have been enjoying our new family dynamic immensely.  I have picked up on a few things in my transition to 2 children that I thought I would share with you.

1.)  You CAN do this and so can your oldest child.  I was slightly petrified that I would somehow find the transition to 2 children to be insurmountable.  While it has definitely had it's bumps in the road, the learning curve hasn't been nearly as steep as I had imagined it would be.  I found the infant stage so much easier this time, mostly due to the fact that I trust myself now.  You are always a little unsure of what you are doing with your first child and I was a definite worrier.  This time I know that I have done this before and that I know what I am doing

Our oldest daughter had an emotional first few days as she navigated the family change.  She was always thrilled about her little sister, but still seemed a little out of sorts.  We just made sure to gently assure her that she is a very important part of our family and that we love her very much.   She seemed back to herself after the first week.  It was a big change and she just need a little time to settle in.  She has been such a big help and loves to sing to "her" baby.

2.)  Frozen Meals and a Snack Basket will save your sanity.  Before I had my baby, I made sure to stock our freezer with frozen dinners.  I spent a whole weekend cooking and freezing meals for after the baby arrived.  It was such a lifesaver.  It was so nice to just grab a lasagna or soup from the freezer and heat it up for dinner.  I know that freezer meals can be a lot of work, but they are worth every minute.  You can find my post about freezer meals here.

I am breastfeeding and my daughter can feed for anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour.  Her feeds often run into snack times and meal times.  My oldest daughter can't open our pantry and does not have access to the fridge.  I didn't want to make either of these accessible to her so I created a snack basket.  In this basket I place pre-approved snacks for her to grab when she is hungry.  I like to put in things like bananas, applesauce, craisins, crackers and oranges.  This has been such a wonderful thing to have.  I don't have to interrupt a feed to tend to my oldest daughter's hunger.  She thinks that the basket is great, too!

3.)  Keep the routine.  When we first arrived home, we were not paying much attention to our routines.  Our oldest daughter was often late getting to bed and we were all over the place with morning routines and waking up on time.  It really did a disservice to our household.  Young children thrive on routines.  We have to stick to a fairly strict bedtime in our house.  With our oldest daughter, we have found that it isdifficult to get her to go to sleep after 8 p.m..  If she gets to bed late she doesn't sleep as long and her quality of sleep isn't as good.  When her sleep is off then everything else suffers.  We quickly returned to enforced bedtimes and predictable morning routines.  It makes a world of difference.  Our daughter doesn't fight her bedtime and wakes up happy.  She knows what to expect in the moning and that seems to set her day off right.  We still have the odd day where things don't go as planned, but for the most part our routines really make our household run smoothly.

What are your tips for helping a family transition to having 2 children?  I would love to hear your ideas!

Postpartum Capsule Wardrobe

My youngest daughter is currently 2 months old.  Like most women, my body does not currently resemble the body that I had before I got pregnant.  It can take a long time to lose the baby weight and it is important to be gentle with ourselves as we go through that process.  I find dressing my postpartum body to be a challenge.  Very little of my pre-pregnancy wardrobe fits and my maternity clothes are all too big.  My clothes also have to be nursing friendly.  I recently built a small postpartum capsule wardrobe to help dress me in this stage of my life.

At 16 pieces, my postpartum capsule is by far the smallest capsule I have ever created.  It includes my tops, bottoms and jackets.  I didn't include my winter jacket and boots in the photos.  I will change these out with a lighter jacket and runners when Spring finally hits my neck of the woods.  I didn't include any accessories in my count.  I don't currently wear much in the way of accessories. 

My capsule consists of 10 tops, 2 jackets, 2 pairs of pants, my winter coat and my winter boots.  I plan to replace my maternity jeans soon with a pair of regular jeans that fit my current size.  The maternity jeans are not fitting well and constantly fall down.  They will have to do, however, until I can go shopping.  I didn't include any skirts or dresses in this capsule as nothing I own fits well.  I can dig something out of storage if I absolutely need to wear a dress or skirt, but we have no events that require this in the near future.

TOPS:

PANTS:

Do you have any tips for dress a postpartum body?  I would love to hear them!

5 Minute Project- Winter Accessories

Our entrance closet can get a little out of hand at times.  Winter accessories were taking over and it was driving me crazy.  I snagged a few minutes and decided to tackle my winter accessories and Miss. E's accessories.

Before:

We each have a drawer and a bin in the closet.  The drawer is intended for items that we use all the time and the bin is for lesser used items.

During:

I took all of the items out of the drawers and bins.  I spread them out on the floor and decided what needed to stay and what needed to go.  I put a few away touques that were too small for my daughter.  I took out items that we weren't currently using.  Some things in the bins actually have homes elsewhere in the house so they were returned to their rightful place.  When I was through with sorting, I put back what was left.

After:

Things were much better organized after my sort through.  It is easier for us to find what we need and it looks so much better.  The best part of all was that it only took me 5 minutes to do this project!