Big Boy Room Mood Board

I'm still hesitant to call Avery's new room a big boy room, since my baby is well a baby. But we figure when we move back in our home, the timeline still undecided (maybe December?) Avery will be a year and a half. So Hasani and I had to have the crib vs. the toddler bed vs. a twin bed discussion and what made most sense. In the end it really doesn't make sense to buy another crib or toddler bed, that he would soon out grow. Tabari was in a twin bed before the age of 3. 
So we have decided we'll buy a twin bed frame and use side rails on one side of the bed. The other side of the bed will be up against the wall. 

Even though we have no move back home timeline, I still thought it would be a good idea to put together some ideas for his new room. I'm really drawn to the colors of avacado pear, orange, pale blue and grey. I just love how those colors look in his room which gets lots of natural sunlight. I've also used the same colors for my baby shower invites & party (here), his first birthday invites & party (here) and his nursery (here) Yup those colors gets lots of love in our home when it comes to Avery. So it makes perfect sense to use them again, I'm already loving that the colors have grown with him thus far. For Avery's new room design, my goal is to add a play spot in his room, reading / coloring area and above all create a well organized happy room that he'll love & want to play in. I fully anticipate him playing all over the house, but creating his own spherical spot in his room makes me happy. Here's the mood board I put together for his room. 

1. A few days ago, I mentioned I was working on a gallery wall above his crib before the fire. I plan to create a new gallery wall is his room. So far I have the cute Alphabet print, which was a gift from Etsy seller Yulia of Giraffes and Stuff. She was sweet enough to send a print our way for Avery's nursery after she heard what happened, thank you again! I'm also digging this cute print from the Land of Nod. I think his gallery wall will be a mixture of artwork and my own little creations for him (framed gift wrap etc) I'm also loving this print, via Etsy sell Handz. I used to love my viewfinder when I was little, I'm sure my mom still has mine somewhere.

2. I want to add some bookcases to his room, for books, toys and baskets. Just the thought of making arranging a cute kids bookcases makes me smile. I'm on the fence, not sure if we'll get a pair of short bookcases of a pair of tall ones. Ideally I'd find a pair of bookcases with bottom cabinets on Craigslist that just need a little love. Cute bookends that can be played with will be a must for his bookcase, I anticipate lots of books and toys all over his floor. The Skip Hop Zoo Bookends, had me at hello and the colors are perfect for his room! I plan on using a few baskets for his stuffed animals and misc toys, I like these colorful ones from the Land of Nod. For his twin bed, I really like the modern clean lines of West Elm's bed frames, this one is my favorite. 

3. I love all things Melissa & Doug they have the cutest retro wood toys and huge plush animals, I'm leaning towards getting the Dalmatian or Giraffe for his room, big soft animals are must in his room (Don't be fooled by my picture, in real life the Dalmatian is huge) I love kids tables and chairs in bedrooms, they perfect spot to draw, play and 'read' books at. My mom has this little yellow pre-school chair and Avery loves to sit at when he's at her house. Adding chairs and a table will be perfect addition to his room. I really like these modern feeling dark walnut kids chairs I found on Target.com (they are almost twins of the pricey Land of Nod version) I loved the price $29.99 on clearance for two, so I bought them. I can't wait until they arrive!! I adore this Land of Nod table it fits so well in small spaces, and I love how the legs are off-set :)

4. Lastly one my favorites things to shop for fabric! I had Annia drapes in Avery's nursery from Ikea, but I they no longer sell that color Avocado Pear, boo! I'm considering sewing new drapes in the same color I used in his nursery or mixing it up sewing patterned drapes. I love both of the fabrics found on Tonic Living, just need to order swatches and see if they'll work. His bedding is still up in the air, but i'm in love with these sheets from the Land of Nod, love'em! Here's a closer look at the patterned fabric I'm considering for his drapes. If I don't use it as drapes, maybe I'll sew a throw out of it? Or sew a duvet? The possibilities are endless! This time around I plan on lining his drapes with blackout liner, this mom wants to sleep in just a little on weekends :)

It feels so good it get my ideas on paper, yeah know what I mean, lol. Nothing is set in stone except his chairs and the artwork we already have. I'm really looking forward to working on his room and my tweens room. What do you think of my ideas so far?

Are you working on any room update around your house? What's your favorite part bringing in cute accessories or fabric shopping? 

PS: Don't forget to enter the Home Depot Gift Card Giveaway!! 

Adventures in Homemade Baby Food

I've been making baby food for Avery for over three months and so far its been a fun adventure. I'd decided to share my experiences so far. I started thinking of making my own baby food for Avery when I was about six months pregnant. I really wanted to make healthy fresh baby food for our baby. I also liked the cost savings verses, buying jar baby food, but that wasn't the deciding factor. The deciding factor was starting healthy eating habits ( fruits and veggies ) from a very early age. I want Avery to love all types of fruit from mango's to watermelon. Most importantly to love veggies: peas, carrots, beets, cauliflower, spinach etc. After talking with our baby's predication, we starting introducing 'solids' at four months old. From four months to six months we fed our little guy mini meals of rice cereal and eventually oatmeal. We didn't introduce fruits and veggies until he was six months old, which is around the age most babies are ready to start on solids aka pureed food. 


Recent veggie and fruit purchases for large batches of baby food: strawberries*, potatoes, sweet potatoes, bananas, apples, beets, carrots and parsnips.

*I recently started feeding Avery a small amount of cooked pureed strawberries that I add to his applesauce. We've had no allergic reactions

What I use:


While I was still pregnant I bought a Baby Bullet after seeing their infomercials on one of my many sleepless pregnancy nights. At the time they had a buy one get one free special going on, so my friend Summer (also a fellow blogger) and I bought one together and got one free! Gotta love those late night specials. There are a so many options if you want to make your own baby food, you can use a blender, food grinder, food processor or baby food maker (like I bought) For me I like the idea of using a device that was exclusively used for Avery's baby food and nothing else. Most baby food makers range from $ 19 to $ 114.00 it all depends on what works best for your family and needs. You can buy baby food makers at Target, Wal-Mart or online like Amazon. I've seen baby food makers that both steam and puree all in one device. I like the baby bullet for a few reasons: clean-up, easy to use, large batches of food, cost, storage (the bullet came with fridge and freezer trays) I've always read & heard good things about these brands: Beaba Babycook, Baby Brezza. 


Baby food making musts:

• spatula
• baby food blender or grinder (as mentioned above)
• small paring knife
• chopping board (used only for baby food)
• metal steamer basket 
• casserole dish or cookie sheet (for roasting)
• silicone freezer trays or baby food freezer trays 
• Freezer storage bags 
• peeler 

Shopping:


I go grocery once a week for our household and for Avery's baby food. I buy a combination of fresh and frozen veggies for Avery. I always buy fresh fruits for his baby food, you can buy frozen fruits, which is perfect when they are out of season. Typically I buy peas, green beans, cauliflower and broccoli frozen. Carrots I go back and forth between frozen, if I'm making a soup for my family that week I'll buy fresh. No soups planned, I'll buy frozen carrots. I also like buying steams in the bag frozen veggies (if on sale)  I always buy plain frozen veggies. When actually I get around early enough on Saturday mornings, we head to our local Farmers Market for fresh produce, they typically have a good affordable selection.  

Frozen peas, in my metal steamer basket

Making & Storing:


Making baby food is pretty simple and fun! I always steam or roast my veggies and fruits until tender before pureeing them. I steam Avery's veggies and fruits using a metal steamer basket, I bought one at Wal-Mart for $ 4.99. I find it faster to roast certain vegetables like: sweet potatoes, potatoes and squash then it is to steam. I love the smell of fresh baby food, it smells amazing! The color and taste (yes I've tasted) is hands down, so much tastier than buying store bought baby food.

Here's an example of how to make sweet potatoes. Tip: Buy smaller sweet potatoes because they roast faster and are easier to peel. Heat your oven to 345 degrees, clean the sweet potato and. Place the sweet potato on the cookie sheet, I line my cookie sheets with parchment paper for. When I'm able to cut the sweet potato very easy with a parring knife I know sweet potato is cooked though and its time to puree. After the Sweet Potatoes are roasted, I peel the skin of off and then cut the veggie into small chucks and place in my baby bullet 'large batch' blender. I also add about 3/4 of a cup of water, then I mix until smooth and creamy. Using my spatula, I make sure there's no chucks left, if they're chunks I keep blending until smooth. As Avery gets older, I will start making chunkier baby food. 

Pureed sweet potatoes in the large batch blender

Baby food can be kept in an air tight container for three days in the fridge, so when I'm making food I leave some in the fridge and freeze the rest. 

Wal-Mart, great price and works great. The brand is NUK with Annabel Karmel 'Fresh Foods' click here for the website. I also like the bowl and food masher I saw while shopping there and might buy it when Avery gets older, perfect for older babies and on the go eating. For some reason Wal-Mart doesn't show her products on their website, so it appears they sell her products by Nuk in-store only.

Sweet Potatoes in the AK Fresh Foods from Nuk silicone freezer tray

After the baby food servings are frozen, I transfer them into freezer bags. I write the frozen date & veggie /fruit name on each bag and place in a larger freezer storage bag. Baby food can be safely kept a freezer for 3 months. I use the oldest date baby food first, you can safely thaw food in the fridge or in the microwave using a microwave bowl, I'd would cool in the fridge to avoid 'hot spots' caused by the microwave.  

Frozen green beans, originally frozen in the Baby Bullet silicone freezer trays.

Frozen Carrots

Time Management:

I don't feel making homemade baby food is too time consuming. I can easily steam some peas in the morning, and then puree them, store and freeze in about 30mins while I get ready in the morning. I work full-time 40 hours a week, so for me its easy to plan on making large batches of baby food once a week. Kind of like I'm cooking a larger Sunday dinner, instead I'm steaming, roasting and pureeing food for our little guy. I also prefer making large batches once a week, because I can make so much food at one time. For instance two medium size bananas (plus water adding for blending) makes six portions of baby food. I get help while I'm making baby food, Hasani will watch Avery or I'll put Avery in his highchair and talk to him and tell him what I'm making for him. I do buy some food in baby jars, a few fruits that are out of season. Here's a quick list of baby food Avery's had so far, I've been feeding him way more veggies than fruit so far. We introduce new foods every three days, to make sure he has no allergic reactions. 

• Fruits: apples, pears, bananas, peaches, prunes, cherries, avocado 
• Vegetables: peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, green beans,  potatoes, squash, butternut squash, spinach, beets, kale, broccoli, cauliflower and parsnips 

I recently introduced Avery to potato and beets swirl, at first he wasn't sure if he liked the beets but after a few spoonfuls he loved it! I find that if he doesn't like something at first after a few more bites, he ends up liking it. He's still not a fan of green beans, so I always feed those with apples, which he loves. 

Potato and Beets swirl, recipe from the book The Baby and Toddler Cookbook

A typical snack and lunch for Avery.


Snack: 

• mum mums or yogurt melts
• peach yogurt mixed with rice cereal (more on yogurt below) 
  

Lunch:

• Peas mixed with barley
• Pears 

Resources:


I like the website Wholesome Baby Food its was full of useful tips. But I really wanted a resource book and cookbook to make exciting combinations ( beyond banana and apples) of baby food  from now until he's a toddler that would continue promoting eating healthy. Plus I want to confirm what fruits and veggies are age appropriate.  Amazon has a huge section of homemade baby food books, click here for the book list. I recently purchased The Baby & Toddler Cookbook, I'm really happy I did. I've had the book for a few days and have already tried one of the recipes the beets & potatoes puree, that I already mentioned. I've already book marked a few recipes to try with Avery: beet, squash and quinoa swirl and summer fruit smoothie. The smoothie looks so good, its made up of bananas, nectarine, blue berries and apple juice. When he's 12mos plus I'm looking forward to making these recipes: mini salmon cakes and mini apple pancakes.

In addition to making Avery's baby food we're also starting to teach him to feed himself snacks. We recently introduced Mum Mums which he loves and yogurt melts. I also feed Avery baby yogurt. Its so cool, that babies can have yogurt! Its really good for their digestion. I buy the Gerber brand yogurt so far he's had peach, blueberries and strawberries. I plan to start making his own yogurt combinations. Thanks to the book, I bought know what type of ready made yogurt buy and will puree fruits to mix in. Yogurt can safely stay in the fridge for one day, and frozen portions are safe up to three months (in the freezer)

He also eats bananas and streamed apples in the Nuby Nibbler. He can eat super messy super fast when feeding himself. It's so cute. I love using them, but they are a pain in the but to clean. 

I'm only a few months into our homemade baby food journey and already I'm having so much fun.  For my family making homemade baby food really works out well. Sometimes I feel like Diane Keaton in Baby Boom, when I'm making large batches of baby food. I'm sure watching the movie 1,000 times over the years made it easier to decide to make baby food this time around. With our older son I used jar baby food ( there was so little information about making baby food back them ) I kid with him, I'm going to start feeding him pureed food :) lol. That's my journey so far on making homemade baby food. 


Did / Do you make your own baby food, what are your thoughts on the subject? Are you planning or thinking about making homemade baby food when you have children? I'd love to hear your thoughts, please feel free to ask me any questions! 

Family Dining

We recently added a new piece of 'furniture' to our dining room, which now allows for family to all dine together. I'm in love with our newly bought highchair! Remember when I was thinking about looking for a vintage highchair on Craigslist? Well after looking for a few weeks, we decided to buy the Ikea Blames highchair. Before we got the highchair, we would put Avery in his Bumbo, on-top of our dining room table { carefully supervised at all times } and feed him there Due to having the Bumbo on the table we hardly ate together as a family, we dined in shifts. First Hasani and Tabari would eat, then I'd feed Avery and then I would finally eat. Our little guy, in his Bumbo. 

We bought the the highchair a few weeks ago, and it was super easy to put together. I put it together while Hasani was doing a Starbucks run for me! I must have a vanilla latte at least once a week, lol. You may remember when we were originally considering spraying painting the highchair grey, but after building it we soon realized it looked so good as is. The dark highchair, works perfectly with the dark legs of our dining room chairs and our walnut stained dining room table.  

I love how the highchair has a small footprint in our already small dining room.

It doesn't overwhelm  our space at all. I also like the tray it wipes clean super easy and its not big and bulky.The smooth finish on the highchair also wipes clean. We also bought the little cushion insert for the chair, it was super affordable only $ 5 bucks. I'm planning on recovering the cushion with fabric from my stash so it blends better in our dining room. When the highchair is not bring used we place it in the corner of our dining room, I'm glad t takes up such little space.

As Avery gets older and we no longer need to use the tray, the high chair pulls up nicely to the table, not perfect but nicely.

Avery also loves his highchair and knows when I put him in it, its time to eat.  

Our little guy is growing so fast. 

Have you bought anything recently that makes you smile?

PS Don't forget to enter the Kirkland's Decorative Keys Giveaway

I'm Reading....

Currently I'm reading three different child developmental books. I love reading baby books, I have a stack I read last year all about pregnancy, baby names etc. you can read more about them here. Here's what I'm reading: 'Baby 411', this was given to me by my BFF who swears its a must have read, so far I like! It's really helped me get though the beginning of Avery teething. Its and easy read, I love all the information. Even though I have an older child who's 11 - I know things change over time, so its good to stay current. 


My mom bought the book 'The Secret Language of Babies' for me recently. I love all the pictures and baby cues 'about what you baby is saying' so far so good. 

Once upon a time, our little guy was amazing sleeper. He slept in his cradle or his crib all by himself the entire night { except for feedings} Now not so much, he's mostly in our bed. We need to break this habit, but I personally I can't do the 'cry-it-out' method, hearing my baby cry for a long period of time would be too upsetting. So when I came across The No Cry Sleep Solution I thought I'd give it a chance. I found the book at The Goodwill. 


Mommy Tip: Shop the thrift stores for Child Developmental books! Usally they The Goodwill has a ton, just skip past the outdated ones and look for the books that are new, with topics that interest you. Trust me you'll never know what you'll find.

Here's a better look at the book

I'm only a few chapters in, trying my best not to skip ahead, lol. This Mamma needs some sleep, and if you ever slept with a little one in your bed then know you get almost zero sleep. When I start applying the sleep techniques in the book, I'll be be back with a review

What are you reading right now? Any baby books like me? Or please feel free to suggest a 'grown-up book' that's a must read! 

Avery's Seven Month Birthday Photo

It's so hard to believe our little guy is already seven months old! Avery is so much fun, just looking at him makes my heart skip a beat! Quick reminder just in case your new to my blog, we're taking monthly pictures of Avery for the next two years in his nursery. Nothing will be planned just him hanging out, its such a fun way to watch your baby grow up. After 24 months of pictures, I will turn the photos into a book. 


Avery Seven Months

I just love his bed head!! If you follow me on Twitter, you saw that I wrote, Avery + Overalls + Stripes = heart melting!!! We love you little guy and are so blessed you have you in our lives!! :)

Baby Toys We Love

These days they have the cutest baby toys for the little ones, that melt my heart! I love getting Avery sweet baby toys I know he'll enjoy for years { it's so hard not to go crazy when getting him stuff!} I put together a round-up of baby toys Avery & I love :) 

Here's the breakdown and why we love them! 


1. Skip Hop Hug a Dog I love it because its cute, hug-able. The arms open wide to reveal a puppy and a mirror { baby safe } 
2. Melissa & Doug Rainbow Stacker I love it because it has bright colors and super soft stacking development toy.
3. Melissa & Doug Giraffe I love it because its the perfect grasping toy for little hands, the neck twists and turns in all fun directions
4. Melissa & Dough Three Little Pigs We got this gift for my girlfriends sons 1st birthday. Who doesn't love the story of the three little pigs?  perfect for teaching little ones stories with 'visual aides'. All the houses stack inside each other for easy cleanup and the child can carry it from spot to spot. 
5. Rings I love baby rings for so many reasons, keeping toys attached to the car seat or stroller, to count with to play with, teaching colors! So many reasons 
6. Barn Friends I love these little barn animals, each one makes a sound and Avery loves playing with the barn since its a bright red. Perfect for imagination play
7. Carters Stacker I love it because babies MUST have more than one darling stacker!
8. Fisher Price Piano I love that's its colorful and the keys make a cute sound. Avery loves tapping away on it. We might have a little pianist!
9. Skip Hop Animal Trio - I love owls and these are perfect for the stroller, they also make sounds, perfect for little hands
10. Sophie the Giraffe, Avery loves this giraffe she is a must have for babies that are teething the rubber helps soothe his gums and he's able to grasp it himself

We have all the toys above { except number four, which he'll get when he's a little older } Avery loves his baby toys and plays with the above toys all the time. It's so much fun watching him military crawling to play with his toys we place just out of his reach. Baby toys have gotten so much cuter and developmental since we had our tween 11 years ago, its fun being a mommy to a little one again. Oh, and I'm not being paid to share our favorite baby toys just thought I'd pass along the ones we love :)


What's you favorite baby toy from the list above? Or which baby toys did/does your little one adore? 

Avery's Five Month Birthday Photo

My sweet adorable playful energetic baby is five months old! Quick reminder just in case your new to my blog, we're taking monthly pictures of Avery for the next two years in his nursery. Nothing will be planned just him hanging out, its such a fun way to watch your baby grow up. After 24 months of pictures, I will turn the photos into a book.

Avery Five Months

As always its hard to choose just one picture of Avery to share! :) Some highlights of Avery turning five months old, loves to roll over and over and scoot back and forth on his back. He loves sucking on his hands, letting me know teething is right around the corner. He loves to sit in his bumbo to eat his rice cereal and oatmeal. He loves playing with his softie puppy book and chewing on Sophie the Giraffe and does big laughs when being tickled. He also loves to play with his feet and can sit up unassisted for a few seconds. Life is good having a little one around the house to play with and kiss and love on is so much fun!

Avery's Four Month Birthday Photo

It's hard to believe our little guy as we've nicked named him around Chic Little House, just turned a fun four months old. As a reminder just in case your new to my blog, we're taking monthly  pictures of Avery for the next two years in his nursery. Nothing will be planned just him hanging out, that way we can watch him virtually grow up in his nursery. After 24 months of pictures they will be complied and turned into a book.


Avery Four Months

I've been enjoying his little photo shoots each one reminds me how precious every moment is with our baby. Just like last month I had to share more than one pictures. I took these pictures after I nursed him. One thing I really enjoy about blogging is it being a our dairy of daily life, projects and house stuff. Here are a few little guy milestones; started rolling over a few days before turning three months, grasping for toys and playing with them, loves tummy time, big HUGE smiles, makes cooing sounds, loves hearing mommy sing to him, super good head control, brings his hands to is mouth, loves chewing on hands! Yup I'm a proud mamma! 

Watch him grow, one month, two months, three months 

Thinking Out Loud

For the past few months I've been on the hunt for a vintage { yet safe } wood high chair for the little guy. I really love the idea on taking old stuff and making it new again and would love to do the same with a high chair. Even though there are some cool new high chairs out there, most seem big and bulky for our small dining room, so vintage mostly likely will be the way we go. I would love to paint the vintage wood high chair a fun color, maybe a shade of teal? Or just play it safe with white? I'm also liking the idea of painting it glossy grey. I also plan on making a thin seat cushion, instead of using regular fabric, I plan on using oil cloth - perfect for babies. The high chairs below is a perfect example of what I was thinking.

{ via I like It, I Love It }

 { via Drab to Fab }

Hopefully I'll be able to find a darling vintage one soon, after all Avery will be turning 4 months soon and a few months after that we'll be introducing solids. I do have a backup plan just in case I can't find a vintage safe wood chair to redo. Enter Ikea, they sale two wooden style high chairs that could work well. The Blames highchair has a great shape, I would love it in a glossy grey or white. 

The runner up if we go the Ikea route is the Gulliver, I would also love it glossy grey or glossy white. I like that this one pushes directly up to the table, making family dinners much easier. This one has a much wider bottom base, so I'm not sure if it would work for us.

Whatever route we end up going for the little guys highchair I'll for sure share.On my to do list this weekend finish up some misc. diy projects and stalk Craigslist for the vintage wood chair wish me luck!


What are your plans this weekend?

Avery's Three Month Birthday Photo

Wow two posts in one day! I'm patting myself on the back as you read this.....lol

We decided to take a monthly birthday photo of Avery for the next two years, the photos will be turned into a book. That way we can virtually watch him grow up. Every photo will take place in his nursery, nothing planned just him hanging out.

Avery Three Months

I loved how his three month old photo shoot { with me } turned out. I just had to share more than one picture!