Friday, April 25, 2014

Restoration Hardware *Knock-Off* Couch

You know how I love Restoration Hardware...

And you know how I love Restoration Hardware knock-offs even more!! (Like the dining room table Evan made me!)

WELL, remember the RH Lancaster Couch I've wanted forever?


Value City Furniture (VCF) has produced a knock-off! It is called the "Burnham Leather Sofa." Take a look:



Pretty similar right? The main differences are the seam in the leather along the VCF version and the prices. 

Here are the differences between the Restoration Hardware version and the Value City Furniture version:

Soo... would you buy the knock-off or the real thing?

If you're a new mom who loves style and just had a baby and is going back to work part-time, I'll let you guess which one I'd choose!

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

House Tour with Baby Stuff EVERYWHERE!

As you can imagine, when you have a new baby, you have a lot of associated STUFF that comes along with caring for that sweet little bundle of joy! In our case, it has infiltrated every single room of our house, and I LOVE it (from a functional standpoint at least!) Since I like my house clean and looking nice, we also placed things pretty strategically and invested a little more to obtain baby-stuff with a style/design that we liked and that worked in our home.

Let me give you the tour:

1) Den
First in the den, we have our Joovy Play Yard (in Blueberry). This is our command station on the first floor.  The changing table on the top is awesome. This is where we change 80% of all diapers. I also like this unit because  the left side of it has storage for diapers, lotions, clothes, etc. Easy access is essential! Miles doesn't sleep in this yet, so we currently use it for the storage of towels, his Ergo carrier, and spare outfits. We also have an Ubbi Diaper pail down here (and one in the nursery). These are great - they are stylish, they totally encapsulate the odors, and they use regular kitchen trash bags! I highly recommend this product. We also have a little metal bin down here that we use as a laundry basket.



 We also have this cute Anywhere Chair from PB Kids in our den, not that he has used it yet! He needs to be a little bit bigger first :)

2) Living Room
The most important thing in this room, and perhaps the most valuable baby item we have: THE SWING! We have the Graco Duet Soothee Swing and Rocker. It is amazing. Miles LOVES this thing. He loves the motion and the music. He is always, always happy when we put him in here. The other thing I like about it is that the swing seat can be removed from the base, so you can easily use it as a seat anywhere in the house. So functional.

We also love the Farmyard Activity Gym from PB Kids. Miles loves what we call "kick time", where he just lays on his back and kicks for several 10-15 increments throughout the day. He loves it and it gives him exercise! Another essential is the Boppy Pillow. We use it every day for tummy time, and it is also really nice for holding him on the floor or on our bed because it props his head up.


3) Dining Room 
In our dining room we have the Joovy Spoon walker. (Again, something he hasn't used YET!)

4) Kitchen
In our kitchen, we have a Fisher-Price Rock 'n Play bassinet. It is really nice to put him in this when I'm making meals or doing dishes and want him close by. (Just a note, I think he currently likes being in this more than the Joovy pack and play at this point because its more enclosed and cozy).


In our kitchen, we also have a whole baby section on our countertop (far left corner) where we store bottles, pacifiers, and pump accessories as they dry. I keep the pieces and parts in clear glass canisters when they are clean, but seriously we are always washing a handful of these things so its just become a normal part of life to have them drying out on the counter!


5) Master Bedroom
In our bedroom we have the Restoration Hardware Moses Basket. He doesn't sleep in this unsupervised (I'm a little nervous about all of the fabric), but its really nice to put him in here when I'm changing, folding laundry, or cleaning our room. He loves it too. He almost always falls asleep right away when he's placed in here.



6) Master Bathroom
We also use the basket in the master bathroom when we are showering so we can keep a close eye on him. It is easy to move around and like I said, he loves it, which means I can get in a nice, long peaceful shower every morning! :)


7) Mudroom
Our mudroom now houses our stroller and carseat. Since its not a very big room, this stuff basically has taken over this room. Very convenient though!

It might seem a little overkill to have something that can hold him in almost every room, but it is so convenient not to have to lug things from room-to-room (especially when trying to comfort a crying baby!) So having something in every room has been great (and even greater that virtually everything we got as gifts!)  

Like I said, the baby stuff is EVERYWHERE! However, we wouldn't change a thing :) 

What tips do you have for incorporating baby stuff into your house?

Monday, April 7, 2014

Miles, Miles, Miles

Sorry for the lack of posting.. you'd think you have a lot of free time on maternity leave, but you'd be wrong! ;) Miles and I are busy busy cuddling, napping, nursing, doing laundry, diaper changing, and cuddling some more!

Miles turns 10-weeks old tomorrow and we are finally getting into a good routine during the day and sleeping well at night! This is such a fun time right now too because he just smiles like crazy! He loves bath time, laying down and kicking his legs (future soccer play like daddy), swinging in his swing, reading books, and talking (lots of cooing and loud yells of "ha!")

All in all, Evan and I have never been happier. This little guy is the best and our hearts are just overflowing with love! That being said, here are some of my favorite pictures from the last month so you can see what we have been up to :)






This boy LOVES tummy time!


Oops, his winter coat is just a little too big! :)



First walk! FINALLY warm enough a couple weeks ago! (I highly recommend this stroller by the way, the Britax B-Ready.. his carseat clips right in!)





Being a mom = best job ever! Also the hardest job ever! To keep it real, we definitely have struggled with Miles having "silent reflux", a form of acid reflux where instead of spitting up a lot, when any spit up comes up he tries to swallow it and sometimes chokes  or gags (so, so hard to watch). Along with it comes wet hiccups which are very uncomfortable for him (and again, for me to watch!)  Lots of tears over these issues from both me and him. His symptoms started around 3.5 weeks and I'm happy to say that a combination of medicine, holding him up for at last 30-minutes after eating, sleeping on an incline (we got a Rock and Play), cutting out almost all dairy, and time in general has really helped and he rarely has symptoms anymore! THANK GOD. He also had a cold the last couple of weeks which was also miserable. Many nights I just held him all night because he just wanted to cuddle and nuzzle up in my neck. Who needs sleep? I would do anything to get this guy feeling happy and healthy and thankfully thats where we are today! All smiles :)




 
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