Lemon coconut hot oil treatment

Not to brag, but I smell really good right now.  If I was a cannibal, I would eat my own head off.

Maybe it's not obvious from the picture, but this is a DIY hot oil scalp & hair treatment to quench my thirsty head.  I don't know if I'm part snake, but in the winter I start to feel like one.  So I looked into my pantry and thought I would put some food on my head.  You should see me when my lips are chapped, I just start smashing eggs into my face to treat that.

Lemon coconut hot oil treatment

4 tablespoons of coconut oil (I think promiscuous coconut oil is fine too)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

In a small bowl, measure 4 T coconut oil and heat in the microwave for about five seconds, until liquid and slightly warm.  Squeeze 1 T lemon juice into the oil and combine.  Using your hands, massage oil into scalp until evenly coated.  You may as well rub any excess into your hair since it looks like straw too.  Throw that free hotel shower cap you have been hoarding on your head for about a half hour or until you feel like washing your hair.  

How to make homemade hand soap

After the birth of my son, I noticed that we go through gallons and gallons of hand soap each year because babies are composed of 90% germs and 10% pudding.  With the rising cost of basic toiletries in general, I began dreading my trips to Target and how much I would have to fork over to maintain my hand washing addiction.  Then I figured out how to make my own hand soap for a little over one dollar per gallon.

This is a terrible photo of what you will need:

• 2 bars of Dial antibacterial bar soap (Dollar Tree carries a two pack for $1)
• 16 cups of water
• 2 teaspoons liquid glycerin (found at most pharmacies for about $4 for 6 ounces)
• big pot
• spoon
• immersion blender or handheld mixer

Start by grating 2 bars of soap into a big pot.  Cover the two cups of soap shavings with 16 cups of water (128 ounces) and add 2 teaspoons of liquid glycerin to the mixture.   Heat on medium while stirring continuously until the shavings melt completely.

Once the bubbles form a yin yang symbol, the soap has achieved a perfect balance and can be removed from the heat and left to cool overnight.  Once cooled, it will be a gelatinous blob and you will assume my recipe is a piece of garbage.  Grab your immersion blender or hand held mixer and whip the ever loving crap out of that soap.  There, see I told you.  Now pour it into an old plastic container and refill your soap dispensers as needed.  You have just saved the Earth and your wallet some misery.

Ikea did not pay me to say this (call me Ikea!)

This is what it looks like after you get home from Ikea. Normally, there are more disposable Allen Wrenches involved (speaking of which, does anyone have a use for them after the fact?)

North and Mr. Foot try out his new craft table. Mr. Foot liked Ikea a lot and his favorite part was the Swedish meatballs, hence the diaper.

Our pantry storage was lacking when we moved in and Dave has made it his mission to find creative ways to add more storage space not just in the pantry, but everywhere in the house. Ikea's floating shelves work well to take advantage of our high ceilings, while still keeping items within easy reach. (Seriously, Ikea, are you dialing my number yet?)

I've never understood the modern fixation with huge kitchens, that is, unless your last name is Duggar. But I suppose counter top space is a nice thing to have. We (Dave) installed this little rack under our magnetic knife storage on the side of our oven to house vitamins and medications that previously dominated sacred counter space. Vitamins never looked so delicious.

Our back splash is a work in progress until we figure out the counter top situation (probably concrete). But we needed a little something there to tide us over in the meantime. Now when I stand at the sink washing dishes and gazing upon my sweet little succulent plants, a smile stretches across my face.

When Dave took Jake, our dog, out for a walk early Sunday morning, he saw a Little Tykes jungle gym pushed to the edge of our neighbors driveway a few houses away. After North went down for a nap, we snuck away to check it out and see if we could transport it by hand. Stupidly, we brought Jake on the excursion with us. Excited and unable to contain his bowels, he squatted and pooped right in the driveway of the neighbor while we stood there figuring out how to move their free play set.

"Thank you for the free toy, here is some poop for you!"

Dave bagged up the poop and strapped Jake's leash through his belt loop and Jake squatted again in the road and shat three more times. Again, Dave bagged the poop, resituated our poopy puppy and took up his side of the jungle gym. Meanwhile, the neighbors giving away the item were surely watching our display and will now think twice before they do a good deed in the future. Strange, but some people do not like to be thanked in feces.

Dave later reported that he saw said neighbor power washing the end of his driveway where the transgression occurred. I need to make a point to thank them in a less crappy way.

Nonessential baby items

A few months ago, Melissa left a comment wanting to get some information on what baby gear we regularly used and what sat around collecting dust. Sorry it took so long to get this written! But here is my take on it.

Disclaimer: What I'm about to share is intended only as helpful advice to new mothers based on my experience. I encourage any expecting mom to keep their baby purchases to a minimal level (especially in terms of clothing) to avoid wasting money. I also would buy as much of the baby gear secondhand as possible and return gifts that you do not think will be used for something more practical. And remember, going to the store is still possible after the baby is born!

Items that went to waste:

Multiple types of bottles & pacifiers---Maybe I would feel differently about this if I fed North formula from the get-go, but I only had 2 different bottles for him at birth. Dr. Brown's and some Playtex drop-in that was a free gift. We have only ever used 2 Dr. Brown's bottles that we wash after each use. As for pacifiers, he got a Soothies at the hospital and later on, I switched him to the MAM pacifier. There is no need to prepare for the what-ifs. But if you must, keep everything in the packaging and save the receipts so you can return it down the road if necessary.

Hooded towels---Sure they are adorable, but after a few months, they're just not big enough to use anymore. Buy 1 for cute infant pictures and save your money.

Dreft---I do love the smell of this stuff. But there are so many brands of truly baby friendly detergents out there that are better for baby's skin than Dreft, not to mention much cheaper.

Receiving blankets & burp clothes---We could have easily gotten by with a 6 pack each of receiving blankets and burp clothes. Unless you never plan on doing laundry again, there is no reason to have much more than that. We used the blankets we stole from the hospital mainly because the receiving blankets from the store always seem too small for the task (swaddling, shading baby in carseat, etc).  

Clothes---The most stressful thing to me is trying to get all the clothes on the baby before he outgrows them and they go to waste. We have found that we seem to rotate about 6-8 outfits on him unless we make a concerted effort to put other clothes on him. I feel very wasteful when I think about all the items he only wore once.

Baby wash and lotion---You really only need one of each to start out with and this stuff lasts forever. Seriously, North will be in his 40s before he uses up the stock pile of baby wash that was gifted to him.

Bumbo---Unless someone gives you one, I wouldn't buy one.  I mean, I like having ours, but it's an expensive piece of foam.  Maybe buy it used if you just have to have it.

Although it was not part of the question, here are some items that many moms now wished they would have registered for:

Safety items
Convertible car seat
6+ months clothing (if you live in predictable climate)
Toys
Exersaucer
Feeding items
Books

Beach and beer

For those keeping score at home, North is winning the War on Sleep. I'm not complaining, just stating facts. I now think that he is teething. But what I think changes every day. Have you noticed? I'm sure next week I will be convinced that the feng shui of the room is making sleep impossible for him or that his mullet is keeping him from sleeping.

In other news, we are headed to the Outer Banks this afternoon to spend the holiday weekend with family and friends. We're going down a day early because of the most delicious lemongrass wheat beer in the world sold at this Outer Banks Brewing Station. Per their website, they are America's first wind powered brew pub. The restaurant space doubles as a stage for bands to play at night. While guests enjoy their meal, they are free to marvel at the brewing equipment visible through windows adjacent to the lower dining room. It's a cool place to check out if you find yourself in the neighborhood. Even if you just pop your head in to use the bathroom (decorated in repurposed romance novel covers) or to buy a growler of beer. The food is delicious, but the beer, the beer is amazing.

I'll leave you with pictures of what our following days will be filled with.

Feet sucking!

Baby sharks!

Easy Stuffed Peppers

I compared my method of making stuffed peppers with other recipes online to see if anyone had any better ideas on the subject. So you could say I'm an expert now. Or I could say it for you. I can't declare my recipe the most delicious, but I can tell you that it's simple and requires the least amount of work and dirty dishes at the end of the day. You probably have most of the ingredients in your pantry already:

6 medium peppers, rinsed and cored

46 ounces tomato juice

1/2 cup dry rice, prepared according to directions

1 cube chicken bouillon

1 pound ground turkey

1/3 cup bread crumbs

1/3 cup finely diced onion

2 cloves garlic

worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. ground cumin

salt and pepper

Prepare your rice according to the directions. I throw a chicken bouillon cube in with the water and rice for a little more fla-vah. While that is cooking, rinse and core your peppers. You know, speaking of researching other recipes online beforehand, one particular recipe instructed me to cut the top inch of the pepper off and discard. Holy waste of pepper! Instead, I used a tiny pairing knife and cut a circle around the stem until it pulled up. Then I used my fingers to get all the seeds and gave the inside a quick rinse. Perhaps a little more work, but much less wasteful.

Once your rice is finished cooking, throw it in with the raw ground turkey, bread crumbs, onion, garlic, worcestershire sauce, cumin and seasoning. Combine it---use your hands, they're the best cooking tool you have. Stuff the peppers with the meat mixture and set them in a large pot. I also stuffed a yellow squash and a tomato, for fun. Weeeeee! Pour tomato juice over the peppers. Maybe fill the spaces between the peppers, with the squash entrails, chopped tomatoes and or some cut up potatoes for a one pot meal. Like the way I used a pot lid for a plate? Classy right? You should come to my house where I make guests eat directly out of the pot so as not to dirty any dishes.

I cooked these on the stove top, covered on medium low heat for about an hour. Top with cheese and eat.

Behold our consignment sale booty

There is a huge local consignment sale twice a year that is held in a warehouse on the Raleigh fairgrounds. This is the second sale we've attended, the first one being back in January. Although we didn't pick up nearly the amount of stuff we did last time, we still ended up with $80 worth of stuff. Loot breakdown: $1-$2 shirts and pants, $12 doorway jumper, $10 Floppy Seat grocery cart/high chair cover, $2 bottle rack, $2 bath toys, $2 life vest, $2 green monster mirror.

Dave has been a super dad both times and gone alone in the morning as soon as the doors open to get the best selection. But such selection comes with a price, especially as people are looking to save money more desperately recently. Between the throngs of people and the sheer amount of stuff piled high on tables as far as the eye can see, it can consume a huge chunk of your day. I mean, they give you a map when you enter the building for heaven's sake.

I met him when I got out of work at 12:00. I quickly picked up a few things we needed but had forgotten to add to his list and we sorted through all the clothes daddy had picked out. Yes, daddy picks out most of the clothes for Northy. He has fantastic taste that guy.

I continued shopping for about 15 minutes while Dave and North took a place at the end of the line. Then I met up with them and we waited at least another hour or so. I think the vastness of this consignment sale would be a pain if you were alone. But Dave, North and I had an enjoyable afternoon.

Most pleasant of all, the ladies shopping at the sale help each other out (there are many men there, but it is a predominately female crowd). Two kind ladies gave me unsolicited input on some purchases that were really helpful. I must have looked very confused that they came to my aid just by looking at the dumb expression on my face. And I paid their kindness forward by helping a lady that was trying to figure out all the breast pump accessories. I guess we've all been there, and no matter where you're at on this journey, you've got wisdom to share at some point along the way.

I swear, the day I joined this club called parenthood, walls came tumbling down around me.

Farmer North

And with one little picture, Grandmas all over the world just burst into a zillion pieces from cuteness overload. Just so you know, I had to pry that creme pea out of his tiny farmer hand, otherwise he may have clutched it all night.

As you can see from the bounty above, we have a ton of fresh produce this week. My lovely sister-in-law is also a member of our CSA and they are traveling this week to New York state, so she offered us her share. I'm going to challenge myself to cook only with ingredients that I already have on hand and pair them with as much of this local produce as possible. I enjoy cooking with basic staples available almost anywhere because you don't always need expensive ingredients to make delicious food. Plus, I love the frugality of it all.

I will take pictures and post the rough recipe for each dish created. Maybe it will inspire other households to take on the same challenge and use up stuff they've already got on hand or stop by a local farmer's market. Or maybe these recipes will spark a new idea for how to use up veggies from your garden. Lord knows I need some tips myself because currently I have tomatoes coming out of my wazoo. (Please note, wazoo is in the dictionary.)

Anyway, be forewarned that I don't really follow recipes when I cook, I just start looking around to see what I've got and throw it in. So the measurements that I include in these recipes are approximate. A lot depends on personal taste and yours may be different than mine.

This brings to mind something I've heard people say that steams my buns a bit. They claim that they are overweight because of the cheaper processed foods their meager budget forces them to buy. I'm here to yell from my soapbox, that is a load of manure. Dave and I have spent $2 on a pot of lentil soup and eaten a low calorie and nutritious dinner for days! You can cook healthy and thrifty meals for pennies if you plan right. I hope the recipes that follow in the coming days help to drive that point home.

Whew, sorry to get so preachy.  I feel pretty strongly about processed food and the link to obesity apparently.  As always, I'd love to hear any other ideas anyone has for using up these veggies too!

Mardy bums and cloth diapers

As I've mentioned before, we mainly use cloth diapers on North and only use disposables on him when we're away from home for more than a few hours.  A few people I know are interested, (and with upcoming babies on the way!) so I wanted to share a brief glimpse into our chosen system for absorbing our child's waste material.

While pregnant, I studied all the different types of cloth diapering and saturated myself in the cloth diapering world. Eww.  But I don't say 'world' lightly.  There is a lot of information out there and it can all be quite intimidating for sure.  Each time I learned about a different cloth diapering system, I would start spamming Dave with links announcing each to be the perfect solution for us!  

But the system that ended up working for us turned out to be the old standard prefold---well a diaper service quality, unbleached indian prefold, if you want to get specific. I bought these after I found out how small North was in utero and realized he wouldn't fit into the Fuzzi Bunz pocket diapers or the Bumgenius one-size diapers I found for him gently used on craigslist.  (To anyone that is grossed out by the thought of used diapers, I want you to know they were not crusted in other baby feces.  They were not rank with the hundreds of layers of previous poop that came before we enveloped them around our kid's bottom, thanks.) But seriously, nothing about cloth diapering is what you've heard it is.  Either that, or I'm chugging my own kool-aid over here.

It is not my intention to get into all of the different types of cloth diapers out there.  I've linked to this guide several times now and I'm becoming worried they think I want sponsorship or something at this point.  But it is a good site that can get you quickly well-versed.  I'm no encyclopedia, but I'd like to list a brief explanation of why I chose each style.  This may get pretty boring, but I'll try to use the word poop a lot to keep it fun.

Fuzzi Bunz Pocket Diaper---I snagged a good deal on craigslist for 12 small pocket diapers that fit 7-18 pounds early on in my search.  The train print on a few of them caught my eye.  They sell new for $15 - $20 per diaper, but I got mine for $10 each.  Pocket diapers require a bit more work in the laundry department because you have to stuff the absorbent insert into the pocket of the waterproof shell before putting it on your baby.  But once that's done, it's much like changing a disposable diaper.  They have adjustable snaps to help fit your baby as it grows. And they help wick the moisture away from your baby's skin and therefore help to prevent diaper rash too. But you have to buy a bigger size as your baby grows. (Edited to add, Fuzzi Bunz now makes one-size diapers like the Bumgenius ones discussed below.)

Bumgenius One-Size Pocket Diaper---As the one-size implies, this is a diaper that will supposedly fit your baby from 7 to 35 lbs.  In theory, it should be the only diaper you should ever need to buy and maybe that is true for some babies.  They sell new for $17 - $25ish per diaper depending on your organic needs. Again, I found mine on craigslist for $12 per diaper and they were still in the packaging.  Used diapers of the Bumgenius variety sell for roughly about 75% of their retail value depending on wear and tear.  But even that can add up to quite a chunk of change when you need about 20-30 diapers.  There is also the option of reselling them down the road too.  Although expensive, for a one-time purchase, this system can provide significant savings over time.

I also bought some all-in-one diapers that are the most like disposables of all the different cloth diapering methods.  The absorbent insert is sewn right into the diaper and no prep work stuffing is needed.  They take longer to dry because they are one big cushy piece.  Currently, they work great for an overnight diaper for Sir Peesalot.

And finally, our favorite current method: prefolds and waterproof covers.  They are only an average of $1.75 to $2.50 per diaper, whereas the covers are about $11-13 each.  We use a $2 - $3 snappi to hold the diaper in place and the covers have velcro closures.  This site has some packages that come with your choice of 6 or 12 prefolds, 2 covers and 1 snappi, plus free shipping (Click prefold diapers, then click diaper packages)  They work well for daytime use.  The prefold diapers get washed every time they are soiled obviously, but the covers can be swapped out at each diaper change until your next laundry day. 

We keep our cleaned-up but old stainless steel garbage can by the diaper changing station lined with a pail liner.  Each prefold is thrown poop and all (currently anyway) into the dry diaper pail.  Once his poops become more formidable opponents, we will have to address elimination methods for them before the diaper goes in the washer.  When it's time to wash, we just gather up the full waterproof pail liner and carry it to the washer.  Since we have to wash the diapers, I decided to use cloth wipes too.  I made mine out of flannel and terry cloth a few weeks before North arrived.  You can easily buy them online too.

Currently, we do diapers and light clothes laundry about 2-3 times a week.  The washing is not nearly as involved as I was afraid it would be.  In fact, I actually enjoy the process of cleaning North's diapers.  First, I throw the wet bag filled with diapers into my front loader washing machine and sprinkle with 1/4-1/2 cup of Borax.  I run them through a quick rinse cycle.  Once the poop and pee has gone through the initial rinse, I add other laundry to the load.  Then I add cloth diaper friendly soap (All Small and Mighty) and 1/4 cup of vinegar (no fabric softener!) to the load.  I add an extra rinse cycle at the end too.

Since it is summertime, I gather up all the freshly washed  cloth diapers and sun them outside for a few hours.  Once they are sunned and dry, I add them to the other laundry patiently waiting in the dryer.  This softens up the cloth diapers and helps to quickly dry the other wet laundry in a more green manner.

No system is a perfect system though and we've had leaks and poop explosions (hi this morning!) with cloth diapers.  That has more to do with us not putting them on properly and the awesome power of my child's butt than any failure of the diaper though.  As long as I don't have to fork over countless bucks every month to support my kid's pooping habit, I'll gladly do a little laundry.  Plus, I like that we're keeping some crap out of the landfills too.  

To all the naysayers I spoke to about cloth diapers while still pregnant that uhh...naysaid, "yeah, you say you'll use cloth diapers now...just wait until that kid gets here."  

Hi.  I'm still cloth diapering my kiddo.  Dave and I actually enjoy it.  But I appreciate your support about what we let North defecate upon nonetheless.  

Green thumbed baby

This is how I find him every morning, diligently watering away.  He must army crawl his way up the steps from his crib, open the sliding door that leads to the container garden on the deck, and wrestle the hose off its perch.  I haven't figured out how he turns the spigot on the rain barrel yet.  He's not nearly tall enough.  Maybe our dog Jake is involved somehow?  Wouldn't surprise me considering the stray Jake hairs I'll occasionally find clenched in North's fist.  Evidence from his morning rendezvous!

I don't blame him for his love of the garden.  There is nothing more satisfying than feeling the early morning sunlight as you sip a cup of coffee (or suck your binkie) and water the garden in your pajamas.  It is especially beautiful now, while the plants are producing fruit.

We're a member of a CSA and pick up weekly produce from a local farm, so this year, we kept the container garden simple:

3 tomatoes of varying sizes, grape to medium-large

1 fajita bell pepper

1 yellow bell pepper

1 red bell pepper

2 jalapeno peppers

1 zucchini

3 basil

There is also an accidental garden growing out of last years compost bin.  So far, it seems to be growing acorn squash and cucumbers maybe?

Going back to work will mean that North and I cannot water the garden together in the morning anymore.  But I have a feeling that will become special Daddy and Northie time soon enough.

It's thrifty time

With the tough economic climate we're living in, now more than ever is a good time to be as thrifty as possible. And while having a baby is an exciting time, it's also the worst time to behave in fiscally irresponsible ways. From our nine months of preparation and experience, here are our best frugal tips for saving money for your upcoming baby.

-Recognize first and foremost that having a baby has become big business and many stores would have you believe that you need so many things that you really do not need at all. Keep it in the back of your mind that people have been having babies for thousands of years and many of them didn't have *gasp* a glider and ottoman to sit in while they were nursing. Closely examine your wants versus your needs.

-Join an online forum like The Bump or Baby Center. You will learn a ton about raising a baby, find out what you really need in terms of supplies and preparation, not to mention access to product recommendations, and you might even find you've built yourself a nice little support system in the process. I think the online forum has become the modern day equivalent of the extended family that modern moms often no longer have access to due to distance from their families.

-Get as many free samples of prenatal vitamins from your OB's office as possible. I'm sure your OB would love to get rid of this stuff. Ask them about DHA prenatals and prenatals that help with constipation or prenatals with more iron added, etc. The more types you're interested in trying, the more samples you get!

-Buy your educational material used on Amazon or some other online site. Previously pregnant ladies will practically give this stuff away once they've read them. There is no sense paying full retail price for information. Better yet, go to the library.

-Embrace secondhand goods by going to consignment sales, yard sales and stalking ebay and craigslist. Babies outgrow products so fast and often buying secondhand, you pay only 25% of the retail price, if that. In fact, many of the things we purchased secondhand were brand new.

-Sign up for free offers for baby coupons with an email account set up specifically for that purpose.

-Read Baby Bargains before you register.

-If you are going to register at Babies R Us, register early! The sooner you are in their system, the sooner you will start to receive coupons in the mail alerting you to sales and savings.

-Read online reviews for the products you are thinking of registering for. Compare different products before deciding. Also research any recalls for the products you are thinking of buying.

-Remember that the most expensive product does not mean it's the best product.

-Never buy anything retail without first searching for a coupon code. Try this site or google the store and "coupon code" before heading to the store.

-Buy a bella band or equivalent and use it throughout your pregnancy. Using it will let you wear your non-maternity pants for much longer, not to mention let you wear your non-maternity shirts as your belly expands.

-If possible, borrow maternity clothes from friends and family. If this is not an option, buy non-maternity shirts that can grow with you and are long and stretchy rather than paying more for maternity shirts that will only make you look heavier than you really are. Secondhand maternity clothes are also easy to find online and at consignment sales.

-Your breasts will likely increase in size several times throughout your pregnancy. When you have no choice but to upsize your bra, consider the future room for expansion before making the purchase. If you need a bra later on in pregnancy, consider a nursing bra if breastfeeding is part of your plan.

-You will pay more for something marketed as "maternity" or "baby" than you will for a normal product. For example, there are pillows marketed especially for pregnant ladies (and granted some women absolutely swear by theirs) but often a few extra regular pillows or a $10 body pillow will fit the bill just fine.

-Use your skills and get crafty. If you enjoy sewing, make blankets, cloth wipes, burp cloths, curtains, clothes or cloth diapers. If you are an artist, create a mural to paint in the nursery thereby avoiding having to purchase artwork to fill the space on the walls. If you are talented photographer, create the artwork that will adorn your baby's nursery walls. You've got about 10 months of sobriety on your hands---plenty of time for creativity to flow!

-Return gifts you do not think you need or will use for store credit. Do not allow yourself to feel guilty for returning an unwanted gift if your plan is to replace is with something else you will use for the baby. You are not being ungrateful, you are being practical. There is a specific store I hate that will pretty much take anything back without a receipt and give you store credit. It rhymes with "mall fart."

-Consider white furniture in your baby's nursery. It's much easier to buy used furniture and paint it white than it is to find a matching set in the same wood tone. Plus, you will normally pay a premium for a matching set.

-Breastfeed if at all possible! A great resource for breastfeeding moms can be found here.

-Use cloth diapers on your child (this is an even better investment if you plan on having more than one child). Here's some great information for educating yourself about how far cloth diapers have come. And remember, you can always resell your cloth diapers after you're done with them.

-Make your own baby food. This website will help with ideas and recipes.

-If you are not planning on having any more children, sell the clothes and products your child has outgrown online or at a consignment sale. Keep original packaging when possible for higher resale value.

I'd love to hear any other money saving tips for not only pregnancy, but for raising our little one as well. Seeing as how we're now entering that stage of actually raising a child, I have a whole new skill set to hone.

Creating a budget friendly nursery

Over the past couple of months, we've been gathering some basic supplies needed to make life with baby easier. Between getting up early for yard sales and consignment sales in the fall, stalking craigslist and an obligatory trip to Ikea, we've put together a nursery we hope will make our little boy happy and comfortable.

Because I am particularly proud of how we put this room together for less than what many new parents choose to spend on a crib alone; here is the breakdown of what we spent on our nursery:

2 gallons low VOC paint from Lowes---$56

Crib (including mattress!) was purchased from a friend---$75

Dresser was purchased off craigslist---$75

Glider and ottoman purchased off craigslist---$60

Bookcase & green cloth toy baskets from Target---$60

Steel lamp & orange shade from Ikea---$27

Orange circle rug from Ikea---$9

Steel shelf from Ikea---$20

Paul Frank alphabet flashcards from Amazon---$10

Bamboo blinds from Lowe's---$50

Natural wood frames from Jerry's Artorama---$13 each

Of course, none of this would have been possible without my favorite husband. He did all of the painting, measuring, drilling, and assembling while thinking about the little boy that will soon help him on such projects in the future.

So baby, if you're reading this, we want you to know that we are prepared for your arrival. And until you're ready to make your appearance, your father and I will be hanging out in your nursery dreaming up ideas of what you will be like.