THE PUMPKIN PATCH

Last Saturday the forecast called for rain, but we had a sunny enough morning to decide last minute to go to the zoo for their pumpkin festival!

Cosley Zoo is a small zoo nearby with all kinds of farm animals, bobcats, foxes, owls, hawks, rabbits, and a duck pond. Charlie loves it, and it's free for Wheaton residents - so it's one of our favorite outings. This was Daddy's first time going to the zoo with us!

There were piles of pumpkins big and small, a mound of hay bales, and a few kiddie rides. Charlie was only interested in the pumpkins for about a half a second and then he spotted it. THE RIDES. If this kid ever gets a wiff of something fun happening nearby, he will sniff it out. He is all about F-U-N.

After a few minutes of watching him stare longingly at the trade ride, Samuel and I looked at each other knowing we had to get him a ticket. It was his first ride!!! I can't believe he's already old enough to go on a kiddie ride. Time, slow down! I was pretty confident he would love riding the train. But I will admit I got a little worried when the train pulled away and he looked backed with wide eyes and said, "Dada!?" But by the end of one time around the loop, he realized he loved it! What a big boy.

Here are some pictures from our day. Enjoy Charlie's very wind-blown hair.  😆 

This is when it happened. 

Me: Charlie, look at these fun pumpkins!

Charlie: OMG RIDES, MOM

Happy October, y'all! 

Dear Mama Trying to Breastfeed

I've tried to write this post at least once, if not twice, before. But every time, I couldn't really write it the way I was wanting to. What I want to tell you is isn't meant to create fear or worry. (The opposite actually.) I never wanted my hurt and confusion to be the only thing that was communicated (which is what it would have been had I shared what I wrote in my iPhone Notes when I was 3 months postpartum in the wee hours of the morning). I think I'm finally at a point where I feel good about sharing this personal and honest part of being a mom. I want to tell this story because I wish I had heard someone else share something similar before I had a baby. I honestly did not know it was out there. I hope what I share will encourage and be a comfort to those who have had (or will have) this same experience.

This morning I decided it was finally time to throw away our last container of infant formula. Charlie hasn't needed it for probably the last 2-3 weeks, but it lasts a month after opening so I figured I would just keep it out until I absolutely knew we were done with it. And praise the Lord, we have finally reached that day!!

I never knew we would depend so much on formula. I had every single intention of breastfeeding our baby for as long as I could during his first year of life. But that's not how our experience worked out (and, spoiler alert: that is absolutely okay!!)

We took the breastfeeding class at the hospital before baby. We saw the lactation consultant after he was born like every other patient. Nothing in my mind gave me doubts about our breastfeeding journey. Everyone told me it was natural and we had even learned in the class that babies come out of the womb knowing how to nurse. How amazing is that! But then we got home from the hospital and our son screamed, and screamed, and screamed even after nursing for an hour which I had been told was normal (the nursing length, not the screaming). We called the nurse's station after being discharged wondering if we needed to take our son to the ER at 3 a.m. one of those first nights of screaming. This baby was inconsolable and bucked away from me trying to feed him or give him a pacifier to soothe himself. Everyone told us it was probably okay....it could be colic, the dreaded witching hour, "that's just what babies do," and "you'll get the hang of it."

Praise the Lord - we had a doctors appointment first thing Monday morning after his birth the previous Thursday because of slight jaundice. The hospital doctor almost didn't schedule our appointment that soon because there really wasn't a ton of jaundice, but he decided to schedule it soon anyway. Only 4 days later, we found out Charlie had lost a whole pound in weight. Our doctor (whom I grew to really love) said very seriously, this was a huge huge problem. She immediately called the hospital lactation nurses to get his weight checked after a nursing session first thing the next morning. She told us that there was obviously a nursing issue (probably thinking it was a bad latch) and that not only was he not getting enough milk, but that the constant hunger-screaming was burning even more calories. Our little newborn had been screaming inconsolably because he was hungry. Not good on top of not good. I think we went to 3 doctors appointments the first week of his life to observe and check his weight. It was exhausting and there was a lot of crying.

At the first lactation appointment with the hospital lady, she said that there was only ever hope that I could breastfeed maybe 50% of his daily need. The rest would have to be from formula.  She remembered seeing me in the hospital but didn't want to say anything at the time (I guess I understand that, but not really). She told me that a lack of breast tissue would keep me from exclusively breastfeeding (something she attributed to being from Kentucky and eating fried chicken growing up - and I HATE fried chicken so I should have known then and there that she was just not going to be helpful lol). There may be some truth to what she was getting at, but as you will find out there was more going on that she didn't even know about.

When I repeated what she said to any moms who had breastfed exclusively, they were offended and shocked that she would ever say that to someone seeking lactation help. I mean, she was a lactation consultant for goodness sake! My family and friends I talked to didn't believe for a second that breastfeeding would be impossible for us. She just didn't know what she was talking about and was giving up too fast. My confusion and not knowing what to believe just kept spiraling.

Eventually we saw our third lactation specialist when Charlie was about 3 weeks old. I knew I wanted things to be better. Charlie was gaining weight finally, and supplementing with formula was helping, but I still had hopes of breastfeeding exclusively. This sweet consultant named Vicky observed and offered a schedule of pumping, taking herbal supplements, eating lactation cookies, and a nursing schedule that would hopefully build my supply and get baby back on track. In the mean time, we would still need to supplement with formula.

But here comes the kicker. In this appointment we learned that Charlie had a severe tongue and lip tie preventing him from nursing well. She said that there was no way he would ever be able to nurse exclusively in this condition. Are you shocked? I was shocked too. Charlie was 3 weeks old, we had seen the hospital pediatrician, multiple lactation consultants at the hospital, and our regular pediatrician, and a lactation specialist at our pediatricians office within those early weeks and this was the very first mention of an inhibiting tongue or lip tie. My husband and I had never felt so confused or let down.

Tongue and lip ties are not unheard of. They are easy to fix and in most cases, finally give babies and mamas the chance at breastfeeding that they wanted. We had Charlie's fixed with an easy procedure and I did see some improvements. But we were never able to breastfeed exclusively. Pumping only yielded .5-1.5 ounces every two or so hours. By this time, my body, my energy and perseverance in nursing, his ability to relearn his latch, all the formula he was already getting, and everything else just kept us too far behind. We made it to 4 months of supplementing breastfeeding and formula before we switched to 100% formula. I didn't think my heart or our bank account would be able to handle that switch to all formula, but here we are 13 months later with a very happy and healthy baby. The Lord takes care of his children.

I'm so so thankful for those few months that we did have of some breastfeeding. Charlie loved nursing even though he knew that after a few minutes he would get a more satisfying and filling bottle, so I kept it up as long as he was interested. I learned so much. I just wish that I had known more "troubleshooting" things before going into it. For example, we didn't even OWN any bottles or formula. I was completely blindsided by how we thought this experience would go down.

So, much farther down the road, with breastfeeding and formula-feeding officially behind us, I want to offer encouragement and wisdom to mamas who are trying to breastfeed.

• Not everyone has the same experience with breastfeeding. Sometimes it's a beautiful and wonderful experience of bonding with your baby. Sometimes it's a struggle and makes you not want to hold you baby (because they will cry/expect food that you can't give). Sometimes you won't even feel like trying to nurse anymore. It is generally a very natural thing that God created our bodies to be able to do, true. And that is amazing. Despite my hardships, I am still so completely amazed by breastfeeding and think it's always going to be the best thing for baby. But for a mama who is struggling, sometimes reminding her how "natural" it is supposed to be is not helpful. 

• More than just a "good latch" will help. Drink more water, less caffeine. Eat high fat/carb foods, less sugary foods. Fenugreek, Mother's Milk tea, and pumping early on can help. Stressing about it can hurt your supply too. I didn't learn the practical ways to build milk supply before the baby was born, so this one is for me specifically next time around! 

• Have a discussion with your hospital doctor/pediatrician about a tongue/lip tie if nursing is difficult. I didn't know to ask about this at the hospital. Many different people checked Charlie out, but this still went undiscovered for too long. It's nothing to be afraid of because it's such a simple fix, but I do wish it had crossed my mind sooner.

• Be transparent with people who can encourage you.  One of the sweetest memories that stands out to my husband and I is from a discussion with a small group friend who also happens to be a doctor. He and his wife had used formula with their two young daughters. He told us that they had a good experience with Target brand Gentle Formula. I was so thankful for friends who could relate to our experience. Furthermore, you don't have to buy the most expensive name brand. Charlie actually did better on the Target Gentle Formula than he did on Similac. Your doctor can give you samples of different brands to try. 

• Hold your "plan" loosely. Man, this is true in ALL of parenting! Haha. Even though I planned to breastfeed, it would have been wise for me to at least own a few good bottles and to do a little reading about formula-feeding before the baby came. Things I wish I had read before hand would be formula brands, understanding ounces/how often, how to safely mix and store it formula, etc.

• A fed baby is the healthiest baby. Breastfeeding is great and the most natural milk for your baby. But formula saved our little baby from going hungry. And for that, I'm so thankful that God also created infant formula!

This long post has been a long time coming. We prayed that our baby would continue to grow healthy and strong no matter how we were feeding him, and guess what? He did! The Lord is faithful to give you wisdom as that baby's mama, friends who can pray and encourage you, and perseverance when things just seem too hard. I pray the same things for you, mama. Be encouraged in the trenches of parenting and keep running the race set before you.

CHALK PAINT MAKEOVER: COFFEE TABLE (PART 2)

About 3 weeks before we moved to Illinois we were heading over to my sister-in-law's house for a little summer cookout. We were just a couple houses away from our destination when I noticed a huge pile of garbage/furniture thrown to the curb at another house on her street. I really didn't think anything of it as we passed. Then, something caught my eye in the rearview mirror. It looked like a decent coffee table, leaning on it's side in the grass. I couldn't even see the entire thing. We had just sold our coffee table and end table set, so I thought to myself that it couldn't hurt to look at it, could it? It was probably junk since it was on the curb ready for trash pick up. I quickly said hey to everyone at the cookout before I dashed down the street to take a look at it anyway.

And behold, it was a huge coffee table with gorgeous detailing and structure. It was real wood, but it had definitely seen better days.

BEFORE 

Sooooo you better believe I shoved that baby in our car. A few days later it was loaded onto a moving truck headed for Illinois with us. You can see it in the early stages in the picture of our living room at the bottom of this post. 

I finally got around to redoing this piece around the beginning of September. There was a LOT of sanding and filling to be done on this table.

If I'm being totally honest, the top part still did not turn out as smooth as I would have liked it. I'm not sure if it was just too scratched up to really fix well, or if I should have sanded it even more after the wood putty. Still, I love the way this (*free*) coffee table turned out after the paint job. And in the season of life with a little baby who loves to bang toys and crackers on our coffee table, it's not the worst thing to have something we don't have to worry about.

The coffee table was redone just like the end tables I blogged about last month as Part 1 of this post, but with a little something special. Instead of painting it all gray, I painted the table top with the same Rustoleum "Aged Gray", and the bottom half with Rustoleum "French Cream" (which actually appears more white than yellow in person). THESE COLORS, y'all. I love this combination so so much.

The thing that you HAVE. TO. do with chalk paint is seal with a wax. It is a must. I tested that theory out on this coffee table. I kept it in use in our living room without wax for a little over a week, and I had to physically clean finger prints and dirt smudges off of the table with a damp cloth multiple times over the course of that week. Everything clung to the dry, chalky surface of that table. That aint happenin'. So I finally threw on the wax and it made allllll the difference. 

So be sure to pick up some of this stuff when you are picking out your paint. It will last you a very long time, too! 

AFTER 

This was pre-wax (look how dry it looks!), but it gives you a really good idea of the color combination.

I had a ton of fun painting these three pieces of furniture...annnddd now I'm ready to sit back and enjoy them! I hope these posts have been helpful or have inspired you to go out and do something of your own. And be sure to send me pictures! 

CHALK PAINT MAKEOVER: END TABLES (PART 1)

I am a sucker for cheap furniture that can be repainted. If I wasn't completely creeped out by Craigslist, I'd probably be on there looking for free furniture all the time. Plus, I'm sure my husband would love me turning our rental condo into a workshop. 😂    

In fact, this is not my first furniture makeover blog post! So for a detailed description of my entire process and the materials I like to use, check out this post about redoing Charlie's baby dresser. 

Back to the main agenda ---> This is going to be a two part blog post because it was done as two separate projects. Part one was redoing these two end tables, and part two was a coffee table (but more on that later). I started this first project in the last two weeks of packing to move to Illinois. Nothing like adding a little extra fun to the moving to-do list!

BEFORE 

Unfortunately I didn't take a completely before picture. But you can get the idea of what they looked like pictured below, even though some primer and wood putty had already been applied. The end table on the left was my grandmother's (Thanks for passing it to me, Mom!) and the one on the right was a Facebook yardsale page find for $10. Those yellow drawers were the original color of my grandma's end table to give you an idea. 

HOW TO 
There are generally 4 stages to this process that I have found to work really well.  And they are:
1) Sand 
2) Fill holes/dings with wood putty 
3) Prime 
4) Paint
And since this was a chalk paint base, there was a step 5) Seal with a wax.

The exact materials I used for sanding, filling in holes in the wood, and my favorite primer are listed in my first furniture DIY post.  

Supposedly one of the advantages of using chalk paint is that you don't need to use a primer first. That may be true. I didn't really see a reason why I wouldn't just go ahead and prime while I'm working on it anyways, and since I knew I liked this primer that I used last time I went for it. Maybe one day I'll try another chalk paint project to try without priming, but I didn't want to test that on these pieces.

Once the sanding, filling, and priming were complete, I got to painting! I used Rust-Oleum Chalked Paint in Aged Gray that I purchased from Home Depot. I chose to do a can of paint + paint brush, but it also comes in a spray paint. I found that the can of paint would go a lot farther than the spray paint would have. You can probably count on using around 3-4 cans of spray paint vs. just the one can of paint. But if you don't actually enjoy the act of painting with a brush, maybe the spray paint route would be better for you.

This shade of gray was exactly what I was looking for! It's a beautifully light and simple gray color, not too "antique", not too dark, and not too white. If you're looking for a color that gives the impression and brightness of white, but isn't white (so that you don't see EVERY dirt mark) this is the color of your dreams.

WAX
Since I used a chalk paint, I definitely needed to use a wax coating as the final step. Chalk paint naturally dries chalky and very "unfinished" looking. Because of this, chalk paint is very vulnerable to water spots and dirt, so it needs the extra layer of protection from the wax. I used Annie Sloan's Clear Soft Wax with a rag to apply the wax. Much needed final step!

I planned to change the hardware pieces on both of the drawers, but only ended up changing the hardware on the single drawer end table because that's the only one I could find a perfect fit for! I could not find ANY drawer pulls that was the right size for my grandma's end table. (And I did not have time to fill/drill new holes sooo I just kept the originals.) But as it turns out, I actually love the original hardware on my grandma's table with the new paint job. 

Hobby Lobby regularly has 50% off sales on their drawer knobs and pulls. The first time I went in to look for new ones for this project, they were not on sale, but just a few days later when I went back they were! So my advice is to wait for the sale to get the best deal, because chances are you won't have to wait that long. 

AFTER

These end tables are some of my favorite pieces now in our apartment in Wheaton. One is beside the couch and the other one is in Charlie's room. SO pleased with how they turned out!

CHALK PAINT FOREVER? 

Do I love chalk paint? Ehh. Yes, I love how QUICK it dries. I love the color options specific to chalk paint (I'm a fan of the shabby chic look, if you can't tell). I love that Home Depot carries various brands of reliable chalk paint, AKA you don't have to spend an arm and a leg on Annie Sloan. But that's about it.

As far as the overall look, it wasn't really anything more amazing than when I redid Charlie's dresser with a latex based paint. And you pretty much have to do a wax coating if it's a piece of furniture that will see a lot of traffic like finger prints, cups, babies banging toys on, etc. So that was an additional step that I didn't have to do last time.

What about y'all? Is there something amazing that I'm missing about the chalk paint hype? I am super happy with how it turned out, but I don't think I will be particular about using chalk paint exclusively in the future. Let me know your thoughts!

DIY NO SEW CURTAINS

This is the ultimate DIY post. It was 1) very cheap and 2) very "use what you have." That's the way I like my DIYs.

I had about 3 yards of upholstery fabric leftover from when my grandma's rocking chair was redone. I considered using the leftovers for just about everything - throw pillows, a crib skirt, valence, curtains...and I can't sew a thing, so you see my dilemma.

I finally decided the most long-term use of the fabric would be curtains. Pillows get replaced and crib skirts get outgrown. And Charlie's new room need curtains more than anything.


For this project I used a new (to me) product that required NO sewing! Yus. It's called HeatnBond Ultrahold. It's more like a super strong hot glue, activated by a hot iron. I used 2 packages of this product that I picked up from Michael's Craft Store as a no sew alternative to creating the hems and curtain rod loop. This stuff is only around $3 or less per package. It was literally the EASIEST thing to use because all you have to have is an iron to activate the heat bond. The hardest part was doing the measurements, which I will explain below.




The materials I used were:

• About 3 yards of fabric (for a standard sized, single window)
• 2 packages of HeatnBond Ultrahold 
• Scissors 
• Iron
• Measuring Tape/Ruler
• Pencil
• Curtain rod (as a reference for the loop)

Step 1: Measure and Cut Fabric
I used one of my living room curtains as a guideline, which is pictured below. To me that was the simplest way to make sure what I was making looked like...curtains haha. 

Next, I cut the fabric into two equal pieces. As you can see on this picture, the blue fabric is 3 inches longer than the tan curtain guideline on the top AND the bottom. This extra fabric will be folded over to create the curtain rod loop/bottom hem, so you will need that extra length! For the hem down the sides, it was folded in about an inch. 

Step 2: Pre-Fold Fabric

I found it really helpful to iron the fold line to make a crease in the fabric early on. Mark on your fabric the exact fold lines so that when it comes time to use the HeatnBond, you already have a precise fold line. Once you have the lines of the fold drawn out, fold and iron it. This creates a definite crease where you will be hemming the fabric and helps to make it look more professional, in my opinion. And I didn't want to start going all crazy/zig zag/uphill/downhill as I was applying the bonding so it just saved time for precision later on. 

Step 3: Apply HeatnBond Strip
Once your fabric is cut and pre-folded, you're ready to apply the Heatnbond adhesive. Like you can see in the picture below, there is a crease 3 inches up from the bottom of the fabric. That's where I will fold over and hem. Cut your strip of HeatnBond to the needed length and place it on the outer edge of the material. Then, follow the instructions for the HeatnBond by ironing the side with the paper on top and letting it cool completely.

Once the HeatnBond strip is ironed in place and has cooled, go ahead and peel the backing off. I had a problem removing the paper backing if it was not completely cool yet. It would rip unevenly and then be tricky to remove...so just be patient.

Step 4: Iron Material Together 
With the paper backing removed, it's time to fold the material over along the crease and iron it together. The strip won't be sticky or glue-like yet, so it will be fine to touch. 

*Note: As in typical DIY fashion, I made a mistake and had to cut the material after gluing to make a hole for the curtain rods. Not smart. So, don't forget to make sure the top or bottom 3 inch hems have an opening for the curtain rod. 

I found it easiest to do the 3 inch sections on the top and bottom first, and then do the sides so that you can stop when you get up to the top/bottom hem and just snip off the leftover fabric and the loop won't get glued together on accident. Below is how to set it up so that you don't accidentally glue the loop together like I did. You will still have to cut an inch off the side of the 3 inch hem, but it won't be glued together and will be easy to cut. 

Pictured below is ironing the side hem, only about an inch wide is necessary. I did not iron a fold into the sides because it was so small. I just folded along as I went.

 It will look like this from the back once you have made all the hems.

Annnnnd time to hang them! I'm super pleased with how they turned out!

BEING TOURISTS - BUT WE LIVE HERE.

Saturday we took our first train ride into Chicago. Yay, adventure! It was quite the learning experience - good and bad. I was nervous about the logistics (like way too nervous for no reason, sorry Honey) and nervous about how Charlie would do. We felt all the "we're from out of town" vibes during the first hour or two of navigating haha. Both of us had been to Chicago before, but it was our first time relying on public transportation and being on our own.  

We caught the Metra at the station in our town and made our way on for the hour long train ride to Chicago. I had my arsenal of board books, toys and gadgets, snacks, bottles, and the baby wrap juuuust incase. Charlie did like the train itself- he liked looking out the window, the crowd, the noise (and making his own), and all of the people nearby he could charm. However, he has never been what you would call a "lap baby." So, having to sit with us for an hour was not the most fun thing for him, but we survived. 

The original plan was to meet up with some friends from KY who were in the town for the weekend, but that would have meant taking the L (Chicago's elevated subway) another 30 minutes north to get to the Lincoln Park Zoo (have I mentioned Chicago is HUGE?). And after riding for an hour already, we just knew Charlie would not be happy about another train ride immediately following. So we had to scrap those plans and make new ones - parents gotta be flexible!

Thankfully he conked out in his stroller after walking around for a little bit, and we were able to make the 25 minute walk over to Millennium Park with him snoozing! The weather could not have been better. We honestly didn't do much more than ride the train, walk, hangout in the park, walk back, and then ride the train home, but it was a lot fun.  

We'll be back for more, Chicago - we're already planning the next trip. :) 

Waiting at the train station. This is his response to almost everything right now - it's ADORABLE.

Millennium Park

Heading home!