DIY: Backpack Hooks

Slowly but surely we are chipping away at our 2017 to-do list. We don't have a traditional mud room at our house but I love having an area where we can keep all our bags. And these days we have so many! Diaper bag, backpack, ballet bag, purse, messenger bag etc. Our laundry room is attached to our garage so it's where we dump everything.

After I painted the hallway off of our laundry room I added a mirror (from HomeGoods) and a friend suggested I add hooks for the kids' things. I loved her idea and found these chalkboard hooks. I wrote the kids' names and we used an extra piece of wood we had lying around from our new mantle to make more of a statement instead of an afterthought.

Sidenote: I can't believe I have THREE names to write on these hooks! Insert an ugly crying face here. 

For some reason the walls look pink in these pictures but they are definitely white. Must be the type of bulb I have in the overhead lights?! The paint is called Simply White by Benjamin Moore.

The hallway before. The walls matched the buffet which matched the floors...ha ha it was endless!

After

Before

Allllll the brown when we first moved in! Ha ha

You can catch a glimpse of our next project in the background! Adding wood molding to the dining room...so lucky that M is always on board with my schenanigans. :) 

For now we have a "changing station" on our buffet. Tis the season!

 Do you guys have a mud room or an area where you drop all your junk? How do you stay organized with kids?

Owlet: Helping Parents get a Good Night's Sleep

When I got pregnant with the twins I couldn't wait to check out all the new baby products that had been released since I had my first born. After all that was four and a half years ago! And in the baby world that's a century. I had heard about the Owlet device and knew I needed to see what all the hype was about.

Having a newborn in the NICU was something I had already known about since my first born spent 10 days there after being born at 35 weeks. It was a stressful time and once she was able to come home our anxiety skyrocketed. In the NICU we had peace of mind that she was breathing ok because of all the special machines hooked up to her (and the constant care of the nurses). But now that she was home, without her breathing monitors, we were beyond worried. Most of the nights I would stay awake to watcher her chest rise and fall...and be a complete zombie the next day. Or, heaven forbid, if I DID fall asleep I would wake in absolute panic because she wasn't being watched. Matt and I often talked about how great it would be if we could just have one of those monitors at home...or something to at least track her heart beat. 

Enter the Owlet! 

The Owlet Baby Monitor has got to be the best baby product of the year. It is designed to notify you if your baby’s heart rate or oxygen levels fall out of range. The Owlet gets to be up all night so I don't have to be! Is there anything more precious than your child? Obviously, no. And is there anything more miserable than being up all night? Also no. I have never been more thankful for a baby product as this one. You can't put a price tag on sleep and your children's safety! 

The first week we started using our Owlet baby monitors on the twins they happened to have colds. Cal was SO congested and I was really worrying about him and his oxygen levels. It seriously gave me so much peace knowing that his oxygen levels were being tracked. I was able to check on his levels on Matt's phone (since we have twins his phone monitors Cal and mine monitors Evie) and see that he was within the normal range. Such great peace of mind!

When we first got the Owlet M followed the directions to set them up for both babies. In order to make sure the Owlet didn't get mixed signals we had to set them up a specific way (there are directions on their website). The Owlet comes with 4 socks (two infant, one 0-3 month, and one 3-10 month).

The great thing about the Owlet is that you don't have to have wi-fi for it to work. If you don't have wi-fi the Base Station is designed to notify you, independent of the app. Since we do have wi-fi in our home we use it so we can see the exact details of the twins' oxygen levels and heart rate through their app. It's kind of like an added bonus feature.

How cute is her little face?! 

The Owlet works via bluetooth and the sensor on the sock sends a signal to the base station. The base station glows white when it is charging the sock, blinks green when it is getting the initial reading, pulses green slowly when all is good, turns yellow if the sock comes off, turns blue if the bluetooth isn't connecting, and turns red if the readings go out of the normal range. Thankfully, we have never experienced the last color. 

The smart sock uses clinically-proven technology called pulse oximetry, miniaturized into a snuggly Smart Sock that your little one wears to bed at night. The base station collects data from the Smart Sock via bluetooth to the base station located on the parents’ night stand. The app allows for remote monitoring of heart rate and oxygen levels. 

We put a little pink heart on Evie's so her sock didn't get mixed up with her base station. 

Thank you so much Owlet for sending us some peace of mind. I'm so grateful that Owlet is up all night so I don't have to be! 

Enter code "winter10" at checkout for 10% off your purchase of an Owlet. Financing is also available! 

We received two Owlets in exchange for this review. However, I would have purchased it regardless! All opinions are my own. 

Family Photos: Citrus Heritage Park

 After the holidays we took some family photos with M's family at a nearby park. We kept it close to home, thanks to the twins, and they turned out so good! I might just have to do our Christmas card pictures here in the fall...always thinking ahead! ;)

Carrie always does a great job taking our family photos...she's been photographing Blair since birth! Thanks again for the pictures Carrie...we love them! 

Young Living Oils: when your kids are sick

Tis the season to be sick! Ugh...my poor kids. Cal has had a cold for what seems like 3 weeks and Blair and Evie came down with it shortly thereafter. The hardest part about kids/babies getting sick is that there isn't a lot that you can give them to ease their discomfort.

I've been using essential oils for almost 5 years now but am finally deciding to post about them and how I use them in my home and with my kids.

premium starter kit

Young Living has a great line of diluted oils for kids and Blair loves them! Last night we put a blend called "sniffle ease" on her back, lavender in her diffuser, a sleep blend (lavender and peace and calming) on her feet and an allergy blend (lemon, peppermint, and lavender) on her chest. I think we pretty much covered all the bases. ;)

The babies get a blend called "gentle baby" on their feet every night which I think helps them sleep. It is part of our bedtime routine and I think that it helps them recognize when it's bed time if they smell the same thing each night. We also diffuse lavender and cedarwood in their room. And while I can't attribute their good sleep habits solely to oils I do think they help! They usually wake once overnight or not at all. Night night babies!

This month if you order a Premium Starter Kit you can get a free "peace and calming" oil. This oil is ALWAYS out of stock so it's a great deal! Peace and Calming is one of my favorite oils because hello...who doesn't like their home and kids to be peaceful?!

Have you tried essential oils? Are you obsessed too?

Valentine Attire for Littles

If there is one thing I love about having kids it is dressing them up for the holidays. Of course there are other reason to love them but dressing them is pretty fun. ;) Valentine's Day is right around the corner and there are so many cute looks to choose from! I picked out some of my favorites below.

All items via gap, old navy, and carter's. 

Happy shopping! 

Everly and Cal: 5 Months

Yesterday Evie and Cal turned 5 months old! Time is flying which is both good and bad. I'm sure one day I will miss the baby phase but it's hard not to look forward to them getting older...it's so much more fun! I have this baby book for Cal and this baby book for Evie and I LOVE it. Updating it is so fun!

Here are what the twins are up to...

CAL

You can... take 2 hour naps, sometimes sleep all night, sit with help, hold toys, grab/swat/kick at toys.

You love...your fingers, rolling onto your tummy, car rides, stroller rides, your swing, being held, babbling, watching Blair play.

We'll never forget... how you rub your head while you breastfeed, your obsessive finger sucking, how you cry when Evie cries, how you are always trying to watch TV.

You don't like... the bath, when your sister cries.

EVIE

You can... nap for 45 minutes (insert eye roll here), sometimes sleep all night, sit with help, hold toys, grab/swat/kick at toys, babble.

You love...folding your hands, rolling onto your back in your crib (super fun for Mom and Dad when you get stuck like a turtle), car rides, stroller rides, the bath, your swing, listening to us sing "baby shark," watching Blair play.

We'll never forget... how you fold your hands while you breast feed, your spicy attitude when you're hungry, how much you giggle when Daddy dances with you.

You don't like... taking long naps, trying to stay awake when you are tired.

You guys are GOOD babies. Honestly, you are easier than Blair was. I'm not sure if this is because you are truly easier or if Mommy and Daddy know a thing or two about babies now. ;)

At this point our daily schedule is as follows: You wake up for the day between 7:30 and 8:30 most days. You take about fifteen minutes to eat and then you play for a couple hours. You nap around 9:30 or 10:30 (depending on when you woke up) for 1-2 hours. Everly determines how long the nap is because she always wakes up first. Sometimes she wakes after 45 minutes and has to wait in her crib to eat for 45 more minutes. This is Mommy's least favorite thing. You eat again around 1:30, play for a couple hours then nap again around 3:30. This nap is shorter and you are usually up after an hour, around 4:30. You eat again and then stay awake until bedtime between 6:30 and 7.

The hardest part of our day is the last stretch before bedtime because you get tired but we don't want you to take a big snooze before bed. We often take you for a stroller ride at this time and then come home and put you in your swings while we make dinner. When you get tired of that we wear you in the front pack until bed time.

We are supplementing you with 2-3 ounces of extra breast milk from my best friend at every feeding to help you gain weight. You are skinny little babies! But, Everly, you are getting rolls now and it's so darn cute.

Your Dad and I often look at you and just smile at each other because you are so sweet to be around. We love you so much and talk about how good you are. Yes, you can be exhausting but we still can't get enough of you!

Young Living Oils: Lavender

I've been using essential oils for 4 years now and this year I am trying to share more about it. I love Young Living oils and always use them before resorting to medicine. I'll be posting the ways that I use them in my daily life on my blog and instagram (@natyouraverageoils) to get you inspired!

One of the most basic essential oils is lavender. One of the ways I use lavender is by replacing my dryer sheets (with harmful chemicals) with wool dryer balls and then using one drop of lavender on each ball (I have six) to make my clothes smell fresh. You can use other essential oils depending on the scent that you prefer but be careful not to use citrus as this can stain your clothes orange or yellow.

 If you are interested in purchasing lavender from me please reach out to me at the email below.  The best way to get started is by purchasing the premium starter kit which includes lavender, lemon, peppermint, stress away, copaiba (pain and inflammation), digize (tummy troubles), thieves (antiseptic), purification (immunity), RC (congestion), panaway (pain), a diffuser, and other goodies. Definitely the biggest bang for your buck!

To learn more about getting started CLICK HERE . My sponsor ID number is 2447328.  If you have any questions feel free to email me Natalieb1219@gmail.com

DIY: Painting our Great Room White

One of my new year's goals was to paint our great room white. When we moved into our home all of our walls were painted a fleshy tan color. Slowly we have painted the bedrooms grey and are now getting to the rest of the house.

I love how rooms photograph when they are white and they always look good on Fixer Upper. ;) So, we went for it. At first M and I panicked a little bit because the room looked SO white. It was pretty sterile looking but we recently added some curtains and it really softens it up.

We also took down our old mantle and M built this new one from some distressed wood from Home Depot. I love it!

Check out the befores and afters! Such an improvement.

Candle sticks and chalkboard from Home Goods. Vases, frames, and olive branches from Magnolia Market. 

Before 

Before

Still saving up for wood floors and eventually want to update our furniture but what an improvement!

Bye bye fleshy walls

Just got these baskets with lids from World Market for half off because their store was closing. No more looking at Blair's ugly toys!

Curtains from Home Goods. Rods from Target. Pillow from Home Goods.

Allllll the heart eyes! I just love how bright and clean it turned out! And I do realize I need to let out the hem on the curtain. It perfectly touched the ground on the carpeted side but not the tile side. I also wanted to raise the rod up but then my curtains would have really been high waters. Either way I'm loving this fresh new look!