Fleece Carseat Poncho

Winter is here again! Nothing like negative daytime highs to say "Welcome to the Midwest!" Not so pleasant for school drop off and pick up or running errands.

I originally made this poncho for D who is 18 months, but he wasn't too fond of it and his sister was happy to adopt it!

The poncho is perfect to cover up while the car warms up...

 and doesn't interfere with the seatbelt like a puffy winter coat would.

Here's how I went about it. I started with my fabric, I think I had about 1.5 or 2 yards. Basically just measure your child from their shoulders to where you want it reach on them.

I used my measuring stick to draw the circle. I used a pen to hold it in the center, then held a sharpie at the measurement I wanted and drew around in a circle. Kinda like a giant compass. (I now realize, after the fact of course, that if you were to fold your fabric in quarters, you could do the same thing in less time.)

yay, an almost perfect circle!

Then I folded the circle in quarters to determine the neck hole.

I laid a shirt on top to give a better estimate. I didn't match it up exactly, I pulled it up a bit and it worked out great. You could also measure the largest part of your kid's head to determine the size of the whole as well.

testing it out...he looks so happy, but that didn't last long.

I made my poncho double layered, because, well...negative temperatures exist in this crazy new place we live!!!! lol I had some fleece that needed to be used up so I sewed those two pieces together to make the bottom layer. I just used the stars fabric as a pattern and cut it out.

For the hood, I again used something that already fit, traced around it giving plenty of room for seams and general room to grow, because boy do these little humans grow fast!

Did the same with the outer fabric. So you have two hood pieces, one in the inner fabric, one in the outer. Then with right sides together, I put the inner fabric inside the outer and sewed around the face part of the hood.

Flip it right sides out.

Then you're ready to attach it to the body of the poncho. I tucked the hood fabric in between the two layers of the poncho.

At first I sewed it like this, with the hood only coming to the halfway point on each side of the poncho. But it looked super awkward and isn't how real hoods are so I removed it and reworked it.

My daughter loves the poncho and always asks for it. It is so nice not to have to put on and take off jackets when we're running errands or taking brothers to school! She also really really loves to twirl in it! :D  AND her big brothers both asked for ponchos for Christmas and I went about it a different way, so stay tuned for that!

Rainbow Tulle Tutu

Is she not the cutest thing EVER?! ok I might be a little biased, but seriously, my little girl is growing up. She’s going to be 1 year in just 9 days! ahhh! I doubt we’ll do much more than a family dinner, maybe a homemade cake…we’ll see.

But even if we don’t do a party, I wanted to make her something cute to wear. I had this tulle leftover from the Easy No Sew Tutu Crib Skirt so it didn’t cost me a penny, my favorite kind of craft!

So here’s what I did. I cut the tulle in 10” strips. It’s doubled over here

so then you cut it down the crease to make two pieces.

For the waistband I used 1” elastic and all you do with that is cut it to size plus 1”. Then sew the tow ends together with a straight stitch.

Loop the tulle around the elastic and pull the end through the loop.

Continue that all the way around varying the colors and you’ll end up with a super cute tutu.

Here are some of the ‘outtakes’ from trying to photograph Cadence in her tutu…

You can tell she has older brothers. She loves planes and she ‘flies’ them over her head and even makes the flying noises.

Or there’s this…lol more she’s learned from her brothers.

No words, just smiles! :)

 

What did you do for your child's 1st birthday? A big party or just a family gathering?

10 Tips for Pumping Breast Milk While Traveling

Happy Monday, everyone! I’m am so excited to be home and to get back into the swing of things. I was in Long Beach for the last couple days and I can’t wait to tell you all about it, but first I have a post and giveaway for you!

So like I said, I just returned from a couple days trip to Long Beach. It was amazing, but also a little hard. I decided to leave my little girl at home with dad so I could concentrate better. I also decided this trip wasn’t going to disrupt my ability to breastfeed her! Here are 10 tips that I learned and want to share with you about how to successfully pump while traveling.

Battery Pack or Car Adaptor
If your pump doesn’t already come with one, you may want to invest in a battery pack or car adaptor. Depending on where and how you’ll be traveling you might not have convenient access to an outlet. A battery pack or car adaptor will allow you to pump on the airplane, while camping, or in the car.

Nursing Cover
Pumping, to me, is a little different than breastfeeding my baby. While I have recently become more comfortable breastfeeding without a cover on occasion, I personally wouldn’t be comfortable pumping in front of anyone else. If you feel the same way, be sure to pack a nursing cover, light blanket, or something else to help you be discreet.

Chef’s Freezer
Did you know if you’re staying in a hotel, you can check your breast milk into the fridge or chef’s freezer? Yep, you sure can. The hotel I stayed at gave me a baggage claim ticket and put the individual bags in larger bag. However, here’s my warning. Be sure to be VERY specific where you want it stored. If you are going to be on a longer trip, have it frozen in the chef’s freezer. Two of the people I checked my bags with didn’t hear the freezer part and put it in a fridge and I had to dump them. it was super sad!


Pump when you would normally feed
If you have an established schedule with your baby, try to pump as close to those times as possible. Your body is already accustomed to these times and will be ready then. If your schedule doesn’t allow for this, be sure to pump before and after any activities and try not to go too long.

Bring something of your baby’s
On my recent trip, I was glad to have another friend who was also pumping. She brought a little tag blankie of her daughter’s to keep her scent close by and remind her of her baby. I thought that was such a great idea! Certain scents can be strongly tied to people and memories and having your baby’s scent can help your body relax and let down your milk.

Supplement with Alfalfa
There are a couple herbs that help breast milk production. I choose to supplement with Shaklee’s alfalfa for several reasons. Not only does it help with breast milk but it helps my allergies also. Plus I know I can trust Shaklee with pure alfalfa, no contaminants at all! You can visit my shop to learn more about the alfalfa I use.

Wear the Right Clothing
Even though you’re traveling and away from your baby, be sure you wear clothing that will make it easy for you to pump wherever you are. I wore my DIY Nursing Cami under most of my shirts so I could still cover my stomach and back while pumping.


Small Portable Cooler and Ice Packs
If it works with your method of travel, bring along a small cooler or insulated lunch bag with and ice pack or two. This will help when you have to transport home and while in the car or on the plane. I used my cooler to bring my remaining frozen milk home during the 5+ hour drive through the desert. You want your milk to remain and firmly frozen as possible so there is no risk of spoiling.

Drink LOTS of waterAlways drink plenty of water. Sometimes when traveling this can be difficult. Keep a reusable water bottle with you and fill it up as often as you can. Many times when we’re out and about having fun, hydrating can fall to the side, but if you’re pumping water can really make the difference between producing and drying up. At least this is very true for me.

Relax, Breathe
Traveling and being in a new place can be stressful at times. Be sure to take a moment before you pump to just relax and breathe. Clear your mind and focus on your baby.

Well I hope that helps! Do you have any other tips to add?

DIY Baby Food: Zucchini Millet Medley

My little girl is just growing up so fast! I could have sworn she was just rolling over yesterday, haha! I’m pretty slow when it comes to feeding my babies, and by that I mean I’m slow to progress them along. Partially out of just wanting to keep them little and partially because purees are so easy to make.

I have started to make a few more advanced meals like this one and the Squash and Quinoa meal and she seems to like them both so far. I really like to make sure anything I make my babies is healthy, nutritious, and fresh. This is all of those!

Zucchini Millet Medley
-1/2 cup Millet
-1/3 Cup Zucchini Puree (see below)
-2 TBSP Apple puree
-1/4 Cup Fresh Basil

Begin by boiling 2 cups of water, add millet, cover and reduce heat to low. Cook until the water is absorbed, about 30 minutes. Once done cooking, divide the millet and store half away for later. With the other half, combine with zucchini and apple purees. Let cool. Stir in basil just before serving.

Store in the fridge for up to 3 days and in the freezer for up to 3 months. I like to use storage containers similar to these and these.

If you don’t happen to have zucchini puree on hand already prepared, here’s how to whip some up….

Take 2 large or 3 small zucchini and wash. cut into 1 inch rounds. Place a steamer basket in a pot with 1 inch of water over medium heat to boil. Once boiling, place zucchini in the steamer basket and cover for about 7 minutes until the zucchini is very tender.

Puree the zucchini in a blender or food processor until smooth.

Store unused puree in a sealed container for 3 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer.