Two Months Old (Eleanor’s Monthly Photo)
(I’ll be taking a photo of Eleanor sitting in the Eames rocker and wearing her pin each month until she’s two years old.)
Are These Curtains Better?
I’m not so sure. I’ve tried putting these curtains in the library before (they’re from my studio), but after someone mentioned trying them here in the comments I thought I’d give it another go.
Remember, here’s the before (with the curtains that everyone except me seems to love)…
I love the colorful curtains, but I don’t think they’re right for the library. Too kooky? Of course that makes me wonder if I’d like Orla curtains as much as I thought.
Now I’m thinking I might want something more masculine. Maybe a crisp geometric in brown and white.
The New Light in the Library
We finally got our hands on the Chase Ceiling Mount I had wanted for the library, and we’ve already installed it! Brandon did most of the work while I held Eleanor and read the instructions to him.
It’s so much better than the light that was there before.
It’s understated, but it’s a perfect compliment to the room.
Eight Weeks Old
I’m still enjoying my maternity leave, though I’m eager to open the shop again too. Now that Eleanor is getting used to being in a sling, I can get more done during the day but it’s not consistent at all. Some days she takes a nice long nap (or two), sometimes it’s just 20 minutes here and there.
Although Eleanor doesn’t nap much, she’s doing remarkably well at sleeping through the night! I start her bedtime routine around 8:00 and on a good night she’s asleep by 8:30. If she’s fussing a bit it might take an hour or more for her to finally fall asleep, but once she’s asleep she’s often out for the night. I always get one of two variations… she sleeps straight through from 8:30-5:30, or she sleeps from 8:30-3:00, nurses, and then sleeps again from 3:30-7:00. Either way, I get a decent night’s sleep so I’m happy.
Eleanor plays with her hair now to soothe herself when she’s tired. We first noticed her doing it a couple of weeks ago. It’s cute to watch her do something so deliberate! I feel like we’re getting a peek at her burgeoning personality. And she’s always been very alert, but now she’s becoming more curious too. She loves to be in her bouncy chair or on her play mat so that she can bat at her toys. She makes little cooing noises as she explores.
And she smiles! It melts me a little each time and of course I give her one right back. She’s even started laughing… well, it’s more like the precursor to actual laughing. Practice giggles. It’s not the squealing baby laugh you might think of, but more of an abrupt breathy sort of thing accompanied by a beaming smile.
Lately though, Eleanor has been crying for Brandon when he holds her. She calms down right away when she’s back in my arms. It’s way too early for her to be experiencing separation anxiety and we don’t know why it’s happening, but it’s heartbreaking. She smiles at Brandon, but it seems she just doesn’t want to be held by him.
When she was three weeks old, I mentioned that I was having a hard time with breastfeeding. I’m happy to say that things have finally improved! I was feeling discouraged when I was still in pain at six weeks because even though I now there’s no magic time frame, I kept hearing “give it six weeks”. I had taken a breastfeeding class, seen lactation consultants, read books, applied lanolin religiously, kept soothies in the fridge, varied positions, carefully latched the baby on… I was doing everything right and I was still in so much pain.
The left side had actually felt better since around the fourth week, but the right side was awful. There was some damage early on (probably by the third day), and it seemed like it would never heal. I dreaded each feeding because even if it was the side that didn’t hurt, that meant I was just that much closer to nursing her on the painful side again. Well I don’t know what changed, but all of a sudden one day nursing didn’t hurt anymore! Maybe Eleanor finally grew into her high palate, or maybe she changed the way she latches on? All I can say to someone having the same difficulty is that it does get better (even though I was afraid for a while that it never would).
Oh, and our little girl is quite the chunker. At her one month check-up, she weighed 12 pounds! That’s off the charts. Now she’s already outgrowing her 0-3 month clothes. She’s getting so big so fast.
Time for a New FLOR
The sisal rug in our dining room is about five years old, and it has a big threadbare spot on it that was just made much worse this weekend by vacuuming. Luckily, FLOR just opened a store in Chicago, so Brandon and I headed out to see what we could find.
We went through, grabbing a sample of each carpet style and color that interested us. Then we started narrowing down the choices (too dark, too light, can’t withstand heavy foot traffic, and so on), until we ended up with our final selection: Feelin Groovy in Pewter.
Brandon and I also really liked the Be My Neighbor Rug.
Where could we use something so awesome? In Brandon’s office, of course. He’s going to feel like a giant.
Dreaming of Orla Kiely Curtains
I’ve been having a lot home design dreams lately. Usually they make no sense, like the one I had recently where Kim from Myles of Style and the Dugger family gave my living room a makeover (it resulted in forced smiles followed by tears from me). Last night was different though…
I had been looking online at curtains for the library. I know everyone always says that they love the ones that are up there now, but I don’t. I’m looking for a bold, graphic print that has brown and mustard yellow in it to work with the wall colors, but I didn’t find anything I really loved (these came closest). I had given up for the night and figured I’d look again in a few months when there might be some new options on the market. Then, I had a dream in which the perfect solution presented itself to me: I want curtains made out of Orla Kiely stem print fabric!
Too bad it doesn’t seem to be available. Wah-wah.
Up for the Challenge: We Won!
I wanted to thank you all earlier, but I was waiting until I heard from Better Homes & Gardens…
We WON! Making it Lovely received the most votes in the 48-Hour Challenge at BHG.com and we’ll be the recipient of a $5000 bonus! We’re so excited, and we’re eager to get started on a few new projects around the house that will now be possible. And obviously, we couldn’t have won without your tremendous support. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Adventures in Baby Wearing
Eleanor does not like to be put down. Therefore, I’ve ended up with a nice assortment of baby carriers all in a valiant effort to regain the use of both hands.
Eleanor and I both love our mei tai from BabyHawk. She likes to be held in the ’snuggle hold’ (tummy to tummy with me), so she was comfortable in this one from the start. The head rest is stiff enough to be supportive, but I fold it down sometimes too so Eleanor can look around more easily. Oh, and the fabric choices are excellent! Mine is pink and brown, natch. The drawbacks: The shoulder straps are so long that they tend to drag on the ground and get dirty while getting the carrier on and off, and they also make it difficult to fold the carrier up. When you have time, you can fold the whole thing up into a nice little rectangle that fits neatly in your diaper bag. When you don’t have time, you end up doing what I do and just stuffing it into your bag in a wrinkly pile that takes up a ton of room.
My other two carriers are both slings.
The slings took more getting used to for Eleanor, but she’s happy in them now and I like each one for different reasons. The one that I’m wearing in the photo is from hotslings. It’s comfortable and it has minimal padding, so it’s incredibly easy to fold up. It also keeps Eleanor a little cooler than the mei tai. The only drawback is that it is sized very specifically and it isn’t adjustable. I’m not sure that it’s a drawback really, it’s just something to keep in mind.
My other sling is by Balboa Baby. It has padding on the shoulder strap and along the edges – very comfy but the padding makes it bulkier. It’s sewn into a slightly more structured shape too, which makes it harder to fold up. I like that it’s adjustable, but the padding on the strap makes it difficult to adjust and it’s not easy when your baby is still in the sling. If I were to buy another ring sling, it would be a Maya Wrap. There is still some padding in the shoulder, and there is a lot of extra fabric at the tail, but you can use that extra fabric as a nursing cover.
And speaking of nursing… I go out with Eleanor fairly often, and figuring out how to nurse her while she’s still nestled in a carrier will be liberating! We’re still learning, but these videos have been helpful so far: How to nurse in a sling and how to nurse in a mei tai.
p.s. I was able to take, edit, and upload that photo, AND write this post, all while Eleanor slept in her sling. Do you know how amazing that is? I typed with both hands and everything.
Up for the Challenge: The End
Today is the last day to vote in the 48-Hour Challenge. The timing of the challenge was a bit crazy (coinciding with my ninth month of pregnancy), but Brandon and I took it on and we’re so proud to have been a part of it. Thank you to Better Homes and Gardens for asking me to be a part of the challenge, and thank you to the other participants: The Cottage Nest, The Home Garden, The Wood Whisperer, and of course my friends over at This Young House. We were thrilled to be in such wonderful company, and the other four projects were all incredibly inspiring.
Here’s a look back at where we started…
And where we ended…
And during the process we went from a married couple to a family.
Thank you too, all of you, for your support throughout the whole process. There were times when I thought I was in a bit over my head (*ahem*, porch painting), but the end result and your thoughtful comments made it all worth it. And I truly appreciate those of you that took time to vote for us, whether it was once a day, once in a while, or just once. Thank you.
New Porch Details
Just because we had finished working on the porch for the BHG 48-Hour Challenge (have you voted yet today?), that doesn’t mean that we had completely finished. I love the way everything turned out, but there were a few other items that have since caught my eye…
These green astro balls are fun, aren’t they? I included them in my Great Green Outdoors post back in March, and I had wanted them ever since.
Actually, I just realized that the other two items newly added to our porch were in that same post from March too. The beachcomber outdoor pillow is looking nice on our bench…
And the MYNTA hanging pots look great filled with annuals.
So there you have it. A home-obsessed person’s work is never done. Although our front porch is. For now, at least. ;)
Psst… If you could take just a moment to vote today in the 48-Hour Challenge, I’d be ever so grateful. There are only three days left, and it’s gonna be a close one!
