© 2013, published by Making it Lovely as Running Circles | 17 comments | affiliate links may be used in posts

We’ve been trying to have the kids play outside as much as possible while we get the inside of the house ready for sale. Luckily, the weather has been cooperating with us.

Now, some things you don’t mind on your kids. Natural, broad-spectrum 30 SPF sunscreen? You bet — we’re going to be in the sun for a while. (Actually, I’ll take some too.) A little dirt, from playing outside all day? Not a problem. Let them have their fun, and they can get cleaned up with a little bubble bath later. Permanent marker all over your little girl’s face?

Hold up.

See, Eleanor got a new toy puppy the other day, and it came with bunch of veterinarian accessories, including a prescription pad. I watched her writing (scribbling) on it with a blue marker, carefully filling out each line and narrating as she went. It was adorable, but I thought nothing more of it. Turns out she held on to that marker. A couple of hours later, E suddenly thought it would be a great idea to be a tiger! Actually, I think she was trying to be Diego’s baby jaguar friend. Either way, that blue marker ended up on her face, hands and arms.

Rawr.

No, she had never drawn on her face before. She did a pretty decent job, considering the lack of a mirror, eh? Oh well— it was just a little marker. Permanent marker, mind you, but it will fade soon enough. At least the sunscreen did its job.

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© 2013, published by Making it Lovely as Rawr | 19 comments | affiliate links may be used in posts

There’s the birthday girl, approving of the party decorations before her guests arrived.

Eleanor requested a Play-Doh party this year. Brandon’s mom, a former preschool teacher, came through with some fantastic ideas for pulling it off. She whipped up homemade play dough in several colors, and also came up with the idea to create little chef’s hats for the kids to wear (which they did all wear at various points). Everyone had their own station to work at.

The Play-Doh birthday cake was Brandon’s genius idea. He asked a couple of local bakeries if they could pull it off, and most of them replied that they don’t do custom cakes (what?), but Reuter’s Bakery came through. It was pretty spectacular.

I told the kids that we needed their help to make the birthday cake (they hadn’t seen the real one yet), so they each made their own out of play dough. I gathered their creations, thanked them, and they went off to play in the living room while we cleaned off the dining room table. We called everyone back over after their places were set, we brought the real cake out, and everyone sang Happy Birthday.

Four-year-olds are awesome, because they’re still young enough to fall for a cute trick.

Brandon and I are glad that we had the party at home. It was fun to have Eleanor’s friends over, and later, family came by too. We made one long day of it!

(Hope you had a great birthday, kiddo.)

© 2013, published by Making it Lovely as Eleanor’s Fourth Birthday Party | 47 comments | affiliate links may be used in posts

We’re starting to talk up the whole “big boy” thing with August, about how he’s going to start sleeping in a bed, and that soon he won’t need diapers. He was pretty adamant for a long time about his morning bottle of milk too until we somehow lost his favorite bottle, and that was the end of that. He’s in that transitional stage between toddler and little kid, but for a while longer, he’s still sleeping in a crib and wearing diapers.

I showed his room not too long ago, when I took the doors off of one of the storage units in the space to convert it to a bookshelf. Here it is again, with even more books on the shelves. (Like toys, they seem to multiply.)

We don’t need as much storage for baby gear now that August is older, but the remaining side with doors still holds essentials, like face and body lotion and healing balm. All of the diapers and wipes are in there too, along with refills for our diaper pail, tissues, and stacks of no-longer-needed burp cloths.

I like to use Honest diapers because they’re plant-based and free of chemicals, but they still perform just as well as any other diaper out there. Plus they come in a skull and crossbones pattern! (OK, and cute little strawberries, anchors, and what-have-you. But the skulls are my favorite.) Their wipes are great too — nice and thick, and effective but still gentle. As with other Honest products, you can order diapers and wipes individually, or bundle them and save.

I’ll be a little sad when it’s time to change the nursery. It has been a good setup that has seen us through four years of active duty (starting with Eleanor, when it was hers), but eventually the changing pad will go, and the diapers and lotions will probably be replaced with toys. And that will be good too.

If you’re curious about Honest, check out their free trial. Also, Making it Lovely readers can enjoy $10 off a minimum purchase of $40 using the code Lovely$10off$40. Limited to first-time buyers (one per customer) and expires May 22, 2013.

© 2013, published by Making it Lovely as Diaper Storage in the Nursery | 15 comments | affiliate links may be used in posts

At first, I kept her outfit simple so that the focus would be on her as she grew, not what she was wearing. As she gets older, she has more of an opinion about what she wears. I’m letting her personality show by photographing her in the outfit of her choice.

Eleanor is four years old now. Here is her yearly photo.

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© 2013, published by Making it Lovely as Four Years Old (Eleanor’s Yearly Photo) | 23 comments | affiliate links may be used in posts

She also asked me to take a picture of her “stinky feet.” Ha! See that smile?

Man, we love that girl. She’s turning out to be someone pretty amazing. Happy birthday, kiddo.

© 2013, published by Making it Lovely as Eleanor is Four | 30 comments | affiliate links may be used in posts

This morning, the kids and I arranged our longest train track yet, and we built a forest of Playmobil trees. The forest needs a gingerbread house, according to Eleanor. I tried to recount the story of Hansel and Gretel to E a few weeks ago, and I couldn’t remember all of the details. Brandon jumped in, filling in some of my gaps, but then I remembered our old book of fairy tales (my mother’s book, given to her by her parents on her second birthday). I found it and read the story to Eleanor, verbatim, not remembering how grim(m) it was. We read it once and she has been referencing it since.

From witches and terrible stepmothers to worse, much worse, it sometimes feels like the world is filled with too much evil. There is so much goodness out there though, too. Far more goodness. For that, and for quotidian family moments, I’m grateful.

© 2013, published by Making it Lovely as Grim | 10 comments | affiliate links may be used in posts

Let’s say you get the chance to talk to Jessica Alba. You’d probably talk to her about some of her movie roles, right? I talked to her about bubble bath. Specifically, how her Honest Bubble Bath (she co-founded the company) was the only one that didn’t irritate my kids’ skin.

Look, there I am (with long hair) at Alt Summit, talking to her about me giving baths to my children! She was riveted, no doubt.

Ah, but it’s true about the bubble bath. We’ve been using Honest for a good six months now. Everything they make is natural and non-toxic, and I’m happy to be working with them today to share what has worked for us when it comes to bath time.

We like Honest’s shampoo and body wash, and the conditioner has helped me avoid this dreaded scenario with Eleanor. I use a little spray conditioner on her hair sometimes too, to help comb it and tame static. The whole family uses Honest’s face and body lotion, and I like to bundle everything into a monthly package to save a little, but everything is available individually too.

Sometimes I even add lotion to August’s hair to style it up a bit. He doesn’t like to be fussed over, but the result is too cute. Although, I’ve got to say that nothing beats his bedhead!

(I kind of want to figure out how to get my hair to do that.)

If you’re curious about Honest, check out their free trial. Also, Making it Lovely readers can enjoy $5 off a bundle subscription using the code Lovely$5off. Limited to first-time buyers and expires April 25, 2013.

© 2013, published by Making it Lovely as Honest Goodness | 16 comments | affiliate links may be used in posts

I spotted a wood and sandstone coffee table that I liked at the Crate & Barrel outlet when I was there with my friend Kathryn (we met when I redesigned her bedroom), so I bought it. It’s similar to my old table, but slightly larger and a whole lot sturdier.

You like how I ‘styled’ it? It’s officially a play table now. (Funny thing about that Playmobile castle — I saw it last year at Berwyn’s Toys & Trains, and I joked to the kids that “daddy would really like that toy.” Guess who bought it?)

Actually, keeping the table in the library may turn out to be a better plan than moving it to August’s room. It fits the space well and looks fine, but has the added bonus of being neutral territory. If the castle was in either kid’s room, there would be more fighting over it because it’s seen as theirs, but out in the library they share it pretty well. I had to take the nesting side tables away that were next to the chair though, which I’d painted specifically for that space and liked. Too many tables, you know? Now I’m not sure if they’re coming back.

© 2013, published by Making it Lovely as The New Coffee/Play Table | 19 comments | affiliate links may be used in posts

(If you hover over the video, there’s an option to turn the sound on. Much giggling can be heard.)

© 2013, published by Making it Lovely as My Little Bunny Rabbit | 20 comments | affiliate links may be used in posts