My little girl has lots of “hair things” and for a while, I just had them in a drawer in her dresser. But that’s not exactly the ideal storage solution… things get buried and you forget they’re there, or you KNOW there is a hair clip to match this outfit, but can’t find it, or headbands get tangled…

Enter: my storage solutions.

The first one is a quick and easy DIY project. Depending on how many hair clips your child has, and how long her name is, you can get wooden letters for her first initial, monogram (what I did), or spell her entire name (which would be crazy with Anneliese!).

I got these white wooden letters at Michael’s, and also picked up some aqua and yellow acrylic craft paint to decorate them with.

You’ll also need lengths of ribbon (I used grosgrain ribbon, and layered a .5” ribbon on top of a 1.5” ribbon, just for some interest.

And for the bottom of each ribbon, you’ll want another wooden shape, to cover the edge, give a “finished” look, and weigh down the ribbon a little bit (which was helpful when my daughter had just a few hair clips).

All you need to do is hot glue your ribbon to the back-center of each letter, and hot glue the smaller wooden shapes to the bottom of each one.

I hung my daughter’s on her sliding closet door with Command Strips, which were easy to install (if you can even call it installation) and won’t damage the door when we need to remove them.

Headbands create a different challenge. I’ve seen headband holders made of oatmeal canisters (which I think is a good idea for headbands with openings, like the harder plasticy ones), clotheslines with each headband pinned on with a clothes pin (cute, but what if you have more than 5 headbands?), and cup hooks usually on the bottom of a frame meant to hold the bows and clips (but you KNOW those little hooks would be overloaded with headbands very shortly).

I’m not sure when this idea popped into my head but I was SO excited about it when it did. This lets me see her headbands so I can find the right one, and I can easily pull it over the others and off the end… and, like the hair clip holder above, it takes up zero surface space on my daughter’s dresser or shelves!

It’s a hand towel rack, which I picked up at Lowe’s. Simple! It’s installed over the dresser, and holds lots of Anneliese’s headbands. There are a few that are wider or bulkier that I’ve put in one of her dresser drawers, but most of them are “out”  now, easily accessed, and pretty to look at!

I hope this post gave you some new ideas or helped you decide what to do with your daughter’s collection (or your own) of “hair pretties.”

If you enjoyed my ideas and pictures, please pass it on by clicking to share on facebook, twitter, G+, stumbleupon, or by pinning it on pinterest. Thanks so much!

Weeks pregnant: 26 weeks 1 day

Weight: 151, fluctuating.

Gain: +16 pounds

Size of the baby: 14 inches or so

Weight: 1.7 pounds

Other pregnancy related crap:

Emotional crap: The decluttering continues. And I mean like nesting FRENZY. I feel like I need to get rid of tons of stuff, and that’s probably not a bad plan. I find myself wanting to CLEAN like DEEP CLEAN ALL THE THINGS, but I can’t do that yet because of ALL THE THINGS in the way. I definitely need to call my cleaningladyfriend for a date soon… she does an amazing job and I can breathe a bit better. But seriously… organizing. Decluttering. It’s crazypants up in here.

Our office/sewing room has been my biggest project this week…

And I have to say I’m making great headway.

Physical crap: Peeing all the time. Reflux in the evenings. There are some itchy dots on my belly that I hope are just irritation from my maternity pants and not PUPPS or something (don’t google image search. Please. It’s awful and mine are NOT like that). My joints are getting all weird and third-trimester-relaxin-y. My pelvis feels like it’s about 3 feet wide by the time I go to bed, and squatting (deep squatting , not like weight lifting squats) makes it feel better and more aligned. I don’t know if it’s pregnancy joint thing or not, but 2 fingers on my left hand feel like they were jammed on a basketball or something… the knuckles are all stiff… I can’t remember jamming it on anything so I’m just blaming the pregnancy for now. Overall I feel great though.

What I want to devour: Milk. Cream cheese. Apples. Peanut butter. That’s about it. Salads are great when I feel like making them.

What makes me want to hurl: Meat. When will I be carnivorous again??

Supplements: Prenatal vitamin, calcium that has a little bit of Vitamin D in it. Vitamin D3, Fish Oil. Now sometimes Papaya enzyme chewables for reflux.

Activity/Training: Same

Birth prep: Watched My Body, My Baby, My Birth. It didn’t really have a lot of continuity and it was obvious the production was very armature but I always like watching/hearing birth stories, so overall I enjoyed it. Love seeing women so empowered in and by their childbirth experiences. I’m so excited for my second one.

I had an OB appointment and a visit from my Midwife, a week apart from each other. Everything is unremarkable which is exactly what we want. Weight gain, blood pressure, uterus growth (I actually measured one week ahead), fetal heartbeat, pee, etc… everything normal.

Baby prep: Got the other sleep gowns in the mail for Joseph, and they are soooo cute.

Ordered two more books for Anneliese. You and Me, and What Baby Needs. Both are great, and Anneliese really enjoyed looking at the pictures in You and Me this morning. She studied each picture carefully, and pointed to the baby and said “baby” in each one. I said, “That’s right, that’s baby Joseph! And this one is Anneliese!” and pointed at the bigger sibling. I know she can’t understand what is really happening, but it doesn’t hurt to talk about it.

Here is Anneliese “studying” the other book I already got her, My New Baby. She loves to look at it in the mornings, and we talk about the pictures.

Tandem nursing / BOOBS:

LOTS of nursing. Because of more teething. Canines are coming. Oh boy. I think I’ve mentioned my “countdown” at nighttime… Normally I count back from 10 and she unlatches around 9 or 8 to roll over to be tucked into bed. Lately, she’s been nursing for the whole countdown and unlatching when I get to 1.

Christmas morning was so busy that we missed our morning snugglenurse… I didn’t even think about it that much, but by the time Anneliese had eaten breakfast, Skyped with her Dada and her Grampa, and opened most of her presents, she had had enough. I thought it was just nap time, but she had other ideas. She ran into my bedroom, crying, and patted the bed signing “milk” frantically.

So of course we had our snugglenurse. I felt so bad for jumping right into Christmas fun without our morning cuddle. I’m glad Anneliese made her needs known though, so that I could meet them. It was a wonderful snuggle and then she took a nice nap.

Other stuff:

12/22 (24 weeks 6 days)

12/26

12/28

I’m going to go drink another glass of milk. And probably 3 glasses of water. And then go to bed. Decluttering is on hold tonight.

Other times, a sound-only monitor would’ve had me opening the door to check on him unnecessarily! Sometimes it was a bit loud in there, but he was just lying in bed telling his stuffed animal a story. Or laughing in his sleep at a funny dream.

I knew I would NEED a video monitor when I had children of my own. It’s just far too useful to be able to have that little bit of extra information. This conviction was solidified when I nannied for another family who had sound-only monitors. There were so many times I had to peek in because of a sound when it would have been perfectly fine (but I couldn’t know until I peeked!) not to… and the door closing, or the tiny bit of change in light, or the sound of a floorboard squeaking would wake up the child… I tried to convince the parents to buy a video monitor but they didn’t understand what they were missing, so they stuck with audio-only.

I researched and researched, and 2 years ago when I was looking at these, there were not as many options as there are now. I really wanted one with two cameras so that I could have one on the cosleeper in our room (when Anneliese was tiny she slept in there for naps, and at night) and one on her bed in her room (after a couple of months, we had her taking occasional naps in her room, and later, she started the night in her room too). I wanted the option of adding more cameras when we had more children with more rooms… see? I was thinking long-term. I read a LOT of reviews of a LOT of cameras, and ended up settling on the Safe Baby video monitor with 2 cameras ($215). Because it was digital, I hoped to avoid the static I had experienced in my babysitting job (and I did avoid that. Now and then it would go blank for a second or two, but that was fine with me). It also had the capability to monitor up to 8 cameras at a time, with auto-scan, or you can manually select which camera to view. It also tunes out low noises like our white-noise or the fan, but clicks the sound on when baby whimpers or cries. So that was nice to not have constant whooshing sounds coming from the monitor.

Now, a couple years later, touch screen video monitors are becoming all the rage. The Summer Infant Baby Touch Color Video Monitor is highly advertised and very popular, at $250 for the receiver and one camera. Additional cameras for the system are available at $130 each. Despite the high price tag, this one was tempting to me. I knew a few new moms who had gotten it and RAVED about it, and I liked that the camera had remote panning ability so that more of the room would be visible (important since we use a floor bed with Anneliese, so she can crawl off of her bed and ideally go play with her toys when she wakes up). I’ve also grown accustomed to the touch screen of my iPhone and generally dislike buttons now. A larger viewing are on the monitor was also appealing.

Wait a second… the touch screen ON MY IPHONE??? “Why isn’t there a baby monitor system that works with the iPhone?” I wondered. Oh, there HAS to be something. Because, you know, “there’s an app for that.” So many months ago, I began searching. It just seemed silly to me to carry around TWO touch screens, when one should work. My phone is usually on my person, and as long as I plug it in at night, I rarely have to think about charging it, so this would be perfect!

My searching took me to the Wifi Baby Video Monitor, which seems to be (now, not then) semi-well-known among techy mamas. At the time, there were NO actual mom-blog reviews of this monitor (there were a few on youtube that all seemed to be the same, created by the Wifi Baby “team” most likely), and currently there are still only a few out there. There was speculation and a few negative comments here and there too. Still, I thought it HAD TO BE A GOOD IDEA because ever part of it made sense in my head. So I emailed the company, told them I believed in their product from what I knew of it, and that I’d love the opportunity to review it on my blog with pictures and screenshots and whatnot, so that others searching for iPhone baby monitors would be able to find my review and learn more about it, and feel more secure purchasing it. Because dude, I was that mom. Searching. Finding nothing. And because I found nothing, I felt pretty insecure about dropping $279 (!!!) on a hunch.

After a while they emailed me back and basically told me I had to buy one myself to do a review, or I could borrow one for like a week, then return it (I wanted to review it but not badly enough to do it for zero compensation and if I liked it not even get a discount on the purchase for my effort…). I wrote back with a final appeal, telling them that my blog has high google ranking and that a lot of my reviews appear in the top google results when people search for them (it’s true!) and reminding them that moms who are unsure but curious would love to read about first-hand experience with their product. Nope. They sent me a very rude email saying not to contact them again. Fine. I also chose not to buy their camera.

But guess what. I’m GLAD I didn’t. It’s completely overpriced, and the camera itself doesn’t tilt or pan, which was a feature I was hoping for since my daughter has free rein of her room. But the more I looked at it and wished there were another option, the closer I came to the lightbulb moment. There must be something special about this camera… for it to be able to connect over a network. More googling took me to a “new” class of cameras. New to me anyway. Because they aren’t marketed as baby monitors. They’re marketed as home surveillance cameras. And what is baby monitoring anyway?

IP cameras are available at a range of price points, and with a variety of features. I’m not sure what IP stands for, but it means that it can connect to your wifi network (or can be plugged in with ethernet) WITHOUT being connected to a computer (another option I had seen and immediately ruled out was a camera that only worked when your computer was on. No). It’s just another device that can connect to your network, just like your wireless printer, your playstation 3, or your wireless external networked hard drive.

The model I purchased is the Foscam F18918W in white. It has night vision/infrared that works up to 26 feet or so – MORE than adequate for any nursery or child’s room, can pan and tilt to view nearly an entire room (depending on where you mount it), has a mic and even speakers (so you can talk to your child from far away!), and also has a wide viewing angle so you can see a good amount if you are zoomed all the way out. I chose white because it would better blend in with Anneliese’s furniture and things, but I have read that the black version has even clearer night vision because there is no reflection of light (from the LEDs) off of the plastic of the camera itself.

This camera is LESS THAN $100, and way better than the almost-$300 Wifi Baby camera. It just requires a bit more tech knowledge (OR this blog post, where I’ve saved you the trial and error I went through myself) to set up. There is no receiver (like with the summer infant monitor) so you’ll need to be prepared to use your smart phone / iPhone and/or your computer. Like I said, I always have my phone on my person, so that wasn’t an issue for me. It was a perk. One less piece of equipment!

So I have the long version of installation (how it actually went for me), and then the short version. If you want to be amused (or just laugh at me), you can read the long version, but if you’re just looking for the nitty gritty, feel free to skip ahead.

How to install an IP Camera as a Wireless Baby Monitor for iPhone – Long Version

1. Screw the antenna into the back of the camera. Easy peasy! I can do this, no problem! This camera setup is going to be a piece of cake!
2. Plug in the ethernet cord and the power cord to the back of the camera. Woo hoo!
   
3. Go over to your router and plug the other end of the ethernet cord into the router. Except that all the spots in the router are being used already. Unplug something else and hope it wasn’t important. Then plug in the camera.
4. Plug in the power cord to any outlet. Realize there’s only one outlet nearby and it’s covered with a crazy child-proofing thing you have to pry off with two hands. Attempt to plug in the power cord but discover that the child-proofing thing only allows straight plain plugs, and nothing with a “box” on the plug end. Search for an extension cord. Grab the only one you can find, a 4000 foot outdoor bright orange extension cord. THEN plug the camera in. Yes, ridiculous.
   
5. Put the CD in your computer’s CD drive, and open the folder that matches the type of computer you’re using (windows/mac). Select IP Camera Tool and install IPCamSetup.exe .
   
6. Restart the computer to finish installation. So far so good!!!
7. Once the computer has rebooted, click the IP Camera Tool icon on your desktop.
8. The instruction booklet has a list of 3 IP addresses that show up in their tool, and one is labeled “foscamdemo” which you might think is what you’re looking for (since the brand is foscam, and the other two IPs were “anonymous”). Freak out a little bit when only one IP address shows up and it’s an Anonymous one. Plug/unplug things a few times waiting for a “foscam” IP address to show up, but then realize maybe when they were taking the screenshots, they had 3 cameras connected. Double click the “anonymous” IP address and cross your fingers.
9. Success! The IP Camera login page pops up. Type in “admin” for the username, and leave the password field blank. Then click “login” for the browser you’re using. You may be prompted to enter the username/password again. It’s still admin/nothing.
10. The camera monitor will load on “device settings” initially, but you can click “live video” to make sure everything is connected. Again, freak out a little bit because it appears that there is no video stream, but then realize the camera is pointing at a blank wall. Use the mouse to pan the camera around and relax when you see the miles of extension cord appear in the video.
11. Decide you don’t want to have to run ethernet all over the house to connect the camera to the router all the time (and that other thing might need to be plugged back in, too), so take a deep breath and click “Device Management” and then “Wireless LAN Settings.”
12. Click “scan” to find the available WIFI devices. Select your wireless network and enter your “Share Key.” Panic because what the heck is a “share key”? Enter your network’s password and hold your breath while the camera reboots. During the reboot, unplug the ethernet cable from the back of the camera.
13. Become upset when the camera reboot countdown ends and an error message “The Connection Was Reset” appears where the camera info should be in the browser.
14. Plug the ethernet cord back in. Go back to step 11. Admit that the “Share Key” probably isn’t the network’s password in this case. Google. Get more confused. Call the router company’s customer service line. After giving the lady all your information, hang up the phone with your face accidentally.
15. Wait for the customer service woman to call back, since she JUST TOOK YOUR PHONE NUMBER. After several minutes, realize she is not calling back. Try calling again. Accidentally select “French” for the language option. Hang up. Try calling back again. Make it through the menu in English, then accidentally hang up again.
16. Go to the bathroom and get some Reese’s peanut butter cups to reboot your brain.
17. Look in the husband’s file box to see if there is anything about a key that came with the router. When you don’t find anything, call customer support again. The support guy, after a lot of prodding, tells you that there isn’t a separate password attached to the router by the manufacturer, and that the ONLY password is the personal one you set and use for logging in to the network on all other devices (so your password should have worked). Also find out that because your warranty has expired, they cant talk to you any more and want to send you to a third party support company who “only” wants $70 in exchange for helping you solve 3 problems within the next year. Tell them that’s ridiculous and hang up.
18. Wave at yourself in the live camera view.
19. Take a deep breath and return to google. Discover that the instruction booklet that came with your camera actually has different instructions than the Foscam site, for how to set up the camera wirelessly. Rejoice in new information.
20. Realize the encryption method and encryption technique selection (which was supposed to be “auto-selected” when you scanned and selected your network) might be wrong, not the “share key.”
21. Log into the router to find out what encryption is used. I’m sorry, but this really depends on what type of router you have. For mine, Cisco Valet, I had to type http://192.168.0.1/ into internet explorer and then enter my network name and password. I have read that http://192.168.1.1/ is also a very common one, so try those two first. If neither works, google. You might also have to use a default user/pass if you haven’t changed yours. If that’s the case, google “[your router name] default user password” and you should find some information there. My router uses WPA/WPA2 mixed-mode. The camera thought it just used WPA, which is why it didn’t work before.
22. Correct the settings in the Wireless Lan Settings of the IP Camera to include the proper encryption. Then reboot the device again and unplug the ethernet cable.
23. IT WILL STILL show that the network connection “has been reset” but this is because your camera now has a new IP address. So close the window you were using before, and click the IP Camera Tool icon on your desktop again. Double-click the one that appears, and log in again like you did before. Now you can view the live video WIRELESSLY!!!!
24. With your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad, open the app store and download IP Cam Viewer Pro by Robert Chou / NibblesnBits. It’s only $2.99 and from reading reviews, I decided it was the best one to go with. Many IP Camera apps do NOT include the ability to listen to the sound, or to talk through the camera’s speakers with your device’s mic. This app has both. It also works with TONS of brands of IP Cameras, so if you decide on a different one, you’re still covered. AND there is an android app (which I haven’t tried obviously, but if you have a different smartphone, you can use that). The app will also support lots and lots of cameras, so you can add as many as you choose to over time, if needed.
25. Setting up the camera with your app is easy. Click Options / Manage Cameras / Add Camera / IP Camera, DVR, NVR. Then you can name your camera whatever you want, select the type (this Foscam model is supported), and type in the IP address of your camera, which is what pops up when you click the IP Camera Tool icon on your computer. A quick test will confirm that you’ve entered everything correctly, and then you’re good to go! You can view the camera remotely, toggle sound, and toggle mic. You can also pinch to zoom, pan, take screen shots, and I’m sure some goodies I haven’t discovered yet. Here’s a crazy screenshot (not photo) of what it looked like on my phone when I got it all set up.
    
26. Move it to your baby’s room (it will still work after unplugging and plugging in) in a good spot, and you’re set.

Here’s a shot of my baby after she went to bed tonight. Her room is pitch black…completely dark.

After a few hours, she woke up, and I heard her cry out, so I opened the app and saw this:

I decided to (for the first time ever) see if I could “remotely soothe” her using the microphone on my phone / speakers on the camera in her room. I clicked the mic icon to toggle it on, and told her to find her sleepy sheep or her pacifier if she wanted them, and go back to sleep. She FROZE. Disembodied-Mama-Voice can be kind of disorienting I suppose. But no more crying. She looked around for a while. I suggested again, that she lie down and “go night-night.” After a few seconds, she did this:

I could hear her take a deep breath, then yawn, and when I zoomed in closer, I could even see her blinks getting longer and sleepy, and then her eyes closed and she was asleep.

You guys??? I REMOTELY SOOTHED MY BABY. With my IPHONE!!!! What more could a technology-loving mama ask for? (Note: I’m not endorsing NOT visiting your baby or meeting his or her needs. If your baby needs a new diaper or to nurse or even just a snuggle, by all means, GO IN THERE. But it doesn’t hurt to see if maybe all he or she needs is a little reassurance and a reminder that it’s nighttime.) If I weren’t already completely sold on the IP-Camera-as-iPhone-Baby-Monitor concept, this sealed the deal.

Now for the short version, in case you just want to get to the point and set yours up.

How to install an IP Camera as a Wireless Baby Monitor for iPhone – Short Version

1. Screw the antenna into the back of the camera. Plug in the ethernet cord and the power cord to the back of the camera.
2. Go over to your router and plug the other end of the ethernet cord into the router. Plug in the power cord to any outlet.
3. Put the CD in your computer’s CD drive, and open the folder that matches the type of computer you’re using (windows/mac). Select IP Camera Tool and install IPCamSetup.exe .
4. Restart the computer to finish installation.
5. Once the computer has rebooted, click the IP Camera Tool icon on your desktop.
6. Double click the “anonymous” IP address that pops up.
7. Success! The IP Camera login page pops up. Type in “admin” for the username, and leave the password field blank. Then click “login” for the browser you’re using. You may be prompted to enter the username/password again. It’s still admin/nothing.
8. The camera monitor will load on “device settings” initially, but you can click “live video” to make sure everything is connected. Use the mouse to pan the camera around. Cool, right?
9. Click “Device Management” and then “Wireless LAN Settings.”
10. Click “scan” to find the available WIFI devices. Select your wireless network.
11. In a new window or tab, log into your router to find out what encryption is used. I’m sorry, but this really depends on what type of router you have. For mine, Cisco Valet, I had to type http://192.168.0.1/ into internet explorer and then enter my network name and password. I have read that http://192.168.1.1/ is also a very common one, so try those two first. If neither works, google. You might also have to use a default user/pass if you haven’t changed yours. If that’s the case, google “[your router name] default user password” and you should find some information there. My router uses WPA/WPA2 mixed-mode.
12. Back in the IP Camera Lan Settings, select the proper encryption, and your “share key” which is your network’s password (the same one you use to connect to the network from your computer, phone, or any wifi device).
13. Reboot the device again and unplug the ethernet cable.
14. It will show that the network connection “has been reset” but this is because your camera now has a new IP address. So close the window you were using before, and click the IP Camera Tool icon on your desktop again. Double-click the one that appears, and log in again like you did before. Now you can view the live video WIRELESSLY!!!!
15. With your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad, open the app store and download IP Cam Viewer Pro by Robert Chou / NibblesnBits. It’s only $2.99 and from reading reviews, I decided it was the best one to go with. Many IP Camera apps do NOT include the ability to listen to the sound, or to talk through the camera’s speakers with your device’s mic. This app has both. It also works with TONS of brands of IP Cameras, so if you decide on a different one, you’re still covered. AND there is an android app (which I haven’t tried obviously, but if you have a different smartphone, you can use that). The app will also support lots and lots of cameras, so you can add as many as you choose to over time, if needed.
16. Setting up the camera with your app is easy. Click Options / Manage Cameras / Add Camera / IP Camera, DVR, NVR. Then you can name your camera whatever you want, select the type (this Foscam model is supported), and type in the IP address of your camera, which is what pops up when you click the IP Camera Tool icon on your computer. A quick test will confirm that you’ve entered everything correctly, and then you’re good to go! You can view the camera remotely, toggle sound, and toggle mic. You can also pinch to zoom, pan, take screen shots, and I’m sure some goodies I haven’t discovered yet.
17. Move it to your baby’s room (it will still work after unplugging and plugging in) in a good spot, and you’re set.

Hopefully this post helped you decide whether using an IP Camera as a baby monitor is right for you. And if so, maybe I saved you a little bit of legwork or trial and error when it comes to research and setup. I’m planning on doing another post in a little while after I’ve played with it some more to answer questions some of my friends have asked. Among those questions are:

1. Can I control whether other people see my video stream? (The answer is yes, but I’ll elaborate.)
2. Related: Can you access the camera from the 3G network? Like if you were away from home and wanted to check on the baby when with a sitter?
3. Can the app be running constantly and have your phone still work as a phone and everything else?
4. Can you still have sound when you aren’t viewing the camera?

Let me know if you have any other questions you’d like addressed, and I’ll try to find an answer for you for the next post! I’ll also include some daytime/light (rather than night/infrared) screen shots if you’d like.

If this post has helped you in any way, please consider using one of my Amazon links to purchase your camera (or make ANY purchase). It won’t cost YOU a penny more, but I’ll get a small percentage as an affiliate kickback. It would be a really nice way of saying “Thank you for opening my eyes to the magical world that is IP Cameras as iPhone Baby Monitors, Emily. I appreciate you, and you are awesome.”

If you don’t need to buy anything any time soon, I also appreciate tweets and facebook shares (buttons are at the top of this post) as well as Stumbleupon stumbles, or pins on Pinterest. All of that lets me know that I didn’t sit here typing for hours for nothing, and keeps me doing what I do.

This is a sponsored post from BlogHer and Tropicana.

You’ve heard about “waking up on the wrong side of the bed,” right? Some days, that happens. But often, you can get out of that morning funk if you make a conscious effort to start the day off with GOOD. Here are some little things I do to make sure my day gets off to the right start:

1. Stay in bed.

   No, not all day. But I love waking up and snuggling with my little girl for a while before we start the day. Tickling her, singing songs and reciting nursery rhymes, snuggling and nursing… it’s hard to be in a bad mood with a giggling baby in your bed. Even if you have no baby in your bed, spend 10 or 20 minutes in bed before rising. Stretch really well. Read a chapter in your book. Turn on your iPod and listen to your new favorite song. Relish the softness of your bed.
   

2. Shower and get dressed ASAP.

   Many days lately, Anneliese is in a GREAT mood in the early morning, which means she’s able to entertain herself for a little while without needing me. If I can hop in the shower, wash my hair, shave my legs, and get dressed in REAL clothes (You know what I’m talking about, mamas. Pants that zip. No elastic.), I tend to feel better about myself for the rest of the day and accomplish more, too.

3. Start with a great breakfast.

   I’m not typically a breakfast person. Don’t get me wrong – I love breakfast foods. It’s just that I don’t wake up ravenous, and often get sidetracked doing other things until I get hungry, look at the clock, and realize it’s already 11:30. HOWEVER, I’ve found that if I eat a really good breakfast within an hour or so of waking, I’m more likely to stay on track nutritionally the rest of the day. I’m less tempted to have (grain free) cookies and coffee for lunch, and more likely to have a big salad with veggies and meat in it. What’s a great breakfast, to me? A few strips of bacon and an egg or two cooked in the bacon grease is a classic. Tons of protein and good, energy-dense fats, which serves to provide lots of fuel for my day and keeps me full for a long time.

   

4. Have a plan for the day.

   I don’t mean a super-ambitious plan with 15 must-dos. I just mean having a couple of overreaching goals for the day. That might mean seeing a friend in person (any friend, any activity, just to get adult face-time), working on a craft (crocheting half a hat, or cutting out pieces for a baby dress), improving the house (hanging up 4 pictures on the wall, doing a load of laundry, or dusting the shelves), or even just making sure to recharge (going for a walk, or watching a favorite movie). Having a realistic goal for the day early on makes it much more likely that I’ll accomplish that goal. Then, at the end of the day, I’m not left to wonder “Where did the day go?”

   

5. Get some sun.

   Early in the morning, stepping outside for 10 minutes or even throwing open the curtains to brighten the room is a great way to start the day. Not only does real sunlight welcome a cheerful feeling, but it also re-sets your circadian rhythm, making it easier to FEEL awake, and easier to go to sleep later.
   

Tropicana can help put the good in your mornings, if you’re a fan of juice. Each 8 ounce glass has lots of vitamin C, and a good amount of Potassium and Folic Acid. Also, it tastes good if you don’t drink it right after brushing your teeth (toothpaste and orange juice are a deadly combination).

You can follow Tropicana at the official Facebook page or on Twitter. You can also find them on The Official Website, of course!

Win:

You could win a $100 Visa gift card! Tell me how YOU put the “Good” in your mornings! Is there something special you do each morning, to ensure an awesome day?

Rules:

• No duplicate comments.
• You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry
  methods:
  a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
  b) Tweet an awesome tweet about this promotion (link to this blog entry) and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment
  on this post
  c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on
  this post
  d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about
  an alternate form of entry.
• This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older and runs from 3/14-4/11
• Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.
• You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be
  selected.
• Click to read The Official Rules
• For more chances to win,Visit the Exclusive Offers section

Be sure to come back in 2 weeks for a chance to win a SECOND Visa gift card!

I wrote this post while participating in the Tropicana Pure Premium/BlogHer program on behalf of Tropicana Pure Premium. I received product information to facilitate my post and monetary compensation for the time to write my post.

This is sponsored content from BlogHer and GE.

What do you do to conserve energy?

Here’s what I do:

Cloth:

Why use something disposable when you can use cloth? (This goes for paper/plastic dishes, cups, and utensils too.)

• Sure I have paper towels around, but I rarely use them. Instead of storing them prominently within easy reach, they’re tucked away so that I really think about if I need a PAPER towel before grabbing one. I have tons of dish towels and microfiber cloths, and use those for most “paper towel” purposes.
• You already know I use cloth diapers and wipes. It really isn’t harder than disposable, I promise. Instead of going to the store to buy more, and taking out the trash, you just do a couple extra loads of laundry. Easy peasy.
• We only use cloth napkins. It helps that they do a better job than paper napkins, too. They’re wrinkly because I’m lazy about ironing them, but who cares?

Recycle, Reduce, Reuse:

• Recycle – do it. Why wouldn’t you? If you can significantly reduce the amount of trash going out of your home, that’s huge. One fewer trash bag a week is 52 fewer trash bags a year, 520 fewer trash bags a decade. Can you imagine 520 bags stuffed with trash in one spot? Ew. See if you can do better.
• Composting counts as recycling in my book too. I haven’t started doing it here, but we did in Mississippi and I felt great knowing that our organic waste (veggie peels, cores, coffee grounds, etc) were going back into the earth, and into the veggies we were growing. Here, I’ve been saving veggie scraps in a bag in the freezer, and then when I make stock, I dump in the veggie scraps. It really gives the stock a great depth of flavor, and it “uses up” what would’ve just been thrown away otherwise.
• Reduce – using cloth, as above, will help a LOT. Another way to reduce is to be mindful about what you’re buying and bringing into your home. Obviously you can’t 100% avoid packaging. But you can buy a big tub of yogurt and put it into smaller reusable containers for lunch boxes, rather than buying individual servings.
• Reuse – I have a few sweaters and things set aside because I love the fabric and want to make a little outfit for Anneliese out of them. I wash the jars that peanut butter, honey, and jam come in, and reuse them for storing chicken stock and beef stock in our freezer. After using them a few times, I recycle the jars.

Save Energy:

• When we bought our washer, dryer, and stand-alone freezer, we made sure to get energy-efficient models (energy star rated).
• When I wash my clothes and diapers and things, I never use HOT water (unless for a specific “deep clean” cycle, very rare). I use warm for my diapers, and warm or cold for my clothes. Everything’s clean, I promise.
• Turning off lights when you’re not using them (open the curtains if it’s sunny), and – I’m really bad at this one – unplugging things, or turning off power strips when you’re not using the things on that strip. Yeah, I don’t do that. But I think about it. And thinking about it saves 10% of the energy, right? No? Oh, sad.
• NAS Lemoore base housing provides/uses energy-efficient light bulbs in all the rooms, and the bathrooms have some sort of solar-powered light (or something? It stays lit through the evening, slowly fading… and pretty sure it’s not a skylight). This is pretty neat, even if the different color of the light takes a little getting used to.
• In the summer, use lined curtains to keep the heat out. In winter, use them to keep the heat in. In fall and spring, open the windows so you don’t have to rely on the air conditioner and heater.

I’m not any sort of green diva or earth princess or anything, but I do a lot of little things to reduce my impact and waste… and I know they add up. So now it’s your turn to share YOUR story. You could win something to help you become even more energy-smart.

To WIN:

What’s the prize? Two $50 GE energy smart LED light bulb that lasts 20 years and saves you $85 in energy cost. One given away per week of contest length.

Share with me what your energy use challenges at home are, for a chance to win a $50 GE energy smart light bulbs that lives 20 years and saves you $85 in energy costs.

Rules:

• No duplicate comments.
• You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
  • a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
  • b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
  • c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
  • d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
• This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.
• Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.
• You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
• The Official Rules are available here.
• For more chances to win, Visit the Exclusive Offers section.

Enter GE’s Ecomagination Challenge

If you have any HUGE ideas for energy-saving – beyond “the little things” you do in your household – like a way to make your entire town solar-powered (that would actually work really well where I live, and many neighborhoods have lots of houses with solar roofs), submit your ideas here. GE could help your idea become reality (they’re investing $200 million!) if yours is the best. You could make a HUGE impact.

Please consider:

• Originality – GE is looking for innovative home energy solutions. Is your entry unique?
• Feasibility – GE islooking for functional solutions that can enjoy success in the marketplace. Is your entry cost-effective, or can it be made so?
• Impact – If successfully realized, will your entry help turn our current energy challenge into an opportunity?

So anyway, just some things.

• I’m learning/practicing back wraps. I haven’t figured out how to make it comfy enough to wear for multiple hours, but it’s comfy enough and very secure, so that I can rush around and do some things that require leaning over… emptying the dishwasher (and filling it), moving boxes around, laundry, whatever. It’s cool.

• Teething is going on. And it is intense. VERY intense. A million people have asked me, “Have you tried an amber teething necklace?” Um, do you ever look at my pictures? She has been wearing one 24/7 for over a month. So that’s covered. Icy toys, wet cold cloths, Borion’s camilia, Hyland’s teething gel, breast milk popsicles, ice cubes, and Tylenol. I went out to buy ibuprofen (Motrin) for her today and the infant Motrin wasn’t on the shelves…recalled (again?) and the only other brand was children’s (2+ years), not infant. So that did not happen today. But I am venturing into town tomorrow to search some more. Also, all the teething toys in the world won’t help much when she is trying to go to sleep… she needs drug-induced relief.

• Teeth have erupted. I don’t know if you can see them in this picture. I can though. The two little slivers of the very tippy tops of her bottom front teeth. Hard to get a photo of them though, because she wiggles a lot and her tongue covers them up most of the time. Everyone said when they pop, the pain and such is over for a bit… but that doesn’t seem to be true in this case. Who knows? Maybe more teeth are on the way already, or maybe these still just hurt.

• I think she’s growing. LOTS of nursing the last 36 hours or so. I mean TONS. Last night, after the first few hours in her own room, she was latched on and nursing the entire rest of the night… we had had a few great nights in a row, with her sleeping well on her own until the early hours of the morning, so this was out of the ordinary.
• I went ahead and ordered some zip-up footie sleepers in 9m size, since her 6m ones are getting a bit tight length-wise. I also looked through her 9m clothes, but it looks like most of it is spring stuff. I think I might just improvise with spring dresses, jackets/coats, and leg warmers/long socks… I’m a bit lazy when it comes to baby pants. I take them off to change a diaper, and don’t put them back on unless we’re going to leave the house. So baby leg warmers or thigh-high socks are perfect for us.

• Anneliese and Zora are becoming fast friends. Sometimes if Anneliese is having a hard time and nothing is cheering her up, I’ll call Zora over and ask her to sit nearby. Inevitably, Anneliese ends up laughing and reaching out to touch her dog. It is very sweet.

• It is taking me some time to come to terms with the fact that it takes longer (a LOT longer) to get settled into a new house when you’re alone with a baby. For every other move, we’ve been pretty much settled within a week. Here, we’re comfortable living here – everything is unpacked – but it’s not “finished” yet. Pictures on walls, curtains, that sort of thing. I’m working on it, but it’s taking a long time. I had envisioned quickly getting set-up and then hosting a sweet little lunch housewarming. Yeah, that didn’t happen. But bits and pieces are slowly coming together.

If you’ve been following my facebook page or my twitter, you know that I’ve been trying like crazy to get our internet connection set up. First, our modem got shipped from Texas to Pennsylvania. Yeah, we live in California. Last Tuesday our DSL was “activated” but we had no modem, so I called to find out where the package was. I spoke with no less than 10 people at AT&T before finally learning that tidbit about UPS misrouting it. When it finally got here, the DSL wouldn’t connect. I did the requisite hour or so of troubleshooting on the phone with an outsourced tech support guy. No dice. So he scheduled a tech guy to come out today sometime between 8am and 8pm (yeah).

Sunday a guy called to ask how I was enjoying my service. I told him I didn’t have any and that I was waiting for a tech guy to come out. He said, “Oh let me move that to tomorrow for you.” and informed me that my appointment time was between 8am and 8pm yesterday.

So I stayed home. All day. And no one came. So we called again. “Oh sorry,” they said, “Looks like the tech guy didn’t make it out there.” (really??) And they said they’d put us to the front of the list for the next day (today).

Want to know what time we finally ended up getting a guy? 4:15. PM. And it took over an hour for the guy to fix the connection. Don’t get me wrong, I know all the other stuff wasn’t that guy’s fault, and he did his best and solved the problem, but all the smelling-like-cigarette-smoke, hacking and coughing into his hand, then touching stuff, and cursing and muttering under his breath (he said “f*** you” to his computer, and also muttered, “What did I do to deserve this?” while troubleshooting)… I could’ve done without all that.

But we’re connected now, and I have lots of ideas for blog posts, and a couple recipes for ya. Also, some reviews – if you’re a breastfeeding mama, you’re going to love the next few reviews and giveaways!

I’ve also got some precious pictures and videos of Anneliese, and some year end/year beginning posts in mind (though I realize January is almost over).

Also? Of course, we’ve moved into our new home. All the boxes are unpacked, and our house is definitely liveable, but we still need to finish putting pictures on the walls, and I need to find some more curtain rods and buy/make more curtains, since the windows in this house are different from ones we’ve had before. So it’s going to take a while before this house is really “finished” (whatever that means) but it’s getting there.

So glad my house doesn’t look like these pictures anymore! I’ll have to show you updated ones soon.

What’ve you been up to for the past 3 weeks? I’ve missed you all!

This is sponsored content from BlogHer and Olay.

As you know, my husband is in the Navy and we have moved a lot. A LOT. And we’re moving again in January (not far, just to base, but still…), this move will be our 5^th move in 4 years. And I’ve learned a few things about how to stay sane before a PCS or other military move. (For non-military folks, PCS means “Permanent Change of Station” which is ridiculously funny since there’s nothing permanent about it. It just means another move.)

1. Before you have orders, allow yourself to look at the possibilities. If you might end up in Washington state or might end up in Jacksonville, Florida… feel free to check out real estate listings, craigslist, etc. It’s fun. It’s like a game. It’ll give you something to do to feel like you’re preparing when there’s really no way TO prepare. Just don’t get too worked up about whatever you find – don’t go signing rental contracts, buying houses, or applying for jobs yet.
2. Another great way to pass the time while waiting is to declutter. That stack of magazines you’ve been meaning to read for the past year? Recycle! The coupons you clipped but haven’t used? Recycle! Clothes you haven’t worn since your last PCS? Donate!
3. Keep living your life. Even if you know you’re moving soon, if you don’t have orders yet you’re not in the thick of it. Don’t let yourself be consumed by #1 and #2. Keep doing crafts, playing games, going for family walks, and baking special treats. Whatever you like doing, continue doing it.
4. When packing up your house, label boxes by room. Instead of putting all of your books in the same boxes, if you have some you keep in the office, and others in the living room, keep them with the correct room’s stuff. It will make unpacking much easier.
5. Keep everything organized. Every box should make sense. Don’t pack your fridge magnets with your throw pillows.
6. BUT everyone has some stuff that doesn’t seem to fit in anywhere else. Allow yourself ONE “miscellaneous” box. JUST one.
7. Set aside some things that you’ll need at the last minute before your move and that you’ll want first-thing when you get to your new home. This could include cleaning supplies, your favorite brand of toilet paper (don’t judge me for having a favorite!), bubble bath, Olay Total Effects moisturizer, a gripping novel to read, your guitar… or anything that makes you feel more comfortable.
8. Don’t be afraid to outsource. If you’re doing a DITY move (or privately procured move) and you have a lot on your plate, don’t worry about cooking dinner – go out to eat. Or if you are moving quickly, hire someone to clean your house for the move-out inspection and instead go hang out with some friends you’ll miss. And if you’ll be driving cross-country, instead of driving in separate cars, spend a little bit of money to ship one of the cars so you can travel with your significant other, which makes the trip a lot more pleasant.

If you’re familiar with PCSing or moving, what tips do you have for staying sane before you get to your new home? If you haven’t moved, what questions do you have about the process? Leave your answer for a chance to win a $100 Visa card!

For 14 other chances to win, check out BlogHer’s Olay round-up.

Rules:

• No duplicate comments.
• You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
  • a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
  • b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post.
  • c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post.
  • d) Read the official rules for alternate form of entry.
• Sweepstakes ends 5 PM PST on December 27, 2010.
• This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.
• Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.
• You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
• The Official Rules are available here.

Our house here doesn’t have a pantry – something that’s a little strange, and might have been a bigger issue if we were still eating “pantry foods” including canned soups, pasta, rice, crackers, etc. Rather, we have a couple baskets on shelves for things like extra nuts, maybe a bag of pork rinds, a summer sausage, extra coconut and almond flours, honey and maple syrup…and that’s about it. We also have one drawer for canned and jarred items – usually just a couple jars of tomato sauce, some cans of tomatoes and tomato paste, artichoke hearts, olives, coconut milk, and maybe a can or two of chicken (which I honestly can’t remember the last time I used).

So how should we set up an emergency kit?

I’ve been experimenting with our food dehydrator a bit – and it just makes everything look so beautiful, like food potpourri. I know there are entire recipes that can be made with dehydrated/reconstituted foods, but it’s difficult to find them – most recipes include many “fresh” ingredients along with the dehydrated ones. But I’m hoping to be able to figure out some good soup recipes I can put together with only dehydrated items… I’m not sure what else though, honestly.

Do any of you have good all-dehydrated recipes that I could make and package to store for an emergency? If the power were out, we’d be able to put a pot on our gas grill and cook that way.

Of course it’s easy to dehydrate vegetables – and while you CAN eat them in their dried states, it’s kind of odd…

Fruits are also easy, and delicious dried – think banana chips; dried blueberries, cherries, and strawberries; and various fruit leathers. Mmm…

For protein – I haven’t made jerky yet, but it’s on my list. If you have a suggestion of a yummy marinade or seasoning mix for jerky (one that doesn’t include sugars if possible – including honey or syrup), please share it!

I had thought about learning to can this summer, but I’m not sure if that’s a super idea because we’re likely to move in the fall, and jars are heavy and fragile – it would be much easier to move dehydrated foods! I definitely do want to learn the “art” of canning, but right now might not be the best time.

As far as store-bought canned and jarred foods go – I suppose our emergency kit could include canned/jarred tomato products, cans/pouches of chicken/tuna/salmon, summer sausage, cans and jars of fruit in their own juices (not in “syrup”), and boxes of broth or stock. As far as canned vegetables go, I hate that they’re all mushy and pretty much nutritionally useless – green beans are the only ones I can think of that I might eat, but they’re so soft, flavorless, and cooked to death! Canned pumpkin and beets are good… Nuts and dried fruits, cans of coconut milk, olives, and…

What else? I guess all of that would be fine in an emergency and would keep us alive, but it would be tough to actually put together meals from those things.

So, basically this has been a rambly post… just kind of spilling my thoughts about emergency stores of food when eating the primal/paleo way… any ideas or suggestions are really very welcomed!!! Especially if you’ve got experience with dehydrating for that purpose!

I hope you’ve enjoyed the photos of my pretty dehydrated veggies!

Three gold stars go to the person who can identify all four of the dried veggies! Can you figure out what they all are?

Today I got some poster board  and decided to make more fun yard sale posters than the ones I usually see. Hope these will help… this one:

And this one… we will put up tomorrow in the morning.

And we’ve already put these up at the entrance to our neighborhood. Hopefully people saw them on their way home from work today, and will stop by.

Tonight when we were coming home from a get-together at a friend’s house, I got to see our signs from a car-rider’s perspective – they looked GOOD! Very clear, kind of exciting, and no question about where the sale is.

In the morning one of my friends is coming over from Lemoore with her junk too. I’m going to make scrambled eggs and bacon (and coffee) for her, me, and the hubby since it’ll be so early. I hope we have success and make a few bucks.

I got this 1973 book off of amazon.com after seeing it on Awful Library Books… I just loved the cover too much to pass it up. It’s got some great tips in it, like to have lots of lower-priced items because housewives like to shop at garage sales, and they often have limited pocket money. And that if you’re selling power tools or items men might be interested in, that you should have your garage sale on a Saturday instead of a Thursday or Friday, because men work during the week and wouldn’t be able to attend on weekdays.
Yeah, hopefully those tips will help us out tomorrow!