Playing House Full Time

Natural Beauty; Food for your face.

March 22, 2013 by Autumn 13 Comments

I’ve gotten several emails and facebook messages recently asking about my ‘beauty’ routine. This is awesome for a few reason. First, I haven’t been wearing makeup much at all anymore and it is really affirming to feel beautiful anyhow. I like makeup and think it is a lot of fun but I was wearing it more because I felt like I wasn’t “presentable” without it. Uh, what a lie! I am presentable as I am because I am a person and that’s enough. Another awesome reason is that I would love to share what I do and use because it is easy, cheap, and you are likely to have all that you need in your home already. So, here is my beauty recipe list!

407eaa4be4b174545982be6318d03665

1. I cut out Dairy and Soy (and am significantly limiting gluten). I have had eczema since I was two and it comes in waves and I have thought it was exacerbated by citrus, then peanut butter, then stress, then weather, on and on. And? It very well could be somehow impacted by those things, but I truly believe that the big unknown culprit my life was Dairy. Since cutting it out wholly, my skin is overall nicer/clearer/brighter.

2. I don’t use any products. Nothing with an ingredient list. I use only homemade/natural skin care.

For Makeup removing: I use a little coconut oil on a napkin/rag/TP and use that on my lashes and around my eyes. It works great, is gentle, isn’t in a scary childproof container (because, uh, what is in that??) and leaves my lashes feeling great and clean and I smell good!

Face Wash: I dissolve a Tbs. of Baking Soda in warm water (about a 1/4 cup)

Quick Mask/Tightening Mask: I half a juicy lemon and drizzle it with a little honey and rub that on any problem areas on my face. Leave it for several minutes and wash it off. Bonus! It tastes great if you get a little drip.

Black Head Remover: I mix about a Tbs of baking soda with 1/4Cup milk (the base and alkaline mix works wonders!) and I rub this on my face (mainly nose!) and then rinse and repeat once if I need to.

Toner: This one feels SO GOOD, I use cold Apple Cider Vinegar on a tissue all over skin after it’s dry. The smell dissapates fast and it works great!

Moisturizer: Coconut oil, this one is harder. A little goes a long way here and I only use it on the driest parts of my face and it works SO well.

Tooth Whitening: I use a Tbs of baking soda and the juice of half a lemon, mixed into a paste and then applied to my teeth for about 30-45 seconds and then rinse. Not more than once a week, that stuff’s strong!

Filed Under: budget, DIY, postpartum body

My teenage dream.

March 19, 2013 by Autumn 1 Comment

Okay, I can’t figure out how to get a video posted here. But really, go to my blog facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/PlayingHouseFullTime

Charlie dancing the baby to sleep while lip syncing to Teenage Dream. It can’t be missed. Fer Real.

It is Papa Approved.

Filed Under: family

skin to skin

March 18, 2013 by Autumn 9 Comments

The need for skin to skin is stressed in those early months. Kangaroo care, skin to skin to help establish healthy breast feeding, to bond with baby, to help Dad bond with baby, and on and on. But then? Those babies grow up and into independent toddlers. “I do it myself!” is a commonly heard first phrase from a two year old. The need for distance and autonomy grows and that skin to skin priority wanes. And for some kiddos, that is just what they need, but not my sweet Noele.

I read about Love Language when we were doing our premarital counseling. Charlie’s love language is touch, mine is words of affirmation/time spent (talking)- I’m a talker. But I am not touchy by nature, and it is easy for me to feel touched out just by all the nursing/baby wearing that I do. But Nolie suffers because of this. She needs touch, needs skin to skin, and needs that affirmation. To feel full she needs a lot of touch. One of the best things we have found for her is baths together. I take baths often and once the water is cooled enough she joins me, cuddles up, nurses, tells me all about her day, and always (without fail) asks me to tell her about when she was born and when Ever was born. It is incredible and such a reset button for us.

Last night everyone was crumbling. Nolie was really on edge and losing it over every little thing, Evie was tired and sad if she wasn’t being held, and Charlie and I were both exhausted from a super busy weekend. So we decided to go for it and the three girls all hoped in our (tiny) bath. It was giggling, splashing, cuddling, story telling, shrieking, and all things good. We all got out clean and filled with a renewed appreciation and love.

Finding ways to meet Nolie’s needs, put her needs (and Evie’s) on the front flame and realizing just how important those needs are and feel for her. Ever isn’t nearly as touchy and is more verbal/chatty and love to be talked to/laughed with. Getting to know my girls, their needs, and how to meet them will be a lifelong endeavor I am sure. But today? It was as blissful and easy as taking a warm bath with them and laughing hard and cuddling long.

**also, I hesitated about posting these photos but after talking to a group of other women who parent similarly to me, this was a pretty universal experience. And I want that to be known, and encouraged, bathing with our kids is awesome/bonding/normal and incredible!

Filed Under: family, growing, Nolie Month by Month, parenting

then/now

March 10, 2013 by Autumn 2 Comments

Sheesh capish, those girls are growing!

Filed Under: Ever Harbor Joy, Nolie Month by Month, then/now Tagged With: then/now

spring is peeking.

March 8, 2013 by Autumn 1 Comment

The sun is streaming through the windows and our back yard is waking up to spring. The swings are swaying, the flags on the playhouse are blowing about, and A little nose is pressed to the window. The dust and mud on our floor is highlighted in the sunlight, the music is playing louder, and the door is thrown wide to the wind. Blow the sickness out. I am bouncing to the sounds of elizabeth mitchell and hearing little feet stomping.

I am a reluctant sun lover. Rain is my first love but children have shaped me into a ‘good’ weather worshiper. This Spring Ever will toddle in the long grass, get soaked with rain and dew, and have to figure out turn taking with the swing set. This spring Nolie will plant (more) seeds, pull up old bulbs, and eat mint fresh from the lawn. I will grow stronger from mowing, tanned from the overcast, and rich in vitamin D.

I am so excited.

I am also toying with a tech free week, next week, am I crazy? We need a fresh start after this sick week. Have you ever gone tech free, 100% (phones, computer, all of it). How did it work?

Filed Under: growing

sleep.

March 6, 2013 by Autumn 9 Comments

Ever only naps in a carrier. I was to be upset about this. Annoyed. Frustrated. Clinging to some ‘self soothing’ myth, “she will never sleep” story, sleep training article. I spent a month frustrated that I was never alone. Mad that my baby wouldn’t sleep anywhere but on me. Blaming myself, Charlie, my ‘bad sleepers’, all of it. And then I decided to throw that out. To choose gratitude.

I sing and dance. I crank the music loud. I color and read books. I walk to the park and push Nolie on the swing. I get out! I go to the museum. The frozen yogurt shop. The grocery store. Epic long 3 year old centric playdates. I chat with Nolie and hear her stories with my attention only on her and not focused on keeping her ‘shushed’ or silent. All this? because I babywear.

Ever sleeps on my back for at least two naps a day, often three. On the weekends Charlie cuddles her up and naps her. When my parents baby-sit she cozy’s up and rests her little ear next to my Mom’s heart and sleeps on. She isn’t an encumbrance, she is a cozy little heater on my back who is used to my voice/beat/cadence of movement. And? when she wakes? she is On.The.Go.

She plays independently. Sits in the the girls room and sorts through all the toys/blocks/trinkets. She and Nolie wrestle and crawl-chase around the house. She sits in her highchair and powers through meals bigger than her sister. She hoots and hollars and cruises around the house with a constant chant of “mama! papa! Nol-ni!!!” and laughter. So much laughter. She is so fast growing and going that I want these cuddle filled naps to never end. Or, maybe not end for a very very long time.

I can be frustrated with her sleep habits or? I can be overjoyed that during the day we aren’t tied to nap time. We aren’t mute and quiet (in our tiny home). We aren’t sedentary in the least (we are dancing! bouncing! movin’!) and we have a rested and happy baby no matter where we travel.

Praise God that he gave me this baby second. That I have shed the need for her to be “normal” (and, that isn’t out there, I promise) and nap in the “right” place, at the “right” time. Praise God for my little back napper.

She was sick yesterday and we hung around home in jammies all day. Here are naps 1-2-3. I feel pretty incredible that at 10mo old she naps three times a day and gets all that touch and cuddle in while I meet my other sweet girls needs, clean the kitchen, write on my blog, have alone time, chat on the phone, and live a little life outside of our four walls too.

Huzzah for baby wearing!

Filed Under: Ever Harbor Joy, parenting

Unexpected Gifts

March 4, 2013 by Autumn 2 Comments

We held hands, we kissed too much, we got the perfect hot drinks. We ran and talked, we went miles further than he has in ages, we were playful. We are best friends, and remembering that amidst the morning nursing sessions, all night needs, oatmeal cooking, dinner planning, babies on our backs, nap shuffling, and meeting a thousand needs a day that aren’t our own… we are still the best of friends. Better friends in fact, than ever before.

It is so wonderful to remember that I love Charlie. Not just him as a husband, or a partner, or a Papa. But Charlie. Mathy, nerdy, awkward, gentlemen, always growing, romantic, Charlie. The man who asks me how I am, and then waits, waits out the ” I am fine…” and waits, silent, not filling the space with his thoughts. He waits, to know me.

{Thanks to my awesome parents who struck the golden weekend. On Wednesday night my Mom called and said “we miss you. What are your plans this weekend?” and, we miss them too, so much. And better than that? This past weekend was one of our only free weekends in the next two months. }

Filed Under: growing, marriage, Our Story

Salmon Fish Sticks with Fingerling Fries and Caesar Sprouts

March 4, 2013 by Autumn 1 Comment

(Recipe from our Acme box)

salmon, fingerling potatoes, sunflower sprouts, bread crumbs, olive oil, lemon, honey mustard, garlic, S&P

Preheat oven to 400. Remove skin from salmon, cut into 1/2″-3/4″ sticks. Beat one egg in a shallow bowl with Salt and Pepper. Fill another bowl with bread crumbs (we have had GREAT luck using ground up corn tortilla chips to make this a GF meal! Just omit the salt from your egg mixture). Dip each fish stick into the egg and then breading. Place on foil or parchment (best luck with parchment at our house). Slice the fingerlings length wise into 1/4″ planks. Toss with olive oil S&P and arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet.

Bake both fish and fries at 400 till crisp (about 20-25min).

Top with Sunflower sprouts (also good with arugala, or kale!) and if you would like a quick DF caesar to top it with (and, you do! yum!)….

Pulse in your blender – two (I do three! for health!) whole garlic cloves, the juice from half a lemon, a Tbs. honey mustard. Then pour in 1/4-1/2C Olive oil and some salt. It becomes creamy and just perfect Faux Caesar.

Enjoy!

Filed Under: food

back!

February 26, 2013 by Autumn 5 Comments

A few weeks ago I moved my computer. It was in a space that was toward a corner, away from a window, looking at a mess I needed to clean (the laundry area, still need to clean it) and? I found myself avoiding it. And that meant I was avoiding blogging. Sometimes I read so many blogs and reminders to “unplug” and “be real” and then I feel convicted. But the truth of the matter? I love to blog. It is therapeutic, beneficial to me and my family, and I am a written processor (is that a thing? cause I’m that.) and the best way for me to sort out my thoughts is to write them out. So down with feeling like I need to “unplug” from blogging just because everyone else does. I’m back! (I did however delete FB from my phone. . . I guess I *am* legit convicted about somethings)

Our little family has been busy growing. Nolie is learning and astounding us with the things she just picks up. We don’t go out of our way to “teach” her, but she is recognizing words, letters, sounds, doing simple math (addition, with her fingers! it isn’t the cutest thing ever, at all) and just generally being crazy smart. And hilarious. She is also so into pretend play. I am always being corrected;

“I am not Nolie right now. I am Fawn, a fairy who helps babies to fly! and learn! and be a bumble bee! Come ON Eviebee!”

Ever is standing, trying to walk, taking stumble steps to Nolie’s outstretched arms, and continually reminding us that she is very much a different person than her sister. She eats like crazy, sleeps much differently, and is the brightest eyed little lady. Offering up a smile without any hesitation, she is heart to the world and joy oozing.

And Charlie and I. We are growing too. Being cracked and grown and built into something new. Partners and best friends, confidants and sparks. We are in a pretty incredibly beautiful season. Holding hands and butterflies. Stealing kisses and falling hard for each other in our new (three years is still new) roles of Parents. Watching each other grow into awesome parents (if I may say so myself) is incredibly romance building. This is a good place to be sitting in.

Also? Dare I say it? Spring is coming! Garden! Mowing! Biking! Hiking! Day trip adventures!

Here are some pictures from our bike ride awhile back. It was Evie’s first, and it was perfect.

Also, lots of these are pulled from instagram. Follow me there, playinghousefulltime

Filed Under: family

valentine

February 7, 2013 by Autumn 2 Comments

I have two sweet valentiny girls that I will get to celebrate the official day with, a lovely hubs who I’ll be sure to kiss extra that day too. But, what do I want to do to celebrate vday? When Charlie offered me the choice, I chose…

collage