Pink, Blue and Glamorous Gold Nursery

I'm excited to finally share some photos of my little queen’s room with you all! Inspired by a room I saw on Pinterest of course! Having a girl the second time around I knew right away that I wanted pink to be a big part of her nursery, something girl-ish but not baby-ish. I also didn’t want just pink but a contrasting colour too. We decided to go with blue, pink and a splash of glamorous gold. 

So without future adou, here is my daughter’s stunning nursery: 

Source List: 

Paint: Benjamin Moore – the blue is “Tahitan Breeze" and the pink is “Funny Face” 

Crib, Dresser, Nightstand, Changing Tray: Pali – Cristallo in vintage white 

Swivel Chair: Dutailier – Sicilia in white

Fitted crib sheet, crib comforter, crib skirt, change pad cover, musical mobile, drape panel: Carousel Designs – Love Birds Crib Bedding

Curtain rod: Rona 

Monogram: Custom made by Jim Camara  - jimc@alliancestorefixtures.com

Wall Shelf with 5-Frames & 4-Hooks: Hobby Lobby 

Chandelier: Custom made by Dol Lamden 

Lamp and Hamper: Homesense 

Home Birth Supply List

Your midwife will provide you with a list of items that you and your hubby are responsible for collecting 3 weeks prior to your due date. Having these items ready nice and early will ensure that your midwife can set up nice a quickly and then just focus on you and your upcoming labour.

Here is what my list included:

4-8 clean older wash clothes

6 large clean older towels

6 receiving blankets

2 medium sized bowls

2 large garbage bags and a large sturdy zip-lock bag

1 digital thermometer

1 medium seized aluminum baking sheet

A large roll of paper towel

A flashlight

1 large pack of overnight maxi pads

Tylenol, Advil and Gravel (I never gathered these)

A loose gown or pajama

Diapers

2 newborn hats

Olive oil

A onesie and sleeper

Hydrogen peroxide

Now, depending on what type of home birth you would like there are a little bit more things to prepare. I had decided that I wanted to have my home birth on my bed. In order to protect my mattress and pillowcases here is how I was told to prepare my bed 3 weeks prior to my due date:

Step 1: Put on a good fitted sheet.

Step 2: Put on a good top sheet.

Step 3: Put on a plastic mattress over (we bought a huge tarp from Home Depot).

Step 4: On top of the plastic put on a clean, older fitted sheet.

Step 5: Next a clean, older top sheet.

Step 6: Prepare your pillows with a clean pillowcase, garbage bag and a clean older pillowcase on top.

Now that you have your supplies and bed all set and ready to go, it is also recommended to have a small suitcase ready incase a trip to the hospital is necessary. You’re car seat should be ready too.

I hope that this list prepares you for labour and the arrival of your new bundle of joy. Good luck mama!! 

Homeopathic Travel Kit

In February my family had their first overseas trip to Jamaica. With any trip I would normally go on, before I became pregnant and had children, I’d take a couple of things with me like: aloe gel, bug spray, gravel etc… Who knows you wouldn’t want to be that unlucky one who gets sick and then can’t enjoy your vacation. Now that we had another little human coming along with us I wanted to put together a homeopathic travel kit specifically for him that was all natural and non-toxic. I am so glad that I did because lo and behold my son got a fever right before we needed to travel, which continued until we got to the resort.

To help create my first Homeopathic travel kit I consulted with my Naturopathic Doctor. We started off small, just with the basics: a little something for Travel's Diarrhea, sunburn, fever, bumps and brusies and shock.

Here were some of the basics in my travel kit:

1. Arsenic album for stomach flu/ traveller's diarrhea.
2. Belladonna for fever and extreme lethargy.
3. Arnica for bumps and bruises.
4. Aconitum for shock (anything - seeing something shocking/traumatic or going through shock as part of an illness or injury).
5. Sunscreen: My go to brand is ABC Arbonne Baby Care Sunscreen SPF 30+. This brand is not laden with many harmful chemicals but rather loaded with antioxidants, vitamins and soothing botanicals. 
6. Coconut oil for any sunburned areas.
7. Probiotics which contribute to a natural healthy gut flora. Great prevention for Traveler’s Diarrhea, digesting food you may not normally eat, and keeping your immunity high to avoid getting sick. This probiotic powder needs to be refrigerated so I brought it with me in my carry-on in a small cooler with an ice pack.

Now get packing and happy travels!

Toddler Room Fit For A Little Prince

Last year I shared with everyone my son’s absolutely stunning nursery (Here it is again incase you can't remember what it looked like.) His nursery was short lived as we unexpectedly decided to move into a bigger home. I was most devastated about leaving his previous nursery behind; it was literally my favourite room in the whole house. I wished that we could just cut out his room and bring it along with us. That’s how much I loved it.

After about 9 months of my son in his stunning nursery we moved him into his nice little room with bare white builder paint walls – yuck! After letting the house set for a year we decided that it was time to recreate his nursery for his new toddler room. The room was officially completed last weekend. I’d have to say that I like it as much as the first one.

Here is a little sneak peak. What do you all think?

Source List:

Paint: Benjamin Moore – the blue is "millstream" in flat

          Rustoleum – the gray window wall is Metallic Accents Sterling Silver

Crib: Pali – Volterra Forever Crib in white

Dresser with changing tray: Pali – Volterra Double Dresser in white

Fitted crib sheet, dust ruffle, change pad cover, musical mobile, round hamper, and soft basket prints: Sweet Kyla – Dove in blue 

Crown Monogram: Back Lane Woodcrafts 

Chandelier: Rona

Mirror: HomeSense

Children’s Armchair: IKEA

Book Sling: Toys R Us

Nellie's All-Natural Laundry Soda

After my annual shopping trip to Grove City Pennsylvania, I had a ton of baby clothing to wash. I had no idea that there were so many different types of detergents to choose from. I knew that many popular name brand detergents contain hazardous ingredients which can be detrimental to your health and cause skin irritations. Feeling a little overwhelmed I asked a bunch of moms what detergent they used on their babies' clothing. This is how I discovered the brand Nellie's All-Natural Laundry Soda. What sets Nellie’s apart from the other laundry detergent brands is this hefty list of qualities:

•      Biodegradable
•      Non Toxic
•      Hypoallergenic
•      Gluten Free
•      No SLS or SLES
•      No GMO's
•      Chlorine Free
•      Phosphate Free
•      Septic Safe
•      No animal testing (Leaping Bunny Certified)
•      Dye free
•      Non toxic
•      Paraben Free
•      Formaldehyde Free
•      Ammonia Free
•      Synthetic fragrance free (One Soap and Scent Sticks)
•      Fragrance free laundry soap 

After researching the product I discovered that Costco sold a 36 pound tub of this stuff for $100. I ordered my first Nellie’s tub before my son was born in 2013 and I am still using that same tub. I think I still have a good year or two left out of it too. One tablespoon of detergent is all I need for a full load in my high efficiency front-loading machine. All of my clothing comes out clean and residue free.

For more information on Nellie's All-Natural products visit their website at www.nelliesallnatural.com.