Mother Love

I wish so badly I was a good do-it-youselfer, but I have to admit that I’m really a much better buy-it-youselfer.

I have so many friends who are experts at crafting and repurposing and making something artistic out of nothing, but I lack both the ability and patience to be such a person. I don’t know how many times I’ve bought something at a thrift store or a yard sale with big intentions of doing something really cool with it…repurposing or refinishing or re-doing. And.it.never.happens. I’ve finally mostly come to terms with the fact that I’m just not that kind of person! Poo woo.

But there has been one diy project that I did and it was the best one I’ve ever done. Of course, the project mostly involved buying a few minimal supplies at Hobby Lobby and then getting my husband to do most of the actual work buuuuuuut let’s pretend that I did it, k? This diy is my kind of project: you need three things and about three minutes and viola! Finished.

I knew I wanted to have some of little play gym for my baby to have to lay under and “play.” But honestly all the of the ones I could find were so big and bulky and overwhelmingly colorful that I just couldn’t bring myself to spend the money on one. I’m not even sure if I saw this idea in my head or on Pinterest or a blog or where, but this simple baby gym is so easy-peasy and so wallet-friendly and it’s honestly the best diy I’ve ever done.

All you need are three wood dowels, some suede leather cord, and about five minutes of your time. My kind of diy! Ayla uses this play gym every day and will lay underneath it and just jabber and make big eyes and swat at her hanging toy. What I love about the teepee set up is that the height is completely adjustable, so I can lower the toy within her hand range as she’s learning to coordinate her movements. It’s the sweetest thing to watch her try to get her hand to touch the toy and move it where she wants it to go!

Teepee Baby Gym

Supplies:
Three 1″ wooden dowel rods – i got mine at Hobby Lobby
Leather suede cord
A small toy – I used this teether ring but any small toy you can attach will do
Someone to help

Instructions:
Stand the dowels up in a teepee shape. Take the leather cording and wrap it tightly around each rod several times (this is where the someone-to-help comes in), and then finish by wrapping it around all three rods several times. Be sure to leave enough cord to hang down from the center point and tie a small toy onto the hanging cord. That’s it!

What about you: what’s the best diy you’ve ever done?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Ah, the weekend.

It went by in a flash and we were busy little bees working hard all weekend on cleaning out corners, packing up belongings, and starting to load up the sheds that will haul our entire lives down to Nashville. It felt almost surreal to actually be taking stuff out of our house to move, and in all honesty…I started getting really, really excited. Sorta like a nervous excited…the kind you get before embarking on something you know will be amazing but you’re really not totally sure how it will all go and feel…that unknown excited kind of thing. Ok, and let’s be totally honest…I’m mostly just pretty excited to get to Nashville and go drink coffee at some of the local hipster spots, hehe.

We spent most of the day on Saturday packing and loading, and then had a bunch of our friends over for the evening for brisket and burgers and conversations on the deck. It was a fun evening for us, and made us realize all over again how much we will miss the friendships and relationships we have here! There is really nothing like being around people that you know and trust and understand. I know we’ll make new friends in Tennessee, but we’ll miss the ones from here too.

Sunday was an absolutely gorgeous day with sunny skies and perfect temperatures. We woke up and had our morning snuggles with Ayla, waffles for breakfast, and then listened to a podcast sermon. We thought we just wanted to spend the whole day at home together since it was our last Sunday in New York together (ben will be on a work trip next weekend)…but we suddenly decided we wanted to get out and do something since it was such a beautiful day. We packed a lunch and drove to Geneva to have a picnic by the lake…it was the perfect thing! About halfway through our lunch, we noticed a crowd was gathering on the point to our right and then they started singing worship songs and ended up having a baptism right in front of us. It was such a neat thing! You don’t see that kind of public display of Christ very often in this part of New York, so it was a pretty special thing to witness. Ayla enjoyed the outing for the most part, minus a major meltdown soon after we set up our picnic. We rigged up a semi-private nursing corner with a tree behind me and the stroller beside me and just made it work, hehe. I’m not super comfortable with nursing in public (just my own personal preference), but desperate baby cries calls for desperate nursing measures! The rest of Sunday was back at home for naps, a walk, and church in the evening. Our church did a little prayer send-off for us during the service, which was so special and as we drove away that evening, we just looked at each other and agreed once again that we’re gonna miss this.

Here are five things I love:

– this pretty case
– this blog post
– this super sweet moment
– this easy diy banner
– this cake recipe

What about you: what did you do this weekend for fun?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!