Last week I shared my thoughts on downsizing. Then something serendipitous happened. Layne came home from school with this library book.

It’s Hubert Horatio Bartle Bobton-Trent by Lauren Child. I didn’t realize until Layne brought the book home that the children’s cartoon “Charlie and Lola” was inspired by Child’s early books about the sweet English siblings. {Please forgive me if I’m telling you something you already know.} “Charlie and Lola” is one of the few cartoons I don’t mind my kids watching. I mean, seriously, is there anything cuter than a brother and sister who speak lightly and with an English accent? I think not.

The book tells the story of a wealthy family that, after financial troubles, decides to downsize their house and life. Child affectionately refers to it as a “riches-to-rags” story.

The illustrations are lively and distinguished – appealing to children and adults alike. It’s like Jenny Komenda jumped into the book and styled the rooms herself.

My favorite is Hubert’s bedroom. I don’t think I’ve ever seen herringbone wood floors in a children’s book before. Besides the illustrations, the story itself is pretty inspirational as well. After I read the book, I asked Layne what made him choose it.

“It’s like us. We moved from a big house to a little house and we’re happier.”

I couldn’t agree more. I can’t wait to check out more of Child’s books. Do you have a favorite children’s author?

FYI – I wasn’t compensated to mention Lauren Child or her touching book. I just love sharing great finds!

images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

Remember the photo shoot? Well, today I finally get to share the fruits of our labor with you.

HH and I partnered with The Tile Shop over a year and a half ago during the renovation of our Underdog. After many, many, MANY months of hard work {and very little sleep}, we are so excited to be a part of The Tile Shop’s blogger spotlight and ad campaign. As of today, you can read about the details of our tiling adventures over on The Tile Shop’s site here. The online spotlight includes many never-seen-before photos of our kitchen, mudroom/laundry nook/dining room and bathroom as well as commentary and DIY tips contributed by moi.

If you happen to live in one of The Tile Shop’s major markets you may just find full page ads featuring our house popping up in your local glossies. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeek! As far as I know, the ads should run in the following prints over the next few months: Minneapolis St. Paul Magazine, Chicago Magazine & Chicago Home and Garden, Kansas City Home and Gardens, Charlotte Home & Garden, Cincinnati Magazine, Indianapolis Monthly, Madison Magazine, Milwaukee Magazine, Nashville Lifestyles, Philadelphia Magazine, Pittsburgh Magazine, Long Island Pulse, St. Louis Magazine, Buffalo Magazine, Washingtonian Magazine and Atlanta Magazine.

Fun fact: The Tile Shop will be featuring several other bloggers via their blogger spotlight and ad campaign so keep your eyes peeled. I am the guinea pig!

Can we talk for a brief minute about companies recognizing the voice and importance of bloggers? And I’m not talking about my voice. So many wonderful, deserving bloggers out there are collaborating with amazing companies and brands in  win-win partnerships. A few of my favorites: Holly Becker of decor8 + West Elm. Trina McNeilly of Lalalovely + Land of Nod. John & Sherry Petersik of Young House Love + Shades of Light. And don’t even get me started on the things that Joss & Main and One Kings Lane are doing. Fabulousness all over the internet. Fabulous. Ness. It’s a very exciting time to be a blogger.

From a consumer standpoint, I find these partnerships inspiring as well. I prefer seeing real homes - as opposed to lifeless sets or over-the-top mansions - in advertisements and catalogs. I think it shows how brands and products can be implemented realistically and effectively. More companies should take notice of this latest trend in marketing!

And just so you know, it wasn’t easy capturing a decent shot of my family in our kitchen. I find it mind-boggling that we got one pic in which everyone is looking at the camera with their eyes open, hands down and tongues in their mouths.

Um, Everett can be a bit of a ham in front of the camera.

images: Megan Hoy for The Tile Shop

I’m about to get heavy on one of my kids. To be read: This post has little to do with all things home.

That’s Layne. Today is his birthday. He’s turning 8. I find myself reflecting on my kids’ short but big lives on their birthdays. I’m often amazed at how much they’ve changed and grown. Today is no different.

When Layne was three years old, he was diagnosed with a sensory disorder. He was a relatively mild case but his symptoms were enough to disrupt our daily lives and affect Layne socially. On an intellectual level, Layne was way beyond his years. He was speaking in complete sentences at 16 months and was reading by the age of 3.

But, physically, Layne was uncomfortable in his body. Just getting dressed for the day was a huge, frustrating task that, more than once, ended with Layne physically getting sick. Layne couldn’t advance with his peers in preschool because he had problems with potty-training – yet he was reading at a 1st grade level. He was nearly 4 years old by the time he was potty-trained “enough” to move up but even then he had problems.

Desperate and worried, I relayed my concerns to Layne’s pediatrician and we were referred to an occupational therapist. Layne attended OT sessions and I was given recommendations for treatments and activities outside of OT to help Layne’s symptoms improve. One of the OT’s suggestions was to enroll Layne in gymnastics. I did. It was a basic co-ed gymnastics class that met for 45 minutes once a week. He learned to do a somersault and jumped around in a bounce house. That was over three years ago.

Yesterday, Layne placed 1st on parallel bars, 3rd on high bar, 5th on pommel horse and 4th all-around at a gymnastics meet in Indiana. I was so proud of him but the best part was seeing how proud Layne was of himself. He has come a long way.

We celebrated Layne’s birthday this past weekend. Per Layne’s request, we threw a Titanic-themed party for our families. He was inspired by a library book he had recently read on the Titanic.

I made Layne’s favorite meal and he helped me come up with Titanic-esque names for the food:

*Watch Out for That Iceberg! salad

*Troubled Waters chili

*Grab a Lifeboat corn muffins

*Titanic fruit salad

He chose Cold Stone’s ice cream cupcakes for dessert. {If you want to confuse the bajeezus out of your guests, ice cream cupcakes are the way to go! Yes, you eat the frozen chocolate “wrapper.” Yes, they are cupcakes. Yes, they have ice cream in them. Yes, they have cake in them. And, again, YES! you eat the “wrapper.”}

Someone on instagram asked so I thought I’d share…the black and white polkadot balloons were off the shelf at Meijer. The guy in the flower department filled them with helium at no extra charge. Wasn’t that nice?!

What would you guess an eight-year-old boy’s favorite birthday gift to be? You will never guess Layne’s. NEVER. So I’ll just tell you.

A 4-slot toaster. A 4-SLOT TOASTER! We played Heywood Bank’s “Toast!” after Layne opened his toaster. Layne made stacks of toast for everyone the next morning. He’s one-of-a-kind.

Happy Birthday Layne! I’m so happy I get to be your mom and watch you become you.

images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

Remember my initial mood board for the boys’ shared bedroom? Let me jog your memory…

You can read more about it here. Or you could save your time and forget it. Because things have changed. I loved the mood board. Really. I did. But there was a problem. Layne and Everett didn’t approve. They said it was okay but too boring. Since I want the boys to have a room they’re excited about, I asked them how I could make it better.

“I want it to feel like a hideout.” – Layne

“I want it to be colorful.” – Everett

So, now I have the task of creating a colorful hideout that still looks like it belongs in our house. I’m working on it. Recently, we repainted the boys’ bedroom switching out the light blue-gray walls for taupe. {It’s Valspar’s dry riverbed in case you’re wondering. It was the color of the front living room in our previous house.} Then we hung floor-to-ceiling curtains around the bunk. Take a peek – don’t mind the messy beds and non-ironed everything. These are by no means ‘afters.’ This is real life. Be happy there’s not a naked four-year-old photobombing every picture.

The curtains are four LENDA panels in the bleached color. The ceiling track is KVARTAL with coordinating glides. I cut the top loops off the curtains and sewed RIKTIG gathering tape onto the backs at the top so I could hang the curtains from the glides. {Everything I’m referencing here hails from IKEA.}

I tried the RIKTIG clips {seen on the right above} but thought they looked unfinished.

I’m all for casual but the clips weren’t cutting it.

Ahhhh. Much better. One curtain hangs at the foot of the bunk and three panels hang along the side.

The boys don’t like their enclosed bunks. They love them. I love that they love them. And I like the way the curtains soften the metal bunk but I have to admit…the floor-to-ceiling curtains remind me of the triage units at the hospital. I tried to make them feel more posh by hemming them so they pool on the floor.

Fun fact: This time last year, I was watching the Super Bowl from a similar curtained bed in the labor & delivery triage unit. I was in pre-term labor with Mabrey.

I’m still wishing the boys would have chosen a wooden bunk bed. But, whatever. It’s their room.

Each boy has their own book light and ledge.

Sometimes I’ll walk into the room to find the boys camping out on their beds with the curtains closed, lights on and a pile of books at their disposal. It makes my day.

So, I think I’ve got the hideout thing covered.

I’ve got work to do on the colorful part. I’m not good with lots of color. Now, pops of color I can do. Hopefully, they’ll appease Everett.

I’m thinking that ladder {it’s separate and removable} would look cool if it were different from the rest of the white bed. Spray-painted yellow? Wrapped in rope?

If you’re looking for an easy way to DIY a freestanding hideout bunk…

My boys love it and I can live with it. More to come as the room evolves!

images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

After receiving several emails asking about our GULLIVER crib, I thought I would answer in the form of a post.

You may remember that I bought the crib last summer shortly after we moved into the Underdog. I liked the crib’s clean lines, price tag {it’s only $100!} and versatility.

Now that we’ve lived with the crib for over seven months, I think it’s safe to say I love it. I assembled it myself and it was easy. It’s sturdy without being bulky or heavy. It’s perfect for a small nursery {Mabrey’s room isn’t even 10′ x 10′} or the corner of a guest/master bedroom.

Miss Mabrey and her friend, Miss Strawberry.

The crib is petite but still works with a standard crib mattress. It’s just about the smallest standard-sized crib you could imagine.

Baby jail.

Mabrey is nine months old now and has started pulling up on furniture…including her crib. We lowered her crib mattress recently and it took about thirty minutes to do but was relatively easy.

The white painted finish has held up well to playtime in the nursery. There aren’t any scratches to report but I think you could touch up with a white paint marker if you had to. The boys love playing with Mabrey in her room but they save rough play for their room. No jumping in the crib!

Zorro leaves his weapons at the door.

Mabrey is growing like a weed. Growing, inevitably, like all babies do. It makes me a little sad. Especially since she is our last baby.

The crib will grow with her. One side can be removed when/if she starts to climb out OR whenever we feel the need to convert her to a toddler bed that she can get in and out of herself.

Once Mabrey has outgrown the crib, I’ll probably save it for my sisters. They’re younger than me and haven’t started families yet. I don’t see any reason why this crib couldn’t last through several children. The color and style make it gender neutral. And, again, you can’t beat the $100 price tag.

If you’re looking for a simple, modest and inexpensive crib, the GULLIVER comes highly recommended by me and I’ve heard similar things about other IKEA cribs. Do you have any experience with a small-ish, inexpensive crib that you’d like to share with other moms out there?

FYI – I wasn’t compensated for mentioning the crib. I just love sharing good finds!

images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

Blogs have a way of portraying life as chipper and easy and always good. But it isn’t always so. 2012 wasn’t my favorite year. It’s been rough. 2012 kicked my butt and while I hate to wish away time I’m not sad to say adios to the past year.

Here’s a brief recap of what happened in 2012:

We tackled various DIY renovations that put us about six months past our predetermined move-in date. One project that we thoroughly underestimated was the installation of our engineered hardwood floors. So. Much. Glue.

Let’s not forget that I was pregnant at the beginning of this year with a surprise #3. And when I say surprise, I mean “SURPRISE!!!!!” It was an eventful pregnancy with two lil’ ones, a demanding job, a renovation in progress and a traveling HH. I ended up on modified bed rest for the last two months.

We finished one bathroom. It’s still the only functioning bathroom in our house.

It was a girl! We welcomed Mabrey Larew and our lives grew even busier. But, damn, she is so cute. Okay, so maybe 2012 wasn’t a total loss.

I officially quit my day job as a retail pharmacist. I don’t miss the work but I miss the comradery, the paycheck {quitting my job meant cutting our household income by 50%} and getting out of the house on a regular basis. This SAHM stuff is serious business.

We finished and installed a walnut butcher block countertop for our kitchen island. It’s still one of our favorite projects to date.

We finally moved out of our apartment and into the Underdog.

We had a water leak which forced us to move out of the house for several days. I’m still having nightmares about that one.

I went dairy-free for baby’s sake and you guys were such a huge support system. FYI – Mabrey gave up breastfeeding a month or so ago and I’ve since reintroduced dairy into my diet in small doses. Hello cheese. Nice to see you again.

We organized the bedroom closets to maintain some sort of sanity.

I decorated one room. It remains the only decorated room in the house.

We excavated. In the mud vs. Dana battle, mud won.

I painted a rug because I’m crazy like that.

I met John & Sherry. It was one of the only times I got out of the house without all three kiddos in tow. I forgot how to act in public.

We tweaked the kitchen.

I practiced speed blogging.

HH found color-changing Christmas lights to appease everyone.

And then the year was over. Just like that. I had assumed 2012 would be the year I focused more on decorating and blogging but I was distracted by poopy diapers, hungry kids, school parties, sibling rivalry, sleepless nights, dirty dishes, piles of laundry and New Girl. Why is it taking me so long to find my sea legs after downsizing, quitting my job and churning out baby #3? Maybe it’s not the same for everyone but going from two kids to three has been extremely rough for us.

2012 is going out with a “thpppfth.” HH and I had plans for an adults only NYE night with another couple. We were going to get a babysitter. I was going to make dinner and dessert. We were going to drink and stay up late on purpose. We were going to entertain for the first time in our Underdog. Then 80% of us {that would be four out of five} went viral. And not in the good Bourne Legacy viral kind of way. Think more along the lines of exploding bodily fluids kind of viral. And we only have one bathroom. I’ll let you use your imagination.

Did I mention we’re on a tight schedule for a photo shoot scheduled for next week?

2012. Goodbye. And good riddance.

2013 come quick. Please bring toilet paper and sprinkle my kids with sleep fairy dust.

images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

Okay, let’s try a light-hearted Honest Monday, shall we? Christmas lights. I like warm white strands. HH prefers LED’s. My kids want as many different colors as possible. And blinking. Lots of blinking. Oh, the abrupt blinking. It’s like Christmas lights in GIF format. Sorry. Inside blogger joke. Anyhow, after a four-year boycott of exterior Christmas lights {the reason for which we don’t speak of around these parts}, HH decided it was time to give them another chance. The kids want lights on their house and who are we to deny them?

In an effort to try and please everyone, HH found LED color changing lights at Home Depot UPDATE: Meijer. This should show how often HH and I ‘talk with our faces’ as HH refers to it. I can’t keep up with him and he can’t keep up with me. Ahhhh! {I can’t find a link to them online but for anyone who might be interested they are the ‘color change series’ brand and come in strands of 35 lights.} These lights have four settings – off, warm white, multicolored, continuous switch from white to colored – that can be changed with the included remote control. You heard me right. I said remote control. LED’s + remote control = an engineer moonlighting as an elf.

HH hung seven strands PERFECTLY STRAIGHT around the front and sides of the house just at the gutter line. I said something about how nice it would look with lights along the rooflines as well but HH said climbing up on a wet metal roof to hang Christmas lights would be the end of him. Good point.

The white is a warm white. Not blue like many LED’s. We set them to white when we’re going for a classic, sophisticated look. Teehee.

Most of the time they’re on the multicolored setting. The kids like it best. We haven’t mentioned the blinking thing and I don’t think we will. I wish my pictures showed the true color of this setting. In person, they are much livelier and deeper in color.

I have to admit. The colored lights are growing on me. Life’s too short for white Christmas lights.

In regards to Christmas light hanging, I married my father. My dad takes pride in hanging a perfectly straight Christmas light strand. Until HH, I never met anyone else who put so much effort into lining Christmas lights up like soldiers. Layne spent the night with my dad a few weeks ago after HH had hung our lights. My dad happened to hang his lights the day Layne was visiting. He was outside for less than an hour when Layne went out to check his progress.

Layne: Wow! Grandpa, did you do all that just now?

Grandpa: Yeah.

Layne: Wow. My dad didn’t even put up that many lights and it took him THREE days!

There’s an ongoing family joke about this now. So maybe my dad is more efficient but HH’s strands are just as straight.

What about you? Do you prefer white or colored lights? Are you all business on the outside with a multicolored party going on inside? Have you ever tried color changing lights?

images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

Every once in a while I like to surprise my family with a ‘fancy’ dinner. The food isn’t necessarily anything different than what we typically have but I break out the good china, set the table, light candles and dim the lights. It’s special and the boys love it. Now that we have a dining light {Nevermind the fact that we don’t have proper dining chairs yet. We’re still using outdoor chairs as placeholders until we find what we want.}, I thought it would be fun to share a simple and sparkly tablescape that’s typical of these rare occasions.

I opted out of a tablecloth. With kids, it’s just one more thing I have to clean. And it always ends up being accidentally pulled around – along with everything else on it. The centerpiece is a round glass vase filled with store bought roses. I haphazardly arranged some votives and tea lights around the vase. The candles are the boys’ favorite part. Layne displays some pyro tendencies {you should see him at a bonfire!} so we have to keep a close eye on him.

The plates were a wedding gift. We don’t have upscale silverware. I just used our everyday utensils here. FYI – To remember which side of the plate the utensils go, years ago I came up with this helpful cheat: ‘fork’ has four letters in it and so does ‘left’ so forks go on the left. ‘Spoon’ and ‘knife’ have five letters in them and so does ‘right’ so spoons and knives go on the right. Anything beyond forks, spoons and knives…I have no idea. UPDATE: Apparently, I haven’t nailed down a good cheat about spoons going on the outside. Dulp. Good thing my family doesn’t notice.

Since we’re in full fledged holiday season, I placed capiz ornaments on top of the salad plates as a subtle nod to Christmas. Hmmmm. Now there’s an idea! Maybe we’ll have a ‘fancy’ dinner the night we decorate our Christmas tree {we usually buy a live one the first or second week in December} and I’ll put ornaments to be hung on the tree on the plates. That would be fun.

The boys get a kick out of sipping water from wine glasses. They turn into these dainty creatures and are sooooooo careful. That’s not to say the glasses shouldn’t be afraid. Everett is the most accident prone kid I know.

I think the roses are Leonidas. They’re the same flowers HH and I used in our fall wedding many, many moons ago. Good memories.

I try to bring in one warm wood element to tie into the oak table. This night it’s a woven votive holder.

I’m really wishing I had some gold glitter to toss into the vase’s water for a little more sparkle.

Can you spot the trellis shadows from the new pendant light? Uh. Maze. Balls.

So, yeah, we fake that we’re high society sometimes and make dinnertime fancy. But the dinner conversation still usually includes the words ‘poop’ and ‘booger.’ Do you ever have fancy dining night at your house?

Source list:

round glass vase – Goodwill

roses – local grocery store

two light green candleholders – West Elm found at a Pottery Barn outlet

woven candleholder – West Elm found at a Pottery Barn outlet

tea lights – IKEA

capiz ornaments – thrift find

wine glasses – vintage family heirloom

china – JCPenney

cloth napkins – Wayfair

silverware – wedding gift

Hoyne pendant – Crate & Barrel

Btw, check out the other purpose of our dining room {i.e., mudroom} over on Wayfair today! See the post here.

images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

Speed blogging. It’s not unlike speed dating and it’s what I’m doing today. It’s something that I think every mommy blogger out there has done at least once. {If you’re a mommy blogger or a daddy blogger or a non-parenting blogger, please tell me you’ve done it.} It’s a post that’s quickly typed out when one realizes that it’s almost the end of the blogging week with only one post {and a giveaway at that!} published earlier in the week. And every professional blogger out there advises to post at least 3-4 times weekly to keep your audience entertained so I MUST GET OUT ANOTHER POST! I’m tap dancing for you people. I’ve got a sequined leotard, coat tails, a top hat, cane and everything!

Why the quiet blog lately? As you might already know, HH has been out of town for work over the last ~3 weeks and I’ve been held hostage by the kids. When the blog is quiet that usually means my house is pretty loud and chaotic. And when the blog is cruising with posts, well, my house is still pretty loud and chaotic. But missing that extra pair of adult hands has left me with no hands to type up posts. Which begs the question: at what age is it okay to start dictating blog posts to your baby? I hope you say seven months. Please say seven months.

Guess what. Mabrey just scored her first job. You go, babygirl.

I’ve also been plugging away at non-bloggy projects {mood boards, my writings elsewhere, planning ahead for some pretty amazing collaborations coming up – all of which I’m stoked about!} one of which included getting the mudroom – or at least a corner of it – in ship shape. See above.

Me to myself: Okay, so that’s one image and three paragraphs. Is that enough for a post? No. More tap dancing.

So, back to the kids. Because that’s where my mind is these days. I should probably throw in some random kid convo as well to keep things real. Yes, let’s do that.

Layne: Really, mom. Eggs? Eggs for breakfast? I don’t want eggs.

Everett: I have to pee.

Mabrey: WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!

Layne was voted onto student council earlier in the school year. As a former student council president, I’m so proud of him. This week they are busy organizing a food drive for a local food pantry so we’ve been working on a poster and lines for a video they’re filming today that show other students what to do with the food they bring into school. He likes it when I say “Lights. Camera. Action!” before we practice then “…and scene” at the end. Seriously. I could totally go in and make that entire video myself knowing each kid’s lines and ROCK IT.

Layne: Ugh. I wanted the ketchup next to my eggs not on top of them.

Everett: I have to poop.

Mabrey: WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!

Everett has been busy being Everett. That kid is strange. He scares me sometimes. He studies people and their mannerisms, gestures, clothing, accessories, etc. like he’s an actor prepping for a biographical film about that person. He takes it all in then chooses his role for the day and totally commits to it. This morning before preschool he was playing Grandpa. He couldn’t see without his glasses {a.k.a. bright blue sunglasses with puppy stickers on them – hey, he does what he can with his limited props} so had to wear them while he got dressed, ate breakfast and went to school. He is asking Santa for straps {known as ‘suspenders’ to the rest of the world}, black dress pants {just because they have the word ‘dress’ in them doesn’t mean they’re for girls. Let’s make that perfectly clear.}, a tie and golfer’s cap to play Uncle Ray next.

Layne: Hey, those eggs weren’t that bad. Can I have some more?

Everett: Mabrey pooped.

Mabrey: WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!

All of a sudden Mabrey has decided to take a bottle. I pretty much follow her lead on everything. It’s easier that way. So when she decided earlier this week that bottles were her preferred method of calorie intake versus nursing, I went with it. I haven’t nursed or pumped for two days so I think we’re done. Just like that. I’m sad and happy at the same time. I think I’m feeling the effects of the hormone changes that go along with weaning. Hormone changes + single parenting = cray cray mommy. While HH has been away, Mabrey has learned to sit on her own, clap, hold her bottle and feed herself solid foods. Oh, and type. HH won’t know what to think when he sees her again!

Layne: You know my lunch you made me yesterday? It was good but can you not give me so many carrots next time. The thing is I love carrots but I want to eat them all and they just don’t give me enough time at school to eat that many.

Everett: Can I see Mabrey’s poop?

Mabrey: WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!

HH comes home tomorrow. It’s also our 10th wedding anniversary. I’m giving him the gift of daddy time. Quality one-on-three time with the kids. It’s all he’s ever wanted. And more.

…and scene.

FYI – Mabrey didn’t type this post. Really. Do you think a baby could spell ‘accessories’? C’mon. Even I have to look at that one twice. Two c’s? One c? Two s’s? One s? Two r’s? One r? So. Many. Consonants.

image: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

Truth: I swaddle my babies. When our first child, Layne, was three months old I was at my wits end. He screamed all day and night. The longest stretch of sleep I’d gotten out of him was three hours. I had no help nearby {besides HH but I was trying to let him stay rested so he could function at work during the day}. I was frustrated and exhausted and looking for a miracle. I found one in the way of swaddling.

The first night I swaddled Layne properly {i.e. snugly in his Miracle Blanket} and used a sound machine in his nursery, he slept eight hours straight. I felt like a new woman the next morning. His stretches of night sleep lengthened week after week until he was sleeping a solid 10-12 hours consistently. I thought “Holy cow. Why didn’t anyone tell me to do this the day he was born?!”

Since then, I’ve been a swaddling fanatic. I tell anyone who will listen to swaddle their babies when/if they have ‘em. The Happiest Baby on the Block is my mama manual. Swaddling mimics the womb, promotes sleep, keeps sharp baby fingernails from wreaking havoc on delicate skin and hinders the Moro reflex.

Even after three kids, I still catch flak about my swaddling methods from some onlookers – family members included. I’ve had people tell me swaddling is claustrophobic, torturous, constrictive, unnecessary, mean, harmful and outdated. I disagree. My boys are now ages 7 and 4 and aren’t claustrophobic. They are perfectly healthy kids, physically and mentally. If anything, there are days I wish I could swaddle them and keep them still again!

I swaddled Layne until he was nine months old. He was an extremely sensitive baby. I swaddled Everett until he was five months old. He was an extremely easy baby. After giving up the swaddle, I moved onto a sleep sack for naps and night time.

Mabrey is almost seven months old and I’m still swaddling her. Albeit with one arm out because she likes it that way. {She’s doing this weird thing now where she squishes her lips inside her mouth so that it looks like she doesn’t have any. Cute and strange at the same time. That’s my girl.}

And I’ll continue to swaddle her as long as it makes her happy. You should see her melt when I start wrapping her up at naptime and bedtime. It’s a cue to let her know sleep is coming. You sleep away ‘lil one. And I will too.

What are your thoughts on swaddling? Ever done it first-hand? Which method or blanket worked best for your baby? How long did you swaddle? Would you do it again?

image: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking