lisa ici's Profile

This is all really good advice. My #6 would be: treat your first year as an experiment. If any thing goes wrong, just say "Next year, I will________ instead."

I've always been a plant person--houseplants, then container/patio gardens. Last year, with an actual back yard, I made my first attempt at a "real" vegetable garden. It worked pretty well, but my yields were not that great. What was great, however (besides the fun) was to look back at my pictures and realize how small last year's garden was, compared to the same time this year. With a lot less effort, I've already packed about twice as many crops into my small space. I don't know if my harvest will be any more impressive, but I am having a lot of fun, it keeps getting easier, and I feel like a "gardener".

I love it, but I love 70's-style macrame, too, so I might not be the best judge.

This is the one Apartment Therapy tenant that I have always disagreed with. I love my books, and I love houses full of books. For me they are not clutter, because I 'use' them all the time: browsing through them like coffee table books, lending them out, looking up author's names or specific scenes, or just re-reading for pleasure. I know that I actually do this because I packed up most of my books into boxes and put them in the garage a year ago (anticipating a move that was later put on hold), and I've spend the last year breaking into boxes in search of particular books. I had a meeting with my husband, asking him "Are we the sort of family that gets rid or books, or are we the sort of family that buys more bookcases?" We both agreed we were the later. When a hand-me-down book case came our way, and I was able to unload three boxes of books. It was like Christmas morning!

I think this could be a really nice solution for keeping a baby or toddler out of their older sibling's stuff. That way an older kid could have LEGO, etc, as long as they didn't let the baby through the gate.

For the boys in the picture, seems kind of silly.

This looks like a good solution, unless you have a kid that eventually climbs out of the crib (like my youngest) and climbs up the bunk bed (like my youngest) and falls out of the bunk bed (yep, my kid) three times in one day (we're a family of slow learners, apparently).

We ended up having to turn our IKEA bunk bed over, to turn it into a canopy bed, and put the toddler on a crib mattress on the floor.

Now, that doesn't mean that the arrangement pictured here isn't a great solution for some families. Not everybody has an adventurous, knuckle-head of a child like I do. But it is something to consider when you are figuring out to do with your kids. If you raise a baby in a room with a bunk bed, there may come a time when they cannot be left alone in that room. The bunk bed we thought would be a nice space-saver turned out to be a big pain in the butt. We've spent the last eighteen months wishing we had just gone with two twin mattresses on the floor.

I actually really liked them midway through the project (shown on the Maple & Magnolia blog), when they had the upholstery, but before the wood was painted.

C'mon people, this is not clutter or hoarding. This is a lush garden! It's not like those are stacks of magazines or knick-knacks. Those plants are thoughtfully placed and maintained, and I think they are beautiful.

Oh! Another reason it is worth it to try "over the top " lunches for your kids: it encourages you to pack balanced, fun lunches for yourself.

I breastfed, but I also used formula. I loved both, for different reasons. The thing I loved most about formula was that I could pre-measure the powder into several bottles, then be ready to go all day. Any time I didn't want to nurse, I could just fill up the bottle with water (one handed, if need be), shake, and feed the baby. We kept prepared bottles upstairs at night, so my husband could handle nighttime feedings. We had prepared bottles in the diaper bag at all times, etc. This machine essentially takes over the job of measuring and shaking, right? I think most parents can measure and shake without taxing themselves too much--even sleep-deprived! In return, this machine ties the bottle-prep to the kitchen. If you want to go out you have to use another brand of formula (which your child may fuss about), or refrigerate. Where's the convenience in that?

My youngest has fallen asleep in her booster seat, with her forehead on the table, in a shopping cart, and in her exersaucer in the middle of her 3 year old sister's loud and crazy birthday party (like a foot away from where her sister was unwrapping presents and screaming).