Home Inspiration- Small Storage Solutions

I'm always looking for ways to organize my home.  It's especially hard to find great storage for the smaller items.  Organizing better is also a goal for me this year.  I've searched and read reviews (plus mine own) for some great small storage solutions!  Check them out below.

Pink Basket: here | Flat Seagrass Basket: here | Plastic Bins: here | Dresser storage cubes: here | Lidded cubes: here | Wicker Basket: here | Pantry Containers: here | Rolling clothing storage: here | Glass Jewelry Box: here | Food Storage: here | Office Boxes: here | Suitcase Cubes: here

Home Inspiration- Christmas Decor

I absolutely love looking at all of the Christmas decor that's displayed right now.  My own home is lacking a little though... too busy with a 3 year old and a baby.  We have our stockings up, large tree up and finally almost fully decorated, and a somewhat festive front door decor.  I'll also decorate and set the dining table our for Christmas Eve dinner that we host.  I have two small (under 2ft) trees to still put up as well- one in the kids room and maybe one in the kitchen.    I took the easy way out and put them back in the boxes still decorated from last year so they shouldn't take too long to put up.  Does anyone else do this?!  If I had some extra time and space I'd love to replicate the looks of the beautiful decor shown below.

How beautiful is this staircase garland? Goals.

Found on Pinterest here

I love the matching wreath above the mantle garland and the little village houses are a perfect with it all .

Found on Pinterest here

I love trees on tables like this one.  For Mary-Grace's second Christmas, she was only 16 months old and was into everything.  So, we put up a small 3ft tree on a table similar to this but I didn't have a cute basket like the one shown here.

Found on Pinterest here

 There's something about wreaths with striped ribbon that I love and especially shown with a boxwood wreath like this one.

Found on Pinterest here

Monday Must-Haves + Life Update

"Monday, Monday, so good to me" at least she better be.  This weekend.  These past 6 days.  They have been rough.  I've been MIA from quite a bit since then.  Last Tuesday, Mary-Grace had a stomach virus.  The day started with her vomiting everywhere and it lasted all day.  It was awful.  I felt so bad for her.  I prayed the rest of us wouldn't catch it and thank God we didn't.  Have any of you tried the grape juice "trick"?  I'm now convinced it really works.  The past 3 or so times Mary-Grace has had a stomach virus, we've drank multiple glasses of grape juice and we haven't gotten sick.  I think it's now more than coincidence.  It's suppose to do something with the acids in your stomach.  By Friday Mary-Grace was feeling a lot better.  However, right after helping her recover from that, Benton started to not act himself on Friday.  He was lethargic and more fussy than usual.  By late Friday evening, he had a fever of 103.2.  I was freaking out because I don't remember having a fever that high and Mary-Grace luckily has never battled fevers.  That same evening it so happened that his pediatricians (who we love btw) phone line was having technical difficulties and it took us a while to get in touch with the triage nurse to ask for advice.  I was seriously ready to take him to the ER.  He was sweating, beet red, and still lethargic.  We followed their advice though and stayed home treating him with Motrin and I nursed him as much as possible to keep him hydrated during the night.  We took him in Saturday morning and they told us he might have hands, foot and mouth.  We already had a bad experience with that with Mary-Grace and Josh a couple of years ago (another story for another day).  Thank God it doesn't seem that he has that though.  We think it was just another virus.  Josh and I didn't feel well all weekend either.  Sore throats and exhaustion for us.  We slept for a total of maybe 5-6 hours all weekend.  So yeah, Monday, please be good to us.  We want and we need a better week.  Please and thank you!

On to other things now.  I keep a running list of things I like or find useful on Pinterest, Instagram, or as a mental note. There are so many things right now that are on those lists but I'll start with sharing the most practical for the home.  What's on your lists of must-haves for the home?

First, these bins.  I grabbed one a couple of months ago to store our laundry detergent and the cleaning supplies that we keep upstairs.  I want to grab another to store toilet tissue and paper towels.

Also, one or two of these metal baskets to store breads. 

Next up, a couple of these picture frames for the kids' room to display some new family pictures (shared here). Their dresser and the crib is the same simply white.  

We've been acquiring more dishes that require washing by hand so this drying mat would be really helpful! For now, we've been letting them air dry on paper towels or dish towels. 

Our little peanut, Benton, still gets sink baths.  It's so much easier for me to give sink baths than using  the bathtub.  He's finally starting to outgrow the sink and he's starting to get "bored" while in the bath and there's not much room for toys in there.  I think it's about time we made the switch to bathing him in the bathtub.  We already have this bathtub that Mary-Grace used but this kneeling cushion may help save my knees when bending over to bathe him.  Also,  this cute matching rinser would be perfect for Mary-Grace.  We just use a plastic cup right now but she always freaks out when we try to rinse her hair saying it's going in her eyes or ears.  Maybe it would help?

We have a Shark steam mop that we got soon after getting married that we love. It's so easy to use and does a great job with getting any dust, grime, or spills up.  I can't find the exact one that we have so I'm not sure if they just changed the design.  It came with two or three mop pads but after years of use, even bleaching doesn't get them looking great anymore.  They're starting to look grungy so a new one would be practical.  I found this two-pack of replacement pads that should fit that were surprisingly just over $10.  

Also on the list (and the largest item), is this shelving system from Ikea. We are overloaded with toys, books, and movies.  I've seen this multiple times in photos of playrooms and I think it's just what we need (with cute bins).  The multiple baskets we have are no longer cutting it.  I can't decide if we need the 4x4 or 5x5.  I was also hoping for a Black Friday sale on this.  There's an in-store coupon but I believe the closest Ikea to us is in Charlotte, and I'm not about to drive there.  Do any of you have this and love it?

These bins to go with it to store the smaller toys?  By the way, I think Target has such a great selection of cute storage baskets and bins.  I already have some similar to these in gray and white for the kids' bedroom that stores diapers and wipes.

Mary-Grace (and my) favorite things for her

Mary-Grace and I have found a few favorite things that we know work for us and that we can rely on.  It can sometimes be hard to find what works best for a baby.  Before your baby is born, you'll more than likely hear from other mama's what worked best for them. It's great to get ideas and add to your list of something else to try.  Ultimately though, of course it's up to you to decide what to use and what's best for your baby.  For example, Mary-Grace was breastfed but I had to supplement with formula.  She spit-up a lot and had trapped gas that made her miserable so we had to figure out what formula worked best for us by taking advice and trying something new.  She has my sensitive skin so certain lotions and washes work better for her too.  Below I've shown what I've found works best for us and what she (and I) like best at this time.  Maybe one of these will be helpful to you as well!

Vera bradley home decor / The Honest Company Diapers Size 3 Bumble Bees (One Package) Fits... / Summer Infant Tiny Diner, Pink (Discontinued by Manufacturer) / Baby Bee Shampoo Wash / Amazon.com: Disney Mickey Mouse Plush Doll Toy 25": Toys & Games /  Cloud b Sound Machine Soother, Gentle Giraffe / Saltwater by Hoy Sea Wees



1.  Burt's Bees Baby Bee Shampoo Wash- love that this comes with a pump!  This works great on Mary-Grace's sensitive skin.  It can be used on both body and hair.

2. Wellement's Body Lotion- this lotion worked miracles on her skin this past winter.  I even use it on my skin too!

3.  Pat the Bunny book- Mary-Grace is now sitting through short books.  She loves to flip the pages and look at the pictures.  This is one of her favorite books because she can use some of her senses to see, touch, and smell.

4. Saltwater by Hoy Sea Wees- I think these sandals are the cutest and they actually stay on her feet!  They come in an assortment of colors too.

5 and 6.  Honest diapers and wipes- Again, great for sensitive skin.  I love that they are free of so many harsh chemicals and the cute diaper patterns don't hurt either!

7. Mickey Mouse-  Mary-Grace loves the Disney store.  She has the Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto stuffed animals right now and will be getting the rest of the gang for her birthday.

8.  Tiny Diner placemat-  I just recently got this since Mary-Grace has been wanting to mainly eat with her fingers.  It rolls up so that it can be easily carried in her diaper bag and has suctions so that it will stay on the table and not get thrown off!

9.  Vera Bradley pacifier pouch- I got tired of trying to find her paci's that had fallen to the bottom of the diaper bag so I got this.  It can be clipped to the diaper bag strap or to the inside if there is a key hook.  It also can be cleaned by just rinsing it off or with a wipe.

10.  Sound giraffe-  Since Mary-Grace goes to bed before us and sometimes isn't a sound sleeper, this giraffe has been awesome to have.  It plays 4 different soothing sounds for 45 minutes and blocks out the background noise.