Wanted: Tips for Being The Best Stay At Home Mom I Can Be

Being a stay at home mom is the hardest job I have ever had - yet it's by far the best. I started staying home about eleven months ago, with my then eight month old daughter. I thought I was going to have oodles of free time as she napped and we would have tons of time to play together. Little did I know naps aren't a given no matter how much you work to have a stable schedule. However making breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as doing the laundry, keeping up with my housework and all the house hold errands are a given. Yup, staying home was a bigger job then I realized and wanting the best for my daughter meant I needed to brush up on my preschool lessons as well as my ability to make a variety of meals that could provide my family with healthy options. I started adjusting to the demands and doing what I felt was a good job and really got into a nice groove right about the time my second daughter came along. Things got busier and I have been feeling my way through life as a stay at home mom. We have a schedule that works for us - and now that I live this life, I wouldn't want it any other way for me and my family. As a previous career woman I have a huge respect for both at home moms and at work moms and my goal is to share some of the things that make my life as a mommy easier - from recipes to crafts I hope what we do in our home can make it to your home and you'll enjoy it!



My daily posts include fun activties I am doing in real time with my kiddos, dinners I am making for my family, snacks, and some fun things I discover along the way. I hope they are things other moms can use as tips rather than recreating the wheel. Let me know what you think and lets share some tips because nothing is better than bragging about what you and your little ones can do together!

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Fleece, No Sew, Car Seat Poncho

Are your kids crammed into their car seats wearing winter coats?
Do blankets fall off when you are carrying the carrier in and out of the car?
Try this simple solution...


My youngest daughter just turned six months old the other day, and she is wearing 9 month clothes for the most part, but some things she is in twelve months - so she is getting to that point where she is starting to grow out of the infant carrier car seat.  Now that fall/winter is here its even more noticeable because of the bulky clothes needed to keep warm.  I have the car seat bunting for her infant car seat carrier, but she gets so hot when I put that on it that she is soaking wet with sweat when I pull her out of it.  So I pulled out a winter coat the other day, thinking maybe it wouldn't be so bad in the car seat.  Wrong.  The poor thing was in the car seat like a stuffed sausage.  I am not ready to move her to a convertible car seat yet, because I really like having the carrier for her when we go places, and she is still a supported sitter so I feel like she needs it.  I can handle the carrier easily with her and my 21 month old, which is also essential at this point.  A blanket doesn't really work either, lets face it one gust of fall winds and the blanket is on the ground in the parking lot.  Since I needed something to keep her warm I decided that I would try making a fleece no sew cape/poncho that she could wear in the car seat.  I thought it wouldn't be too bulky and would keep her warm while not constricting her movements.  I made it yesterday, and she wore it to the commissary for our weekly shopping trip.  It worked perfectly.  Kept her warm, stayed on, and she wasn't stuffed into the carrier and uncomfortable.

What I did was basically make a no sew fleece blanket - on a much smaller scale and cut a neck hole into it.  Here is how you do it.

I bought 3/4 of a yard of two fleece fabrics, the princess one you see as well as a hot pink.
Trim the edges of your fabric- sometimes the brand of fleece will run down the side or there will be a line of fabric with out the fleece softness at the edge.
On a table lay your fabric out, I folded mine corner to corner - this would have made it square if I cut it then. 
Before cutting it, I pulled the fabric 4 inches past the edge, then I marked four inches longer than the fold line on the other end. - This allowed me space for the findge.  Keeping it a square.
Then I cut the fabric on the line four inches past the fold fold mark.
Next I layed out the fabric and placed the other on top of it - cutting them both to the same size. 
I measured four inches on the corners and cut squares out of each corner.
Now, in one inch increments cut fringe pieces all around, four inches long.
Tie your fabric fringe in knots holding the two pieces of fabric together and making a two sided blanket.

Once you are all done with your "blanket" take your fabric and fold it corner to corner - making a triangle.  Trim the tip off the triangle - this is the center of your blanket and will leave a small hole in your blanket.
Now cut one inch finge pieces all around this small hole - this is the neck.
Tie your fringe pieces in knots just as you did with the outside of the blanket.
I did four inch cuts just as I had for the edges of my blanket and this worked perfectly.  My daughter's head fit in easily and it wasn't tight at all. 

That's it you're done and with plenty of fabric to make a no sew fleece hat to match! (I haven't done this yet, but it's on my list during today's nap time.)

Good luck!


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