Happy Campers

So spring has sprung and we pulled the camper out of storage for the year. The hubs has been waiting for that blessed day when it's warm enough to plant in the garden and start camping. It's here, and believe me the garden is in full swing and camping trips are on the books.

 

I love these guys! I think N's favorite part of the day is being outside with his daddy. 

 Camping trip #1

It's going to happen sometimes... it rains. It did the other week when we went to the beach. We showed up Friday night in the rain. We camped, in the rain. We left, with clear skies, but it was cold and windy. It happens. Times like that and I'm very thankful for owning a camper now. We had fun regardless and we learned a little too!

So this was the first test run of "normal" camping as compared to the cross-country move that we did last year. It's our first camper and it's a learning experience! I've done a lot of searching in forums and pinterest for ideas on storage. LOTS of stuff out there for RVs, but not so much for the tiny campers. This is the first post of a few things I've discovered for tiny camper storage. I have a couple other ideas that I just haven't gotten around to. It may not be the best fit for everyone, but it's working for us right now. 

Sleeping with an Infant or Toddler in Tight Quarters

So on the move out here we slept on the queen and put up and broke down the pack n play on the dinette that you can make into a bed. What we learned from that was that once we put him down that was it. We were ALL in bed for the night and don't think about moving or making noise... he'll sense it and stay awake. Solution: We flipped it. N now has the queen bed area for his pack n play and we sleep on the dinette together. I put up a curtain so that he can't see us and will quickly nod off at naptime and bedtime and allowing us to come and go or watch a movie on our little flip down TV. 

 It's a rough picture, but this is it. Removing the mattress gave us enough vertical room that we could turn the pack n play and have more room for other things like a popup laundry basket.
The hubs left the foam mattress pad down for a little cushion.

 What do you do with a toddler in the rain?

  Play inside! We found ourselves playing trucks on the rest of the queen bed area.
Which brings me to the next 2 pictures...

The RV queen mattress size makes for a PERFECT fit with the alphabet mat.
I got this one at Ross for under $20 and have 6 extra tiles and a few border pieces left over. 

Drawing a Blank for Storage

I saw a blog of a couple that lived in their RV. She had some great tips on organizing and a good point in that big cubbies and cabinets seem great, but how do you make the most of it? Here's what I found that fit and since we're generally only weekend camping this is just enough space for clothes. 

 Clothes for me and baby plus the ever present need for diapering supplies

There's an awkward angle at the back of the cubby so this little guy fits perfectly in front 

and keeps track of all the small stuff like hair ties and playing cards.  

Under the bed

DH got two drawers since his clothes are always bigger. These were great stacking drawers that I found at Target. You'd be surprised how many bins and drawers etc. are too big to fit or too small to be usable. The extra space there I use to store more diapers and shower flipflops.

Small bins are great for dividing out space. These little guys were in the dollar section at Target and hold a few kitchen items and chemicals (laundry detergent etc) that need to be out of reach from little hands. I keep them secure while in tow with a tension rod.

A message board for shopping list or writing down local numbers
and the kitchen towel out of reach of the toddler.

Finally I have a little touch of home on the road. The last owners added the key hook
(a great addition) and I added a little Clemson spirit.

The Little Things

What is it about the little things being in order that makes my day so much better?! Amazing difference I tell you! Having the counters clear and table set for the next meal just makes it feel so much cheerier in the house. Now the rest of my house could be a disaster, but the little things can uplift me just enough to dig into some of that in between the diapers and playtime with my little man. Have a great Friday everybody and a blessed weekend!

Time Saved. Shopping Done. Win!

Is it sad that I get so excited about little things like not having to walk around stores to get what I need? How life has changed after having baby!

I've been prepping the camper for this spring over the last few weeks. Scouring the internet and pinterest for ideas on how to organize in such a tiny space (we have a smaller rpod with a baby). I've found some great ideas, but not all of them are even usable in our tiny camper. The storage cubbies we have are really deep and oddly shaped making it hard to find bins or anything to organize clothes and stuff we want to put there. Lots of trial and error, but I found the perfect stackable plastic drawer system, but sadly our Target didn't have enough. I bought them out and looked up online what other store would have them. Yep, my luck, the closest ones were an hour away. Well I was slow on getting into Raleigh to run errands and checking online today I saw that they have them at my store again! Not only that, but I could order it and pay online so tomorrow when I'm coming home from the gym and little man is ready for his nap I can pop into the customer service desk, show my ID, and grab n go! Will I still wander the aisles of Target other days, yes, but it's nice to have this option for those times I know it's tight getting things done and back home before someone loses it.

What else have I grown to love for low stress shopping?

Amazon Prime Can you tell I like my online options? I can get a lot of stuff cheaper through amazon and with prime I can get 2 day shipping. I like buying those cumbersome items like big bags of kitty litter this way. My fedex guy loves me for it I'm sure.

Soap.com And all of its sister sites. I can order (again) bigger items like toilet paper and paper towels. They accept coupons (have to mail them in) or they also have ecoupons available.

ContainerStore There is an option for pickup there as well. I could get sucked in there, but if little man is with me it needs to be quick.

Harris Teeter or the "teet" as my sister-in-law calls it. I haven't used this yet, but just recently heard about online ordering and curbside pick up. This was a tip from another mom. You do have to pay per pickup or you can pay for a month and it's unlimited. I'm looking forward to this during deployments for sure!

Get it Together

Who hasn't  done it? You've rolled out of bed and you're doing good to have changed into yoga pants. The baby didn't sleep last night because he/she is teething or sick. This has been my life for the last three months. We've been moving, life is inconsistent, we've managed to hit baby losing mom's immunity at cold/flu season and he's trying to drop his first nap. It's a little hectic.

I take quick moments for myself, and now that we've got the house coming together and a little more flow to the day I'm trying to not be frump-a-lumpagus. I'm hitting up pinterest. I've got the love/hate with it, but more on that later. I'm trying to find the time to look presentable since we're trying to get out more after hitting the 1 year mark. So here are a few of my finds...

When it's tight, shower at night 
There are those days you're gonna have to get up and roll out of the house pretty quick. Now that we don't do morning naps (most days) that time to shower and put a face on sans baby is gone! I have fine hair and sleeping on it can end with poor results, but there is always a ponytail or topknot. I saw this blog on pinterest and she's also suggested not washing your hair everyday. I'm wondering though if sometimes these are people with thicker hair/longer hair who are able to pull this off. We'll try it. It doesn't hurt or cost anything to try it.

Comfortable can be cute!
So the site mentioned above also talks about it not saving you any time to dress nicer than yoga pants. This is true if you're comfortable coming up with cute outfits. I'm not a fashionista, but I'm getting better! What has gotten me out of my slump of mini tees is looking at the people who I feel always look put together. I look at the basics from their wardrobe and use it as a template. My go to look lately is cute flats, a basic top and some accessories and I'm set. I've learned to never underestimate the power of a good accessory. It's like the spring blooms on a tree. It's small, but can have a real impact.

Again I'm no fashionista, but this outfit is super comfortable, baby chasing appropriate,
and an example of how one scarf makes this monochromatic outfit more interesting.

Keep the basics in your bag
Keep a tube of mascara and lip gloss or my fave, Rosebud Lip Balm, in your diaper bag/purse. I also keep a hair tie and bobby pins in my wallet.  If you run out the door, you can take 60 seconds, while kids are still strapped into carseats at your destination to freshen up and feel like you've got it together.

Set it out at night
This is one that I've known, but don't regularly practice. Find more time in the morning when things are set out for you ready to use. Trim those precious seconds by putting your coffee cup out, program the coffee maker, set out your clothes and your kids' clothes, and anything else that will allow you to get ready with less fuss.

Progress not perfection
Pinterest perfection shouldn't be your ultimate goal. Like I mentioned above I see people who I really admire for their style that looks effortless. It's something I want for myself, so I'm working on that in a way that fits my budget and body. I'm proud of the changes I've made in clothes and also in my schedule and other places I've been working to improve. I'm consider myself winning if I'm moving forward. And you know what, even if I take a few steps back, I'm still better than I was when I started and that is fantastic. Don't be the perfectionist that doesn't start because they can't attain perfection.

I'm blogging. It's not perfect. But that isn't the point. I didn't wait until I could take pictures and edit them for this post. I'm trying to do all the things above, so I don't really have time for that right now, but one day maybe I will. Today I completed a task for myself and that is what I call winning.

It's What's for Dinner

The newest product discovery is the Plum Spoon Boon. I found mine at Target, but I'm sure you can find them lots of other places.

This little screw on spoon is amazing! I've had problems getting little man to eat. He has to have the spoon or we go into melt down. The traditional spoon was great, but he wouldn't get half of the food in his mouth and I couldn't get him food fast enough. Most feeding ended in tears. I tried giving him a spoon for each hand and one to feed him with, but alas he's a smart one and would drop one or both to acquire the one with the food on it. Why do I like this little spoon? I get food to him at his rate so less fussing because I can't get him food fast enough. He can hold something and not make a HUGE mess. He grasps the end of the spoon or top of the pouch without disrupting meal time. The only negative I have for it is that I think it's made for an older kid. The spoon is deep for such a tiny mouth (he's 6 months) so he can't get all of the food out, but I can look over that. Feedings are cleaner, faster and happier for all. Will we need to change methods as he gets older, yes, but for  now this is one happy momma.

As for my mealtimes I got around to cooking something for dinner tonight. The farm share brought potatoes so I made a little breakfast hash this evening. Potatoes, chives, green onions, and left over breakfast sausage from the other day. Yummy! It required no salt or pepper as you get plenty of flavor from the green onions, chives and sausage.

Mustgo Stew

In a previous post I mentioned our farm share. I love getting the bag of veggies each week. This week we had some beautiful carrots. As there are enough veggies for a full family and I'm primarily the only eating  them I'm finding it difficult some weeks to keep up. When I was at home, Mom would always make mustgo soup with all the things that "must go" before they spoil. Since I bought stew meat recently and it was either cook it or freeze it, I stuck it in the crock pot with the beautiful carrots and some celery, mushrooms, green onions and a few radishes that were left over from the 4th. Just a little happiness which greets you in the morning. It's nice to wake and know lunch is taken care of and today after the kiddo seems to only sleep 30 minutes at a time that was much needed.

Bright and Beautiful!

The Rule of Two

It seems now that I have a kid that I live out of my car. The diaper bag never really makes it in the house and then the stroller is always there along with other various items that make it in, but with a kiddo in my arms when I go in the house and the temp being over 100 degrees now I don't always everything the house. There are times I feel like the car looks like this.

(World's Messiest Cars)

Now I realize this is a big extreme. I know I don't collect that much stuff in the car, but the fact still remains that it's far from clean. Part of my attempt to simplify life is keeping the car clean and organized. Ultimately it would be really nice to do the drive thru car wash and then use the free vacuums and just clean out the trash, but alas baby boy is not a fan of the car wash or the vacuums. Where does this leave me? I either use a good morning naptime to clear it all out or use the rule of two.

The Rule of Two:
When you don't have time to get EVERYTHING done at once, at least get two things put away.

I'm not sure if it's an idea my mom had or if it's one of my own. It's been around a while, though not always utilized. So my goal this next week is relocating at least two things. When coming in from the car I'm going to grab one of the many toys that relocated to the floor on the drive home and something else and put it where it belongs. Once you get the car clean you can help keep it clean by doing the rule of two each time you get out of the car. You don't have to get ALL the trash at once. Grab the fast food cup and those gas receipts when you stop at Walmart and drop them in the trash on the way in. It's all about progress, not perfection. My new mantra. We'll never be perfect, but we can be better than we were.

(Image from IFB)