A Girl Named PJ

Printable chore chart for kids

March 5, 2014

Kate from StyleSmaller is taking over the blog today while I’m on a brief maternity break!

I’m excited to be writing for A Girl Named PJ, especially because if you’re reading this, it means that PJ has her brand new baby boy, and she’s enjoying some quality bonding time with him.

My name is Kate, and I write a blog called StyleSmaller. I have two little girls, ages 2 & 5, who are full of imagination, mischief, and FUN. They’re also messy. I would love to say that they always remember to pick up their toys after themselves, but that would be a straight lie. They go from one project to another and another faster than I can handle on my own.

My goal is for them to take ownership of their responsibilities. I’ve sketched a basic printable chore chart that we’ve found to be very useful in our home. We hang a new one every week, use checkmarks or stickers to be sure they are on task daily, and when they fill the sheet, they are rewarded! Simple as that.

I like to give them the amount of pennies for their piggy bank that matches the number of chores they did that week. It’s good for basic counting skills, and children just enjoy seeing results from their hard work.

I find that my children are far more capable than I generally credit them to be, and the way they take initiative with their chore charts is proving that again and again.

SO! Print away. Print weekly. Print as the needs arise. Print your heart out. This printable chore chart is yours for the taking.

PS – Tackle your own daily self-care habits by printing this free weekly self-care checklist.

He’s here… and he has a name!

March 3, 2014

After a fast and furious delivery on Wednesday, our baby boy made his long-awaited arrival into this world. He spent his first two days of life without a name, as I struggled to commit to any of our choices. The “name” line on his hospital crib card remained blank the whole time we were there!

In the end, however, we went with the name that kept reappearing at the top of our list: Asa.

Our hospital stay was close to idyllic. By instituting our own limited visiting hours, we managed to create a mostly calm and peaceful environment to rest and recover.

Except, of course, when Levi the whirling dervish came to visit! He was overwhelmed and overly excited by all of the gadgets and buttons, not to mention by his baby brother.

In addition to visiting with my parents (who flew in from NJ before Asa was born to help out) and Levi, we spent our time in the hospital chatting with friends and their newborn who were three doors down the hall, making phone calls, cuddling with Asa, and attempting (and failing) to nap.

Life at home has been slightly more chaotic than it was at the hospital — but certainly not as chaotic as it would have been if we had a house full of guests to entertain. This time around, we asked the rest of our family to allow us a few days to adjust to life as a foursome before descending upon Omaha for the bris (they all start arriving today). I was nervous to make that request of them but so happy that we did.

Levi is so in love with Asa and wants to hold, hug, and kiss him all the time. We’re still working on teaching him how to be affectionate without being too aggressive. Perhaps we should’ve practiced with a doll first…

When the baby is crying, Levi gets right into Asa’s face and yells, “It’s ok, baby!” He’s also constantly exclaiming. “He’s reaching for me! The baby loves me!”

My physical pain is slightly lessening day by day (wait until you the hear story of how my epidural didn’t happen!), but the emotional roller coaster that is the postpartum period is just beginning. And my exhaustion only exacerbates the up-and-down post-pregnancy hormones.

Asa has his days and nights totally mixed up (he was the same way in the womb), so I’m awake and cluster feeding him almost every hour between midnight and 6am. Unfortunately, I’ve also been unable to nap during the day (too much adrenaline, perhaps?).

Before Wednesday, I didn’t understand how I could possibly love another child the way I love Levi, but my heart doubled in size when they placed a just-born Asa on my chest. The challenge now is learning how to divide my attention between my two boys. Any tips?

Thank you again for all of your well wishes and congratulations on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. In case you were wondering, I have fun new content and some amazing guest bloggers lined up to share on the blog, so things will be running as close to normal as possible. I may slow down on social media a bit, as I’m trying to be in the present moment as much as possible, but I’m not going to be able to resist posting pictures of Asa on Instagram!

Hall closet makeover

February 27, 2014

Sarah from Sarah Hearts is taking over the blog today while I’m on a brief maternity break!

Do you ever put off things for a really long time? I’m slightly embarrassed to say I put off painting our hallway for not just months but years!

After moving into our home nearly four years ago, we’ve painted every room in the house with the exception of the hallway and the kitchen area. We’re content with the kitchen paint color, but we’ve always loathed the hallway color. It’s already a dark space, and the dark khaki color was making the space appear even narrower.

So finally after much procrastination, I decided to paint the hallway and the open shelving in the hall closet. It did take longer than I anticipated (four days) but I’m so happy with the results.

The previous owners removed the accordion doors on one of the hallway closets and installed wooden shelves inside. Since our home doesn’t have a linen closet, this space has served as one. The open shelving forces us to keep things tidy since there aren’t doors we can hide the clutter behind. I love how it adds a little bit of character to an otherwise pretty boring space in our home. I purchased the baskets right after we moved in from both World Market and Target.

To help keep everything in the right place, I repurposed some of my old Moo luxe business cards (that had my old social media handle on them) into chalkboard labels. I started by using my 1/8″ hole punch to create small holes on either end of the cards, then I used a foam brush to apply chalkboard paint to one side of the cards. It took 4 coats of paint to completely cover the card stock.

Once they were dry, I used a white chalkboard marker to write the contents of each basket on each card. Then I used some white cotton string to attach the labels onto each basket. Now if I decide to move things around all I have to do is wipe off the label with a damp towel and I write the new contents on the label.

(If you don’t want to make your own chalkboard labels, Target now sells baskets with chalkboard labels on them.)

Paint colors:
Hallway: Behr Ivory Lace | Back of closet: Valspar Pantone Bay | Trim: Behr Ulta White

Are you attracted to men with beards?

February 25, 2014

Ok, ladies: Beard or no beard?

If we’re talking fully-bearded vs clean-shaven, I choose no facial hair. I tend to associate heavy beards with three types of men — hipsters, burly lumberjacks, and the ultra-religious — none of whom have ever really been my “type.”

I know that many women think beards are the ultimate expression of masculinity, but I can’t remember ever having the urge to kiss a full-bearded guy, especially if his beard hides his lips. Plus, even if they aren’t terribly scraggly, thick beards usually look like they’d be…scratchy.

Maybe my preference for clean-shaven guys grew out of familiarity. Neither my dad nor my grandfathers had beards. And since I’ve known him, JB has had to shave every day for his job in the military. (Though I’m not a fan of being woken up by the sound of his electric razor every. single. morning.)

However, I do like a man with stubble, as do the majority of women, according to an Australian study on facial hair. Whenever JB has several days off from work (like when we went on our babymoon), I always encourage him to take a break from his razor. He doesn’t usually have the opportunity to reach 10-day heavy stubble, the study’s winning look, but he still looks quite sexy with 5 days of beard growth.

Are you attracted to men with beards? Or do you prefer clean-shaven guys?

(photos via Will It Beard)

9 things I’m looking forward to after giving birth

February 24, 2014

(by @alice_gao)

As I write this, we’re just days (or hours!) away from meeting baby boy #2, and I’m getting more and more excited for what’s to come after delivery — besides welcoming a new little person into our family. I’m talking about reintroducing all of the things I’ve had to abstain from during pregnancy!

Here are 9 things I’m looking forward to after giving birth:

… READ MORE!

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