The Hila Home

Renovations, Natural Living,

& Mama Blog

How to Create Affordable Artwork for Your Home, DIY Home Decor, Budget-friendly

A cheap way to brighten up your home is to add artwork to the walls, but artwork (especially paintings, or pictures of paintings) can be pricey. A budget-friendly option that allows you to add timeless pieces of art to your home. I used this in my home to make my office extension feel just a little bit more cozy. If you are looking for a thrifty, do-it-yourself way to add a little character to your home this might just be right up your alley.

Juliet Hila

19.01.2024

diy, home decor, art, wallart, thirft, vintage, thrift finds, home, wall decor, art decor, vintage art, thrifted art, home decor on budget, home on budget, budget

Our Home

Sleep Training Journey Update: Cosleeping, Bedsharing, No-Cry-it-Out, Teething, and Sickness

I want to share, and one I've been avoiding because it is a pretty sensitive subject and there is a lot of judgment on both sides regarding infant sleep and what is considered "normal" or "healthy." Lately, our baby being mobile, deciding to transfer to the crib, and teething have all posed major setbacks in regard to sleep. However, I want to share some tips that helped me retain my sanity and some encouragement to you who might also be dealing with a similar struggle.

Juliet Hila

02.10.2023

sleep training, sleep, baby sleep, gentle sleep training, floor bed, nursery, crib, sleeping in a crib, bedsharing, cosleeping

Motherhood

Breastfeeding Aversion, What is Breastfeeding Aversion and What to Do

One of the things I had looked forward to most during my pregnancy with my first was being able to nurse her and bond with her in that special way that no one else would. But lately, nursing has been, less than romantic to say the least. Typically, morning and day-time feedings are fine, aside from when things are exceptionally quiet, but when it comes to putting her to bed at night or comforting her to sleep after she wakes up, I go into a rage. Yes, a literal rage. I didn't realize how bad it was until I was so frazzled and overstimulated that I through my phone in frustration. That was so unlike me, and I realized pretty quickly that something wasn't right. It then clicked when I was watching a YouTube video by HeyShayla on night weaning that maybe something was up. I called my lactation consultant and realized I was experiencing the very common phenomenon for pregnant nursing mothers of "breastfeeding aversion."

Juliet Hila

22.09.2023

breastfeeding, motherhood, nursing, breastfeeding aversion, anxiety, mindset, weaning, nurse, nursing journey, breastfeedingjourney

Motherhood

How to Help a Baby Like the Baby Carrier, Tips to Help Your Little One Like Babywearing

Hello friends, and welcome back! So something I've noticed is that a lot of times online when you see all these women homesteading, homemaking, running their own businesses, or whatever it might be when you ask them how they get so much done (especially when their baby is little) they say "babywearing." However, I've noticed if you ever ask them "Well what do I do if my baby doesn't like babywearing" they typically answer with "Well all babies like babywearing" or "They fuss for the first few minutes, but then they're good" or "you're probably not moving enough after you put the baby in, try bouncing her" or something along these lines. However, here's the reality: Some babies just don't like babywearing. It has nothing to do with getting adjusted or not moving around immediately, like they will full-on scream and cry after you put them in, for no reason. So, my little girl hated babywearing, however, I really needed that to be an option for us since I was going back to work. And since there is virtually no information online on how to help solve this problem, I thought I would share with you what we did and how she went from hating the baby carrier to loving it. I want to note really quickly, that these are tips beyond the basic troubleshooting: incorrect fit, incorrect hip placement, not moving after putting your baby in the carrier, not being high enough, etc. If your baby hates babywearing, this blog post is just what to do. So if your issue is your fit or your carrier, you should check out Let's Talk Babywearing on Instagram and she has lots of great pointers on how to babywear correctly.

Juliet Hila

05.09.2023

babywearing, stretchy wrap, soft structured carrier, baby wrap, baby carrier, baby wrap carrier, baby, motherhood

Baby Wearing

Mom Guilt When You Are Actually Doing Something Wrong, How to Deal with Mom Guilt and What to Do

It's no surprise that most moms you meet have experienced some form of "mom guilt" at one point or another, and most of the time it is over irrational things like giving your baby a strawberry before having them try every type of vegetable or putting your baby in not 100% natural fiber clothing for five seconds. However, sometimes, because we are human and prone to fail, we do things that actually fall short of the type of person we want to be, or things that go against our convictions.

Juliet Hila

29.08.2023

mom guilt, mindset, motherhood, parenting, parenting guilt, tough parenting, parenting mistakes, parenting motivations, motherhood mindset, motherhood motivations, encouragement, discouragement

Motherhood

Our Home Renovation Project

Hi friends. It has taken me a long time to start sharing with you all our home projects, at least here. Quite honestly the thought of gathering all my before and after pictures of our house, sharing our process, and taking all new "after" pictures the few moments of the day when the house is in order... well, let's just say it was overwhelming. But with my work situation shifting (that is a story for another day), and our sweet daughter in bed, I figured I would share with you our crazy, exciting, and blessing-filled journey of turning a seemingly 1940s small town house into our cozy little dwelling.

Juliet Hila

21.08.2023

renovation, diy, home, home project, renovation diy, home diy, home renovation, diy project

Our Home

How to Travel with a Baby, Nine Travel Tips for New Parents

So the past weekend my husband and I visited a historical Bed and Breakfast in Virginia with our daughter. This was the first overnight trip we have taken since having her and now having done it there are some things I would definitely recommend if you plan on traveling with a baby. We stayed at the Mayhurst Estate Bed and Breakfast in Orange County Virginia in the Constitutional Suite on the fourth floor. Just as a quick note, the Bed and Breakfast was beautiful, the food was great, and I definitely recommend the place to anyone traveling with children. But enough about that, here are nine tips for traveling with your little one.

Juliet Hila

10.08.2023

travel, minimalist, out of town, traveling with baby, bed and breakfast, how to travel with a baby, what you need to know before traveling

Motherhood

How to Deal with A Large Workload as a Mom Without Getting Overwhelmed; Life Update

Now I've been a little MIA lately and I apologize for that. The last week of June I decided to take a week off from work in order to get two of my classes finished up and two more started. For those of you who are maybe new here, I am a full-time online student and am pursuing a Bachelor's in English. For a quick minute I was going to have four classes all at once and knowing that that was absolutely exhausting I put in to have the week off to manage everything. However, it has taken me longer than expected to get back on track with blogging, but at last, here we are! My website deleted the intial draft of this blog (which was immensely discouraging) so I'm starting back about a week later than I hoped. Regardless, here's what I've been up to for the past few weeks:

Juliet Hila

25.07.2023

day in the life, motherhood, daily routine, baby, natural living, day to day, lifestyle, sustainable habits

Mindeset

Super Simple Prefold Cloth Diaper Fold, How to Fold a Prefold Cloth Diaper; Angel Fold

When I first got some second-hand prefold cloth diapers, I thought I wouldn't end up using them. They were sort of bulky, didn't seem to work with my diaper covers, and I had no idea how to fold them. Fast forward to when my baby grew out of her newborn diapers but wasn't quite big enough to fit into the One Size diapers, I discovered that prefold diapers are some of my favorite styles of diapers. They are trimmer than most of your conventional cloth diapers and they pair well with almost any type of diaper cover from wool longies to TPU snap covers. Try this super simple cloth diaper fold called the Angel Fold and see if you don't just fall in love with cloth diapering with prefold diapers!

Juliet Hila

22.06.2023

Cloth Diaper

What I'm Doing Differently with Baby #2 (And What I'll Do Again!)

While I plan for baby number two there are some things I plan on doing differently with my second that I didn't do with my first, or that I wish I had one differently. As parents we do the best we can with the knowledge we have, but I'm super excited to try some things differently with our second baby. On that note, there are some things I definitely am thankful I did with our first and will definitely be doing again!

Juliet Hila

19.06.2023

pregnancy, birth, natural birth, cloth diapers

Pregnancy

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About Us

I am a work at home/stay at home mom striving to live a happier, healthier lifestyle for me and my family. Here we talk about natural birth, breastfeeding, cloth diapering, baby-led weaning, co-sleeping, natural fibers, sustainable swaps, mindset, and more! We're not crazy, we just try our best and hope to learn along the way.