Cool Stuff

What Does One Really Need for a New Baby?

Posted on by Amy
I know several people who have recently become first time parents, or are about to become first time parents in the next few months.  Some of these people have asked me for my opinion or advice on a few things, including a few questions about the items that are really necessary for a new baby.  That, plus the fact that I’m about to have another baby myself, have had me thinking recently about just what a new parent really does need for baby.  Of course, there are the obvious things, clothing, diapers, a place to sleep, etc.  But in thinking about the things that really made my life easier, I came up with the following list and wanted to share (plus, this is a fun excuse to post some old photos of my girls).
1. A few good swaddle blankets.  I have always preferred the blankets that fasten in some way, like with velcro (this one is Kiddopotomus).

This one is my personal favorite, The Miracle Blanket.  These are like little baby straight jackets and were the only swaddle that my girls couldn’t wiggle right out of.

These Halo sleep sacks with the velcro swaddle wrap are nice too.

I have lots of Aden and Anais swaddle blankets too, but I usually use those for other purposes.  I always just found the regular blankets to be too easy for my girls to wiggle out of.  I love swaddling.  Both of my girls were pretty great sleepers, and I attribute this at least in part to swaddling (it helped that they were also both pretty huge and big eaters).  I also found that sometimes when my girls would just get fussy and I couldn’t seem to soothe them in other ways, swaddling often helped calm them right away.  It was the perfect way to get Lass to settle when she would get fussy in the evenings.  I know not everyone is a fan, but great swaddling blankets are a must-have here.

2. A video monitor.  We started out with a regular audio monitor with Miss.  I had read a book that said that video monitors weren’t worth the money and recommended just getting a good sound-only monitor.    At some point before Lass was born, the monitor I had wasn’t working very well, so I decided to replace it with a video monitor.  I am so happy I did.  Not only is is great for keeping an eye on a newborn, but it is fantastic for watching a toddler too. When Miss transitioned to her big girl bed, it was fabulous.  We take them with us when we travel and have broken two monitor screens this way, but I have continued to replace them because they are such a great tool to have.

3. A swing or bouncy seat, or both if possible.  Miss loved her bouncy seat.  She would fall asleep in it when nothing else worked.  She had her days and nights mixed up for a bit, and liked to wake up and want to play at 3 am.  My husband and I spent many nights, half awake, bouncing her back to sleep in her bouncy seat.  Lass was a swing baby.  That swing could get her to sleep so easily.  These items were so helpful with the girls that my husband used to take them apart and we’d travel with them on road trips.  We even put the disassembled bouncy seat in a suitcase on more than one occasion when flying somewhere with Miss.

4. A good nursing pillow.  Especially if you’re new to breastfeeding, and/or with a tiny baby who is new to nursing, a good pillow is such a help.  I always have one right at my rocker in my baby’s room for night time nursing especially.  I have been known to doze off while nursing and the pillow helps keep baby in place.  My favorite is the Boppy though I know some people swear by the “My Breast Friend” pillow.  I tried that one and didn’t like it much.  Plus the Boppy is good for tummy time and helping with sitting too.

5. A Bumbo.  Speaking of sitting, a Bumbo is just an awesome little thing to have once baby is old enough to use it.  I think both of my girls were able to sit in it around 3-ish months.  I used it for feeding both of my girls when they first started solids.

I also found it to be a great way for Lass to be able to be upright and part of the “action” with her sister before she was actually able to sit up on her own.

Edit 8/16/2012 – You will notice in a few of the photos above, my girls are sitting in our Bumbo on a table.  In light of the recent Bumbo recall, I want to point out that I never leave my girls unattended in the Bumbo, whether up on a surface or on the floor, and I did order the new buckle just to be extra safe.  You can get a belt for your Bumbo as part of the recall here.  Please never put your baby in a Bumbo or other seat and leave her unattended.

6. A good carrier.  Okay, everyone has different preferences when it comes to baby carriers.  I started out with a Bjorn and a Moby Wrap and a ring sling.  I never found the Bjorn to be comfortable, and the ring sling just didn’t work for me at all.  I liked the Moby, but since it was stretchy, I couldn’t use it for long before my girls were too big for it.  I eventually found that my favorite carrier for teeny tiny newborns is a woven wrap.  The one I have is a Babyette.

And my favorite carrier of all time is the Ergo.  I love my Ergo.  It is so comfortable, even when worn for hours, like when Miss went on her first antiquing expedition with my mom and me.

And it is a carrier that my husband can and will wear too.

It even works for hiking.

And when you’ve got more than one babe in the mix, it is essential.  Before she was mobile, I could carry Lass and still be quite active with Miss.

I’ve also tried a Mei Tai style carrier, which I’ve never gotten comfortable with, and a few different slings, like the Hot Sling.  I don’t love the Hot Sling, as I don’t find it to be super comfortable, and I am just not comfortable using a sling with a tiny one.  But, the Hot Sling was great to use during the first six or so months of my second two pregnancies.  It allowed me to wear Miss, and then Lass, once I couldn’t wear the Ergo anymore because of my belly (I’ve never been very good at a back carry and found the hip carry to be uncomfortable), since I could carry the girls above the belly with the sling.

7. An upright, freestanding immobilization device.  For us, this has been our excersaucer.  I love this thing.  Miss used to sit in it in the garage while we worked out.

Both Miss and Lass have spent many shower times in this thing. It allowed me to take a shower with my baby/toddler in sight and unable to get into things, so I didn’t have to waste precious nap time minutes with showering.

And this past summer I discovered the portable/outdoor version of this.

I occasionally used it at home, but it was most useful when out and about.

I took it to the pool and used it as a high chair for Lass.  I took it to outdoor concerts, parks, etc.  It folds up like a lawn chair and has a bag with a strap to carry it.

Okay, so those are my essentials.  Each of the above things made my life with a tiny one, and then a toddler plus a tiny one, much easier.  I had to learn what would work and what didn’t through trial and error, but I am so glad I discovered each of these things.  I know not everyone will think these items are important, and others will have their own lists of essentials.  So, feel free to share.  What things did you find essential to surviving the early months of parenting or of adjusting to two or more babes?

Quickie

Posted on by Amy
Just returned tonight from another week in the blogging black hole (my parents’ house).  We had a great visit, and I’ll post about that soon.  But tonight I’m tired from a long day in the car and little sleep last night, so here’s a quickie with a few photos from last week.
Miss has gotten into wearing dresses to school.  This is because she likes to wear tights, not because she really cares about dresses.  I don’t have a ton of dresses for her, since she’s never really been into them before, and I tend to think they’re a bit impractical for an active girl.  I didn’t want to spend a ton on new dresses for her, but I found this amazing online consignment store, where I got her three dresses for under $25.  Cute, name brand dresses in great condition.  I love a great deal (have I mentioned that before?).

And somebody got her very own ballet shoes to be like big sister.

Now they dance together.

No words needed for these next three photos.  I’ll just say I love them.

And in closing, Miss’s new thing (besides dresses) is to inspect her feet for toe jam.  It makes me chuckle just to type that.  She almost never finds any.  I do wash regularly between her toes.  But she likes to look for it.  Whatever floats her boat, right?

There.  A quickie.  Night.

$1

Posted on by Amy
$1 can buy some great stuff.  A friend of mine told me about these little drums that hang around kids’ necks in the $1 section at Target.  Have I ever mentioned how much I love the $1 section at Target?  Well, I love it.  A lot.  Today I had to pick up a few things at this wonderful store, so I checked the $1 section for drums on strings.  My friend said her kids loved them.  Lo and behold.

These simple little drums led to hours of fun today.  They prompted a pre-nap jam session/dance party, where both of my girls played their drums, Miss sang (her version of the Snow White song, “I’m wishing, I’m wishing, today, today.”) and we all danced.

I also bought $1 star-shaped tambourines and $1 maracas for each of the girls, but the drums were by far the favorite.

After dinner the girls showed off their drumming talents to their Daddy.  Miss in particular was really enjoying keeping the beat.  She got very excited that we could all play music together, and repeatedly asked, “Should we all play music together?”  Daddy played his guitar, I played a tambourine, Miss played her drum.  Lass lost interest in her drum after a little while and instead just danced along, wearing a tutu and sunglasses of course.  We played fast.  We played slow.  Miss practiced keeping the beat.  We sang.  We laughed.  These little $1 drums brought so much joy today.  And I’m not even talking about my girls’ enjoyment of them, which was substantial (before bed Miss asked if she could play with her drum again when she wakes up). I’m talking about me.  I had so many moments of, “Wow, look at how awesome these girls are” and “I’m having such a blast” and “I will never forget this” as a result of buying these $1 drums.  Who knew?  Talk about a cure for cabin fever.  These $1 drums, and the fun they brought to our house today, are priceless.

The Holiday Spirit

Posted on by Amy
I’m really getting into the holiday spirit now.  That means I’m listening to Christmas music, enjoying the lights and decor, and starting to get a lot of my shopping done, which means looking for good bargains.  Of course, if you think about bargains this time of year, everyone thinks about Black Friday.  Now, I love finding a bargain.  I mean, I really love finding a bargain.  But I do not love going shopping when the stores are crowded, let alone when they are jam packed with crazy people fighting over the last “Tickle Me Elmo” or whatever the latest must-have item is for Christmas.  Yes, I know “Tickle Me Elmo” was the big thing in about 1996.  No, I do not have the slightest idea what hot toys are selling out in stores this year.  I don’t watch much TV and I don’t shop on Black Friday, so I’m clueless about this stuff.  And you did read that right.  As much as I love a good deal, I do not go shopping on Black Friday.  Ever.  I especially don’t go shopping at midnight on Thanksgiving.   What?! The idea of the crowds and insanity makes me feel a little ill.  I don’t even like going grocery shopping on a weekend or after 4 pm.  Grocery shopping at 9 am on a Tuesday when the stores are nearly deserted is one of the secret perks of being a stay-at-home mom.  But I digress.  Back to the bargain shopping…
I am happy to report that I managed to get three fabulous deals in the past week in spite of my Black Friday boycott.  Deal #1 was before Thanksgiving at Kohl’s.  You may remember that I wrote about my distress over being unable to find a decent maternity blazer to wear to testify in court (you can read about it here if you’re so inclined).  I essentially was not able to find one and settled for a black cardigan.  I have worn that cardigan to court twice, and felt like a frump both times.  Then I got subpoenaed again.  I finally decided that I need to just buy a non-maternity black blazer in my regular size that I can wear unbuttoned for now and then continue to wear when I’m not pregnant anymore.  That way I don’t feel bad about spending money on a maternity item I’ll rarely wear, and I’ll add a staple to my wardrobe that I should really already have.  I mean, how can I not have a black blazer?  I checked Kohl’s last week when Lass and I were running errands after dropping Miss off at school.  I found a blazer there.  And even though it was before Thanksgiving, it was on sale.  I got a great blazer for about $35!!  Okay, so this wasn’t a holiday gift find, but saving money still gets me in the spirit.
Deal #2 was for this beautiful necklace.  This was a Black Friday online sale in this awesome Etsy shop.  I am kind of addicted to these necklaces, and I got a super deal on this one.  Plus, I don’t have to pay shipping because the mama who makes them lives nearby and her son goes to preschool with Miss.  Score!  Oh yeah, I guess this wasn’t a holiday gift find either, but really the sale was too good to pass up.
Deal #3 and the best one yet was a find for Miss.  I got her a pair of Land’s End snow boots that were regularly priced at about $50.  They are on sale for $25 right now. Plus I got a special “Cyber Monday” additional discount code and free shipping.  I paid about $18 for them!!  Woohoo!
Another thing that has really gotten me into the spirit of the season is buying gifts for some local children for Christmas.  Last year we packed shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child through Samaritan’s Purse.  That is a great cause, but this year I wanted to give to a more local cause.  I looked online for some local charities and found out our police station has a program where they match you up with a child, give you the age, gender, sizes, needs, and wishes of him or her.  I requested two children and we got a three-year-old and a seven-year-old, both girls.  It was so fun to shop for them with my girls!  I think Miss is starting to understand the concept of giving to someone less fortunate than us, and she had fun picking out the toys, books, clothes, and other miscellaneous items for these little girls.  She kept asking what the little girls’ names were that we were shopping for (which of course I didn’t know).  We got school outfits, jammies, underwear, snow pants and boots, books, a baby doll and stroller, a shopping cart and toy food, and a case of art supplies, along with a few other things. Today we packed them up and took them to the police station to drop them off.  Miss even carried one of the big bags full of gifts all by herself.  She was so proud and kept declining my offers to help her.  She even got a “Junior Officer” badge sticker from the officer at the station.  It was such a fun experience.
And finally, to wrap up this post, here are a few photos of my girls getting into the spirit watching football with their Daddy.  This photo was taken on Saturday at the beginning of the Michigan vs. Ohio State game.  And yes, my hubby was rooting for Michigan on that day. 

I love this time of year!

The Well-Dressed Belly

Posted on by Amy
This is what Miss wore to school yesterday.

Adorable, yes?

Why is it that I can find such wonderful clothes for my children, and yet it is so difficult to find simply practical, comfortable, and attractive maternity clothing for myself?  Set aside the fact that I spend much more time and am much more interested in finding fabulous things for my kids.  That’s a given.  But, I should still be able to find decent stuff to help me look nice through the 6-ish months of my pregnancy when I can’t fit into my regular clothes anymore.  Right?

Now I will concede that I have found some nice casual and everyday work clothes for this pregnancy.  I refused to spend much money on maternity clothes when I was pregnant with Miss, which resulted in me buying mostly junk that is no longer wearable this time around, and the clothes I have from my pregnancy with Lass are mostly not appropriate because of different seasons.  So, I had to buy some new maternity clothes recently.  Plus, with this being my third pregnancy in three years, I really was just sick of looking dumpy.  This time I invested in a few nice new items, and some great jewelry (check out this Etsy shop), so that I will be a little more comfortable and stylish for the next 5-6 months.

Unfortunately, I have never needed, and have not wanted to invest in a maternity business suit, so when I got the call two days ago that I needed to appear in court to provide expert witness testimony today, I had nothing to wear!  I went to every maternity store nearby and several department stores with pitifully small maternity sections.  I couldn’t find a suit, though I’m not sure I really expected to.  I would have settled for a nice blazer that I could wear with the black maternity pants I already have.  But no.  I found one jacket that was horridly ugly and much too short to wear over any other maternity shirt without it hanging out the bottom (and one can’t exactly tuck a shirt in to maternity pants).  I didn’t have time to find and order anything online.  I was frantically searching the stores for other nice business attire and was shocked to find how casual most of the “business” maternity clothing out there is.  Now, I suppose for many work situations, the things I saw would be fine.  But surely there are pregnant women out there who have to wear a business suit or at least a jacket to work on a regular basis.  Right?  Where are these elusive suits?  Why is a maternity blazer so horrid-looking?  These are the questions I was asking myself as I walked into court this morning wearing my black pants, a button up shirt I purchased when pregnant with Miss (couldn’t even find a nice one of these in the past two days!), and a black cardigan sweater that sort of, very loosely, approximated a business-jacket-type look.  I felt woefully underdressed.

Fortunately, my testimony went well.  I’m sure no one else was nearly as concerned about my lack of a suit as I was.  And most importantly, my girls looked adorable today.

Things I Love This Spring

Posted on by Amy
Whenever I find something I love, I want to tell everyone about it. Not to brag, but just to spread the joy. Or maybe to say, “Hey look, I found this fun/cool/nifty/handy thing. You should try it.” As a mom, you find out about all the good mom stuff through hearing about it from other moms. So, today I’m just doing my part. Of course writing a blog post is the perfect way to spread the word. It’s like sharing, but without having to let anyone touch my stuff.
I’ve found some fun new things that I am really enjoying this spring. Here’s to sharing!
My new diaper bag:

It was a birthday present from my hubby. It’s not really a diaper bag. It’s a Big Buddha Rose Tote, but it’s big enough to be a diaper bag. I can fit a cloth diaper or two for Lass plus accessories (spray bottle, cloth wipes, wet bag), Miss’s potty bag (including folding potty seat, stickers, hand and rear end wipes, and Sesame Street toilet seat covers), a bib, nursing cover, cup of bunny crackers, cup of milk, wallet, and phone in there, with some room left over. Plus I can take out a few of the bigger things and still carry it as a fun purse on the occasions I go out somewhere without kids. I get comments on this bag almost every time I take it somewhere. You can check out Big Buddha’s website here, but this bag is only sold from places like Ebay now because it’s from last year’s collection. Maybe I’m a little behind the times, but I love this bag so I don’t care. I mean really, doesn’t it just scream “Spring!”?

These matching bonnets:
You know I love me some baby bonnets. Heck, I did a whole post about them (see A Bonnet) and barely captured a photo of Miss outside without hers last summer. Miss still wears her Bella Sol Bebe bonnets, and I will be getting more for this summer for Lass. Bella Sol Bebe are really my favorite bonnets (check them out here, and see Miss as a bonnet model!). But I had to get these from Urban Baby Bonnets because they have cozy fleece lining the inside!
What a great idea!
For many people, fleece wouldn’t conjure up thoughts of spring, but I ordered these thinking they would be perfect for our spring and fall here, which can be quite chilly. Little did I know just how cold this “spring” would turn out to be. In fact for much of the spring my girls have still been in knit caps. But in the past week or so I’ve been able to bring these bonnets out. And one thing I didn’t think of, but that has been great, is that these bonnets are perfect for putting on the girls on the cold rainy days we’ve had recently because I can just flip the visor forward and keep the rain off their sweet little faces.
And we’ve had a lot of rain.
Yes, those are ducks swimming in our front yard.
The bonnets are perfect with rain boots too.
My final spring love item? My new ride. The Baby Jogger City Mini Double Stroller. This thing is like the Lincoln Town Car (you might think “Cadillac,” but we’re a Ford family, people!) of strollers. And the girls seem to love it.
Now if it can just get a little warmer and stay dry long enough for us to get out and enjoy some more walks in this thing! Happy Spring everyone.

Safety

Posted on by Amy

I am always looking for new items to make my life easier and keep my girls safe. I’ve mentioned some items here. Of course, I love my cloth diapers. I love my mommy gadgets. My husband calls me a Mommy Gear Head. Recently I’ve found a great new resource for items and information for child safety. It’s called My Precious Kid. It’s an online store. It’s a blog. And I get updates from their Facebook page with great safety and product information. It’s a great resource, so I wanted to share it.

I am currently in need of new carseats for my girls. Although she’s two, I keep Miss in a rear-facing carseat because it is safer in the event of an accident. I currently have her in a Britax Boulevard. A very well-rated seat both in terms of safety and from parents. Except that my husband and I hate this seat. It is so hard to pull the strap to get it tight enough, and it’s super cumbersome for my hubby to lug around in airports when we travel. Recently, the strap that comes up between Miss’s legs that we pull to get the shoulder harness tight enough has started to fray. I could have put up with an annoying seat, but now I don’t feel comfortable with the safety of this seat, so I am getting a new one. I’m thinking about getting a Sunshine Radian (not sure yet which model). My Precious Kid carries these here. The fold up, so they’re less cumbersome when traveling, and they also have great safety ratings. Anyone have one of these? I’d love to hear what folks think of them who have used them. Make sure you check out My Precious Kid for other great stuff and valuable info!

Little Bear

Posted on by Amy
I got some new hats made by my talented friend Shannon at Crocheted Goods. Lass is so adorable in her little ear hat.


And she’ll actually keep this hat on without complaint. It’s so soft. . .
Big sister got a new hat too.
In fact, our attempts at getting Miss out to play in the snow around Christmas time were the reason I ordered these hats. We have a couple of other hats from Shannon that are beautiful and great for everyday wear, but when outside playing Miss needs something that can tie under her chin. Otherwise the hat falls off or she pulls it off. So, the earflap hat! With pretty flower accent, of course.

We love them. Thanks Shannon!

New Toys

Posted on by Amy
We are taking a trip to Arizona in a few weeks. It will be our first plane trip with two kids under two. In preparation for this, Miss got a new set of child-sized headphones so she can happily watch Yo Gabba Gabba on our DVD player without thoroughly annoying all the other passengers in ear-shot. She thought they were pretty cool.




And our little Lass is growing so fast!! I can’t believe she’s already big enough for this:


I knew those out-dated books from graduate school would come in handy some day. Actually, since she’s in the 90th %ile for height, she’s pretty much tall enough to reach the base of the exersaucer, so she doesn’t really need the book there at this point, but I keep it there just to give her a little extra to “stand” on.
She loves being in the exersaucer and it’s so cute to watch her playing in it.
Miss and Lass got an art easel for Christmas that my hubby put together today. It fits right onto her Learning Tower and had a chalkboard side and a dry erase side, as well as a magnet to hold a piece of paper in place.

She had so much fun with it today. Daddy was ordered to draw with her. He was allowed to use the blue chalk, and only the blue chalk.

But she didn’t like what he drew so she erased it.
She also got lots of magnets from Santa. She has animals and letters and she had fun putting all the animals on both sides of the easel today. This is such a great bonus to having the easel, since we cannot stick magnets to the front of our refrigerator (seriously, what kind of a refrigerator is it if you can’t stick magnets to it????)
My hubby asked Miss to draw a circle, and here’s what she did. We were pretty impressed!
I am crossing my fingers that she will continue to really love this and that it will be fun for her to do while I’m cooking dinner or getting other things done in the kitchen. I love that the Learning Tower has this accessory, as I really wanted her to have an art easel but didn’t want to have another big thing to take up space.
One of my goals this year is to blog more frequently. I really do love doing it and I love that some people actually read what I write and enjoy the photos of our day to day. But, I may be a little less present in the next week or so. I have two books to read for two book clubs this week, and one of them has been very slow-going for me. Plus I have three competency evaluations to write reports for, so please bear with me if I’m not posting quite as much for a few days. I’ll try to at least keep posting some photos of my girls!

Things that made me smile today

Posted on by Amy
1. Two girls took long naps. At the same time!!
2. These big blue eyes.

3. I organized the toys and books in our living room and my hubby’s office.
4. Sister hugs.
5. Hearty leftovers for dinner. Chicken stew and chili. Hardly any dishes to do!!
6. This girl:

7. Getting in a workout today!
8. Finding photos on my phone from a playdate we had a few weeks ago. We went to the children’s museum and I took some pics on my phone and then forgot them. Miss loved the museum, especially the water room (complete with mini raincoats) and the slide.

9. A trip to Hobby Lobby for some holiday items. I picked up some new ornaments that aren’t breakable for Miss to put on the tree. Each one I held up and showed her she said, “Oooh, I yuuuv it!” or “Boo-ful!” She is especially into Santa and snowmen right now. In fact, she said “I yuuuv it!” about almost every Santa or snowman she saw, which kept me smiling the whole time we were there. And when we were picking out picture frames so I can (finally) put up some photos of Lass, Miss kept saying, “No touch” about each frame, after I said it to her once. What a good girl.
10. I finally got a photo of the girls in their matching winter hats as we were getting bundled up to go to Hobby Lobby. I have a hat that matches theirs too. Unfortunately, Lass is not a big hat fan, so it has been very difficult to get a photo of the two of them in their adorable matching hats without Lass being red-faced and screaming. This one isn’t great, but it’s something. The hats were made by my friend Shannon of Crocheted Goods. I get compliments on them every time we wear them!
Today was a happy day. Very much looking forward to the rest of this week, with Lass turning 3 months old tomorrow, Thanksgiving on Thursday, and our Christmas decorating on Friday!