...with My Favorite (baby) Things!

I recently started sorting thru the bajillion baby "things" I have accumulated since before Elena was born that are apparently required for caring for a newborn and infant. Now that she is one year old, I really have a sense of what is "required" and what is not. It is so easy to get carried away when preparing for a baby and to think you need one ( or seven) of everything. In fact, when you register for gifts the stores give you a "list" (more like a novel) of everything you absolutely.must.have. for your baby. Of course, you don't really NEED all this stuff, but they sure push people to think they need it. Sadly, many register for one of everything on the list! It doesn't help that everything baby related is so freaking cute! Sometimes tiny = cute!
So, like Oprah....here is my list of My Favorite (baby) Things!!! (Unlike Oprah....you won't be receiving one of every item!)

1. Baby Basinett - We did not buy one of these, we were lucky enough to have someone lend us their's between their baby #1 and baby #2. Elena's room is just down the hall from ours, but in the early days when she fed every 3 hours like clock work, I didn't want to have to walk all the way down the hall to her room to feed and change her, then walk back to our room...up hill both ways, thru 4 feet of snow!!! Having her in the basinett beside me I could easily sit up in bed and prep myself to nurse her while the husband changed her on our bed. I then fed her, wrapped her back up and put her in the bassinet. Easy peasy and I was able to fall right back to sleep. We transitioned her to her crib before I went back to work from maternity leave after 12 weeks (she was sleeping thru the night by this point anyways, so there was no need to me to get up in the middle of the night to feed her). I think because we transitioned her to the crib at an early age she didn't have a problem with it....she didn't care where she was sleeping! We used something similiar to this - it had a light, music and vibrating feature, and it rocked too!


















2. Peapod - well, we called it a peapod, but it really was a swaddling blanket. Elena loved this thing and had to be wrapped in it to sleep. As she got older, she could wiggle her arms out and we knew she didn't want to be in it anymore.
The best one we had was made by Kiddopotamus. We had 2 from The First Years and they just didn't wrap and secure as nicely.











3. Zippered sleepers - forget snaps. When you are changing a baby numerous times during the night in the early weeks (and tired, exhausted, etc!), trying to fumble and line up 10 pairs of snaps is no easy task. We loved the sleepers that came with a zipper instead! We had several and we rotated them and threw the snap ones in the back of the drawer! The snapped sleepers are okay for when the baby is older and you don't have to change them in the middle of the night. The only problem is the zippered sleepers are harder to find in the store....most seem to be made with snaps. Most of my zippered ones were older and had been purchased at resale stores or rummage sales.
























4. Medela Freestlye BreastPump - This pump was my BFF for 12 months ;) I loved this pump for it's size! It claims to be handsfree and it really is. It comes with these straps that hook to your bra so you don't have to hold onto the flanges while pumping. Now, I never used those straps. Instead, I tucked the flanges into my bra so they were secure and that, along with the suction of the pump itself, was enough to hold the pump in place. What I really love about this pump is how SMALL it is. When all my coworkers were walking into work lugging their big briefcase looking bag which contained their breastpump....I was carrying my small pump and pieces in a bag the size of a lunch box. Not only that, the FreeStyle is not connected to a bag like other Medela pump models are. The FreeStlye has a clip on it that you can attach to your waistband. So, if you ever happened to be driving down the street and looked into the window of a house as you passed by and noticed someone washing dishes with a breastpump hanging off the front of them....that was me! Yep, I washed dishes, did laundry, surfed the net and mowed the lawn (just kidding!) all while pumping super nutritious milk for my little girl!
One of the downsides to the FreeStlye is its pricetag. It's almost $400. I was lucky enough to have saved multiple Target gift cards and then used those, along with a sale price, a coupon and the Target Registry completion certificate to score my pump for less than $100!








5. Booster Highchair - We opted not to get a full size highchair for Elena. One, they take up a lot of space. Secondly, they can be harder to clean as there is more surface area in something that big. Instead, we got the small booster style seat that attaches to one of your kitchen chairs. We have 6 kitchen chairs, so using one of them was not a problem. One might argue that you can't recline a booster chair the way you can a full size high chair. However, we didn't plan on putting Elena in the booster until she was ready to eat solids, at six months of age. It is best recommended to start feeding when your child can sit up on his/her own, so the reclining feature was not something we needed. Another thing I like about the booster chair is that it folds up, so we can easily pack it up and bring it with us to other people's homes or when we go out of town. It is all plastic, so it is very easy to clean. For less than $40, I'd say it's the way to go!




















6. Infant Carriers - I have several baby carriers.....all had different purposes and they have all served us well! There are numerous baby carriers available and choosing one can be overwhelming. I prefer to "wear" Elena than to push her in a stroller. There are many benefits to babywearing and it is safe if done correctly! Don't get me wrong, our stroller is nice for taking walks, going to the Zoo and for stroller aerobics....but other than that I have pushed Elena in a stroller while shopping, etc a grand total of......ZERO times!

In the early newborn days, I used a pouch style carrier (this one specifically) to carry Elena around the house or when I went shopping. I epecially found it beneficial in keeping strangers hands off my baby when I was out shopping! This sling was also convenient because I could easily nurse her in it without taking her out of the sling.
As she grew, the sling was a little more difficult for me to get her in comfortably, so I bought a Moby-style wrap. I purchased one from Lovey Duds. I love/loved this wrap and Elena always slept well in it. When she was cranky and didn't want to lie down for a nap, I would wrap her up in this carrier and she'd fall asleep in no time at all. This wrap is also comfortable when wearing for longer periods of time. I have taken Elena to events and worn her in this wrap and had no back pain or anything.

My latest and greatest carrier is called a woven. Similiar to a Moby-style wrap, except it has NO stretch making it ideal for larger babies and toddlers. It can also be used in the newborn stage. I wish I had bought one of these when Elena was a newborn. There are different lengths of woven wraps and there are TONS of different ways you can wrap the woven to carry your child. Elena has quite enjoyed our woven so far!
















7. Mini Prep 4 -Cup Food Processor


If you've read this blog before, you know very well that I make all of Elena's baby food myself. There are some pretty fancy (read: expensive) gadgets on the market that are made specifically for making baby food. Apparently you NEED this gadget if you want to make you child's food yourself. Because it's geared towards "babies" it has a huge price tag (over $125). Let me tell you, you don't need the expensive machine! I already owned a mini food processor (you can get one for $30) and I went out and purchased a $6 steam basket for my saucepan. I steamed any fruit/veggies/etc in the steam basket, transferred it to my food processor, and pureed to my hearts content. If you don't already have a mini food chopper, you can also use an immersion blender or your full size food processor. I liked my mini one because it's small and I could keep it out on my counter top at all times without it taking up too much space. So, save yourself some money and skip the expensive baby gimmicks!


8. Bumkins bibs - I love these bibs because they have a pocket to catch any falling food and they are waterproof - making it easy to just wipe them clean and hanging to dry. I have several of these in cute prints and they are great for on the go as well, no need to carry home a dirty bib!
Here's Elena modeling hers on her first birthday!




9. Baltic Amber Teething Necklaces - Elena's baltic amber has come from Inspired By Finn. You can read the benefits of baltic amber here http://hyenacart.com/inspiredbyfinn/index.php?c=64&p=14913 , but in short, we use it to help with Elena's teething pain/discomfort. So far, we have hardly noticed when Elena is teething. She rarely exhibits any of the typical signs of teething and definitely doesn't appear to experience much pain. Elena started wearing her necklace when she was 6 months old. We get a lot of compliments on her necklace....it is very cute!!!




10. Cloth diapers - For the most part, we use Bum Genius, Fuzzi Bunz and GroVia. Cloth diapers are great for many reasons - namely in that they make an impact on the environment and on my wallet! Cloth diapering has saved us tons of money on the cost of diapering Elena. Not only are they cost efficient and earth friendly.....they are CUTE!!! (Stay tuned for a post with more information on cloth diapering!!!)