Graco Duet Connect Swing & Bouncer
I am all about this two-in-one, three-in-one stuff. We have no room for multiple, large, pieces of baby equipment in our living room all at once so this thing is perfect. Why do babes need so. much. machinery?! Finding pieces that have more than one purpose is my jam. BONUS, it comes in a black/gray/tan color scheme (and tons of others), so again...not offensive to look at! It took a while before I found what I liked, but this thing is amazing. The swing plugs in, has six swinging settings, and plays music or white noises (Jamie prefers Beethoven, I prefer water). When I want to take Mav to the kitchen while I make supper or the hallway while I get ready, the bouncer clicks off the swing base and I can set him anywhere. The seat vibrates on two settings with a D battery, but I've found Maverick is pretty indifferent about that. Then when I'm ready for him to swing again, the bouncer just clicks right back on. Seriously...I'd never seen anything like this before and I'm SO GLAD I discovered it in time before I 'settled' for something else.
*We also have the three-in-one high chair and they sell a matching pack'n'play/yard in the same color scheme, which we don't have but I can appreciate. My guess is we'll also love the high-chair for its dual functionality, but I'll let you know when we get there...I'm waiting to get that out once the swing is put away.*
Baby Monitors
We wanted to stay so unbelievably simple in this area. When it safely applies, I very much fall back on the mantra, "My mom didn't have any of this crap when we were babies and we survived." So we went for the most basic baby monitors out there to use when we run to the basement to work in the storage space, to visit Jamie, Josh is working in the garage, we're fire pitting, on the deck, or we're spending the evening in the hot tub once Mav is in bed. It works perfectly for all those reasons...and other than that, I feel like I don't really need to have my eyes on him constantly. While I obviously care about how my baby sleeps, I think it's helped me obsess a lot less about his sleep habits, wondering what he's doing in there, feeling bad watching him cry it out, etc. When/if we end up with two babies in the same bedroom, I could see us getting a video monitor to keep an eye on a toddler and an infant in the same room...until then, this $26 model is working great.
Baby Bjorn Carrier
I'm not a huge fan of this 'movement', but I am a fan of wearing Mav when it comes to bleachers, antique shops, and thrift stores. So far those are the only places I've found where I can't (safely) lug his carrier or walk him around with the stroller. And Maverick doesn't complain since...you know he's being held. Which means I can shop until I drop (even squeeze in the tiny booths!)...or take in an MNW football game and he doesn't make a peep for three+ hours. I did very little research before choosing this carrier as the ONE I would buy...in fact I went to Target the afternoon before the football game to find one or we wouldn't be going (the MNW bleachers are...treacherous) there were four to choose from...this one was a brand I liked (based on other products we own) and it came in black. Done and done. It easily adjusts, I can stick him in there on my own (although it took a time or two with assistance when he was super tiny), and he can face in or face out now that he's older. We love it.
***I think we would have used this even more if Mav was born earlier in the summer/fall season. I could see this thing coming in handy for apple orchards, hay rides, bonfires, walking around at Twin Lakes...stuff like that. It just got too cold to take him out and about that way.***
Room Essentials Kitchen Towels (used as burp cloths)
Skip the fancy, expensive burp cloths and towels and go for something plain, cheap, big, and useful. Everything I found in the stores was too 'cutsie' and annoying or too expensive to make sense...the cute ones on Etsy are always too small. For the love, I just wanted something PLAIN. So a week before Mav was born I realized I hadn't settled on any burp cloths and we would definitely be needing some SOON. While Jamie and I were taking a casual lap around Target, we landed in the kitchen section and I decided these would work just as good or better then anything I'd seen in the baby department. Five months in and they totally do. They're white so they go with every outfit and they don't look obnoxious laying around the living room (are you noticing a theme here?)...also...THEY'RE CHEAP! We bought two packs and that's been more then enough.
Monthly Numbers
These are just the best things ever. Ours were a gift from the wonderful Angie Carson, who was able to find the PERFECT set for Maverick...each month is a new woodland creature! It makes taking his monthly pictures a breeze. Seriously, there is nothing easier than smacking a sticker on a white onesie and snapping a few pics. There are tons of options on Amazon, on Etsy, or in the baby department at basically any store.
Baby Bjorn Travel Crib
This is a little weird, but YEARS ago when I was following this blog, I read a 'favorite things' post (similar to the one I'm doing now) and filed this little piece of information away for when I might need it someday. The 'pack'n'play' she was describing sounded like the. shiz. Let me tell you...it totally holds up. It's SO EASY to put together...goes up in 30 seconds or less! It's super light so I can carry Maverick, my purse, the crib, AND another bag or two AT THE SAME TIME (if you're like me, taking one trip to the car in the winter is always the goal). It's black, so if there comes a day when I need to have it up in the living room or dining room to 'contain' him for an extended period of time while I run around the house doing stuff...it's not offensive to look at. Sheets are easy to find (Auntie Hannah found him these on Amazon) and I just keep those on the mattress pad so they're already on when we set it up. It's also small and really easy to store. It is on the pricier side, but baby #1 is when the gift cards are plentiful...do yourself a favor and buy the stuff you love in the beginning so subsequent babes can all get good use out of it. Watch for sales and use your Target card for 5% off and + free shipping.
Graco FastAction Travel System
I've heard differing opinions about this brand, but I tell you what...so far we've loved everything about the Graco products we own. This car seat and stroller are no different. Despite what some mom's prefer, I really did want the 'Travel System' with the stroller and car seat because we don't have room for multiple strollers around these parts...but finding a stroller I liked that worked with a car seat I liked, in the color I wanted did prove to be a challenge. Especially when the one I landed on was SOLD OUT for MONTHS at Target before Maverick was born (coincidentally we saw the exact same stroller about 100 times at the fair...which sort of explains why it was always sold out. Apparently it's a popular model!). I love how the car seat clicks in and out of the stroller so easily and I like how smooth the stroller rides. The metal wheels make the stroller feel a lot stronger and sturdier than some of the similar models with plastic wheels. The car seat is about as light and ergonomic as they come, but let's be honest...those huge, heavy baby carriers are all kind of the worst. In the few months we had to use the stroller and car seat before winter, we really loved it...I'm thinking we'll feel the same way this spring and summer when we're on walks, at the pool, and outside with Mav all the time. The beauty of online shopping today is that if you get it and hate it, you can take it back to the store and try again.
Ikea Trash Can
I'd skip the Diaper Genie and go for a basic $10 trash can with a pedal and a flippy top (is that what they're called??). Medium-sized, off-brand garbage bags fit this one, no problem. The inside bin has a handle and is removable for easy cleaning too. I wasn't positive about this when we bought it (seven months before Maverick was set to arrive may have been jumping the gun) but for $10 I was willing to give it a try.
Baby Einstein on YouTube
Can I just say...THIS CRAP IS AMAZING. It's so annoying, but entertains our little man at his crabbiest (evenings or right before it's time to eat) like a dream. Once Maverick got a little bigger, was more alert, and started noticing his surroundings more (and I was closer to feeling back to myself) the endless hours of Today Show followed by Gilmore Girls and Kardashians during the day while we both napped and lounged were not going to cut it anymore. Our TV has YouTube capability, so I just pick a new 25 minute clip every day, plop his bouncer in front of the TV, and let him learn about numbers and mammals and countries from a zebra puppet. It's completely ridiculous and I'm not doing it because I think it will actually make him a genius by the age of two...it just seems like a better option than Kim K.
Ikea Dresser
I think most of my mom friends have jumped on this bandwagon because it's genius...gone are those 'changing table' days. What in the world does someone do with a changing table once it's no longer needed? It goes to a basement or an attic never to be used again. Instead, you can buy a shelf or dresser or bookcase, pop a changing pad on top and voila...a changing table! When we're done with babies, we still have this huge, amazing, pretty dresser to use in big kid bedrooms (or since it's bigger and nicer than ours, maybe I'll steal it!). I opted for the larger IKEA dresser so I could hide all of Maverick's nose suckers, diapers, wipes, paci's, Tylenol, socks, lotion, Q-tips...all that annoying (colorful) baby stuff in the smaller top four drawers. We have small rooms in this house and the more stuff we have 'sitting out', the more it seems like the walls are closing in on us. I keep things tidy by having that stuff put away at all times, and those spacious drawers make that a lot easier.
White Noise App
I couldn't find a good link to this, I just searched 'Baby Sound Machine' or 'White Noise' in the app store, was able to find something I could stand listening to. I'll reiterate...our house is small, we've got girls living in the basement, our laundry room is right next door to Mav, and ambulances, fire trucks, and police cars are a sound we hear hourly at our house. Not to mention the snow plows, semis, and LOUD traffic zooming by right outside Mav's window (NOT complaining about any of those things, I'm obsessed with our house, I'm just explaining). I can't be sure, but I think this is the reason he generally naps and sleeps so well (we've had a very odd week that I'll cover in his six month update). It blocks the sound of whatever we're watching in the evenings, the friends we have over late at night, and seems to be pretty effective at getting Maverick to sleep in foreign places (within reason). I have it on the iPad and my phone so if we're somewhere and we want to use the iPad for Netflix or something, I just use my phone or I can always leave my iPad with whoever is watching him.
Disposable Diaper Bags
This genius little number was something I had never seen or heard of before I opened it from my friend Erin at a shower. I keep it in the diaper bag so if we're out and about somewhere or spending the day at someones house and throwing a dirty diaper in their trash can is not ideal, I can just tie that dirty diaper up in one of these little baggies. Then, throwing it in their bathroom or kitchen garbage isn't gross at all because it's already sealed in this amazing, fresh bag. Tossing it back in the diaper bag is also option and it avoids that dirty diaper banging around in my diaper bag. They come with a nice fresh scent and you can buy bag refills in the baby department.
Infantino Play Mat
Apparently this is THE thing to have right now, because six of Maverick's baby friends on Facebook have the same one. The colors aren't my favorite BUT this play mat twists, clicks, and collapses so easily, putting it away before people come over and getting it back out is a breeze. I just shove it in a corner of his closet and pop it back out on the living room floor in the morning. It has a mirror, hanging toys, and winds to play music. He seems to love it and at $50, it was one of the more affordable options out there.
Nike Socks
Think it's silly to buy a baby name brand clothes? Think again. THESE ARE THE ONLY SOCKS THAT WILL STAY ON MY CRAZY MAN'S FEET. Normally I wouldn't be so up tight about keeping socks on Mav because I'm determined to not be 'that' mom...but it's the dead of winter. The boy needs to keep his socks on. Jamie was so excited to get him these before he was born and I just put them on my Amazon registry because I thought they were cute. Turns out all other tiny baby socks are a joke (I've tried Circo, Gymboree, Carter's...). These have the perfect amount of ankle elastic to stay on his feet no matter how much he shuffles them back and forth or tries to grab and put them in his mouth. He's been wearing them since he was about a month old, they still fit great, AND they go with absolutely every outfit because they came in the best color scheme...gray. ;)
Overflow Thrift Store (consignment stores in general)
Everyone wonders why/how Maverick's dresser and closet is so full...surely we've spent TONS of money on ALL. THOSE. CLOTHES. Absolutely not. Maverick's momma is someone who lives for finding shirts on the Target sale rack for $3.98...I was not about to spend more on my child's clothes than my own. Enter: Overflow Thrift Store's Friday Clothing Frenzy. The first Friday of every month, baby clothes are 50 cents a piece. FIFTY CENTS. I have found Child's Place, Baby Gap, Chaps, Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, and tons of Carter's on more than one occasion (full-disclosure I've been doing this since we found out Mav was a boy). Quality clothes, purchased far in advance, supporting a local non-profit...FOR FIFTY CENTS? Sign. Me. Up. I go every month. Sometimes I find a lot of stuff...some months not as much. But it's worth the trip if I spend $5 on 10 items and Maverick has a wardrobe from now until he's four for SUPER cheap. I also like to hit up the other consignment stores in Ames every now and then and you all know I'm no stranger to the Target and Gap Factory sale racks...but I honestly do most of Maverick's clothes shopping at Overflow.
Humidifier
Maverick got a cold when he was six weeks old...he had tons of green and yellow gunk in his head and I was determined to knock that cold out as fast as I could. With the help of a lot of sleep, cuddles, Baby Vicks on his feet, his nose sucker (we love this one recommended by his Auntie Nurse Kylie!) and this humidifier, it was gone in a little over a week. When we ran to Target that Saturday to stock up on newborn cold supplies, this was the only one in the store that wasn't an ugly animal shape and color (I guess everyone else had a cold that week too?)...so I have no reason to recommend this particular product because zero research was involved. We like it, but I'd just make sure to nab one before wintertime. We run it at every nap and overnight because our house is so dry, but I also appreciate the extra noise it provides. I'm convinced it's one of the reasons his skin is staying nice and soft this winter (no chapped cheeks, flaky head, or dry skin anywhere!).
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