A Few of My Favorite Things!

So, I've been doing this mom thing for almost 2 months now and thought I would share my "must haves" and "life savers" with y'all!  I know several of my pregnant friends read and this is an easy way to let them know what to go buy (or what not to buy and what to expect as a gift from me)!

In no particular order, my favorite baby items!  (Side note - Kate loves music - and she especially loves music from The Sound of Music.  Good thing I am a huge musical dork and know all of the songs...I am officially singing this song in my head as I type this - except I love things like Uppa Baby instead of Rain drops on roses!)

UppaBaby Vista



I absolutely adore our stroller (we have the Special Edition Maya color - a pretty golden yellow).  I know not everyone understands spending this kind of money on a stroller but, it was a necessity for us.  We take our dogs on a walk almost every day.  And, we live in an urban area with crappy side walks (or no side walks) so having a stroller that easily navigates all terrains was a must have.  We currently take K on walks in the bassinet and she loves it.  I also have the car seat adaptor which makes the stroller frame a snap-and-go when we are out running errands.  We haven't used the toddler seat yet but, I'm sure we will love it as well!

Another reason why this is one of my favorite items is because K sleeps in the bassinet every night.  She is not a fan of her pack n play or her crib right now.  I think they are just a bit too big.  The bassinet is nice and cozy and she loves it!

Jolly Jumper Bassinet Stand

As I mentioned, K sleeps in her stroller bassinet every night.  We got this stand as a shower gift and it fits our bassinet perfectly!  It is the perfect height for me to be able to reach over and pop her paci back in her mouth, pat her back, etc.  At $45, it is so worth the money if you have a bassinet or moses basket to use with it!

Swaddle Blankets

K loves to be swaddled.  We did a full swaddle for the first two weeks.  After that we switched to swaddling from the arm pits down as she likes to have her hands/ arms free.  We use Aden + Anais muslin swaddle blankets and fleece swaddle blankets that my mom made for me (I would provide a link if my mom would start her Etsy store - hint hint momma).  The A+A blankets are also great to throw over the stroller when out as they are the perfect weight to provide some coverage without making K too hot.


Fisher Price Whale of a Tub

This is by far the best infant bath tub (ours doesn't have the toy bar but that would be fun to have)!  Not only it is cute, it is super practical.  The little hump/ stopper thing makes bathing a tiny baby so easy as the baby is propped up and can't slip down into the water.  We use this every night and I am so glad my friend Kim recommended it to me and that Mrs Bev gave it to us at my first shower!


Soothies & Wubbanubs
K is a big time paci girl.  However, the only paci she will take is a sooothie paci - that is the type she got in the hospital and she took to them right away.  Nothing else works.  So, soothie it is!



We really love wubbanubs too.  It is a soothie pacifier attached to a plush animal (we have a pink pony and a puppy).  The animal allows K to get a better grip on the paci which helps keep it in her mouth.  It also allows this momma to find a paci that K spit out while screaming her head off riding in the car.


Gowns
Any brand works for us (but I am partial to Carters, Kissy Kissy, and now Coccoli since we got some as a gift from some sweet friends).  I just love how babies look in sweet sleep gowns/ day gowns and love how easy a middle of the night diaper change is!


Soothing Sea Horse



My friend Kim sent K one as a gift and we love it.  K is at the point where she really wants to put herself to sleep.  She gets super fussy if we try to cuddle/ hold her when she is tired and likes to just be placed in her bassinet.  I turn on her sea horse as soon as I lay her down and 9 times out of 10 she is sound asleep before the music ends!
 
Little Lamb Swing
 

As I mentioned, K doesn't love her crib just yet.  So, when we are hanging out in the living room/ on the main floor of our house, I need a place to put her down when she is sleeping/ sleepy so the dogs can't get her (Ollie loves to kiss her face - I am not such a fan of that).  Her swing comes in handy!  I don't let her swing in it just yet as the lowest setting is still to fast (I hear it works best once a baby reaches 12 pounds).  But, who needs a motorized swing with you have two dachshund sibling to push you?
 
 
I know there are more must haves but these are our most used items right now.  As the list changes, I will update it!