Day 21

Day 21: A picture of something that makes you happy.

Another one that is way too easy. And here's a few other things that make me happy. We're on vacation right now and it was crazy thinking of everything we might need for Garrett on this trip. I think I did pretty well at packing and being prepared, but its made me realize how much stuff he has! He is a well taken care of little kid. I've seen a couple of moms-to-be and future Grandmas on this trip, so maybe this'll help with spoiling your little ones. Here's a list of a few things, almost all of which my mom survived without as a new mom, and its probably all stuff I could survive without, but its also fun and helpful to have. My friend Heidi did a lot of blog posts like this after she had her baby 8 months ago, and hers helped me prepare a lot. I think you can find her helpful lists under the category 'baby recs' on her blog HERE.

Activity Gym- Garrett loves being under his little gym. And I'm sure any gym would do. As long as it has a non-breakable mirror with it. He can entertain himself for hours with his own reflection. I've read that babies seeing there own reflection at a young age helps with learning to communicate. But whatever, I'm just going for fun things that help me survive at this point.Sheet Saver- These are kinda cool if you have a leaky or drooly baby. It just saves you from having to change the crib sheet as often. You just wash this instead of the sheet and it ties onto the crib bars just like bumpers do.Car Mirror- This is a must have for me. Before I got it I would get really nervous if Garrett suddenly went silent in the car and I was driving and couldn't check him. Now I can see him while I drive. And the one we got has a remote control with it and we can turn one music and a light.Garbage Can- My practical mom half-rolled her eyes at me when she saw this and learned that I wouldn't be throwing diapers in a regular garbage can. But I love it! This one, the diaper champ, keeps out the smell and you can use regular trash bags with it. It doesn't require the fancy expensive ones.Soothing Sound Maker- This helps Garrett stay asleep when we put him in his crib. It makes all different sounds like: rain, womb, waterfall, birds, thunder, and a few others. You can do a combo of 2, or mixed sounds as well. It also has a timer so you can set it for an hour and it shuts off after Paul, Garrett and I are all deeply sleeping. It's also like the only baby thing we have that comes with a plug! I've spent hundreds of dollars on batteries. Ok, not really. But everything uses batteries! This will run on batteries so you can take it in the car but it also plugs in. Love it. It soothes me too!Swing- Garrett slept in this at night the first couple weeks. We didn't let that go on too long but he was so comfy. Now he swings in it when he's awake and usually enjoys it. He even falls asleep in it sometimes, which is kind of nice.Helpful Books- I heard about both of these books a long time ago. Couldn't decide which one I wanted, and heard a lot of good stuff about both. So I bought both. They are both great, but if I had to recommend one it would be The Happiest Baby On The Block. I've realized that I've done a lot of what the book teaches already. And by the books definition, I have a really "easy" baby, but after doing more of what it teaches, Garrett is sleeping even better and longer at night and he's much easier to calm down when he's crying and he falls asleep for naps and bed time much quicker. He's been sleeping 6-8 hours a night for about 5 weeks now, (awesome, I know) but after making a couple little changes, he's going down earlier, falling asleep faster, and seeming to sleep more sound. I haven't read all of Healthy Sleep Habits yet. If I learn anything awesome, I'll tell you about it.Bath- We have a bad bathroom tub and kitchen sink for baby baths, so we bought this. We bath Garrett on the kitchen table and he LOVES it. It's a little baby spa tub and the brand is Summer, I think. It has a bubble maker that Garrett loves putting his toes under, and it's just deep enough that he doesn't get the chills when he's sitting in it. It also has a little shower head hose thing to rinse him off. Very easy to set up and he loves every minute of it, and we do too.Laundry Soap- I didn't use baby laundry soap at the beginning and I noticed a few red spots on Garretts chest. I don't know if they were from my regular laundry soap and I don't know if BabyGanics made them go away, but within a day of switching laundry detergent, the spots on him were gone, so this is what we use.Bottle Warmer- This is more for pumping moms or formula fed babies. But its really nice to have on your night stand if your baby wakes up and needs to be fed and you don't want to get out of bed. It chills bottles for up to 8 hours, and warms them in a minute and also has a built in night light. Very nice for the lazy mom in all of us.Incline Sleep Positioner- When I realized I didn't want my baby sleeping in a swing every night, I bought this. He seemed to wake up a bit when I'd move him from the the comfy curled up position of mamas arms to the totally flat on his back position of the crib. This helped him adjust, and its suppose to help with their oxygen flow as well. (This is at Grandma and Grandpa White's house.) You cant see the positioner very well, but its a foam wedge with bumpers on the sides that velcro on to adjust as he grows.A couple other tips.

Our baby monitor has a camera in G's room and a screen for us to see him. It works in the dark too and it reads the temperature in his room.

Don't by 30 X30 receiving blankets. They're too small, even for a 7 pounder. Get 30 X 40 or bigger.

Roll up changing pads are awesome for when you're out in public. Ours fits in the diaper bag and has zipper pouches for wipes, diapers and hand sanitizer.

Pacifier clips are nice, but I wish someone would invent something to store or hook the pacifier cap to.

Get a bottle cleaner that has a sponge on the end too, the bristles aren't enough to clean it well.

Babies don't need shoes, but they're so dang cute!

Snap sleepers are better that zip up ones because when you're changing a diaper you can just undo the bottom half.

Maybe I'll do this again later as I think of more stuff. Also, any tips or product ideas from other moms would be great if you have any!