New Baby Stuff

I thought I had pretty much all I needed for baby #2. And I do. But here are a couple things that I need for her, that with G, I didn't need so much. And also, a couple "how did I live without this?" things.

A nursing cover. My sister-in-laws friend was a designer for Balboa Baby when I was pregnant with Garrett and she got me a sling and a nursing cover. Garrett hated the sling, and I haven't tried it with Addie yet. I also didn't need the cover for Garrett either, but I use it now and it's awesome. It's just about like any other nursing cover (I actually have two, a friend from church made me a cute one when Garrett was born.) But the things I love about the Balboa Baby cover are the strap adjuster. It's easy to adjust and it holds really well. The little pocket on the front, perfect for a burp cloth or bra pads, or a cell phone, or what ever. And the little pleats around the bottom. It stays closer to my body better, and also creates a nice little tent or bubble area for Addie to hang out under, and I'm hoping that it'll be harder for her to lift it up once she starts grabbing at things. I don't know if you can see all those things in the picture or not, but this is the one I have, and I love the fabric too. It's soft and cute.Medela Lanolin Cream. I don't remember what I used when I was pumping for Garrett, but it wasn't this, and I wish it would have been.A good pump. I rented a big heavy hospital grade pump for Garrett, and every time I pumped I felt like a cow in a barn hooked up to a milker machine. I hated every second of it. I'm not pumping a lot this time, mostly just if Addie has a sleepy feeding I'll pump a little after. But I love my new pump. It's light weight and easy to use/clean, and has a built-in lithium battery so I can pump in the car on road trips. It also came with a cut bag, a changing pad, and a little milk cooler. It's a Hygeia EnJoye.Born Free bottles. I don't know why I love them but I just do. Addie hasn't had many bottles, but if I pump, Paul feeds her the milk because he liked feeding Garrett and he misses it.Aden + Anais Swaddle Blankets. They are breathable, but warm and cozy, and they stay swaddled really well. I had one of them for Garrett, Addie has 8. They are kinda pricey. I paid 60 bucks for a 4 pack at a specialty store before I learned that Target now carries them. They are a couple inches smaller, but a 4 pack is only 40 bucks. I bought a pack from Target too, the smaller size works fine. They're still really big, they are not like the worthless 30 X 40 inch ones that only work until your baby hits 8 pounds.Nap Nanny Chill. This is my all time favorite purchase of the century. I know, right? Addie naps in this, sleeps in it at night, hangs out in it when she's awake, and Garrett even climbs in it when it's not occupied, and he loves it too. It looks so comfortable. I told Paul before Addie was born that I thought this would be a good idea to have, but I didn't know the price. When my mom got to town we headed to Babies R Us to check it out. I thought it would be 50 bucks or so. It's was $130 (!!). I went back and forth and decided to get it with the 20% off coupon, then I learned that you can't use the coupon on this item, so we left. Then 2 days later I went back. My mom helped out and we bought it. It's awesome and worth every penny! I wish I'd bought it when Garrett was born, and even now I sometimes wish I had two! Last night Addie slept for 5 hours straight in it! (I know, that's too long for a newborn to not eat, but I didn't wake up when I usually do, so I hurried and woke her and fed her.) But I have to admit, the 5 hour stretch was nice. I give all the credit to the Nap Nanny. (And a really good swaddle.)
I'm still debating about a baby carrier. We have a little cheap-o one that I feel like the baby isn't secure in. Paul put Garrett in it a couple weeks ago, and it really is secure, it just looks flimsy and I don't like it. We also have the Balboa Baby sling, but I don't think I'm a huge sling fan. And I have a Moby Wrap. I really like it, but I haven't mastered loading a baby in it when I alone. I've heard Ergo's are the best. Are they? Do you have one? Or do you have something else that you love?

The Nursery for 2.0

Her room is finally done!...well, almost. The door jam still needs to be attached on one side, but it's close enough.

It's a tiny little space, but it works. I didn't measure the room and I'm too lazy to right now. But it's as wide as a crib plus about a foot, and then maybe about 2 and a half or three times that long-ish. So, really small. The room was built in the corner of our bedroom, because our bedroom is huge. So it's kind of weird to have a room in a room. But the nice thing is that there is no closet in the room, (I guess it's not a nice thing), but if anyone else ever lives here, the nursery would make an awesome walk-in closet.

So here it is.

The crib. I used Garrett's bumpers and pillows, but he still uses the polka dot sheet so my mom made this flower one.This is the wall behind the crib. I probably wouldn't choose brown and tan for a baby girl, but we had this paint left over and I didn't want to spend any money. I have a really cute thing that I made out of coasters that I got for 40 cents at Michael's that has her name on it and it hangs in the green frame. I'll try and remember to post it after she's born.I bought this mobile on clearance at The Baby Depot for like 7 dollars. It had insects on it. I cut them off, made the owls, flowers and the bird house, and the birds are Christmas ornaments. I loved how I made Garrett's mobile, but I wanted music this time. I'm not thrilled with it, but it's colorful and it works.Here's the dresser/changing table re-do that I did with a million year old, ugly Ikea dresser. The shelf next to it has a basket of diapers, a basket of burp clothes, a basket of headbands, and other random baby stuff that doesn't fit in the dresser.And here's a close up of the shelf hanging above the dresser.The curtain that I don't love. But I wanted a blackout curtain and this was the best I could do. It's not baby-ish at all, in fact, it's kind of old person-ish. But it was six dollars and it works. I added the ribbon to match the baskets and the bedding.The shelf that I've also had for a million years, for books and blankets.I made these owls that I got from The Wood Connection. I love them. Aside from the crib, (thanks in-laws) these owls were the most expensive (new) thing in the room. And I think they were about 8 or 9 dollars for all three.The clock I made from an old unfinished clock I had laying around.The canvas tree. One of the funnest projects I've ever done.The owl, also from The Wood Connection. Hair clip frame I made from an old Ikea frame that was collecting dust, and the hooded towel my mom made. This wall is about half covered by the door, but I was out of wall space!So that's it. Tiny, full, but hopefully functional. But not sound proof. One of her walls is an outside wall, (with the window), and the other 3 walls are shared walls, one with the guest room, one with Garrett's room, and one with our room. This could be interesting for a few months. I've had a bit of anxiety about it.

Memorial Day Weekend

Paul and I wanted to take Garrett on his first camping trip. So mid-week last week we found a place we wanted to go. There were several spots left, so we waited til the next day to book it and the next day they were gone. Sad day. But we still had a fun weekend.

Saturday we did some house work. Then went shopping for Garrett stuff. We finally got him a bigger car seat. We've been meaning to do this for a couple months, but I wasn't ready to give up the nice little compact one that I can take in a store with me if he falls asleep. But we decided it was time. He likes the new one. It's roomier and and can see out the windows better. We also got some baby proofing stuff for the house so he wont get electrocuted, drink cleaning supplies or fall down the stairs. Side note: I think its interesting that mom's get so excited about mile stones, (that's to be expected) but the funny thing to me is how quickly after baby crawls, that you wish they couldn't move so quickly and easily. Or you wait for it for a month or so, seeing how close they are to actually doing it, and when they finally do, you're not ready...maybe that's just me. He's so much fun, but everyday I see a little more daring and adventurous side of him. He's keeping us on our toes!

We also did some shopping for his little sib. We mostly looked at cribs. We'll also be getting the new one a changing table and a wardrobe because they won't be in the same room, and only one of the (soon to be four) bedrooms in our apartment has a real closet in it. We're working on the logistics of turning our massive master bedroom into a medium sized master bedroom and a nursery for 2.0. Our bedroom is shaped just like Utah, and the baby will be in the Northern Utah region, and we sleep in Southern Utah. It's a perfect set up really, we just need a couple walls. We didn't actually buy anything yet. I found stuff I like, but we'll probably wait a couple more months to start buying.

Sunday we went to church, Paul worked for a couple hours, then we headed over to his parents house. We pitched our tent in Poppy's backyard. Roasted hot dogs over a fire outside, had s'mores for dessert, sat by the fire until Garrett got tired, and then we went to bed. Paul, Garrett and I all slept in the tent. Garrett did really well, but we're glad we did a trial run because there are a couple things we'll change for our real camping trip this coming weekend.

Monday we cooked breakfast outside. I had roasted mallows for breakfast. Yummy. Then we packed up and headed home to get cleaned up. We did a little shopping at South Coast Plaza that afternoon, then headed back to the in-laws. I then had the best hour I've had thus far in this pregnancy. A prenatal massage. Oh the best! This is going to become a more regular part of pregnancy for me, as well as chiropractic adjustments once I get into my third trimester. Later we had a barbecue and then headed back home. It was a really fun weekend, with lots of time outside. I love the sun!Trying out his very own tent! (He didn't sleep in this.)PRETEND CAMPING!!!Why should I sleep when there's an air mattress to crawl around on??Family picture in the tent.Heading home for a bath and a nap in his own bed!

The zoo post that's all about the stroller.

Before I was a stroller owner I heard from 2 different moms that as soon as you own one, or are in the market for one, you spend a lot of time looking at other peoples strollers. I thought it sounded crazy, and maybe it is, but I do it now.

We've stopped using the car seat attachment and have switched to the seat. Garrett loves being forward facing and seeing whats happening around him. I love the seat!

Our day at the zoo gave me more than enough stroller validation. I was really, really surprised at how many women talked about our stroller and how much they loved it. Paul even heard a couple guys talk about what a cool stroller it is. And I think one lady even woke up a couple koala bears because she was so excited about it.

I've seen a couple other strollers I like, and have even second guessed our choice a couple times, but after 5 hours of pushing it around, I felt good about it. It's the City Select Baby Jogger. It converts to a double stroller, so if we have another child while Garrett is still stroller age, it'll be great! It fits a car seat, a regular seat, or a bassinet. We almost bought the bassinet for it but I'm glad we didn't because the seat reclines at 4 levels and one of the levels is flat and ends up working like the bassinet would. You can do so many combinations: 2 car seats, 2 seats, a car seat and a seat, everything forward facing, everything back facing, one forward/one back facing, you get the idea.

The single car seat way. (when G was about 4 days old.)
The single seat way.And here are a few different combos. Our stroller is light gray. It comes in gray, black and red. I almost went with black but decided it might be too hot, and I think black fabric fades faster and looks old quicker. I knew I didn't want red, but I'm still a little worried about gray getting dirty. But, whatever. Baby stuff gets dirty.My only complaint about this stroller is that cup holders don't come standard. I kept forgetting to order them, but I finally did and I'm just waiting for them to come in.

So there's my unpaid plug for City Select. Any free stuff they'd like to send me as a thank you would be fine.

Also, San Diego Zoo stroller etiquette is MUCH better than Disneyland stroller etiquette. Just sayin.

The (boring) one about baby food.

I got a Beaba Babycook. I really love it. I've had it for almost a month, and I just used it for the first time yesterday. It's so easy to use.

I know I could make baby food without this little machine, but I don't know if I would if it wasn't this easy. All you do is cube the food, put it in the steamer basket, turn it on, and walk away. About 15 minutes later the steamer shuts off and the food is perfect. You dump it from the basket to the grinder, grind for about 10 seconds, scoop it to the freezers trays, and its done.After discounts and coupons I think we paid about $90 for it, but it'll pay for itself pretty quick!

This pack of Gerber food was a little over a dollar. I made 11 times this much food for $1.91, and mine is fresh and organic! I started with sweet potatoes and peas. I'm looking forward to trying other stuff. It also came with a recipe book that shows you different combinations of food to try. I'll get fancy in a month or so, but for now we're just trying one thing at a time every few days.

I will say though, last night I had a salad and I fed bites of avocado from it to Garrett for dinner. I'm looking forward to the day when he can eat what Paul and I are eating. Sometimes this feeding thing can be messy and time consuming. It's fun though.

When there's too much to cach up on, I number things.

1. I failed the CA drivers test. I missed questions about transferring titles, fines for fleeing the scene of an accident, and rules for smoking while driving. All things that I don't feel I need to know anyway. I should have just put N/A on all of those ones, maybe I woulda passed then. I came home and took the online practice test and got 49 outta 50. I guess I should have practiced before. Anyway, I went back the next day and passed just fine, but not before having a nightmare that the state installed scales in all the DMVs and we all suddenly had to start telling the truth about our weight.

2. Our good friends Kate and Jordon came to visit for the weekend. It was good to have them out. The boys went golfing. The girls went to lunch and shopping, Kate bought me 2 pairs of shoes for my birthday at a super cute shoe store that we discovered right by my house! We went to dinner. We went to the La Brea tar pits and saw fossils from like 40,000 years ago, pretty fascinating, Went to the LA art museum. Went to lunch. Did more shopping. Went to dinner. (I think there was only one meal all weekend that we didn't eat out.) Went to the beach. Went on walks. Had a BBQ at the in-laws for my birthday. It was a good weekend. We miss these two a lot! (Click on collage to make it bigger.)3. We bought a Beaba Babycook to make baby food. I still haven't opened it because I'm deciding if I can do it myself with a pan, the stove and our Magic Bullet. The thing I love about the Babycook is that its all in one. It steams and purees and it also thaws and reheats. (Yes, like a microwave does too.) It was $150.00 at Babies R Us online, but I found one location in the area that had one in their store. I had a 20% off coupon from we got in the mail with a gift my aunt had shipped to us that was in-store use only. I didn't think they'd let me use it because it rang up as an online item, but they did an override and took 20% off (I love it when that happens), we had also received a $20.00 R Us gift card from a family in Utah that Paul did a funeral for, so with that we only paid $100.00. Still a lot, and I'm still deciding...4. And about that $20.00 gift card, that was the 5th family that Paul had done a funeral for who gave us a gift. We've received clothes, toys, books, gift cards, and even a hand-made sweater and blanket. And the same day the gift card arrived, a family who Paul's dad had served here in California dropped off 3 outfits and a big stuffed Mickey Mouse at the funeral home for Garrett. None of these people have ever met Garrett or myself. I dunno, I just find it interesting...I don't know that I would be so thoughtful. Maybe it helps people who are grieving a loss to celebrate a new life?? Anyway, its very sweet and appreciated!5. Garrett has started sitting up on his own! He did it for the first time yesterday. I was sitting at a table and I had him sitting on the table leaning against me. He suddenly just leaned forward and was sitting up on his own. As he'd slowly start to tip to one side he'd use his little baby core muscles and straighten himself back up! It was pretty cute to watch. The most he stayed up was about 20 seconds, and hes definitely not at the point where I'd put him down and expect him to stay sitting for too long, but its a fun milestone for mamas!6. Mara sent me a fun birthday package in the mail, and a book and onesie for Garrett. Its a keepsake book, a really old children's book that has been bound and extra blank pages added for coloring/writing. Really cute, and me and Mara love us some dinos!7. I pulled these flowers out of the garbage, they were thrown away after a funeral. Is that weird??8. I want an aquarium. I had one a few years ago and I really liked it. Garrett was so fascinated by the fishies, it made me want to get one. Probably not soon, maybe for his 1st birthday.Now I'm off to wash bedsheets and clean house the the next visitors who get here Thursday morning!

7 things

1. I think I've mentioned that our good friends Mara and Aron are getting married this saturday! I'm so happy for them, and I'm looking forward to decorating (I think it will look amazing) and attending the wedding. I've been so excited and counting down for this event that I really don't spend much time thinking about that fact that I'll be moving to California about 6 or 7 hours after its over. After being with Mara and Deb last night its starting to be on the brain more, but still hasn't fully set in.

2. I've had some good and bad experiences this week. Both have made me feel a little more ready for California. I'm looking forward to a fresh...not 'start', but, new chapter with my little family.

3. I'm thankful for Paul. We haven't seen each other for 9 days and we have 3 more to go. It's been long enough and I hope we don't go this long ever again. I thought I'd be fine taking care of Garrett by myself, knowing I'd get TONS of help at my parents house. I have enjoyed that help, and we've had fun. But being away from Paul I've realized how fast and how good of a groove he and I got into with this whole parenting thing. I miss it.

4. I'm also thankful for Paul. Did I mention that?? He's enjoyed his first week of work, and when he's not at work he's unpacking boxing, cleaning carpet, and painting. He's done our room, Garrett's room, and the hallways. He's a good one. I'm proud of him, I know he'll always work hard, always provide, and always look for and find ways to make my life and our child(rens) lives better. Is that enough thankfulness?? Now pass the turkey.

5. I love research, internet, medicine, etc. I was listening to my Grandma talk on the phone a couple days ago. She had shingles almost 5 years ago and has never fully recovered. She now has post-something-nerve-something-damage and is always in pain. She found a new doctor and was talking with a gal who is totally motivated to help her. They talked about vitamins and treatments etc. I could hear her on the other end of the phone and she was so positive and helpful. It made me think about the stuff we've had to do with Garrett. His torticollis, tongue tie, etc. When I first learned he had these problems I was totally overwhelmed. But I was amazed at how quickly I was able to research and learn about these things online and how just a couple conversations and phone calls lead me to so many people who knew all about it and wanted to help. I'm just glad there are people out there who are interested in all different things. Cancer, heart problems, depression, diabetes, etc. And on a less important note, I'm glad there are people who enjoy giving massages and pedicures too.

6. I'm glad Paul is "just the right amount of involved." (On moving day, he and I had 2 empty bins to pack our clothes that we were taking ourselves. Here's how the conversation went as I started filling the second bin...with my stuff.)
Paul: Oh, you're using both bins?
Me: No. That one is full of Garrett's clothes.
Paul: Oh really? I've never seen him wear
that purple shirt, or that lacy one.
Me: Well...that's because you're not an involved father.
He really is. And its just the right amount of involved.

7. Garrett got a new seat today. I'm pretty sure he has just about one of everything now. Here he is at babies-r-us trying them out. He loves sitting up, but he can't on his own yet and I want him to work on his neck muscles as much as possible.
We went with the last one, but we got it in red.
He loves it! And it comes with a tray, 2 place mats to cover the tray, and a toy that hooks on the tray. He's so cute and pretty easily entertained!