Favorite Things: Months 1-3

Now that were are 12 weeks into this whole baby business, I thought I'd share some of the things that we have used and loved for these first few months.  If not to help other people, but to remind myself if baby two should ever come around...

Fisher Price Love U Zoo Swing

I can't even tell you how lost in the world we would have been without this swing.  It took David a couple tries to warm up to it, but once he did he took nearly every nap for the first 10 weeks of his life in this swing. It rocks both like a normal swing and also side to side. David mostly preferred the traditional swing direction and loved watching the mobile, listening to the lullaby's and looking at his reflection in the mirror ball. Now that he's older the seat sits up a bit so I attach some toys to the tray and bring it into the kitchen so he can swing and watch me cook. Life. Saver. I will truly be sad when he's too big for it or no longer likes it.


Miracle Blanket

I've written about my love of the miracle blanket before, but man I love it.  I still kick myself for not trying it again before things were totally out of control, but I'm so glad I finally did. I was terrible at swadding with regular blankets and he could totally wiggle out of the velcro ones, but since this one pins his arms down, there's no escaping! It might look like the "baby straight-jacket" but he never fusses when he's in it and usually calms right down. If you ever find yourself thinking "my baby doesn't like to be swaddled". I urge you to just try this for a couple nights. I am SO sad that he appears to be outgrowing it, but I knew he'd have to learn to sleep with his arms free eventually.

Dr. Brown's Formula Pitcher

Yes, we formula feed.  Since we do, bottle making takes up a chunk of our day. Those formula makers are tricky too, they make the scoops in 2 ounce portions, so whenever David is drinking odd numbered ounces (he's drinking 5 oz bottles now) we'd be throwing away a whole ounce of formula per bottle if we were making them one at a time. That's a ton of money down the drain!  With this pitcher we can mix nearly 28 ounces at a time and store it in the fridge, then when it's time to eat we just pour what we need! Perfect!  Highly, highly recommended for anyone that formula feeds!



Munchkin High Speed Bottle Warmer

When I was pregnant, everything I read said bottle warmers were a waste of money and babies shouldn't need their bottle warm. Well since we started making our bottles in the pitcher and they were kept in the fridge I really hated the thought of giving David cold formula. We tried dropping the bottles in a mug of hot water for a few minutes, but our water from the tap takes forever to heat up, I didn't want to mess with the microwave and when you have a screaming infant on our shoulder, time is ticking. This bottle warmer heats a bottle in less than 90 seconds (which at times still feels like an eternity) but it has made our lives so much easier and I think the warm milk helps settle David when he's really worked up.  Plus it has a neat attachment you can use to sanitize binkies!

Summer Infant Flat Screen Video Monitor

I was on the fence about getting a video monitor. Turns out I love it. However, I mostly have to keep the video portion off. I've found that when it's on, I get all kinds of crazy. I think every move is him waking up and find myself sitting there staring at him, just waiting for something to happen.  Usually I turn the video off or just use the hand held audio one.  It picks up sound really well and the lights let me know when he's crying when I'm doing something to where I can't hear like running on the treadmill or washing dishes. It is nice to be able to click on the video and see what he's doing through. It saves me a lot of trips into his room to check on him.

Nuk Pacifier

I had a ton of different pacifiers (or binkies as we call them) when David was born. I'd heard babies could be picky and that turned out be true. This is the one that he picked as his favorite.  We have a bunch of them so there's always one close by to grab. I still kind of hope he finds his thumb pretty soon so he can self-soothe, but I have a feeling he's gonna be a binky baby.  As long as he doesn't use one as long as I did (way too long) I'm alright with it. We also use Nuk bottles. We like' em.





Homedics SoundSpa Lullaby Sound Machine

Ah, white noise.  Where would we be without it?  Zach and I can't sleep without a fan on so we figured the little one would like some background noise too. We use this one on the "rain" setting.  It's on every time he's in his crib. I think it also helps drown out some of the outside sounds (like our noisy neighbors and barking dogs) and helps cue him in that it's time to sleep. It has a timer, but we let it go all night. I do wish it just had a "fan" or "white noise" setting instead of the droppy rain sounds, but it works. Oh and the projector totally broke after a couple uses. Kind of bummed, but oh well.



Tiny Love Mobile

Let's just cut right to the chase. This thing is hideous. It doesn't go with his nursery "theme", it's totally bright and really obnoxious looking.... and that's the point.  I was pretty anal when researching mobiles. I knew babies needed bright colors and bold contrasts to engage them and this is the one that kept coming up the winner in the reviews.  I guess the Tiny Love people know what they are doing because David loves this thing.  We don't use it for bedtime normally, but whenever I need about 15 minutes to do something like fold laundry or get the diaper bag ready, I lay him under this and he just stares and kicks and is completely mesmerized.  If he's fussy in the middle of naptime I'll turn it on and the shapes that move around click every few seconds and I think it totally soothes him back to sleep.  Plus it plays classical music. We like that.

Fisher Price Infant to Toddler Rocker

Another life saver. This sits on our kitchen counter. I keep the kickstand up so I can just pop him in the seat any time I need to do something like feed the dogs, eat breakfast, go to the restroom, let the dogs out or get a bottle ready. It vibrates, has a fun little toy bar and is really deep so he has plenty of room to grow into it. When it is in "rocker" mode it sits him up a little more so he can watch me cook or do dishes. We also use it when we eat so he can see us. Love this thing. I hope he likes it as a toddler rocker too.


Honorable Mention: 
-My cell phone - Wow. Who knew how much time I'd have to surf Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest during late night feedings?! What on EARTH did people do to stay awake before smart phones?? Seriously!
-Our Lazyboy Recliner- I am SO glad we got that thing. It might be big and kind of ugly, but I have spent hours upon hours in that thing holding David through naps, rocking him to sleep and even pulling some all-nighters back in the early days. Not to mention the fact that I practically lived in that thing during the last couple months of my pregnancy. So glad we have it.
- Yoga pants-  I think this is pretty obvious.
- Granola Bars & Diet Coke - There were several days where I lived on these two things alone.

And that's it for now. I'm sure I forgot a bunch of stuff and will smack myself after I push "publish" but perhaps I'll just catch them next time. For now, it's time for bed!

Love it List Wednesday Edition!

Ah yes, another installment of the love it list.  I've been kind of boring on the blog lately. Hopefully this holds you over till I can think of something more interesting to say. 

Laughing Cow Light Cheese Wedges

I love cheese. Love it.  A lot. Ever since I got on the diet train I've been on the constant lookout for a good cheese substitute. Fat free cheese tastes like rubber, 2% is okkkk but mostly I just like regular ol' cheese!  So, I was thrilled when I discovered laughing cow cheese wedges! Each wedge packs a measly 35 calories and it actually tastes really good! I mostly use them on sandwiches as a spread, but also use them on tortillas which I then eat with a few slices of turkey. YUM!  I've also chopped up some and sprinkled it on salads. It makes dieting so much easier!

VV Brown - "Shark in the Water"

Oh man, I love this song.  I got satellite radio when I got my new car last year and have since expanded my musical tastes (even though Zach would totally disagree). This song came on one day and I was hooked! I downloaded it right before the Hospital Hill Run and it came on my Shuffle right as I was about to head up the first big hill.  It has a great steady rhythm and it was perfect for getting up that hill.  Ever since then it's been my favorite workout song.  Check it out!

 Kong Wubba

Another Ted-Approved dog toy.  This has currently taken over as "favorite toy" for now. Whenever we come home from being gone Ted always greets us with a toy in his mouth.  He will carry said toy for at least 15-20 minutes after we get home and just prances around the house with it. Right now that toy is the beloved Kong Wubba.  It has a hard Kong like middle and a heavy canvas covering and straps. Perfect for slinging across the room at a moments notice. Fun! He goes into full on prancing mode whenever we say "You gots your Wuuuuuubaaaaa!?!?"  We are losers.  But, whatever. This toy rocks.

So You Think You Can Dance

Yay! Summer means a new installment of So You Think You Can Dance!  In a former lifetime, I was totally a dancer. Totally.  I have always been obsessed with any sort of dancing show or competition. Heck, I still watch any and all college dance competitions whenever I catch them on ESPN! This year So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD for us fans) has changed the format and has invited "all stars" back to pair up with the contestants. Kind of like that OTHER dancing show.  I'm not sure I like the format, but whatever, I'm still watching. Bring on the booty shaking!

Summer

That is all.

Love it List Friday! (5/21/10)

Alright! It's Friday!  Woo! I looks like it's going to be a real summer weekend, so I'm totally looking forward to it. I love me some warm weather!  This weekend we have lots of plans, so it should be good! Tonight we are going to try out B.R.G.R. Kitchen + Bar with some friends. Tomorrow I have 10-12 mile run planned (ah!) then I might actually try to hit up some neighborhood garage sales. I'm new to garage-saleing but there's lots of stuff we need for the house. We are trying to save some money and Craigslist still frightens me, so garage sales it willl be!  I know I probably won't find anything, but it's worth a shot, right? We also have to replace the tree that Ted removed for us and plant a new bush Zach's mom got us! Sunday will be full of family time.  Yay weekend!

Now on to the list!

Mossimo Pollyann Woven Wedge Sandals! I got these shoes at Target a few weeks ago. For the longest time I was terribly against the whole "gladiator sandal" thing. HATED them. But, I'm giving in (still totally holding out on skinny jeans though). These were inexpensive and I thought they'd work well with a lot of my summer skirts and capris. They also looked really good wtih the jeans I was wearing at the time. I thought for sure the straps would rub wrong and they'd be really uncomfortable, but much to my surprise they are pretty much the most comfortable pair of shoes I own at the moment (well next to my running shoes). They are even better than flip flops!! The ever-so-slight heel gives me just the right lift and the straps aren't too tight. Love! I only wish I would have purchased the coniac color insted. Ah well.

Parenthood! I think this is my new favorite show. I won't deny it, I was a huge Gillmore Girls fan (and Dawsons creek and especially Felicity!), so when I saw that Loreali was going to be in a new show that looked pretty similar I knew I would be watching. Oh sure, it's totally cheezy most of the time, but I don't care. I just love it! Watch and you'll see! I'll miss it this summer. Good thing I have The Hills and So You Think You Can Dance to get me through! Hee!

Cuban Sandwiches! Mmm, Mmmm, Mmm! I first tried a Cuban Sandwich a few years ago when I was in Florida on a work trip that I won. I had it at the poolside bar with friends. I think that was probably the best place I could think of for a first try, if I do say so myself. I'm not sure what compelled me to order it. Pickles AND mustard on a sandwich? I'm usually meat and cheese only thank-you-very-much. But, I tried it. Oh man. So good! The pulled pork, chicken, swiss cheese, pickels and mustard on a grilled ciabatta roll. Heaven. I'm totally hooked. They have a really good one at one of our favorite Friday night spots, 54th Street and I get it nearly every time I'm there. Panara has a new one, but it's just not the same. I wonder if there's any other places in KC to try a good Cuban Sandwich?! Yum!

Squeeky Donut Dog Toy! I can't leave out the pupperonis when I'm thinking about my loves. Ted is currently in the middle of another rambunctious phase. Probably because the weather is bad and he's cooped up inside, but still. He's driving us nuts. I try to rotate the dog toys so when they get bored with one I put it away and get out another. Works like a charm. Zach's mom got Ted this squeeky donut for Christmas and oh man, he loves that thing! He will step on it, chew it, toss it, slide it.. but his favorite is simply prancing around with it squeeking away. Totally hilarious. I don't think Missy's ever even been given the chance to play with it, Ted's quite the toy-hog. But, it keeps him busy and a worn out Great Dane = happy Stephanie. Here's a video of him the first day he had it. He's so much bigger now! Crazy!!!


And there you have it!

Love It List Friday!

This seems to be something of a trend in Blogger-land so I thought I'd join the party! I have no idea how frequently I'll be able to add to the Love it List! but stay tuned, it will just be a sneak attack!

Jelly Beans

Oh man. I love me some jelly beans! My favorites are the traditional Brach's variety. With their thick suggary shell, light flavor and gooey middles, they are what I grew up with and are what I look forward to at Easter time the most. I will not reveal exactly how many bags I purchased this year. Let's just say they are probably responsible for my jeans feeling a little tightish these days. Oops! Zach's mom also sent us a bag of Starubrst jelly beans in our Easter care package. Back when I was a freshman in college, I ate a few too many Starburst jelly beans in one sitting and boy howdy, I did not feel good. I hadn't touched them since. I gotta say, I've been missing out! Fruity yummy goodness, right there!

Champion C9 Workout Pants from Target

I love these pants! I totally admit it, minus a few splurges Zach got me for various birthday's and holiday's all my workout clothes come from Target. They have good stuff! At reasonable prices! I actually have an entire drawer completely devoted to black workout capri pants. A whole drawer! I can't help myself. Every time they go on sale I have to snap up another pair. I will say I like the spandex ones much better than the cotton variety. They seem to keep me much cooler and look nicer longer.

Maybelline Eye Studio Eye Shadow

I have a thing for eye shadow. It's just so fun! It's always the first thing I look at when browsing the makeup aisles. I would love to have lots of extra money to go buy all the fancy pants stuff at Sephora, but I'm a total cheapie and stick to the drug store brands. Right now my favorites are the new Maybelline Eye Studio shadows that look like half spheres. They have little tiny bits of shimmer in them and they blend like. a. dream. I love them! I have two colors right now and that's pretty much all I've worn since I've had them. These are the two that I have and I hope to expand my collection soon. So glam!

                                                Spring!

Most years, I hate spring. Hate it! It's always cold and rainy and dreary and then it will get warm for one day then go back to the cold, rainy gloom and doom. This year has been different though! It's been really nice! Sure it's rained some, but it just doesn't feel as bad as years past. Of course we still have plenty of spring left to go, but so far, I'm a fan! Even the fishy trees don't smell that bad this year! Maybe I've just been in a better mood? Whatever it is, I'll take it :)