Friday Fun List: Essential Baby Items

Having had four babies in five years, there are definitely some things that I would purchase again or register for in a heartbeat.  Some of these I stumbled upon with Baby #1 and some have just been brought to my attention in the last year and I was left wondering where they were for #1, #2 and #3!

*Note: These are in absolutely no order whatsoever and if you click on a link you will help support this blog but that has no impact on what I am recommending.

1.  ZoLi Bunny Dual Nub Teether for Babies and Toddlers
This thing is amazing.  It reaches all the way back to both sides of the baby's mouth to help them with teething when their molars are coming in.  Even my two- and three-year-olds have used it.  It is also always lost (like now) so this is nice that it comes in a two pack...mine didn't!

                                                            

2.  OXO TOT Cleaning Set for Straw & Sippy Cup
I have actually purchase this for people even without a sippy cup set running around their house.  It is perfect for getting in the crevices of water bottles and straws and is absolutely essential for the gross places in sippy cups.

                                                                 

3.  Fisher-Price Infant to Toddler Rocker Sleeper, Safari Pattern
I was so thankful to find out about this when #2 was coming and I was going to have a newborn and an 18 month old.  Have you ever seen a toddler in a typical bouncer?  They flatten it!  No bounce.  I got this and Baby #2 could be in it and the toddler could also use it without hurting it (hopefully not while the baby was in it, but not always.)  It reclines and then has a kickstand type thing to keep baby reclined.  It rocks and has a vibrating motor.  It also comes in all kinds of themes and colors so if this one isn't your thing, look and see if there is one that matches your life.  The toy bar is easy to remove (and is necessary really if using it as a toddler rocker.  I do have two disclaimers with this though.  By Baby #4 with a five-, three- and two-year-old, the toy bar did get bent down some from them hanging on it and was hard to get back up.  Also, the three boys I've had this with could not use it from about six months until toddler age because they have crazy ninja skills that leave them dangling from the safety strap.

                                                            

4.  Baby Jogger City Mini
I have had quite a few strollers.  I've had travel systems, sit & stands, single strollers, a double jogger...It's rather embarrassing actually.  This is THE most amazing stroller ever.  It reclines flat.  It has a super larger shade canopy.  It steers with one hand.  It folds with one hand! (Really and truly, not just on the ad!)  It weighs less than 20 pounds so that while holding a baby, you could actually fold it and put it in the trunk.  Incredible.  If you only need a stroller for one person, get this one!

                                                            

But, if you're like me (or think you might be) and need a way to strap every.single.person somewhere, get this one...

5. Baby Jogger 2016 City Select Single Stroller - Black
Ok, I know the price on this is cr-a-zy but listen.  The frame has a lifetime warranty and it is sturdy.  The seats work up to 50 pounds.  It fits through doorways.  It has the largest under stroller storage you have ever seen with zippers so you can actually get to the stuff you put in there!  You can buy the single version (picture 1) and then add on the second seat with you need it (picture 2--which wouldn't bring up a picture but imagine a second seat on the first picture).  Then, if you need it, the jogger board attaches to the back (it also works on the City Mini) basically making your stroller a triple stroller without having to have triplets.  I often use mine as just a single stroller and keep the second seat and the glider board in the van to pop on when #3 and/or someone else needs a place too.  The seats also recline flat and the foot part lengthens or shortens depending on the kiddos height.  The handlebar also extends so that Danny Long Legs can comfortable push it without kicking the stroller (or me when the glider board is on).  Here's the part I don't like about Baby Jogger in general though, every piece is a new cost...parent console will be extra.  The car seat adapter?  Extra.  Snack trays?  Also extra.  Anything else you never thought about having on a stroller, like an under storage cooler?  Extra.  But they are within a reasonable cost so go ahead and register for them.  This also is not an easy stroller to fold up as you have to take the seats off unless it is single rider mode.  (Although the seats do click on and off easily.)  And it will show you a million different configurations but I couldn't get them all to work comfortably.  Still my favorite multi-kid stroller though because it is the only one you would ever need for the lifetime of all your babies.

                                    

6.  On Becoming Baby Wise: Giving Your Infant the Gift of Nighttime Sleep, by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam
This book is one that I knew I wanted to use right out of college when my friends were having babies and they were sleeping through the night.  I had babysat for the previous ten years for probably close to 100 different families and I knew that babies did not always sleep through the night.  I used it really well with the first three babies and all were sleeping through the night or close by 4-5 months if not sooner.  This current baby something happened and I have created a non-Baby Wise sleep monster and I have not slept more than about 6 hours straight in almost as many months.  Which I realize is ok for some people but I'm more of the 9-10 hour sleep person!  It's time to pull this book back out and solve this problem!  They also have a brand new 2019 edition!

                                                

7. Munchkin Miracle 360 Trainer Cup
Along with strollers I have tried an abundance of sippy cups in our house.  Although I am happy to report that we've had more sippy cups than strollers!  Because of the ages of the kids {read someone always in a dumping stage} the boys don't get to use a cup without a lid regularly until about six.  (Don't worry, they have the skills to drink from a cup without a lid long before six but because we keep water for each of them on the table for when they are thirsty they must have lids.)  Back to the cups.  I do not enjoy having pieces to clean (or find) or crevices where even my handy dandy scrubber (see list item #2) can't get to.  Also, the toddlers should not be able to take them apart.  These cups are the most spill-proof I have found and the easiest to drink from.  I have the first two but love the stainless one because I could use essential oils in their water when I needed to if I had that one.  Also, a friend didn't like that they didn't have lids for when you transport them and I just found these as an add-on item!  They will spill if left tipped over for hours...or overnight under a piece of furniture, and they do splatter if banged or thrown.  However, still nothing like any other sippy cup I've tried.  I like them all the way through the toddler years.  My bigger boys get a different type of cup but I wouldn't get any others until preschool age if I could go back.

                  

8.  Halo Sleepsack with Swaddle
I have zero swaddling skills.  Like, in the hospital the nurses always swaddle because my boys are free in seconds.  I have even taken classes that cover swaddling, and I can absolutely swaddle the baby dolls when my boys need me to, but a real live baby...nope.  Then, to be expected to swaddle in the dark...in the middle of the night...after being woken up every three hours.  HA!  So these sleepsacks were invented for people like me.  I love that they zip from the top down because those middle of the night changes are cinchy.  No unwrapping the whole swaddle.  No ripping of the Velcro to awaken the baby that was going to mostly sleep through the diaper change (I have another kind where that exact thing happens!).  Then, when they don't need swaddled anymore, I either don't use the swaddle feature (it's adaptable) or I transition to the regular sleepsacks (brand is not usually that important to me).

                                                     

9. KitchenAid Kitchen Shears and Immersion Blender
I realize these are weird things to have on a baby list, but as soon as your little one starts eating table foods, you will be happy you have these.  The scissors are perfect for chopping up whatever you are eating into bite sized pieces (and continue their use for the rest of your children's lives honestly) and the immersion blender is perfect for making homemade baby food (and soups and pesto which can also be eaten by small people).  If you do choose to make your own baby food, freeze the puree you've made in ice cube trays and then pop it out and store it in a Ziploc baggie in the freezer.  Then just take out how many cubes you need for the day and defrost.  Both of these save you from having to buy any specialty baby food prep stuff.  They will last well beyond the childhood years.

                                                 

10.  Crib
Seriously.  No link attached because you need to get the one that fits your space but not a bassinet, co-sleeper, or pack and play.  All my boys ended up in their nursery in their crib.  Some from Day 1 out of necessity (he was under Billy lights) and some because when I tried to let them sleep near me they decided to nurse non-stop (which isn't really nursing but just using me as a pacifier) and wake up every time I laid them down.  Moved them to their crib.  They sleep three hour stretches with sometimes a five hour stretch thrown in.  We have organic mattresses that we use in the crib, a sheet and their swaddle sack and they are good to go.  I walk down the hall to nurse when they wake up, change a diaper if needed and put them back down.  No transition to a crib later or out of our room or naps being tricky.

These are the top ten baby things I'd absolutely buy again if I were starting over from the beginning.  Along with picking the most comfortable rocker/recliner you can find and a wrap/pack that fits your body.

What are some baby things you couldn't live without?  Leave a comment so I can share with other baby moms!

Friday Fun List: What I'm Reading

In an effort to actually, you know, blog on my blog, I am going to try and have theme days to jump start my writing. Not that I lack for words as anyone who knows me can tell you, but because I lack for focused sitting time at my computer (as anyone who knows me can tell you). So Fridays are for lists! I love lists. I make lists for everyday. My lesson plans are like a list. My to-do list, my grocery list, lists for parties I am planning. Running lists are everywhere. And I most certainly add stuff to my list that wasn't there to start with just so I can cross it off! So here's the pile of books I'm reading, just finished reading, or will be reading in the near future. 

1. Loving the Little Years, by Rachel Jankovic 

          I wish I had this book like four years ago! It actually was recommended to me by a mom I met while buying stuff from her on a Facebook swap while I was pregnant with #4. But the library didn't have it so I didn't read it. Then my sister-in-law registered for it so I totally bought it for her so I could read it when she was done! I've read it twice now. I laughed, cried, and wished I had read it four years earlier! It's good with like three page chapters so that even moms of littles can read it! I even put it in Danny's to read pile. 

           

2. Fit to Burst, by Rachel Jankovic 

          The sequel to Loving the Little Years I am in the middle of this one now. It was on my Christmas list and my sister-in-law got it for me (probably so she can read it when I'm done ;) ). 

3. Lark Rise to Candleford by Flora Thompson 

          This was recommended by the author of another book I just finished. It is the whole trilogy in one book about a girl's life in the 1880's in a small village in England. I'm a couple chapters in and so far it has not gripped me, so we'll see. I don't usually bail on a book, but this one may end up back at the library. P.S. It's also a mini-series so maybe I'll go that route...which is very unusual for me to choose TV over the book version.

     

4. The Mission of Motherhood, by Sally Clarkson 

          I started this when #1 was a baby. It was really good but was dealing with things in motherhood that I wasn't. Now, four kids later, I am dealing with things. So, it's back in my pile! I just finished The Life Giving Home, by Sally Clarkson and Sarah Clarkson, which has lots of good ideas for each month for making your home a lovely place to be--not just through decorations but celebrations, family time, hospitality, etc. 

         

5. Dinner: A Love Story, by Jenny Rosenstrach 

          I just finished reading one of her other cookbooks called, How to Celebrate Everything, and loved it because it talks about family rituals (are you beginning to see a theme related to lists here?). It actually caught my eye on display near the checkout at the library because I have actually only been in my library's adult section twice. Yes, it is a cookbook, and yes there are recipes, but there is also story woven throughout. I actually read less of the recipes than the narration behind them. 

          

6. The Book of God, by Walter Wangerin, Jr. 

          It is my goal to finish this book this year. I started it awhile ago and it is amazing, but then I must have started reading other things and it got pushed to the bottom of my pile. It tells the story of the Bible as a novel so you're reading chronologically the stories that you may already be familiar with. It definitely makes you see the stories differently and want to go back and read them again from the first account. 

     

7. Garden of Truth, by Ruth Simons 

          A friend told me to follow Gracelaced on Instagram because the woman who ran it had six sons. I continue to follow, not because she has six sons (although anyone with a brood of single gender and/or six children definitely deserves awards), but because her words (and hashtags) speak to my heart. Then she came out with this book that she beautifully illustrated and said it was for those couple minutes you have sitting at a stop light or waiting in the pick up line. Guess what! I have a couple minutes! It's about all I have, and it's not while sitting at stop lights because we're usually caught up in a Adventures in Odyssey but it's something I doable for devotions. It was on my Christmas list and will also be borrowed by my sister-in-law when I'm done...but she's going to let me borrow her copy of Gracelaced, so it's fair! 

         

8. The Brainy Bunch, by Kip and Mona Lisa Harding0

          I've also already read this one but it was really good. The Harding's have ten children and have homeschooled all of them. At the time they wrote this the kids ages ranged from about 26 to 3. They believe in homeschooling for mastery of content and to finish school. Most of their children are taking college level classes at about age 12 and graduate high school with their bachelor's degree! Since I am not currently homeschooling a kindergartner who is scoring at first and second grade levels on his placement tests with a four-year-old brother already recognizing sight words and able to sound out words I thought I better read this one again!

     

So there's my reading list. Feel free to ask about any of the books I'm reading if you want to know more. You can purchase them from the links above, or (what I do) check them out at your library. If your library doesn't own them you can request they buy them. My local library lets us request 30 titles a month! 

Do you write things you've already done on your to-do list to? Leave me a comment! 

Blessings! 

Jenna 

P.S. If you click on any of the links above they will take you to Amazon. Since I'm sure this is not your first blog ever read, you know that I get a small percentage for linking you up with what you were already interested in. Please know that I only ever refer what I already support. :)