Ok, so I'm FAIRLY LATE to the updates. The last 10 months have been a struggle for me but I'm most certainly making up for it now! I think that our decision to have her sleep in her crib at night instead of co-sleeping with us has made a tremendous improvement on my own quality of life. It was HARD to get her to sleep on her own but once we figured it out, its almost a piece of cake!

All in all, she's growing up to be such a fun little lady! She's inquisitive and she will definitely let you know what's on her mind if she wants. She's a daddy's girl but has her momma's moments. She waves at people and gives the cutest open mouthed kisses. I honestly wouldn't have made it through without the hubby's help. Most of the day, its just her and I so when he takes over at night, I've had my decompression time.

Hi lovelies!

Hope your weekend was fabulous! We did a lot of visiting with family including some birthday parties but I wanted to share a quick video I made of our trip to the farmer's market. It takes a lot to maneuver a stroller and take video so I'd been saving up clips over the last few weeks to combine them into a short video. I used my carrier this time and it was SO MUCH EASIER to move around through crowds to grab some shots. Lily loved it too since she faced outward and was waving to people the whole time.

Hello Lovelies!

I thought I'd switch it up a bit and write about baby stuff! If you don't already know (she's kind of all over my Instagram), I have a 9.5 month old little girl named Lily. As a new mommy, I'm sure all moms can relate when I say that there is just an OVERLOAD of products out there for your little ones! When I talk to my mom, mother-in-law or even grandmother-in-law, they all say they never had any of the gadgets that I talk about when they were having children.  Even before I had Lily, I was pinning all kinds of things that I wanted to get for her....anywhere from super cute clothes, products to make my life easier (like a baby food maker) or even the techiest of gadgets to keep tabs on my little one. When I started my baby registry, I was so overwhelmed because there was just so much out there. As it turns out, you don't really need everything (although a diaper wipe warmer is nice and won't wake a baby at 3am) and we've survived without all of the non-necessities.

Here are my Top 10 choices:
1. Cloud B Sound Machine Soother, Sleep Sheep: White noise around a sleeping baby is a MUST in my opinion. How frustrating is it when your baby wakes from a dog barking just as you put her down to sleep? The Cloud B comes in several different animals and has 8 different sounds (we liked the mother's heartbeat/water sound the best). It has two timers, 25 and 45 minutes and is battery powered. This has come in handy when we are traveling!

2. Marc Jacobs Diaper Bag: I looked at several diaper bags and this one by far was the roomiest and has a lot of pockets in the interior. It has a pretty decent zipper on it so I feel secure packing it to the brim with stuff and know that it won't unzip. It also has a decent sized diaper changing pad. While its a little pricey, I think that I'll be using this after we've outgrown the baby stage.

3. Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin: We LOVE LOVE LOVE this book! Its well written and the illustrations keep our little one entertained. If you love dragons and you love tacos...this book is the way to go!

4. ErgoBaby 360 Carrier (in black): I had another carrier before I purchased this one and the one feature it was lacking was the front carry but the ErgoBaby made up for it! We can even do a side carry. I also feel that the Ergo has less fabric than my previous carrier so she stays cooler when being carried. I do wish it had a small pocket though for keys.

5.  Philips Avent DECT Baby Monitor with Temperature Sensor and Night Mode: There are so many monitors out there but we loved this monitor for the range. We were able to go outside into our front yard to get the mail and it never signaled us. The battery life on it is great as well, we were able to use it for a week before having to charge it. It definitely gave us the piece of mind when we had to leave the room.

6. UppaBaby Stroller (Cruz): This stroller is AMAZING. We didn't want to get the bigger version (the Vista) because I didn't feel I was going to use all of its features like the bassinet. I think the biggest thing about the stroller I was sold on was the basket space. There is A LOT of it! When we go to the Farmer's Market on Sundays, we are able to fill that bad boy up and have room for her diaper bag. The seat also has a lever which can recline to almost a flat position and the lever feels well constructed. We also bought an adapter for our car seat (which is a Graco), (7.) the infant insert which helped when she was under 6 months and a (8.) stroller caddy which holds so much in its pockets (and a bottle of water and my iced coffee).

9. Aiden&Anais Swaddle Blankets: I absolutely love these blankies! They're super soft after washing and they double as breastfeeding covers, stroller covers, light blankets. And they come in really cute prints. I chose a subtle coral printed set. 

10. Medela Freestyle Breast Pump: If you're breastfeeding, at some point, you may need a breastpump if you'll be away from your little one for a few hours (or just for a little sanity!). I recommend the Freestyle because it's easier to use if you travel (whether it be on vacation, business or just to Grandma's house). And don't forget the accessories...and the hands-free bra!

11. Cuisinart Stick Blender: Since we make all of Lily's food at home, we absolutely had to have a stick blender to puree her food. We have another stick blender but we found the Cuisinart is quieter and feels sturdier than the other. 

12. Baby Einstein Jumper: When Lily was 6 months old and definitely able to sit unassisted, we bought this fabulous-ness. We have a galley style kitchen so it was hard to keep an eye on her if she was sitting in the living room while I was doing the dishes. So now, when i'm in the kitchen, I'll put her in this jumper so I can see her. We love the classical music it plays and she enjoys jumping around in it (for at least the time it takes for me to clean the kitchen - 20 minutes). It has 5 different height levels too! We have an older version but thought i'd post the newer. I wish we had the newer version becuase I read that it can fold flat for storage. 

13. H&M Nursing Tanks: I didn't think I was going to like these when I first opened the package because they felt flimsy to me but I ended up really liking them because they were lightweight as I was nursing in the summertime. They have great support and they were perfect to put under other shirts if we were going out. 

14. OrganicKidz Baby Bottle Tree: I really wanted a drying rack for all the bottles and this was perfect. It has varying sized pegs for different things (bottles, nipples, etc.). And it was super cute on top of the counter. The bamboo is antibacterial so mold won't grow on it.

Honorable Mention:

13. Medela Nipple Ointment: When I was in the hospital, this was the ointment that the nurses gave me when I started breastfeeding. This gave me more relief than the natural one I had packed in my bag. I ended up ditching the natural nipple butter and buying more of this ointment.

What are your favorite mom necessities?