“Suggested” Baby Registry Items

Car Seats/Strollers/Carrier/Accessories

§  Infant CarSeat – mine is Graco SafeSeat (BB book)

§  Car Seat Protector - Prince Lionheart 2-Stage Seat Saver (this is a MUST its keeps all the food and juice off your seats once your kids get bigger)

§  Back seat Mirror

§  Stroller that accepts your Car Seat – Some people have big strollers but we have a smaller stroller.  We have Graco Mosaic Stroller it has a smaller storage basket but we love it!! (BB book)

§  Baby Carrier – we had the Baby Bjorn Air and liked it but it takes time to get on you and then put the baby in.  When Grady was 9 months old we got a Rockin’ Baby Pouch – they adjust to four different sizes with zippers so Keith and I can both us the same pouch we love it and it is so quick and easy to get baby in and out. I still use it now with Reece  2yrs old for quick trips into a store. (www.rockinbabysling.com). www.thebabywearer.com has great info and reviews on all the baby carriers.

Travel Yards/High Chairs/Exercisers/Accessories

§  Pack N Play (Baby can sleep in this in your room for AWHILE! (we did not do this but a lot of friends do) If going to do that Get one with the changing table attached, otherwise you don’t need that. Really great for trips to Grandparents or LSU tailgating. Mine is Graco)

§  Pack N Play fitted sheet

§  Bouncy Seat – Mine is the Fisher-Price Bobblin Band Bouncer

§  High Chair – Mine is the Chicco get one that you can wipe clean

§  Exersaucer or Jumperoo -

§  Play Gym/Activity Mat – I also have the Baby Einstein one

§  Bumbo Seat

Cribs/Furniture

§  Crib  - Baby Bargains by Denise & Alan Fields has great info to help you choose

§  Changing Table/Dresser – I suggest one that doubles as a dresser so when the baby gets older, you can use it again. (BB book)

§  Changing Table Pad + TWO Covers

§  Glider and ottoman –  We have Shermag, a friend has the Dutailier one that reclines .  I suggest getting it in a neutral fabric that is easy to clean.

Bedding/Room Décor/Crib Accessories

§  Crib Mattress – (BB book)

§  Crib Bedding Set - Don’t really need this but it is fun. If you do get one all you really need is blanket/quilt, crib skirt, and matching fitted sheet.  (We did not use the bumper long because of safety reasons and never used it for Reece.)

§  2 extra fitted sheets - You could just get cute sheets since that is all that really should be in the bed with the baby.

§  Waterproof mattress pad

§  2 pack waterproof pads – to lay under baby when young so if they leak, you don’t have to change the entire bed and you can put it on changing table, till yall get the hang of changing newborn diapers!

Infant Toys, Care & Feeding

§  Baby Monitor – I have the Graco iMonitor and the Sony BabyCall.  We like them both.  (Sony batteries lasted longer)

§  BOPPY – You MUST get one!  Get the Bare Naked Boppy and a changeable cover so you can WASH IT. (I have 2 covers)

§  Diaper Bag

§  JJ Cole Diapers and Wipes Pod - diapers & wipes pod comes with a changing pad.  Great to put in your diaper bag and easy to grab and go.

§  12 Burp cloths – I got the Gerber Cloth Diapers with thick middles – they come in packs of 12. 

§  Diaper Pail – I have the Diaper Genie II you have to get refills, but we LOVE it and have not had problems with stinking diaper pail!

§    - Swaddle Designs and aden + anais are GREAT (just get a blanket 42" x 42" or bigger). We swaddled Grady in this blanket till he was 4 months old. A couple friends suggest the Miracle Blanket – They say you can only get it online but it is WORTH EVERY PENNY!  Babies sleep so much better swaddled and this is the only one they cannot get out of!


•  2 Swaddling Blankets - Ultimate Swaddling Blanket -by Swaddle Designs (http://www.swaddledesigns.com) we swaddled Grady in this blanket till he was 4 months old. and/or anis + aden muslin swaddle blankets.  (just get a blanket 42" x 42" or bigger).  But a couple friends suggest the Miracle Blanket – They say you can only get it online but it is WORTH EVERY PENNY!  Babies sleep so much better swaddled and this is the only one they cannot get out of!

§  Halo Sleep Sack – once you stop swaddling the baby

§  Noise/sound machine and we leave it on all night -  we have The Sharper Image Sound Soother Alarm Clock

§  Grooming Kit – this has the baby brush, nail clippers, etc. in it

§  Safety Kit –

§  Thermometer – get a high-speed digital

§  Baby Hangers – plastic kind

§  Other Toys

§  Toy to hang from Infant Carrier

§  Baby safe Mirror – We have one he can see while on the changing table, Grady loves it.  Sassy Me-in-the-Mirror Toy

§  Baby Bathtub

§  6 Baby Washcloths and at least 3 hooded baby towels

§  2 packs of Small Baby Spoons – you’ll needs these sooner than you think!

§  2 packs small plastic feeding bowls

§  Dishwasher Caddy

§  2 Bumkins SuperBib – Once they start eating baby food this is the best bib and we still only need 2 bibs for Grady.  You can wash it off after each meal and it will be dry by the next! Or you can throw it in the washer! The pocket ACTUALLY CATCHES food that falls!

§  4 - 6 sippy cups – Grady used Nuby at the beginning (5months old) and Reece used Pampers Natural Stages sippy cups b/c they are shaped more like a nipple and now we use Gerber (b/c they don’t leak and don’t have a ton of parts to clean)

Breastfeeding

§  Breast Pump – I suggest the Medela Pump in Style Double Pump – it is GREAT!  

§  One or two packs of Milk Storage bottles – these are small plastic bottles that come with both caps and nipples so you can use to feed the baby OR store what you’ve pumped.

§  Breast Milk Storage Bags if you plan on freezing any pumped milk.

§  The New Mother's Nursing Journal or iPhone app - I have Baby Brain app but Total Baby looks cool b/c they have timers for medicine and other things.

§  Nursing Cover by Bebe au Lait or Udder Cover

§  Disposable Breast pads – for the beginning and then you can start using the Lilliy padz.  Don't wait your time on reusable one they leak though for me.

§  Liliy Padz – Nursing pads (http://www.lilypadz.com/)

§  Glamourmom® Nursing Bra Long Tank or Top by: Glamourmom I cut out the light mesh line because it looks like to big circles on your boobs if you don’t.  (but these are the best ones I found others are thin or not good for layering)

Bottle feeding

§  Bottles – I suggest the AVENT bottles – they are AWESOME!  Once Reece learned how to drink from a sippy cup you can get sippy cup nipples that work with the bottles.  That will save you a LOT of money. 
I recommend getting (but we only used a couple b/c I am breastfeeding):

• 4 – 6 4ounce bottles
• 8 - 12 9ounce bottles
• 2 Bottle Brushes
• Also get different flow nipples!

Consumables

§  Mylicon

§  Infant Tylenol

§  Diaper Rash Cream

§  Baby Wash

§  Diapers – I suggest “Pampers Swaddlers” to start with.

§  Wipes

           

Clothing/Layette

§  6 t-shirt/onesies (over the head)

§  4 – 6 sleepers

§  Coveralls/rompers

§  3-4 Socks

§  2 Hats

§  4 Large bibs (for feeding)

Books

§  The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems: On Sleeping, Feeding, and Behavior--Beyond the Basics from Infancy Through Toddlerhood by Tracy Hogg, Melinda Blau

§  Baby Bargains by Denise Alan Fields - (BB book) has great info to help you choose

§  The Nursing Mother's Companion by Kathleen Huggins

Fun Extras

§  JJ Cole Outdoor Blanket - Take it to the park, the beach, sporting events and other outdoor activities. The durable outer fabric is ideal for any surface and the inner lining quickly wipes clean. 

§  Lightweight Stroller - Chicco Capri Stroller is a lightweight stroller that is wonderful for everyday use (6 months or older) and for travel make sure it reclines (at least a little bit).  We started to use this stroller at 6months old and still use it (2years old).

§  Jogging Stroller – We LOVE the BOB jogging stroller

Toddler Things we LOVE

•  Convertible Car Seat - Britax Roundabout is a wonderful seat and worth the extra money if you can afford it.  Britax has a sale on all there seats twice a year.



•  Forward facing carseat - Graco Nautilus – this is the next car seat for got for Grady and LOVE it.


•  Booster Seat - Cooshee Booster


•  Secrets of the Baby Whisperer for Toddlers by Tracy Hogg, Melinda Blau


•  Snack Trap


•  Radio Flyer Scoot-About


•  B. Wheeee-ls! Soft Cars 4-pk. from Target

           

ALL MOMS reading this please post a comment with some of your favorite things and add anything you think every new mom needs!!

Two 1st in the same day!

Grady got this awesome doodle pad today from our friends son Conner as a BIG BROTHER gift.  So he has been drawing all day.  Well this afternoon while I was putting Reece to sleep Grady came in the room to show me the letter H he wrote.  That was the 1st time he wrote a letter by himself.  Then he wrote an A on chalkboard part of the doodle pad.  Go Grady... and he drew a circle and oval on the 15th of Feb.

From 2010 - 02

Then tonight when Keith was getting Reece ready to take a bath he got Reece to laugh his 1st laugh!!

Playing!

Reece is starting to hold on to his toys longer and bring them to his mouth to chew on them.

He LOVES to hold his legs up, he just started grabbing his feet and he loves kick his Activity Gym (the music turns on when you kick or shake it). 

He is starting to TRY to roll over!! Go Reece!!

This is a daily activity for Grady, playing with his cars.  He now makes them talk and interact it is so neat to see his imagination grow. 

A day in the life of Reece at 3 month old

This is not really for anyone but me... because I wish I would have written down Grady's schedules at different ages.  So I am going to start doing it for Reece now.


I love the Baby Whisperer so we pretty much follow what she says.  She suggest getting your baby up at around the same time every day.   Reece normally wakes up between 7 and 8, if he is not up by 8 then I wake him up.  Right now he eats every 3 hours.


7am - Eat
9am - Sleep
10am - Eat
If at home he will sleep between here, but we are normally at a playdate and he does not like to sleep much when we are out.
1pm - Eat
2pm - Sleep
4pm - Eat
5pm - somedays will take a short nap
7pm - Eat
7:30pm - Bath, read story, pray (Grady and Reece together)
8pm - Bed
between 10pm & 11pm - Dream feed  (this is when you feed your baby while they are still kind of sleeping right before you go to bed)


Reece normally wake up to eat once in the middle of the night.  Grady was sleeping through the night at 2 months old.  


We are starting to get Reece on a 4 hour eating schedule.  The Baby Whisperer recommends moving your baby to a 4 hour schedule between 3 and 4 months.  

I Heart Hands!

I found this blog, I Heart Faces, a couple weeks ago and have been wanting to enter the weekly photo challenge.  This weeks challenge is “Hands-On Fun”

Cream Cheese Chicken Enchiladas

This is another recipe I got from a mom in our playgroup!! Thanks Lauren they were GREAT!!

INGREDIENTS

1 onion, chopped
2 tbsp. butter (can get by using less if you want to keep low fat)
1 tsp. cumin

8 oz. cream cheese (low fat works okay also, but not fat-free)
3-4 chicken breasts, pre-grillled and diced up or shredded (about 2 lbs.)
1 c. bottled salsa
8 oz. Velveeta (low fat will work)
1 package small-medium tortillas (can use corn, we prefer the wheat, low carb, low cal ones)


INSTRUCTIONS

Grill chicken ahead of time (or use leftovers) and dice, shred, or cut into the bite size your family prefers. (I think it's better when you have time to shred it by pulling it apart)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a baking dish (the width of the tortillas) by spraying with cooking spray or lining with foil.

In large saucepan, sautee onion in butter until translucent. Stir in cumin. Add cream cheese and cook over low-medium heat until the chunks are melted. Add chicken and 1/2 c. salsa. Add 4 oz. Velveeta. Remove from heat.

Divide the mixture in how ever many tortillas you want to use. I like to divide it into about 9-10 so they aren't too full. Wrap mixture in the tortillas one by one and place them seam side down in the baking dish. They should fit tightly in the dish against the sides. Melt remaining 4 oz. Velveeta and 1/2 c. salsa and pour over tops of tortillas prior to baking.

Bake at 350 20-30 minutes or until it looks done.

My sister got me a subscription to Rachel Ray Mag for my birthday (Aug 30)... it took a while for me to get my first issue but I started getting them in January. I am very excited because I have found a lot of recipes I want to try. So tonight we tried Sausage Crêpesadillas!! They are really good but it took us a while to make the crêpes. The crêpes were really easy to make so maybe I just need more practice or I could make it super easy and buy a pack of pre-made crêpes.

Reece is 3 months old!

Reece turned 3 month old yesterday.

Weight: 11lbs 6oz - between percentile 10th and 25th

Length: 24in - 50th percentile

Head Circumference: 16in - between percentile 10th and 25th

He is a sweet smiley boy!! He loves to lay down under his activity gym and kick the polls to get the music to turn on.

Here is a link to Grady's 3 months update!

Side by Side - 3 months old

Here is a 3 month comparison of Grady and Reece!

above is Reece and below is Grady

above is Reece and below is Grady

Here are my sweet boys together!!

Happy Mardi Gras!!

We decided to go to the Covington Parade today!! Keith and I had not been since we were kids and thought it would be fun to bring the boys. We met Shay-Shay, Grandpa Andy, Uncle Adam, Aunt Ray-Ray, Audrey and Jody out there. Two moms from my playgroup met us out there too.
Well the Parade was REALLY short and we were about 30mins late so we missed the first time it passed by, but lucky it passes by again. But by the time they came back a lot of the floats had NO more beads.
Oh well Grady had a WONDERFUL time playing with his friends.
Shay-Shay and Grandpa Andy invited EVERYONE over to there house after the parade for hotdogs!! Grady loved that his friends came to his Grandparents house. We had a nice day!
After we got home and Reece napped a little bit more we went to see Chris and Jessica's new Baby Sophia Grace. She was born yesterday and is SOOO cute!! Congrats Chris and Jessica!!

Valentine's Day!

We had a great Valentine's Day! We had a lazy day at home we only went out to get things for dinner. We let Grady watch Finding Nemo movie while Keith grilled us Filets and Asparagus!! We drank wine and ate bread with olive oil dip while dinner was cooking. And to top off a wonderful day Reece napped we ate dinner!!

Our first Valentine's as a family of 4!!

1st Parade this Mardi Gras

We have been trying to make it to a parade since Mardi Gras season started but has been to cold and/or rainy. But TODAY the day after it snowed here in Baton Rouge we decided to go to Spanish Town Parade. When we were getting dressed and packing to go the temp was 36 but the high today was 50, so we decided to go but really bundle up. I decided that I would put the rain cover on the stroller to help keep the wind off the boys while we walked. Well once we started walking it really was not that cold and Keith keep saying that it looked like we had bubble kids that we did not want to get any germs on them. HAHA they do look kind of funny :)

We met up with some of our friends and had a wonderful time. The kids entertained themselves before the parade started.


Grady had fun but keep getting bored and would want to go play and then he would come back to catch some more. He was having fun yelling "throw me something" he got a LOT of beads and stuffed animals. He has been telling us all night that he did not catch anything, I guess he really did not catch anything but Keith caught a lot for him.
We had a lot of fun and the weather was PREFECT!!

Oh Yeah Grady had to have ALL the stuffed animals he got in bed with him tonight.

It snowed AGAIN!!

Well it snowed AGAIN this winter. Crazy!!

Reece was NOT a fan!
The only way would could get Grady out there was to ask him to blow bubbles in the snow. And he would not wear his big jacket so he wore two jacket instead. Grady has been on a jacket strike ALL winter.
Since it was wet and cold outside we played inside ALL day!! Soccer in the hallway!! Played with Play-doh.
Peek-a-boo with dad!!
My Boys!! I LOVE them all, I am one lucky lady!!

Valentine's Party

Thursday our playgroup had a Valentine's Party at one of our favorite jumpy places. The kids exchanged valentine's and the mom exchanged homemade sweets.
Here is Reece chillin with Peyton!!
Grady had a wonderful time jumping and playing with his friends. He also did a great job passing out his Valentine cards!


I made a staple of the playgroup S'More Bars!! One of the moms Mischa made them once for our supper club and EVERYONE loves to eat them and make them.