Being a new mom of a (almost) 10-week-old, I’ve learned not to take for granted the simplest of things. It is because of these few simple things that I’m able to survive and enjoy life each day with my sweet girl (and I would like to offer a fist bump to the creators of such awesome concepts). Here are a few necessities that are keeping mama and baby comfortable around here…
1. Quiet Spot Dog Tag Silencer After many successful attempts of putting E down for her nap (which could take up to half an hour), I was fed up when the dogs would continually wake her up after shaking and their tags would startle her. What a simple idea these silencers are! It’s basically a soft cushion that houses the tags. Penny is currently sporting the red one, while Charlotte struts the bright orange.
2. Milkies Milk Saver Trying to take advantage and maximize the time I have when E is sleeping, I definitely don’t want to spend that time pumping when I could be working, cleaning or cooking (let’s be real, the cooking rarely happens). This simple little contraption keeps me from pumping everyday. When I’m nursing, I put the milk saver on the side I’m not feeding from and when my milk lets down, it collects in the saver so I can refrigerate what I collect throughout the day in a bottle and then I freeze my days worth of milk. In 2.5 months, I’ve been able to save over 60 bags of milk using this amazing doohickey.
3. White Noise Baby We knew E liked white noise, but we didn’t know how much until we downloaded this mobile app this past weekend. See, she likes to fight and fight going to sleep when she is overly tired. This past week, no matter how much Ben, my mom, my dad, my sister or I tried to calm her and quiet her, she still fought (a lot of it had to do with being away from home and off of her schedule). So I found this app and it truly is amazing! It has white noises like the vacuum, air conditioner, and hair dryer. When you turn up the volume, louder than her crying, she stops…listens….and quiets down. Not bad for .99 cents!
4. Classic Keds Yes, we wore these when we were 8, but this mama is bringing them back! Not wanting to run errands and go for walks all the time in my running shoes, I knew these all-time classic sneaks would be comfy and look cute for summer, too.
5. 1/2 Caff Coffee In my first trimester, I didn’t want anything to do with coffee. Throughout my pregnancy I slowly started to regain my love for it, even though I stuck with decaf, I still enjoyed the taste. And now that I’m breastfeeding, I try to limit my caffeine intake but I still like a little boost in the morning. Found this gem at the store after I had been making my own 1/2 caff at home….simple simple simple, thanks Folgers.
6. Swaddle Me The only way Evelyn has been able to sleep for an extended period is by being swaddled. When we first brought her home, Ben did the swaddling, which was basically him trying to mimic what the nurses did by rolling her up in swaddle cloth and we would pray she wouldn’t get out of it. But, as soon as we laid our heads down to sleep, she would cry and her arms would be out. So, Ben then looked up swaddling directions online. We used the Aden + Anais swaddle cloths for this and it worked really well for a month or so. But when its 3 AM and all I want to do is put her down after her feeding, it’s a pain to have to perfectly lay out the cloth, fold it just right, lay the baby down, do 5 or 6 folds and hope she doesn’t wake while I’m doing this. So! Now that she is big enough to fit the smallest size of the Summer Infant Swaddle Me’s, it is much easier to put her down, making everyone happy. All you need to do is tuck the legs and arms, 2 folds of fabric and velcro! Badda-bing-badda-boom! We’re both to sleep within minutes.
7. Storksak Sofia Diaper Bag This item is actually on my wish list for my first Mothers Day (eh-hem, husband). We’ve been using the Skip Hop Duo Deluxe, but it just doesn’t seem to be big enough for Evelyn’s gear as well as mine. I found the Sofia to be a great medium between a diaper bag and a handbag…and….it’s huge with a zipper. Never knew how awesome zippers were until I didn’t have one on the Skip Hop and when the bag would tip over, things like nursing pads, my phone and the wipes case came tumbling out. The reviews for the Sofia seem excellent and I look forward to writing my own review on this bag one day (a-wink).
In other news, a few of Evelyn’s big accomplishments this past month have been smiling (oh how we love to make her smile), holding her head up longer and longer each day, and sleeping! She has been a rockstar sleeping for 5-8 hour stretches at night….hallelujah!
HAPPY FRIDAY AND HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!
