What we got for the new baby

File under: you don't need nearly as much stuff with the second kid! 

Wow. I thought we did fairly well keeping our baby registry and baby purchases contained to a reasonable amount. BUT now that the time is near for our little guy to arrive, I realize how much we have and how little we actually need! 

I've definitely bought a few things for little man that we don't need. You know, a sweet matching outfit/ hat from Zulily. And some booties from a consignment shop. And a striped beanie from one of my favorite independent shops. All that good stuff. Because c'mon: new baby!! 

In addition to those little purchases, we've mostly used gift cards to buy some newborn essentials that either we don't have on hand any more, or just need to replenish after having Charlotte about 18 months ago. Here's what we recently ordered (from babies r us and Amazon- we got generous gift cards to both). 

A four ounce Lifefactory bottle with level one nipple. I'm excited to try these out with our guy- we used another type when C was tiny and I like Lifefactory much better, but not sure whether this brand will influence nipple confusion with nursing. TBD. 

Soft, foam bath pad. We had one with Charlotte and used it for nine months. It got moldy and we threw it away, but the replacement was only $7. 

A big package of newborn diapers. I'm dreaming of using cloth with baby 2 pretty quickly because I feel confident about it this time around, and we will already be washing Charlotte's cloth dipes, so why not? But for the first couple of weeks: pamper swaddlers.

Medium size light weight sleep sack. The medium we have from charlotte is pretty thick/warm, but I imagine baby boy using this size when the weather is hot, so I got a thin sleep sack for him. Plus.... Turtles! 

Contoured burp cloths. I'm all kinds of picky this time around about not wanting those cheap burp cloths that fall off your shoulder and are bulky and annoying. Since we had a gift card, I got some nice ones :) 

Munchkin waterproof changing table liners. We change C on a towel on the bathroom counter, but newborns tend to pee during changes so we hope these waterproof liners will mean less frequent replacement of the towel underneath. We shall see. 

2 pacifiers. 

These are a few of our favorite things

You've already heard about my baby registry favorites. Today's list is a bit different; it includes some of our favorite toys, games, activities, etc. as of late.

Charlotte is 16 months old and she is a busy girl. She plays hard all.day.long.

Here are a few things that have gotten consistent use over the months :

• Y Bike by Pewi- this is the best toy we have in our house!! Charlotte has spent hours and hours and hours on this thing. She got it around Thanksgiving (as an early Christmas gift) and it took her about 10 days to figure it out. She used it a LOT to practice walking and she got really fast at riding it around the house. If you only buy one thing for your child, buy this bike. And buy it BEFORE they learn how to walk. 

• Tegu blocks- these wooden blocks with magnets come in a variety of shapes and sizes. There are countless ways to use these... we often build something random and Charlotte knocks it down. Or she  puts together/pulls apart two of the smaller ones, over and over and over again. Or she sticks them to the metal baby gate. 

• Board books

• Giant cardboard box- You may have seen my hilarious set of photos with Charlotte in baskets/boxes. Her favorite is a big box from Amazon that sits in our living room. She keeps all her animals in there, and has a rotating set of toys that are also allowed in.

• Stuffed animals- though I would never have chosen for these to be one of Charlotte's favorites, she loves them! We have only bought one stuffed animal for her (before she was born), and I don't think we will EVER buy her another, nor will we request anyone else buy her more because she has enough! She takes them in and out of her box whenever she's sitting in there. She hugs and kisses them. She takes them around the house and gives them rides on her bike. 

• Two wooden trucks (made by Wonderworld)- my mom gave these to Charlotte and she is really good at using them. In my limited experience, they are REALLY easy to use and they go super fast. They even work on the carpet, which is amazing. 

• Plastic eggs and a cardboard carton- Charlotte got these from my mom back in February and she played with them multiple times a day for at least three months. Some of them cracked (once she figured out that throwing them across the room was really fun!) so they've gotten thrown away, but C. will still play with the 5 or so we have left. 

• Pretend food- Charlotte has these two sets, which her uncle gave her for Christmas, AND she has a "new" sushi set that my mom gave her months ago (but I just took out of the box this week :) ). She is very interested in stirring the salad, and drinking from the bottle of juice, and pouring olive oil into her bowl. Personally, I'm a HUGE fan of wooden toys and really really really like the wooden food sets she has. I'm not interested in collecting a ton more at this point, but some day I hope to get her some wooden eggs and a few more wooden food items to go in her play kitchen. 

• One baby doll- some day we may buy her more dolls, but for now, one is just right. She has a lot of stuffed animal friends, so I don't want to add to the clutter, plus a lot of baby dolls are just plain strange. Goofy faces, strange hair textures, the ability to eat, poop, and talk, etc. etc... Charlotte calls her doll "baby" and puts her in the swing, takes her in the car, hugs her, carries her around, etc. It's really precious. 

• Water table- last summer Charlotte had an inflatable pool, which she loved, but last month I bought a used water table at the church flea market for a dollar. We keep it in the back yard and Charlotte plays with it at least once, sometimes more like two to three times a day. She LOVES scooping the water with her little shovel, and splashing herself (and us!) as she plays. Best dollar I've ever spent. 

• Measuring cups, specifically the kind that you can collapse to store- my mom gave me a set of plastic/rubber measuring cups a few years ago and I've been letting Charlotte play with them whenever I need to work in the kitchen but she's feeling particularly needy for attention. She can sit on the counter for at least twenty minutes, opening and closing the cups. Sometimes she needs a bit of help to get them open, but she can flatten them all easily and thinks it's a really fun game. And I think it's really wonderful to get dinner made or the dishwasher emptied :) win-win, really. 

How about you? What things are your kids loving lately? 

Hire me to create your baby registry

A few weeks ago I joked on Facebook that I wish people would pay me to create their baby registries. There are personal decorators and personal shoppers... Why not personal baby registry makers? I could be the very first!

Okay, okay. I realize that nobody is going to hire me for such a task. I assume most people actually like doing a bit of research and picking baby products that fit their own lifestyle, home, and family.

BUT! In case you don't like doing research or reading product reviews (what planet are you from?!), here is my complete list of baby registry suggestions. Most items were on our registry or we have bought for ourselves since Charlotte was born. Some, however, I've discovered over the last fourteen months and recommend them without any personal experience.

[Just for fun, here's a post about some of my favorite baby items that was posted on another blog when Charlotte was eight months old.]

Big (more expensive!) baby gear: 

• Sakura bloom ring sling. (Read more about my undying love for my ring sling!!) 
• Soft structured carrier (We have an Ergo, which we love! If I were registering today I would probably get the Ergo 360 instead, because it has the option to face your baby facing out for very short periods of time. I also hear great things about LilleBaby carriers and Beco carriers.)
• 4moms Breeze travel crib, crib sheet, and bassinet sheet. (I cannot believe how easy this crib is to set up. I could honestly do it one handed, which is pretty amazing considering how many "pack n play" contraptions require a PhD to assemble. The major downside to this crib is that it is HEAVY. Just FYI.)
• BOB Revolution SE jogging stroller (with adaptor bar for infant car seat). This is a great stroller, even without being used for jogging. Really easy to fold/unfold. Powerful and flexible enough to move over rough terrain, and a great turning radius. It's wide, though, so not great for shopping or getting through tight spaces. 
• Chicco KeyFit 30 infant car seat (and extra base)
• Chicco NextFit convertible seat (we got this for Charlotte just before Christmas, because she was too tall for her infant seat and we were getting ready for a 12 hour road trip to visit Joel's parents. We LOVE this car seat!)

Note: The above items are expensive, but definitely worth their cost. I think they're great items to be given by grand-parents to be, or by a group of friends wanting to pool resources for a "big" gift.
Also note: If you have more than one registry, or are open to shopping around, you can often find deals by comparing Amazon to some different stores. We bought our convertible car seat during an online sale at Babies R Us- we saved shipping because our local store had the exact one we wanted, and we picked it up the same day we ordered.

Nursery essentials

• Any type of crib you like, though I suggest paying attention to whatever finish is put on the sides. Charlotte went to town biting on the sides of her crib and I felt somewhat less frazzled knowing that the finish was non-toxic. That should be a no-brainer for companies that make cribs, but I don't think it is. 
• Any old crib sheets. 
• A comfortable chair. We have an old rocking chair from the thrift store in Charlotte's room and while it's fine for reading a few books at nap time, it is not suitable for the constant feedings that happen in the early months of a baby's life. I plan to nurse any future babies in my bed or on the couch like I did with Charlotte, but if I'm creating the ideal registry, I say include a great, comfortable chair! 
• A dresser that's the right height for dual use as a changing table. Charlotte's dresser is one that we found in a neighbor's driveway and I painted with love. It looks great in her room and is perfect for storing her clothes, but it's too tall to use as a changing table. We've changed her all sorts of places in the house, but mostly we just lay her on a towel on the floor. Gets kind of tiring on the knees after a while. :) 
• White noise machine (we just use a big box fan; cheap and easy to replace! However, now that I'm thinking through where/ how our new baby will sleep, I wonder if it's better to avoid using a fan. Charlotte can't really sleep without it, which makes her a bit high maintenance when we travel...)
• Humidifier (we have this one and like it)

Sleeping essentials 

• Miracle blanket 
• Halo Sleepsack Swaddle (we were given a newborn size in the fleece fabric and it was SO cozy for Charlotte's first few months. After that, the weather was warmer so we bought the next size up in cotton. Awesome!)
• Sleep sacks in size medium and large. Charlotte sleeps in a size large cotton sleep sack by Halo. It's plenty big on her now, at 14 months, but I plan on putting her in sleep sacks until she is in kindergarten, so I hope they make them in extra large, too ;)

• Aiden and Anais swaddle blankets (we didn't use these for Charlotte to sleep, but we tucked them around her in the car seat, used them as spit up rags, and sometimes I covered myself with them while nursing in public. SO handy and soft and beautiful! Highly recommend them!!) 

• A set of TWO loveys. We have this set. Here's why I say to get TWO loveys: when we first stopped swaddling Charlotte, she was having a terrible time settling down to sleep. Friends recommended introducing a lovey at that time, and my brilliant cousin said I should get two of the exact same lovey. I looked around on Amazon and chose the owl set (because it's brown & less likely to show dirt). We have a set of two so we can rotate them out for laundering purposes, and in case one ever gets lost. I know people say that you can't choose the things your child gets attached to, and I believe this to an extent. BUT we introduced Charlotte's owl ("Screech") very intentionally and she is very attached. It's the only thing she has in her crib at sleeping times, so she knows it's associated with going to bed. PLEASE, parents-to-be... do yourself a favor and get TWO of the same lovey for this purpose! 

Feeding Essentials

• Double electric breast pump, if you plan to breastfeed (you can probably get a comparable pump free through your health insurance)
• Manual pump. I didn't have this at first, but I wish I had; I think it really would have come in handy when dealing with some discomfort and struggles when my milk came in. Also-- very handy for times when your babe isn't emptying the breast, but you want to signal your body to keep making milk!
• Baby Led Weaning cookbook (more about BLW here)
• 2-5 bottles, depending on your lifestyle. We recently bought one of these Lifefactory glass bottles and LOVE it. I'm not sure how this kind will work if transferring between the bottle & breast in baby's early days. When Charlotte was a newborn we used these, and they were awesome. But I prefer glass, so Lifefactory is my overall recommendation. 
• Bibs!!! We had at least ten, but I sometimes wanted more. Small, basic cotton bibs are so helpful with young babies who tend to spit up. Now that Charlotte is eating real food, we use plastic bibs that can be rinsed quickly in the sink and hung up to dry before the next meal. 
• Burp cloths. For this next baby, I have already made a commitment to buy burp cloths with a contour in the middle so they fit over the shoulder. We had a ton of random burp cloths when Charlotte was tiny, but my absolute favorites were the ones someone made us- they were a great shape and didn't fall off when slung quickly over our shoulder. 

Miscellaneous Items
1. Inexpensive foam bath cushion. We used this for about 8 months with Charlotte. She would take baths laying down on it as a newborn and when she could sit up, we sat her on it in case she tipped over. Then, when it wasn't necessary any more we threw it away. Best $7 ever spent!

2. Some type of swing or bouncy chair or the like. It's really nice to have a cozy place for baby to sit when not sleeping or being held. We received a used swing from our friends and it was great. My only complaint is that it is super heavy and can't be easily moved around the house. We also had a bouncy seat, but it was low to the ground and Charlotte didn't really like it once she was able to move around a bit.

3. Baby nail clippers, dye-free acetaminophen, Hylands teething tablets, baby thermometer, other first aid things.

4. We use cloth diapers, so two gifts we received from our registry were wet bags. Even if you don't use cloth, I definitely recommend registering for a wet bag. It is really useful for carrying wet swim suits in the summer, and soiled/stained clothing all year round.

I don't recommend registering for: blankets, clothing, stuffed animals, or shoes. People have given us MANY clothes and for some reason (maybe because Charlotte was born in January?!) we received an absurd amount of blankets, which do not get adequate use. Also- shoes are very weather and season specific. There's no way to know how fast babies' feet will grow, so I don't think it makes sense to buy many shoes in advance.


What am I missing?! Parents-- feel free to chime in here, to add anything you think is a great addition to my list! 

we're famous!

Charlotte and I were featured on The Wise Baby blog this week!

Check out our list of favorite baby products!

What would you add to our list?

baby favorites: six months in

Some of these are also on the lists I made at three months, or at two weeks. I'll just skim over the repeats and add a few more things we are absolutely loving at Charlotte's half birthday (what?!!).

1. BOB stroller. Adore it. That's all.
2. Cloth diapers. Such a great investment!
3. IKEA play gym. I wrote about this when Charlotte was three months old and she's still a huge fan. Lately she's been annoyed to stay on her back because it's such fun to be upright, but she can't sit on her own quite yet. So we prop her up with a couple pillows and let her grab at the play gym pieces. We also trade out the original parts for a few fun toys that connect using links (a ball, a bright crinkly blanket, a clean loofah I had sitting around--ha!)
4. Sakura Blooom ring sling. This is perhaps my favorite baby product! We love our Ergo, also, but it's too hot in the summer. My sling is made of linen and is relatively cool, even with a warm baby attached :)
5. Non-toys... an empty baby wipes bag, toothbrush travel case, burp cloths, blankets, etc.
6. Aden & Anais swaddle blankets. They are lightweight and PERFECT for so many things! We use ours as a stroller cover when it's time to nap, as a nursing/anti-distraction cover, to wipe spit up, to make a soft place for playing in the grass, for a fussy baby to chew on snuggle, etc. etc. I can't find the exact pattern we have, but I like these.
7. Sleep sacks. Charlotte has grown out of her medium size cotton Halo sleep sack and now uses this HUGE sleeping bag at night. It looks hilarious because it's way too wide for her, but she needs the length. She is so cozy at night in this thing, which is great because we run the AC in her room for cool/ noise coverage.
8. Links! We have this exact set and use them constantly. Charlotte can hold them easily (either one at a time, or a whole bunch connected together), she chews on them, they hold toys onto her car seat, we can attach them to her swing, etc.

I think that's it for my list... What are some of your favorite baby products?

Ode to a ring sling

I've had my eye on the linen ring slings from Sakura Bloom for at least three years. To me they seem so luxurious and stylish... at the same time they are completely practical. My parents generously gave me this one for Christmas and I was beyond thrilled to try it out!

Sadly, it didn't get enough use the first month of Charlotte's life. Every time I tried to put it on to soothe an unhappy baby, my fumbling around made her cry more! The layers of fabric were super soft but I couldn't figure out the best length and positioning.

 

I wore her in the sling successfully a few times when she was already calm. She would sleep peacefully snuggled up to me, or just look around quietly while I did whatever task needed to be completed. However, the frequency with which I used the sling was far less than I had originally planned. 

Lately, though, my ring sling and I have become BFFs. 

I have totally gotten the hang of tucking Charlotte in quickly and tugging the fabric into place. She can sit in multiple positions, against multiple parts of me, and my hands can be completely free. She ADORES being able to look around while we traipse all over creation.

I think I've worn it every day since last Wednesday... In the airport, on the plane, on the train, into the basement with a laundry basket on my hip, down the street to pick up vanilla extract at the neighborhood market, in the backyard to get the dry diapers, around the grocery store, in the kitchen while I cleaned up, in Charlotte's room, into the front yard to get the mail, etc. etc. etc. 

Though my time as Momma has been short so far, I'm a die hard fan of ring slings and I'm definitely partial to the Sakura Bloom company. Their Facebook page is full of beautiful images and their slings are excellent quality. My ring sling was a wonderful gift and I look forward to many more years of snuggling to be enjoyed and memories to be made.

Baby favorites: three months in

We're still big fans of all the things I raved about when Charlotte was two weeks old. But we have a few other items that are really making life grand at the Alberts house, so I want to let you know about them.

1. Bum Genius 4.0 diapers with snaps. These fit Charlotte's skinny legs at one month old and they are awesome! SO easy to put on! Nicely fitting, without too much bulk. Fun colors. So yeah, highly recommend these diapers.

2. Miracle blanket. Charlotte sleeps in this for naps. It's lighter weight than her sleep sack. Sadly, her legs are getting too long for it, so I often tuck a regular receiving blanket tightly around the bottom half of her body so she doesn't kick herself awake! (Edit: We do love the Miracle Blanket, but since I started typing this post, over a month ago, we have switched it out for a cotton Halo swaddle sleep sack in size small. It's slightly too wide for Charlotte, but the length is necessary. She sleeps in it for naps and at night.)

3. BOB Revolution stroller with adapter bar for Chicco car seats. WE LOVE OUR BOB! Holy smokes, this stroller is a beast. It's super flexible and sturdy and moves really easily-- even over snow! We haven't tried an actual run with Charlotte in the stroller yet, but we have taken many many walks and we love it so much.

4. This cheap foam bathtub pad. We bathe Charlotte in the tub... just put about 2 inches of water in there with this foam pad and she's good to go. She can rest on top of it and be wet/warm without getting covered in water. Bonus: when it's dry we use it on our bathroom counter to make the diaper changing area a bit softer.

5. ThinkBaby bottles. I don't know whether it's this specific bottle, the fact that we introduced it at 3 weeks old, or our kid is just awesome, but Charlotte takes these bottles very well. Lately I have been giving her a few ounces before nursing at night to help her get enough calories in before bedtime. She takes them from me no problem, then immediately latches on to nurse a minute later. Absolutely no nipple confusion has ever happened. We are thrilled!

6. IKEA play gym. This thing is rad! It's wooden, so looks nice in the living room, which is important to me. Charlotte just recently began liking it, so it sat idle for a little while, but she really loves it now! She can lay on her back underneath her play gym and be happy for a long time. So fun!

7. Our two carriers: the Ergo and the Sakura Bloom ring sling. Oh, these carriers are amazing! We use one or the other almost every day. Every Sunday we take the Ergo to church and Charlotte falls asleep while one of us is wearing her. I use the sling most often in the evening when Charlotte is a little fussy and wants to be held while I need to make dinner. I can wash dishes, cut veggies for salad, and prepare our entire meal with her snuggled up on me. Earlier this week I walked across the street to visit my neighbor with Charlotte in the sling. She fell asleep while we chatted and took a little cat nap before dinner.

I'm obviously not a veteran parent yet but I will happily sing the praises of all these products after three months of mommy hood. :)

Baby favorites: two weeks in

1. Halo sleep sack. My friend Ashley gave me this as a baby gift and we are totally hooked! I had it in my head that our upstairs would be too hot for Charlotte to wear this to sleep, but our girl loves to be cozy. She sleeps really soundly in her sleep sack and it's easy to unswaddle her for nighttime feedings. The Velcro is super secure and the sleeping bag-ish sack allows her hips to be free to move while keeping her arms still so she doesn't startle herself awake. Love this thing!

2. Nipple shields. These are somewhat controversial in the breastfeeding community, I guess because sometimes they are associated with nipple confusion. Ask me if I care, though. I think they are the best invention since sliced bread and they absolutely work. This little thing saved our breastfeeding butts the first few days home and even though we don't need it now, I am a huge huge fan.

3. Coconut oil. This isn't a baby product, but it swear by it after being a mom for all of 13 days. Just before Charlotte was born, I read that putting coconut oil on a baby's bum makes the first newborn poop (meconium) not quite so sticky. It totally worked! Changing Charlotte's first few diapers was fairly easy because the coconut oil acted as a barrier and kept her smooth. We are using it at most diaper changes now, simply to prevent diaper rash. Seems to be working.

4. Baby hats. See number 1. Our little lady sleeps every night with a hat on her head. Like her daddio, baby likes to be warm.

5. Trail mix. This isn't a baby product either, but I've taken to keeping a handful of trail mix on my dresser so I can snack in the middle of the night. I feed, change, and swaddle Charlotte, put her in the bassinet, grab a handful or two of trail mix, guzzle some water, and fall asleep till she wakes up for the next feeding.

baby registry update

First of all, we LOVED having an Amazon registry!! It seems like not everyone is comfortable using an online registry, which is a shame because it's so easy, but as someone who registered through Amazon I would give it two thumbs up. They make it super simple and provide a thank-you list with addresses. Awesome!

Second of all, my generous brother-in-law allowed us to order some of the remaining items on our registry using his Amazon prime account. Why yes, I'd love free 2-day shipping, thank you very much.

Third of all, I wish we hadn't done a Target registry. It doesn't always record things that have been purchased, Target's shipping isn't consistent (and by that I mean it's pretty slow!), and the things we chose often showed up as different when viewed online.

One note: even though it's totally awesome to have the ability to register for things elsewhere, the purchasing isn't straight-forward and seemed to intimidate even the tech-savvy gift buyers. I was disappointed by how few things were redeemed at the bottom of our registry.... stuff that was sold by IKEA, Etsy, etc. I don't know if Amazon has the ability to make that process a bit more streamlined, but if so, they totally should!

We have been really blessed by the generosity of our friends and family. Our little one is so well cared for and has received so so many great gifts. Plus, way to go, Amazon- your registry rocks!
image here.

shower power!

Last weekend we had TWO baby showers in less than 24 hours! That was good planning, dontcha think? ;)

Our house is suddenly overflowing with baby things when it seemed like they'd just been accumulating slowly up until now...

Anyway, Joel and I were humbled and blessed beyond belief by the generosity we experienced. Our little one has gotten so many sweet outfits, many hand-made with love by friends or family members. We've also received countless items from our baby registries that will make our transition into parenthood smoother/ probably more fun.

Item #1: This AMAZING jogging stroller that we are both thrilled to try out. (Actually, it's sitting in our dining room right now and we've both already tried it out by pushing it around the house and into the kitchen...)

our first BIG baby purchase

I've been scoping out ERGO carriers for at least a year. This one is probably my favorite overall, and I had it on our Amazon registry for a while. I love looking at pictures of parents wearing Ergos online & I even had Joel analyze all the color choices with me last month ;)

In the past couple months, I've decided to start scoping out Craigslist regularly... partly because I was having a dilemma about which high chair was best and I figured if I could find a high-end chair on Craigslist, I might not have to register for any (or make an actual decision about which one was absolutely the best!). Anyway, I stumbled across a brand-new Ergo carrier that somebody was selling for 100 bucks because they'd gotten two as gifts and only needed one. 100 dollars is only about 15 bucks less than you can pay for it new online, but this was still in the box and had never been used.

When I asked Joel about the idea of buying it from the lady on Craigslist, he said, "See if she'll give it to you for $85." So I did. And she agreed.

One Friday morning I drove downtown with 85 bucks in my pocket. We met at a really cool coffee shop (... don't worry, multiple people knew where I was going and it was a very public/safe spot!) and the seller gave me the box while I handed her the cash. She was wearing her little guy in an identical Ergo and said she absolutely LOVES it.

As I sat in my car, I opened the box to look at the carrier and got a few tiny tears in my eyes and a sweet ache in my heart. I imagined carrying Baby 'Berts in there, all over the neighborhood and town and state and country.  I pictured Joel wearing the baby on special adventures and hikes and to Detroit Tigers games.

This first big purchase feels like a huge deal. 

P.S. I also put the baby's first toy, a silly stuffed turtle that we named Charlie, in the carrier to practice wearing it myself. And it fits!


image here.

Baby registry: part 2

Okay, at this point we have 80+ items on our Amazon registry. It seems like a lot, and it is I guess, but part of that number is because I hand-picked every.single.cloth.diaper.one.by.one. So that's like 15 items right there. :)

There are a lot of expensive things on our registry, and while we hope some will be group gifts, we also expect to purchase a bunch of them ourselves. It is our baby, after all.

Here's my thought on the pricey stuff: if we're picking items to be used for all our future children (we hope to have more some day!), we want them to be both gender-neutral and high-quality so they will last for many years. Plus, all these things will be in our home and we don't want cheap, bad-looking junk to clutter up our living space.

These are a few of the items I'm most excited about & why they're on our registry:

1. BOB Revolution SE Stroller. I can't even list how many people online have recommended this stroller. Joel loves to run and I'm all about having a stroller we can use on suburban sidewalks and/or walking trails.This is perhaps the most thrilling item on our registry. I daydream regularly about walking around our neighborhood with Joel in the evening, taking turns pushing our little mini in the BOB.

2.  Chicco Keyfit 30 with extra base. This specific car seat has excellent reviews and the color (Sedona) is gender-neutral enough to last for future kiddos.

3. Baby Mantra soap and lotion. I've read mixed reviews about chemicals in baby products and while I know this isn't something I can avoid forever/completely, I want to start our newborn off in the world with skin products that are gentle and safe. Plus, this review is adorable.

4. Bum Genius 4.0 one-size diaper with snaps. We chose a variety of colors for future use, as well. I have read a LOT about cloth diapers and have at least 10 different things pinned related to the subject. These two posts were the most helpful and basically contributed to me choosing this type of diaper. I'll write more on the subject later, but that's the basic plan.

5. 4Moms Breeze Play yard (aka: portable crib for traveling) I read this glowing review and was basically sold on this travel crib. Then we baby-sat for our friends' baby and his crib was so so so hard to set up. Then it left little pieces of itself on our floor. And I was totally sold on the Breeze. We really like to travel and all our family members live out of state; a quality place for baby to sleep away from home is important.

6. Summer Infant bouncy seat. Here's what sold me on this one: NO annoying animals or blinding colors. It's neutral and simple; no bells and whistles (and it won't clash with our paint colors;) )

7. Sakura Bloom ring sling. I have dreamed of this sling for over two years. It's gotten rave reviews and is simply beautiful. Apparently it's a discreet option for nursing on the go and can hold kids from infancy up through age 3.

*I have a love/hate relationship with online product reviews. I think they're so helpful and they have definitely impacted some of my registry decisions. On the other hand, they always involve personal opinions and it's impossible to know for sure whether something is great without trying it out myself. Tricky.

**There are definitely a few silly/adorable/totally frivolous things on our registry, too. I figure if people want to buy us cute stuff, at least I can suggest the type and style I really like :)

ohhh, the baby clothes!

So far the only thing I've bought for our baby is this adorable elephant onesie (which actually wasn't just for our baby-- it came in a package of 5 and I gave 4 away to babies coming next month & saved my fav. ha).

It's hard to resist the sweet, sweet clothing, but I've been doing my best because I know people love to give baby clothes (I sure do!) and I expect we'll get a lot in the coming months. My friend Rachel said because experienced parents knew to give clothes in bigger sizes, she'll be able to clothe her son for his first year without buying him anything. Amazing!

If I were made of money and thought it was wise to spend it all on baby clothes, here are some fun things I'd buy. Don't worry, I won't really buy them all any.


Any of these GAP pieces for little guys.

Skinny jeans for a baby. 10 bucks on sale at Old Navy right now. Steal.

Skinny jeans for an older kid. Could be for a boy or girl, I'd say. 

Darling dress for a little lady (in 3 pretty colors).


What an adorable swimsuit!!

Sweet little gender-neutral T-shirt. With fish!

Baby registry: part 1

Ohhh, the baby registry...

I have been saving tidbits from other bloggers for a long, long time. Way back before our baby was even close to a reality. With the creation of Pinterest, saving baby registry ideas became even easier. I could pin things from other people's blogs or from Amazon that I wanted to save for future reference.

Here's a link to the idea board I created on Pinterest, in case you are interested: http://pinterest.com/kellalberts/registry-ideas/

Since the fall will be super busy as I begin a new teaching job, I decided to start an Amazon baby registry last week. Truthfully, I was really excited to make a registry, but I justified doing it so early because the fall will be busy :)

I chose Amazon because it gives you the option to pick items from any site, including Etsy and IKEA. Plus, Amazon has so many products to choose from and these days, most people can access online ordering, etc. We will probably also register for a few items at Target, just so people have a brick-and-mortar option, but it's really not necessary at all.

In deciding which items to include, I referenced a few bloggers whose opinion I trust and read a million reviews online. Here are some registry guides I used:
1. http://joannagoddard.blogspot.com/2011/08/motherhood-mondays-what-to-register-for.html
2. http://www.hellobee.com/hellobee-guides/
3. http://thewisebaby.com/baby-registry-advice/
4. http://www.feedingthesoil.com/2013/01/baby-registry-revisited.html


Interestingly enough, Joel and I have very different outlooks on the registry I created so far:
Joel: "Wow. Some of these things are expensive!"
Kelly: "Yeah, I know. I went for quality. That's why there's just a few things on here."
Joel: "Holy cow! When does it end?"
Kelly: "Oh, I guess there are 60 items on here. That's not really just a few."
Ha!