Baby Gear We LOVE So Far!

Well, we've been doing this baby thing for 15 weeks now, and we're totally pros at it! Ha! Not. But, there are things that we love, so I'm going to tell you all about it! :) Be warned...this is a long post, but I enjoy reading other moms' reviews, so it's all in good fun, right? ;) If it might help one new mom, it's totally worth blogging about!

Diapers

I registered for Honest Co. diapers, and I received several packages of size newborn and ones. The newborns were fine...except they leaked. Miles would wake up several times a week soaked. We also had a package of Pampers Swaddlers and Huggies Little Snugglers, and I liked both, but we ended up just switching to Pampers Swaddlers for all of our diaper needs, as of right now. I like the blue line indicator and they haven't leaked that I can think of. There have been a few times where Miles is in just a onesie and poop will start to come out of the leg, but that's probably inevitable. Of course, every baby is different and what works for us might not work for others. Also, you might choose to cloth diaper and that's totally cute, too! ;)

Clothes

We've learned that if you're going to get sleepers, make sure they zip! Ain't nobody got time for snapping snaps in the middle of the night! Miles slept swaddled for the first 3 months. We used the swaddles that velcro, especially the Summer Infant ones. I liked the ErgoBaby swaddle, but Josh thought it was too complicated. It is designed to keep their arms across their chest (much like the womb), whereas the Summer Infant ones are for arms straight down by their sides. Also, the ErgoBaby one has a pouch that covers their bottom half making diaper changes easier since you don't have to unswaddle the whole thing. It is recommended that you stop swaddling once baby starts to roll over (which he did for the first time yesterday, woohoo!), so we transitioned to a Zipadee Zip, which was made (by a mom!) for this time when babies start rolling, scooting, and breaking out of the swaddle. Miles looks like a little starfish and it really, really works! We love it! 

Sometimes, Miles wears non-sleeping clothes. Ha! Of course, we love Target, but also Old Navy, Gap, H&M, and several Instagram/Etsy shops. I'm not a fan of shirts and shorts separates because when you're holding an infant, a shirt will ride up. Rompers are our jam! We don't really wear shoes (because it's 1000 degrees outside), but we do wear socks, sometimes. I've been putting a bib on Miles lately since he's been so drooly and sometimes he'll spit up due to teething. I love the designs of Marley's Monsters and my sister gave us some bandana bibs from Zippy, too, and they're super cute!

 Where to Sleep

Speaking of sleep, where's that little person going to do it?! I did a lot of research, and I knew there were a lot of options for sleeping...Rock N Plays, Sidecar Co-Sleepers, Pack N Plays, Swings...so many options! I thought I knew what we'd like, so I registered for a Rock N Play for times that we would be in the living room or kitchen (spoiler alert: we pretty much didn't even leave our bedroom for the first month or longer. We are able to have everything we need in there, so we didn't venture out to any other parts of the house because we were pretty comfy!), and I chose this (similar) Pack N Play since it had a newborn napper and a changing table for our room. I assumed it would go on my side of the bed and baby would be easy to reach for middle-of-the-night feedings. I also had my eye on a MamaRoo for pretty much my entire pregnancy, and oddly enough, didn't actually get one until a week before baby came.  

Here's a little timeline:

Week One - Baby slept in a travel bassinet, given to us by a co-worker, in our bed. Since I had a c-section, it was easy to grab him (well, Josh handed him to me because it was painful to get up and down) and nurse in the middle of the night. Only bad part was that I started pumping the middle of the week after I became engorged. (More on that shortly) So, I still had to get up. This worked fine.

Weeks Two through Four - Baby slept in the MamaRoo. He loved it. We loved it. We would swaddle him and he would usually go right to sleep, but then he would wake up because his pacifier had come out, so we were up several times a night just to stick it back in his mouth. 

One Month - I mentioned to Josh, hey, what about letting him sleep in our bed? It would be easier for me to nurse him and put his pacifier back in his mouth 126 times during the night. He said, "That's fine. As long as you feel good about it." And, our bed-sharing journey began. Let me also say that Josh doesn't want Miles to still be in our bed when he's four. (Ha! We'll see. I slept in my parents' bed til I got married. Jk. Kinda.) Also, bed-sharing is obviously not for everyone, but it works for us. We are both pretty immobile sleepers. We sleep in the same spot the whole night. We do not toss and turn or sprawl out. We slept in a twin-size bed when we first started dating, so that might tell you something (that actually tells you lots of things..whoopsies). Miles slept swaddled and in the middle up until just recently. He actually started sleeping through the night (from 11-7 or 8) once we moved him to our bed. Now, he sleeps in a Zipadee Zip (recommended once they start rolling over) and I usually hold him.

 

As far as swings go, we started with the MamaRoo, loved it, then Miles decided it was too slow (once he begin to be more alert and interested in action), so I bought a regular swing from a Buy/Sell/Trade group, got it home, he loved it, realized it was only battery-powered/no AC adapter, went and bought a Snugapuppy swing, LOVED it, then bought another to keep at my office! He seriously loves his swing. Sometimes I feel a little guilty when I put him in there so I can get some work or laundry done, but he smiles and laughs in it and will eventually fall asleep. He's taken several 3-hour naps in it. :) 
 

  

Car Seat

 For the infant seat, I chose the Chicco KeyFit 30 in Red. Josh installed the base, so I have no opinion on ease of installation, but my fave part about the car seat (and I realize other models do this) is that you can loosen the straps and easily tighten them each time you get baby in and out. A friend's car seat did not offer this, so I thought it was cool. Only thing we didn't like is how heavy it is!

Around 10 weeks, homeboy started HATING being in the car. After some research and asking moms in facebook groups, I decided to switch Miles to a convertible car seat. One of the disadvantages of using a convertible vs. an infant carrier is that you have to take baby out of the car seat every single time. But, I realized that since Miles hated being strapped in his infant seat around that time, we were already getting him out at restaurants and stores anyway, so there wasn't a difference. I would wear him in my wrap or Ergo every chance we got, or I eventually just started using the seat that came with our stroller (he's still a little small for it, but he still straps in fine). 

I chose the Britax Marathon ClickTight. We installed it, used it on a trip to Austin, didn't like that the crotch buckle was too short, went and got an Evenflo Symphony because Josh was concerned about budget (it was almost $100 cheaper), I didn't like the Evenflo because it seemed cheap to me, figured out that the crotch buckle could be adjusted on the Marathon, and switched back to the Marathon, which we now LOVE! Haha! Isn't that a fun story?? No? 

Another reason I like the convertible car seat is that I can reach him to put his pacifier back in his mouth. We moved his seat to the middle and I drive an SUV, so plus!

Stroller

I am a stroller nut. Confessed. I started researching strollers at the very beginning of my pregnancy. A friend of mine had an Uppa Baby Vista that I thought I loved! After telling Josh how much it was, he vetoed it. After getting suggestions from friends and comparing, we (I) decided on the Baby Jogger City Select. It can be rear- or forward-facing, carry up to 3 kiddos, has a large storage space, easy parking brake, simple-to-fold, very shady canopy, and a telescopic handle for short and tall people! We have both said how much we love our stroller...definitely worth the investment!!

Top photos are with the (separate) car seat adapter (p.s. get a stroller fan!! super handy and needed in this hot weather!) and bottom are with the seat that comes with it. I LOVE the many different seat positions...especially that it lays almost flat so I can just throw the baby (not really) in there and he can nap laying down, bonus if it's with his baby bestie. ;) Also, note in the top right photo, this portable noise machine is a MUST! It has music and white noise and is a lifesaver! We use it in the swing, car seat, stroller, wherever. We now have an app that we use more, but still...lifesaver. 

Random Stuff

Bumbo - Now that he can sit up more (not on his own yet), we've been using the Bumbo a lot! Bath time is especially fun!

Wubbanub - If you're going to use a pacifier in the beginning (pretty sure the hospital nursery gave him one, which is something they're supposed to ask first), get a Wubbanub! So easy to find and they're made to lay on the baby in hopes of staying in their mouth. We love Frog and also have a Puppy. 
 
P.S. Scroll back up and count the times you see Wubbanub. Only thing is it's not recommended once they start teething, which we have started, so we're now using a regular ol' pacifier. :)

Wraps/Carriers - I love my Solly Baby wrap! I also purchased an ErgoBaby Performance Carrier (it has mesh,is supposed to be "cooler"...I don't know if that's true, but how can you tell in 300 degree weather, and daddy can wear it, too) and recently an Infantino Flip from Target. For $30, I would just get the Infantino. Great for the money and not as hot as the Ergo. 

I guess I'll stop here for now...any questions about anything, I'm happy to answer! I seriously love baby gear and research it until I, myself, am annoyed! Ha!


Any other gear I should know about??

On Baptism....

Some of you may or may not know this, but even though I've been a Christian for about 14 years, I've never been baptized. This is weird, even to myself, because I grew up in a Baptist church, my dad's dad was a Baptist preacher, and I have tons of family members very involved in their churches, music ministers, preachers, etc. It's always been something on my life to-do list though.

Let me rewind....

{insert random photo of family in Sunday dress}

 I grew up going to the Baptist church where my dad's family had always gone. I remember going every Sunday to Sunday school, service, Sunday evening services, and any children's activity going on. Then, when I was in the 6th grade, I met a girl named Emily. Her dad was the preacher at First Baptist Church. We became friends and I started going to church with her. She quickly became one of my best friends, too. I became very involved in the youth group there, and it was probably around this time that I fully understood what being a Christian meant. Most people have a clear memory of the exact moment they gave their life to God. I don't. I have a horrible memory of everything. I don't remember a lot of important things. Not because they're not important, but just because my memory doesn't allow me to remember it.

So, I went to church events, youth retreats, missions trips, etc.. I felt like I had a strong connection with God. Of course, like most teenagers, I did go through a rough patch during high school. Then, I moved to another city where I was in "one of those" relationships. You know the one.... The one you think is "The One", but you're really just smoking crack and settling. He wasn't a very good leader, the kind God wants us to have in a partner. I should've known. Well, needless to say, I didn't attend church during that time, but I was still strong in my faith. 

Fast forward a few years, I move back to Cleveland. I wasn't too interested in going to a church here in town. Then, I started dating Josh, and on one of our first few dates, we went to a Hillsong United concert at Fellowship of The Woodlands. We started going to church together (he and his family already went there). He WAS the kind of husband God wanted me to have. (Subliminal message: Don't settle because you THINK you've found The One...keep searching. God will lead you to the person you're meant to be with...promise!)

He even proposed to me at the fountain at church!

Recently, we went to a church service and the topic was baptism. It was interesting because, just the week before, my mom had mentioned that I was never baptized and that I should do it. It was also something that I had been thinking about, too! So, I knew that this was the right time. This weekend just so happens to be the annual Super Summer Baptism event. Last year, they did over 1200 or something baptisms! Isn't that awesome?!

I've noticed that, as an adult, it's a little weird to get baptized after being a Christian for so long. I have to explain why I waited so long. Firstly, as a teenager, I feel that it was a little intimidating to walk in front of a whole congregation to announce your faith. I didn't like to be the center of attention, willingly, so that just never appealed to me. Now, I realize that's WHY you get baptized...to show the world that you're a follower. Also, I never felt super committed to a church. I loved growing up at First Baptist, but I knew that I wouldn't go there forever. Josh and I are still actually looking for a forever church. We feel that Fellowship is a little far of a drive. I love the idea of our kids being involved in lots of church activities, so we'd like to find something closer, but this church is where our marriage foundation was built. We've learned so much together since we started going there as a couple, so it feels right.

I have to admit that I don't feel like this act will make me feel any more of a Christian. My daily walk with God and the relationship I have with Him are what make me stronger. Yes, I do want the world to know, but the act of baptism is just something we're meant to do, an act of obedience. Something that He wants us to do. So I'm doing it tonight. I'm a little nervous. Again, I don't like the attention on me. But, I'm also very excited about finally doing this. Thank you for letting me share my story. :)

Now, tell me something about yourself so I don't feel so awkward! :)

Nest: A Review

Let me start off by stating that this is not a paid advertisement/post. These are personal opinions about Nest. :)

I've actually had a few people ask how I like our Nest, so a blog post sounded like a good idea!

Josh surprised me with a Nest one day after I had commented that it would be nice to be able to control our thermostat from our phones. Lazy? Yes.

As far as I know, you can only purchase it from Lowes...but don't quote me on that. 

Basically, it just replaces your current thermostat. It took him about an hour to re-wire everything and let me tell you, it has been a dream come true! :) Also, it's much cuter than a normal thermostat...

From your wall unit, you just turn the dial to adjust temperatures and settings. You can set it to be on certain temperatures at certain times, and it has a HOME and AWAY setting, which is helpful with energy conservation during your summer vacations. ;)

Oh, but the best thing?? It learns all of the settings that you like, so after a few days, it'll start adjusting the temp to what YOU like when YOU want it. So, we like the house to be very cool at night so we sleep like babies. Not newborn babies...maybe babies who have been dosed up with Dimetapp. Well, after a few days of having Nest, it already knew we liked that, so around 10pm, it would automatically switch to 69°. Yeah, we like it at 69....moving on! :)

Here's what the app looks like on my phone: 

Oh, I guess I should point out that, since we've added on to the house, we've also added another Nest for the new part. We have them labeled...eventually, they'll communicate with each other like little robots. :)

 A view of the AWAY setting:

I really love that we can control the temps from our phones because on really hot days (like today!!), we can set it when we leave work, and the house is nice and cool when we arrive!

Oh, technology.

What I Do...

I'm always curious to know what people do all day. Whenever I worked from home, my day was: Wake up, eat brunch (I like to sleep late..haha), then edit and watch Friends (I seriously watch reruns all the time...if I'm on my computer, I'm most likely watching them in the background), then clean or cook dinner while I wait for Josh to come home. It was pretty boring.

Now that I work at CBS, my day is a little different. Here's a pretty usual day for me:

9:45 - 10:15: Wake up (told you I like to sleep late), get dressed, head to work. I do not take a long time to get ready...I take a shower/bath the night before, so I just brush my teeth, put contacts in, and get dressed. I grab something quick for breakfast (lately it's been cherry Pop-Tarts) and go.

When I get to work, I don't really have a schedule. Each day is different, of course, but I do a lot of the same things.

I help customers on the floor. I sell (I'm currently the top salesperson! P.S. We only have 3 salespeople here, including me and Josh..haha). I answer the phone all day. That thing rings ALL day. I talk to a lot of people who want donations. We get several requests every week...and we try to give as much as we can.

I answer website price requests. I create advertisements for FB and our website. I take photos of new furniture items, edit them, then post them to our website. Josh and I collaborate on marketing and event ideas (we just had a crawfish fest...something I thought of one day after seeing so many posts about crawfish on FB).

 I check bank account balances for the stores daily. I make sure all batch outs post to the accounts. I reconcile each account at the end of every month.

 I pay bills for 3 stores. I input all transactions in Quickbooks. I write payroll checks every week and do all of the taxes.

 Oh, I also get to sit next to this hottie every day!

If I have sessions to edit, I do try to spend some time working on them during the slow times. We rarely take real lunches, Josh and I....we normally eat at our desks while working on other things. We leave around 6:00...grab dinner and, lately, head to Home Depot! Have I mentioned that I'll be glad when this house is done? Oh, I have...

This is 39 gallons of paint. Oh my.

I should also add that I do help my mom out, too. About once a week, I go get plants from one of her vendors about an hour away. That usually takes up half of my day. I'm a busy bee!

What do you do at work? Or home?

Random Thoughts

• I am so ready for the house to be done. I'm very thankful for the whole thing, but it does add extra stress for both of us, and I'll just be glad when it's over. (Again, I'm not complaining at all...I'm just sharing honest feelings).

• I really would love to blog more. I fear the judgement and criticism from others though. That probably doesn't make for a good blogger! Ha! I guess I just have to get over it. 

•  Josh and I just went to see Needtobreathe at the House of Blues last Friday night. I love listening to them. They are awesome live, and the opening band, Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, is also awesome! Here's a little snippet of the concert (I didn't want to be the annoying person snapping photos and video the entire time...aka the table in front of us. This group of women spent the ENTIRE concert taking selfies and group shots. I don't even think they were paying attention to the music!).... 

 

•  One of our New Year's Resolutions was to go see more concerts. Needtobreathe was actually the first real concert we've been to together. We saw Hillsong United on our second or third date and have attended several rodeos, but this was a REAL concert. Our next one is Mumford and Sons (YAY!!!!), and I have one more up my sleeve, but it's a secret for now. ;)

• I never know what to get my parents for any holiday. They're very simple people and don't *want* things, so my gifts usually have to be either really generic or really personalized. And, with Mother's Day next week, I still have no clue what to get my mom. Blah.

• Retail stinks. I love working with my husband, and I love working for the family business. But, I will truthfully admit that I hate retail. I've worked it before and hated it. Sometimes, you get really great customers...they don't give you any hassle and they act like real human beings. Then, most of the time, you get these angry, think-they-deserve-it-all people who want you to basically give you free things. Maybe it's just the area we live in. I DO, however, love marketing and doing events, community involvement, etc. :)

•  On most days, I feel overwhelmed. Editing, catching up on photo stuff, work, bookkeeping, personal things. I would love a day off where I can just go to Target, Starbucks, and a movie, and not have to worry about the million things on my to-do list. I'm actually off tomorrow (on a Friday!), but I still have work things to do!

• I wonder how it will be when we have kids. We both agree that I'll become a stay-at-home mom, but I imagine I'll still want to do *something*...either photography on the side or I'll keep doing just the bookkeeping. I'm excited about having kids, but I'm also okay with waiting just a little longer.

• This post was a little longer than I thought. Ha! Have a great day!

Be our guest, be our guest!

Hope you all enjoyed that last post with the bazillion photos! So, here's another bazillion!

Since our master bedroom was going to get a makeover, we had to finish our guest rooms/guest bathroom so that we could temporarily live there. The fun part was getting to pick out bedding, furniture, paint, and decor for it. I love bold paint colors...Josh, not so much. But, after we got this paint color up, he loved it! Oh, and the curtain situation was an ordeal. I found the curtains at World Market (can I please have everything in that store??). With the blue walls, I wanted a beige upholstered bed, burlap-y curtains, and espresso and orange accents. I found the super long curtain rod at Bed Bath and Beyond. They sell pieces that you can screw together to make what you want. It was perfect! We've also add white faux wood blinds to shield some of the morning light.  

One of the new flooring trends is faux wood/tile floors. We love wood flooring, so we hopped on the bandwagon. The hard part was choosing the one we liked the best...if you search for faux wood tile, you will be on the internets for days! So many options, so many styles (smooth, distressed), colors! Ahhh!! But, we finally decided on this one from Lowe's. It had the right colors and it has just a little bit of the "wood feel." We chose a plush carpet and used A-1 Carpet in Cleveland. The day it was installed, we rolled around in it like a couple of kids. :) The paint color in the hallway is what I like to call "butterscotch."

That center door leads to our guest bathroom...we used a slate tile in the shower and the floor. Vanity is from Lowe's. Baskets for towels and shower curtain (which is a little too short, width-wise) are from Target.

You may remember this status...

Well, turns out that the "shower curtain" was actually a window curtain...same pattern. So, I DID end up returning it. I think. I don't remember. 

This is the room to the left of the bathroom...what will eventually be the nursery. It's currently a THROW-EVERYTHING-IN-HERE room. :) Let's move on.....

My super sweet friend, Leslie, "helped" me (she actually just did it all while I watched..haha) sew these French door curtains. Do y'all know how hard it is to find FD curtains? Well, it is. I didn't want sheer ones because people will be sleeping in this room and, even though we live in the country, we still need some privacy, so I found this fabric at Joann. It's outdoor fabric...thick enough to block views, but still able to be pulled back. 

Some advise: Don't buy a dang duvet/down comforter combo! I ain't got time for that!

We bought the comforter and duvet from Ikea, finally got around to taking it out of the packaging once the room was done a few weeks later, and realized it was the dumbest thing ever. It just slides around in there. Then, I couldn't find the clips, but I DID run across this beauty while at Target. I love it so much better anyway. I don't have a photo of the original duvet, but it's chocolate brown if anyone wants that dang thing.

Here's a sneak peek of the bedroom (we haven't gotten the actual bed yet)... 

Orange pillows are from HomeGoods, blue-ish pillow from Target (can I also please have everything in the Threshold line??).

 Papasan from Pier One (migrated from living room), chest from CBS

Also, here's a look at our master bedroom, as of two nights ago. The stairway leads to the upstairs "playroom" and it's accessed from the hallway behind that back wall (which is open to the main part of the house). To the left is a door opening to the closet which also leads to the master bathroom (which is already done, 'member?)

Both rooms on the back side of the house have tons of windows for a perfect view of the pond. :) 

And, this is Josh's baby. The theater room. The screen will be on the left side of this photo. He's currently in the process of running all kinds of wires and stuff in there before they sheet-rock. That's what that long PVC pipe is...so it's easier to run the cables through. Nifty!

House Update!

These past few months have been filled with lots of activities. I've been trying to find balance between work, photography, and just life, in general. :) 

For those who don't know or forgot or don't care, I started working at CBS Furniture (my husband's family's business) back in August or something. I didn't actually think that it would become my permanent job, but it did, and I'm very happy about it. I do all of the bookkeeping, a lot of the marketing (facebook, events, etc.), sales, AND the best part is that I get to spend every day with my husband. This works very well for us! :) So, all of that doesn't allow me to do full-time photography anymore, but I still squeeze sessions in when I can.

Also, this is my mom's busiest time of the year, and with my dad's health, he's not able to go and get the plants like he always has, so I'm the gopher! I usually go about once a week, and I'm glad to be able to help my parents out. 

Oh, and then the other little, tiny project that we've got going on is this house addition! It involves almost-nightly trips to Home Depot, lots of fun things like picking out tile, paint colors, and furniture, and is a HUGE part of our lives now. We are so blessed to be able to do this, and we're also ready for it to be done! ;) We're hoping it will be finished by June (beginning or end, just sometime in that month). 

Here's what's changed since the last post (A LOT!):

(Also, the house changes daily, pretty much...these guys work hard!)

Some people have commented that they like the two-toned look...the whole house will be green in the end, but the exterior painting is one of the last things that will happen. :)

Then, there's this hot mess:

Let me introduce you to our propane tank...
We will have a tankless water heater in the end, which means unlimited bubble baths for me! Score!

So, one "surprise" that we've had is that the attic space is much larger than we thought. We'll actually be able to finish the top floor and use it as a playroom/bedrooms. We haven't decided yet, and honestly, we don't need that extra space until we've had about 6 kids anyway. ;)

These two photos show the end of that large space from 2 photos above. These could potentially become bedrooms, but not for a while, I think. Also, since these photos were taken, windows have been installed! The large space will also have dormer windows eventually. 

 The living room is sheet-rocked and ready for paint!

The other side of the living room...which you can see in the photo two below, the walls on either side of the fireplace have been removed.

The office...

One of the best parts is picking out the textiles! I knew I wanted a navy blue bathroom with white/gray accents, so we went with a modern floor tile (something you'd find in a cool hotel) and a white/gray shower tile. The vanity is Martha Stewart from Lowes.

And, here's a sneak peek of the office bathroom! Still have a few more things to do

I'll have to put some of the other photos on another post because there are so many to share!

As far as the outside, since we've added two bathrooms, we had to install drains. Josh and his dad secretly enjoy doing these things..it's a fun man-bonding time. :)

Also, since some people have asked. We have 2-5 guys that do all the work. Two of the guys work every day, beginning EARLY in the morning while I'm getting my beauty rest. The others do specific things like electricity and plumbing, so they're only there when it's needed.

I'm so excited to show you some photos of the guest room! I'll post that for tomorrow!