3-6 Month Favorites

How do I have a 6 month old? I don't know where the time has gone! As a new mommy one of my favorite post to read are baby product favorites. There is SO much STUFF out there it can be hard to decipher what you really need and what is a waist of money. I think hearing what works from other moms is so helpful! If you missed my newborn favorite products you can see that here.

Tummy Time Mat

We use our mat ALL the time. It is obviously great for tummy time but now that Anna Claire has learned to roll over she likes to just lay on her back and swat at all of the dangling toys. It keeps her entertained for a solid chunk of time and is so light weight so we can drag it room to room with us as needed. 

Exersaucer 

Anna Claire LOVES this thing! She started using it when she was about 4 months old. She loves to look at all of the different toys and try to reach for things. I love how you can add more toys to it to keep things fresh. She is just now starting to actually bounce in it so I think this one we will continue to get use out of in the next couple of months! 

Teether Toys

Around 5 months we started pulling out ALL of the teething toys we had stored away. This Nuby silicone Teethe-eez and this Nuby Banana are two of her favorites!

Pack N Play
This has been a favorite from day one. When Anna Claire was a newborn she slept beside our bed in the bassinet part of this pack n play. When she outgrew the bassinet we kept her in our room in this pack n play and just removed the bassinet/ changing table. It has been SO nice for middle of the night feedings to have her in our room. We also travel a good bit and this pack n play folds up super easy. We love it! 

Thoughts for Thursday

If we were sitting down together for a cup of coffee... or better yet a glass of wine these are the thoughts I would ramble on about... Also, mommy brain is a thing so most likely these thoughts would all come out in one long jumbled sentence because my mind is always running a million miles a minute. Moving on.. 

1. I'm really trying to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I only have 5 pounds to go but I have a feeling it's going to be the hardest 5 pounds. The rest seemed to come off pretty easy without much effort but now I have hit a wall. I eat fairly healthy but I have no desire to break a sweat. On a whim I purchased Beach Body on Demand last night so that I can do some workout videos at home while Anna Claire is napping. I'm hoping spending money on the program will encourage me and not having to leave the house to go to the gym with a newborn will eliminate the excuses. 

2. The witching hour is a real thing. I thought we were one of the lucky ones that had the perfect baby that hardly ever cried but the last two days 5:30-7:00  pm Justin and I have stared at each other in amazement while our normally perfect little baby looses her mind. It's a season.... I also learned that this will not be the hour I workout. Last night I made it 10 minutes into my first workout when I had to abandon it for a screaming newborn. Haha, I will try again today at a different time.

Daddy to the rescue 

3. Two book recommendations for you- For the Love by Jen Hatmaker and We Never Asked for Wings by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. Both are excellent reads! I laughed out loud while reading For the Love the other night when I got to this part: 

"Thank you 4:00pm., for being the time of day that thoroughly confuses me; post homework and pre dinner. I am already exhausted and fairly irritable. The children are losing their ever-loving minds, and husband is still tucked away in his sane office with all mental faculties intact and won't answer my SOS text to hurry and come home or their blood is on your hands. Do I make coffee? Or pour a glass of wine? Yours, witching hour survivor."

-replace homework with taking care of a newborn and that pretty much sums up my evenings this week. I feel ya Jen! HA

4. Do you watch Southern Charm? I'm obsessed. If you don't, you should... It's based in Charleston and comes on Bravo on Thursday nights. So tonight.... you're welcome! They make me feel normal and it never fails I laugh out loud at least three times while watching. 

5. Anna Claire got her 2 month shots yesterday and it was heartbreaking! She actually did pretty well and only screamed at the top of her lungs for about two minutes. It was so hard to watch though! I'm so glad we don't have to go back for two more months! As much as I dreaded taking her I'm so thankful to live in a place where we have such wonderful medical care to keep our babies healthy! 

A Day in the Life- Maternity Leave

My favorite post to read are day in the life post so I thought it would be fun to document what a typical day looks like in this season of life. I also think it will be fun to look back on as I know this precious time is fleeting. We are following Moms on Call and it's working great for us. 

6am- Anna Claire starts stirring but I give her a paci and try to make it to 7am before we wake up. 

7am- Justin's alarm goes off and we all wake up. Anna Claire is full of smiles when she wakes up and is absolutely adorable to talk to. This is my favorite part of the day! I nurse her then get up to make some coffee and breakfast. 

7:30am- We spend close to an hour playing. Play time right now involves swinging in her swing, talking to her and making sounds/faces, tummy time and looking at things on her play mat. She is generally really happy during this time but towards the end I can tell she is getting tired. 

8:30am- Swaddle, paci, white noise and rock n play for a nap. She normally falls asleep within minutes during this time and will sleep anywhere from one to two hours. This is when I will do my devotional, sip on my second cup of coffee and catch up on blogs. If we have plans that day I'll also squeeze in a shower while she's asleep. 

10am- Wake her up if she is still sleeping and nurse her before we start play time again. We spend the next hour repeating the same play time routine. If I have errands to run we may run those now also. Yesterday we ran to the library and to meet Justin for lunch.

11:30 am Nap time again. She falls asleep easy if we are at home. What I should do is workout during this time but I normally spend this time picking up in the house. 

1pm- Wake her up if she is still sleeping to nurse and play. I'll take a million pictures of her and just hang out.  If I didn't run any errands earlier we may do that now just to get out of the house for a bit. 

2:30- Down for another nap and I may hop back on the computer to check emails and read more blogs. 

4:00- She is up ready to nurse and play for another hour. She is normally more fussy during this time so it's a good time to pull out the Solly Wrap or go for a walk if it isn't too hot.

5:30- Anna Claire takes a short nap and Justin gets home. We start dinner and get as much done as we can before she wakes up. 

6:30- Anna Claire is awake and normally fussy so it's the perfect time for a bath! She loves the bath but hates drying off and putting on her pajamas 

7:00- I nurse her and put her down for a nap. This should be her bedtime but she will normally nap on and off for the next two hours and not really ever fall asleep. We all hang out and watch TV/ eat dinner and relax as a family. 

10pm- We are all exhausted so we head to bed. I nurse Anna Claire one more time, kind of a dream feed and this time she normally will fall asleep for the night. On a good night we will make it to 3AM before she is ready to eat and then at 7 am we start the whole day over. 

Add in lots of diapers changes and that's pretty much our typical day! Of course some days we have plans so things play out differently but we try to stick to this schedule as much as possible. The days can be somewhat monotonous but I wouldn't trade them for anything. I absolutely love staying home with Anna Claire and watching her grow and change each day. I am SO fortunate in the timing of my maternity leave- I am a teacher so I took six weeks of maternity leave and then school let out for the summer so I am able to stay home with her until August when she will be 15 weeks. These days are precious to me and I hope I never take them for granted!  

Newborn Favorites 0-2 Months

I can.not.believe my baby is almost two months old!!!! Time has just flown by. I always love seeing what other peoples favorite baby items are so I thought I would share some of the things that have made life so much easier for us the past two months with a newborn. All of the items on this list we use daily. 

Rock N' Play

We have this exact rock n' play and it is worth every penny! We have used this every single day, multiple times a day. Anna Claire sleeps in her bassinet beside our bed but she naps in this throughout the day. We keep it in the living room and it's great to have a place to lay her down. For naps if I swaddle her, give her a paci, turn on some white noise and put her in this she falls asleep within 5 minutes. It is also great for traveling since it folds up flat.

Swing 

I was so confused on what gear we really needed between a rock n' play, swing and bouncer. I was hesitant to purchase a swing so when my friend offered to let me borrow hers I jumped on it. Now after using it I realize how essential it has been for us. We will be purchasing another one for baby number two! Anna Claire started using this daily when she was about three weeks old. We put her in it as part of "play time" and she LOVES it. We crank the swing up to its highest setting and it will keep her occupied for a solid 20 minutes which is great if you are cooking dinner, doing laundry, etc. She also found the star mobile and it is the CUTEST thing I have ever seen. She gazes and just smiles away at the stars the whole time.  Just that look alone is worth the money! I often see these at second hand baby consignment stores so be sure to look there because they can be pricey.

Swaddle Me Swaddles 

While we LOVE our Aden and Anais swaddle blankets (another must have) they are not as secure at swaddling as these velcro Swaddle Me swaddles. Without a swaddle on, Anna Claire will only nap for about 20 minutes before she wakes herself up with the typical newborn startle reflex. These prevent that and help her get nice long stretches of sleep. We tried other brands such as Woombie and Halo (a close runner-up) but these have been our favorite! They are also so much easier to use than a traditional blanket like they use in the hospital.

Chico Key Fit 30

I don't mind admitting I'm obsessed with our infant carseat! When you are a first time mom registering for baby gear can be confusing. One of the questions I had was if I should get an infant car seat and then later on purchase a convertible car seat or if I should skip the infant seat and go straight to the convertible seat. I learned that it is worth every penny to get the infant seat!! After tons of research we chose the Chico Key Fit 30 and I LOVE it! If you follow along you may remember that Anna Claire and I were rear ended by another car when she was just a month old. She was buckled in this car seat and it kept her safe and injury free which is by far the most important thing. Another thing I love about this car seat is how EASY it is to take it in and out of your car. It literally clicks in, clicks out... It's so easy. There have been several times when she is sleeping and instead of waking her up to get her out of her car seat we just remove the car seat and snap it into our stroller (Baby Jogger- City Select, which I also love) and go about our business. I love it and would purchase it again in a heartbeat! 

Solly Wrap

When nothing else will calm our little one being worn in the Solly Wrap will. She LOVES to be worn and I love it also! It is also so convenient if you need your hands free. You can often find Anna Claire hanging out in the Solly while I make breakfast or walking out to the pool/beach when my hands are full carrying a million other things.   

Angle Care Bath Tub 

I purchased a Puj tub for the sink and this Angel Care one and the Angel Care is by far my favorite. The Puj always came unsnapped mid bath causing Anna Claire to start falling over. We love the Angle Care and she LOVES bath time! 

Baby Dome

snoozing away in her baby dome! 

This is the only product on the list that we don't actually use daily but it has gotten tons of use and has come in so handy. This baby dome blocks the sun and keeps Anna Claire nice and cool when we are outside at the beach, pool, beach music concerts, etc. I place my battery operated stroller fan in their and she naps away and stays nice and cool. It also folds up and is SO easy to carry. If she had been born in the winter this item probably would not be worth it but for a spring/summer baby it's great! 

++++++++++

Other honorable mentions that we love and can be found all around our house, in the stroller, in the diaper bag and pretty much everywhere we go: pacifiers, Aden and Anais swaddle blankets, diapers and wipes (duh) but we have been most impressed with Pampers and lansinoh disposable nursing pads if you are breast feeding (especially until your milk regulates these are a must). 

For fun I asked Justin his top 5 baby products to get a dads point of view and he was pretty much spot on with my favorites- swaddles, pacifiers, rock n play, swing and burp cloths. (: 

Thoughts for a New Mom

Let me start by saying I am no expert at being a new mom seeing as I have only been a mom for a mere 26 days. However, there are a few things I have already learned on this journey of motherhood. Here are the first lessons I've learned, some the hard way! 

• Limit the visitors at first- As a first time mom I had no idea how important this would be and it is one of my biggest regrets. It is so easy to get caught up in the excitement of a new baby and everyone wants to support you and meet your little bundle of joy but trust me, that little bundle will be just as cute and cuddly in a week or two. At first it's so important to give your body a chance to recover and to get to know your little one without constant visitors! We didn't have a day with no visitors until Anna Claire was 11 days old and by that point I was so exhausted. Family and friends will respect your wishes! 

• Wait to try on your pre pregnancy clothes- You may feel much smaller compared to that watermelon belly you had but trust me, don't try on your old clothes just yet! You are still way too emotional  in the first two weeks after birth and it's not fair to do that to yourself! Your body just went through the most amazing experience and brought LIFE into this world. Give yourself grace and continue to rock leggings for as long as you need. 

• Take the nap but also go on the walk- I was super confused when my doctor strongly encouraged me to rest and take it easy and then in the next breath just as strongly encouraged, or rather ordered me to be up and walking around. He actually told me to start going on 20-30 minute walks as soon as 4 days postpartum (with a c-section..) which is the day I left the hospital! Now that I'm on the upswing of recovery I totally see the importance of both of these things. Yes, your body NEEDS the rest.. take naps whenever you can.. it is extremely important. I think my lack of naps in the beginning because of all the visitors caused me to loose part of my appetite and brought on some severe headaches/migraines. However, after the nap when you are feeling up for it get up and moving! You will feel so much better afterward! Our first walk was super slow because of my stitches but each day got easier. After giving birth you are super gassy and probably haven't really used the bathroom in several days. Getting up and walking is the best thing you can do to fix that problem. Trust me, just do it!

• Listen to your gut- There is so much advice out there moms. I'm a researcher so I've read it all and asked all the questions. I've been given excellent advice, all from trusted sources, and googled every question known to man kind. But you know what? A lot of the advice can be contradicting. For example, start baby on a Moms on Call sleep schedule... no, newborns can't sleep train. All of the advice comes from a well meaning place but at the end of the day save your sanity and trust your instincts. Every baby is different and this baby is YOURS! Lucky you!!! (: 

• Give yourself grace- There are perfect moments and there are not so perfect moments. It's okay. In those not so perfect moments take a step back, breathe .. and then remember that you have been given the biggest blessing on earth. God has entrusted YOU to be this little bundle of joy's mom and it's all going to be OKAY. Even when they are screaming in the backseat making a noise you didn't know was possible, it's okay. That too shall pass and one day you will be in a quiet car missing when your baby was little. It's okay. 

I am so thankful to be on this journey of motherhood. It is the most humbling experience. I know I will learn 945,073+  more things before it's all said and done. Tell me your biggest lessons as a new mom!