Car Seats: Baby Gear Blunders

When I registered for car seats, I had no idea what I was doing. Sure, I had my trusty Baby Bargains book that helped guide me with so many decisions. Btw, every new mom needs that book! But I don't know, blame it on the pregnancy brain, I did not register or buy correctly when it came to car seats. So let me try to help others from making my mistakes.

We found our infant car seat and stroller when Adam was shopping around for bargains. It was a steal and we couldn't pass it up. Was it the best or the coolest? No. But baby stuff is so expensive! It's made by Graco, was safe and I thought that was fine enough. 

An infant car seat is one that can be removed from a base and carried around. I still think it's a must-have when you have an infant because they sleep so often. Then you're not carrying them in and out of the seat. Infant car seats can also be sold as a set with a stroller they can snap into. This is handy to get your newbie to and fro without much movement, although the strollers tend to be more bulky.  

We also registered for a bigger Graco car seat because I did know that eventually she'd grow out of the infant seat and need a bigger one to move into. I don't know how I managed to do it, but I registered for a seat that is only forward facing. (The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends rear-facing until 2, however, many people turn their child forward around one. To each's own.) I didn't realize the next seat we received was only forward-facing until Adly was 8 months, I had thrown out the box, dragged it into the car and spent 20 minutes trying to figure out how to secure the seat in a rear-facing position. Apparently, despite recommendations by the AAP, manufacturers still sell front-facing only seats for baby 20 pounds and up (which happens between 8-12 months). At that point, I knew I couldn't return it, so we kept up with the infant seat and I figured I'd just switch to the other seat when Adly was older than one.

Since then, here I've been, tra-la-la-ing all around here and there with Adly in her infant carseat. I knew that the weight limit was 30 pounds, which she is no where near. But the height limit was 30 inches, which she has surpassed.

It wasn't until I actually thought about the fact that Adly was still in an "infant" seat and she is now a toddler that I started to do research about when to change seats and what kind to change to. This was all a lot of overwhelming and conflicting information. I spent weeks reading reviews and manufacturers recommendations and stressing over whether we just front-face her now. The reason for this was because I found myself at the crossroads of needing to buy yet another car seat to essentially last us for 10 more months until we can use the next one, or just flipping Adly front-facing and using the seat we already had.

In all of my research, the one piece of information that made me decide she needed to be out of the infant seat was this: when a child's head is less than an inch below the top of the car seat, they are too big to be held in properly in the event of a crash. I had no idea about any of this before I started reading.

Now, I have to start by saying that I think when to turn your child front-facing is a personal and individual decision. I based my decision on the fact that Adly is comfortable sitting rear-facing. There are numerous studies that wee ones are safer riding rear-facing until 2. That said, riding in a car has never been an issue for her. However, for many babies it is. I can say for a fact that if Adly was screaming every time we got in the car, I wouldn't have blinked an eye at flipping her as soon as she turned one. You cannot judge the safety of that until you've tried driving a car with a screaming child in the backseat. That alone will cause an accident faster than anything else.

Because she's fine riding rear-facing, Adam and I ultimately decided to purchase a convertible car seat that can hold from 5-65 pounds and can rear-face until 40 pounds. This car seat could easily last Adly until she was ready to be out of a booster seat, however we still have our other car seat that she will be able to use when she's ready to front-face. Our reason for purchasing was also based on the fact we think we may have another child and in that event, we'll need another car seat anyways.

So, for a rundown, I recommend purchasing the following types of seats when you find yourself with child:

-Infant car seat/stroller set OR infant car seat (ensure it can click into strollers)

-Convertible car seat (which changes to front-facing, then booster seat)

While it was a very drawn out decision that took a lot of time and energy, I'm glad I spent so much time on it. It was ultimately the right decision for us and our family as of now. And the best part is, someone else seems to enjoy the new seat as well....

15 minutes into first car ride with the new seat:

Must Have

As we've blundered our bleary-eyed way through the first two months, I wanted to give credit to a few items that we could not have made it without.

I remember being so overwhelmed when it came to products for baby when I was pregnant. What would she like? What would she hate? What would she absolutely need?

Here are a few things we could not live without. Mind you, these will likely all change in the next few months.

-Halo Sleepsack. Many parents use these at varying stages. We used this from the start. The main reason was because I am like a 2-year-old when it comes to swaddling. I cannot figure it out. And no matter what we do, our little ninja works her way out of any swaddle! Except this one....when it's nice and tight. Additionally, I'm convinced having her sleep in the same type of pajama sack every night helped us build our night routine from the start. Here's the catch...don't give in and feel bad for swaddling them! I did and I think that is what contributed to so many sleepless nights. She may think she loves having her arms out, but the startles are what keep you up at night!

-Soothie pacifier. Ahhh the paci. I was finally able to get her to take this after a month of trying and buying 8 different kinds of paci's. For whatever reason, she likes this kind. I was also excited to discover this type of paci is what is attached to the famed Wubbanubs. What the hell is a Wubbanub? Some genius who has been laughing their way all the way to the bank decided to attach a cute, soft stuffed animal to the Soothie and sell it for $17. This helps the little ones to keep the paci in their mouths. I was so excited to plop in Adly's new, cute, sweet Wubbanub with an innocent lamb attached to it. I put it in her mouth only to have her punch poor Lamby and knock it out. This has happened multiple times. Sigh. Either way, we put poor Lamby to rest and now continue to help her put her paci in over and over again. At least that works!

-Playtex Nursers. For us, these bottles have worked the best. We discovered that after spending a lot of money trying many different kinds. She has never had any problems with nipple confusion and can go from breastfeeding to bottle and back again, no problem. My advice is to at the very least, make sure the nipple is slow flow. That was a hard learned lesson for us.

-Playtex Double Electric Breast Pump. This was the pump I got through my insurance and was really the only one available. I wasn't thrilled about it at first. However, after two months, I think this is a fantastic pump. Best part is, it's under $100! It is loud, but it does the job. If you ask me, this option is just as good as the other models that run you over $300.

-Snap n' Go Stroller Frame. Wow. I don't think there's one thing we use more. My friend Laura emailed me a week before I gave birth and said if I hadn't gotten one yet- I really should. 8 months in, they were still constantly using theirs. So, I waddled myself into the nearest store and picked one up. Best. Advice. Ever. This allows you to take the carseat from the car and literally, "snap" it into the stroller frame. It's lightweight and super portable.

-Boppy. Seriously use this for everything. Breastfeeding, holding baby, helping others hold baby, propping baby, etc. Its possibilities are endless. You'll also want extra covers. I didn't get that memo and instead learned the hard way as I was washing mine daily.

Oh my gosh. She's so little here!

-Plain old white burp cloths. I received a lot of really cute burp cloths at my showers and I couldn't wait to be a super stylin' mommy. But when it comes down to it, nothing really works better than the good ole Gerber diaper cloths. They are littered all over our house, car, in my purse...everywhere. 

Lastly,

-Pampers Swaddlers. After trying many brands of diapers, having way too many blowouts, and doing way too many loads of laundry, I jumped on the expensive bandwagon. I love these diapers. Rarely do we have a blowout anymore. They seem more soft and comfy and in my experience, the fit is just overall superior to others. 

The Value of a Brand

I'm not into name brands when it comes to most things. I'm cheap and have no problem going for the store brand version to save a dollar or two. Clearly, I'm also not ashamed of that trait.

Enter the world of diapers. Suddenly I find myself struggling with the fact that all diapers are not created the same. I did some research before Adly was born on what kinds of diapers were the best at containing the mess. Mom's have very strong opinions when it comes to brands of diapers and I found myself a bit overwhelmed when it came to which brand was best. Thanks to some lovely friends of ours, we were given quite a few packages of diapers in varying brands when Adly was born.

From what I've read, Pampers Swaddlers seem to have a cult following that I have yet to understand. Are they good diapers? Sure. But they're expensive. I still have a hard time splurging for them. For newborn diapers, I came to love the Target Up & Up brand. They fit Adly well and we had no blowouts. The Swaddlers were definitely nice, but they have a sort of mesh covering on the inside. Perhaps those are there to help contain the mess, but it annoys me that they leave marks on her little bum. Call me picky.

In the last week or so, Adly has grown her way out of the newborn size diapers. For those of you that don't know, after this we move to size 1. Contrary to my husbands belief, diapers do not come in load sizes. We have one pack of diapers that are the off brand from CVS given to us by some friends. When I was in Michigan, I had to stock up so I went to Wal-Mart and of course, bought the off brand kind. How different can they really be?

I'm here to personally attest that when it comes to diapers, apparently name brand does matter. Or at least, certain diapers are definitely better than others. In the last three days we've had numerous blowouts. No, my sweet pea hasn't begun producing more massive amounts of poo....its the diaper. At first I found it funny.

She's going to kill me for this one day. But until then....

After numerous outfit changes in one day due to either a blowout or leakage, I had had enough. I know the picture is proof...but these were up the back, up the front, out the sides blowouts. Any which way the poo could go outside of the diaper, it went! Ick. Brand name or not, I must find a diaper that can properly contain the mess. So now I'm on the great diaper hunt for the best diaper at hopefully not the highest price. I'm starting off my search with Target's Up & Up and Pampers Swaddlers. Stay tuned for what we discover. Hopefully I can also help you new mommies avoid this trial and error process. 

Mommies, whats your favorite brand?

B.B.S.

Last night we had our last and final baby shower with my beyond amazing co-workers. It cannot go unsaid that in the dramatic, sometimes troubling, and uncertain world we work in, I am so blessed to work with such amazing people. Even better, their spouses are just as amazing so I can safely say that "we" truly enjoy each and every one of them.

Tina hosted the shower at her house along with Kari, Melissa, and Eileen. Our work baby showers are unlike ordinary baby showers. They take place in the evenings, are adult only, and tend to get a little wild. It certainly is a way for everyone to let loose...that is, except the baby mama. But that was fine by me. I had an awesome time eating everything in sight, playing the games, and just catching up with people I can't on a daily basis.

Let me start with this beauty, made by Melissa. Apparently it took a few hours to get it just right. I personally think the finishing touch had to have been the pacifier. It was so amazing that no one touched it for the first few hours.

They had a game called "Guess the Price is Right" where people had to guess how much each baby item cost. I was shocked by diaper prices. Costco here we come! They also had an activity where people could design a onesie for Adly. This turned out so cute. We now have tons of onesies in different sizes, designed by each of my loving coworkers. Here are some of the finished pieces:

Then there was the food. Of course, this was my favorite part of the evening. When asked by Kari earlier in the week, "What's your favorite appetizer?" she was shocked (and possibly appalled) to discover it is spinach dip in a bread bowl. Why you might ask? I don't know. It started off years ago as it was the easiest thing for me to bring to parties. So I always would. Then one time I bought it for myself as a "treat". And I ate the whole damn package of spin dip in a matter of hours. Sadly, I can't blame that binge on pregnancy. That was when I decided that spinach dip in a bread bowl would be my party treat. Perhaps then, no one would notice me hovering over the bread bowl scarfing down ridiculous amounts of the heavenly goodness. 

Anyways, that was definitely there so of course I was in heaven. But the desserts. O.M.G. I'm not going to outright admit how much of the desserts I ate, but I will say they were all amazing. These ladies know the way to my heart. 

And for the final personal touch, there were even little gift baggies filled with jelly beans and Sour Patch Kids. Am I lucky or what? So lucky, in fact, that I'm munching on one of the bags of SPK I pilfered into my purse last night. THANKS AGAIN!

Once again, it was an incredibly beautiful reminder of just how many amazing people we have surrounding us during this life changing event. (You know, the second one in a year). I have no doubt that we have all the support we'll ever need and that Adly is going to be one spoiled rotten little girl. Now if only she would hurry up and get here to enjoy all her goodies!

Thank you, ladies!! Love you all. 

Mitten Love

This weekend, I packed up the car and the watermelon I'm front loading and I headed home for America's High Five state. Little Adly needed to get some love from all of her Michigan relatives. I was so excited to go home. I'm very lucky to have an amazing family back there, so I always look forward to the chance to see everyone. I was also excited to introduce them in person to the growth that has happened in the last few months.

Friday night, I spent the night with two sets of aunts and uncles and my friend, Abby. It was so good to catch up with all of them. Our entire night was spent laughing and telling stories. Some of the best stories I heard were when my aunts talked about their labor experiences. I love hearing other peoples' labor stories.

Saturday was the day of Adly's baby shower #2. She is already beyond spoiled rotten. Once again, I was completely blown away by the sheer number of people who were able to make it. Family and friends I haven't seen in too long came and it was so fun to catch up with all of them. We also had some cutie patootie little ones there for me to play with, including my cousins' one week old. Let me tell you, that was a shock to the senses. Definitely the closest I've come to a real live newborn in forever. They are so tiny!

Here are some pics, with love from the Mitten.

 Dad, "How do I work this fancy camera?!"

 Live from Grand Rapids, the Austins!

 Giving a side view for measuring the belly. 

 Guests gathering. 

 Look at this little angel. Sound asleep. 

 So many beautiful gifts!

 Grandma holding her latest addition to the grandkids, Kinsleigh. 

 Heeeey! Some creep. 

 Sissies!

 Hostess with the mostess, Anita. 

 Trying to be sexy. As you can see, I really know how to pull it off. 

 Mom and sister. 

A HUGE thank you to everyone for coming. It truly means the world to all of us. 

Showered with Love

Yesterday was little Adly's first baby shower. We are having multiple showers due to location of families in different states and work. This baby shower was in Chicago, where all of Adam's family lives as well as most of our friends.

Two of my bridesmaids and nearest, dearest friends, Jamee & Lindsay threw the shower for us. It was beyond beautiful and way more than I could have imagined. Then there were the guests. I'm still in shock that so many people were able to make the shower.

I mean, lets be real. Baby showers aren't fun. Neither are wedding showers. But you go to show your support and love for the person it's being thrown for. And there are always people who are busy or can't make it (or just hate showers in general- can't blame them). But in this instance, I invited all of our close friends and Chicago family and was blown away to see that almost everyone came.

It's a double whammy for me, being that we just got married. So just a short year ago, we were asking everyone to come to our wedding showers and bachelor/bachelorette parties, and then travel for our wedding. Now here we are, asking everyone to now shower our child too. It's been a whirlwind of a year for us to say the least. Yesterday just shows how many amazing people we have in our lives. We are beyond lucky.

Here are some pics our friend Nicole was able to capture with the new camera from the day:

Beautiful flowers from the hostesses. 

Table setup. 

 Gifts galore. So many thanks to so many people!

 The cutest little baby crasher there ever was! 

With the hostesses and Emily. 

 Our photographer, Nicole.

 Although I hate balloons, these ones were perfect. 

 Thanking everyone for coming. And crying. Hormones.

 Guests gather. 

 Surprise visit from my amazing better half and personal present mule. 

"Mom's Sippy Cup" will definitely get a lot of use once baby girl is here. 

 What'd you do after your baby shower? Oh, you know, went home and drilled some shit. 

 I should try out for HGTV. The Pregnant Bob Vila. 

 Enjoying some cocktails with grandma Shay and auntie KK.

Cutest gift presentation ever. Onsies, leggings and socks wrapped up as cupcakes, from cousin Cathy.

The Present Before the Push

Way back in the day at some point or another I mentioned a Push Present to my dear husband. I'm not sure what I said, or how I said it but whatever it was, lucky for me it stuck with him. This is a newer tradition where the man will buy the woman a gift as a thank you of sorts for carrying his child for the last 10 months...and pushing it out of her nether regions. Although women have been doing such a thing for years and years, I think its nice some men are recognizing that it's a real bitch to be the one who's pregnant and then produces the actual child.

He recently brought up the topic of what I'd want for a Push Present again and we spent some time tossing out ideas. A lot of husbands get their wives some nice jewelry as a present. But I don't wear a ton of jewelry, and what I do wear has been adorned to me in the last year for all our wedding hoopla by Adam.

So, with jewelry out of the question, we started tossing around untraditional ideas. Some were a weekend getaway, clothes for after baby weight loss, etc. But nothing was really popping out at either of us. Then I decided to task Adam with just figuring it out for me since I didn't want to deal with it. Truthfully, I'm not sure there's a real need for a push present. The best reward for both of us is to have a healthy daughter at the end of all the swearing, sweating, screaming, and ugh...tearing that takes place. But if he insists, I'll gladly accept a token of appreciation and thanks.

A few months ago, I purchased a new Canon Elph to capture all of Adly's first moments with. I've had plenty of this brand of camera in the past, but unfortunately have had bad luck with dropping and breaking them. That was, you know, back when I was young and wild. I didn't love it after I purchased it, but felt comfortable with it. I had been gun shy about going for a nicer camera like the Canon T3i, due to my inexperience as a photographer. That and I didn't trust myself to handle it properly.

That was, until I went to Laura's (another preggo- one month ahead of me) baby shower. It was there that I noticed her husband be-bopping all around taking beautiful pictures with what I thought was my camera. The one I was originally too scared to buy. I crazily grabbed him by the neck stopped him as he was snapping away and asked him all about the camera. Turns out it was almost identical to the one I had wanted to buy! And even better, it was really easy to use. With that, I raced home to turn my camera envy into a new camera for me.

It was then that Adam brought up paying  for the camera upgrade as my push present. This camera is not cheap by any means and is more like an investment. I jumped on the idea. Untraditional? Yes. But perfect for us? Definitely. The reason I had even wanted to invest in a nicer camera was so I would be able to perfectly capture every waking moment of my dear daughter from the moment she arrives. So with that, I hastily made the purchase and my beloved camera arrived yesterday.

Normally, I'll tear open a new digital camera and just start using it, figuring it out as I go. But not with this beauty. Instead, I took my time, actually put in the CD they provide for instructions and did something crazy. I read what it said. 

After reading for a bit, I decided to try the first step and put on the strap. It's one of those big neck straps, that makes you look real professional. Call me crazy, but putting a strap on a camera is not as simple as it sounds. At least for me it wasn't.

 Fifth attempt at putting on the strap. I had to take a picture to remember the frustration. 

 Then I saw pictures on the instructions! Yay! I finally did it!!

Strap, complete.

Yay! I'm a whole new camera woman. 

So now, my present before the push is that I get to document the rest of this pregnancy using an amazing camera, thanks to my amazing husband. Luckily, I will now have this beauty with me to document my first baby shower on Saturday! 

Family Fun

This has been the best spring break ever. I'm so sad to see it come to an end. Having a trip to Phoenix, then Adam's surgery, a few days of nothing but relaxation and then family in town made one week feel like a few weeks. It was so what I needed.

Friday afternoon, my dad, his girlfriend Anita, my sister Caitlin and her boyfriend Pete all blew in to Chicago. We were excited to have them come as they haven't been here since last summer. Adam was excited to have some basketball watching pals all weekend long. As my dad told me Friday morning, "Today is about basketball. Tomorrow can be about you."

Friday night consisted of watching Michigan nearly get slaughtered by Kansas only to come back in overtime. This made the men in my life very happy.

 Auntie Cait feels first baby kicks!

Intensely hoping for a comeback. 

Saturday we went to Shedd's Aquarium. Adam had been holding six tickets for almost a year so we needed to use them. And if you read one of the earlier posts about Shedd's, you know all about Pete's obsession with the aquarium. Therefore, we knew we had to use the tickets while he was here, despite it being a Saturday and Easter weekend.

OMG was it ever people overload. We were all spent after an hour and a half but, we did it!

 Jellies!!

 Bucktooth fish...bucktooth Adam.

 First family trip to Shedd's!

Snuggles from Aunt Caitlin.

After Shedd's we shopped until we dropped. Literally. We all needed a major cat nap before we headed out for pizza at our favorite old stomping ground, Frasca. We got all gussied up and continued with the eating trend of the weekend. We even ran into our friends Pat and Lynae there! So good to see people out and about. I feel as though I've been living under a rock the last few months. 

 Dinner with sissy.

Mom and dad hope the baby likes pizza as much as we do.

Auntie Cait drinking for two...or three. 

To finish off our weekend, we headed out to brunch at the new, "best brunch ever!" spot we've discovered, Tweet. The food was as always tasty, but the bloody mary's were even better. Or so I heard. Here we finally got some good family pics to remember the weekend by. 

Babes and I brunching. 

 I can't believe my belly is this big. Neither can my dad.

 Hugs from sissy. 

With the world's best dad. (His favorite is on the right).

After all this excitement, we just couldn't stop the weekend there. Nope. Pregnant lady had plans to put together the crib grandpa Dan had purchased and she was not going to be stopped. So after I dragged everyone out of the fun bar at Tweet, we went home to begin disassembling our guest bed and assembling the crib.

It only took us putting it together, realizing something was wrong, unbuilding it and rebuilding it three times. Not to shabby, at least in my book. But then, I'm used to doing things incorrectly the first...second...and sometimes third times. Regardless of that, the crib is up! Her nursery is slowly but surely coming together. Won't be long and there will be a pink, snuggly, human being making herself at home in that room. I cannot wait!

 Grandma Anita and I tackling the front of the crib.

 Reading instructions. Believe it or not, mistakes are still made when instructions are read.

 Daddy putting in the last screw!

Baby B's crib, all ready to go.

Always fantastic to have family visit. Time flies by way too fast and before we know it the house is quiet again. This trip was filled with lots of baby talk, first baby kicks, baby furniture, and baby clothes. She sure is one loved little girl.

Happy Easter everyone!