Top ten baby essentials: newborn edition

Good afternoon! It is wet, cold and rainy in my neck of the woods. Needless to say, we are staying in! As I'm sitting here typing, my precious girl is taking a nap right across from me in a baby swing.

As most of you know, life with a newborn is a tough adjustment sometimes...especially if you waited 4.5 years between children like we did. If you're a first time parent, registering for what your baby needs can be ovewhelming, and chances are, you're going to end up with a lot of things you really don't need. Earlier this year, I wrote a post about keeping baby gear from taking over your home. You may want to revisit that.

Today, I'm going to share ten things that are making our life with a new baby easier. They are in particular order, and of course, this list is based off of our opinions and what's working for us. We're real people with real children- we're not experts, we're just parents. So please, if there are any products that you can't live without, please comment and tell me about them. Who knows? a first time parent may be reading, and may benefit from your suggestions.

As I said before, these are in no particular order.

1. Medela Pump In Style Advanced breast pump


[photograph courtesy of the Medela website]

If you're planning to breastfeed, this pump is where it's at. I had access to a hospital grade pump in my hospital room, but they had it set on a preemie setting, and this engorged mama didn't get any relief until I was at home with my Medela Pump in Style. I also obtained a free one from insurance and now have two pumps. You should contact Aeroflow and see if your insurance qualifies. This promotion didn't exist when I had Emorie, but you should definitely take advantage of it.


2. Graco Pack and Play with changing station and newborn napper

[Photo from Amazon.com]

There are several different models of Pack and Plays you can get. We like this one because it has a bassinet for newborns. It's currently set up in our bedroom, where she'll sleep until we feel she's big enough for her crib. The newborn napper has a feature in which you can play music, use vibration to calm a fussy baby (it works!), play nature sounds, and shine a light to check on your baby. The changing station is nice, too. Our house is one level and her nursery changing table is right across the hall, but when I'm tired, I don't always want to leave the bedroom. It's nice to have two places to change her. Also, when she outgrows the newborn napper and changer, we can remove them and she can sleep in the pack and play itself. Also, we have out of state family and we travel a lot. We can fold up this Pack and Play and she can sleep in it. I've also seen people take them outdoors in the summer and stretch a fitted crib sheet across the top so babies can play safely away from the grass and any biting bugs. I definitely recommend this!!

3. Fisher Price Rock and Play sleeper


I love how portable this is. When Aubrey is asleep, I can just move it to whatever room I am in. It folds up easily and travels easily. The only negative is that it's small and she won't use it long.The incline is nice too- seems to help with the tummy troubles.

4. Dr. Brown's Preemie Bottles with Preemie Nipples

[Photo courtesy of Walmart.com]

Our girl was a little early, and as a result, pretty tiny. She was too small to properly latch and adequately nurse. At the lactation specialists' recommendation, we purchased these bottles. They are two ounce bottles, and we used them and loved them until she reached three weeks and began eating more.

5. Avent Natural


               [photo from Babies R Us]

I used Avent Classic bottles with my oldest, but received several of these through a promotion Motherhood Maternity was doing. When Aubrey started eating larger amounts, I decided to try them. What I discovered is that the latch is almost identical to breastfeeding. Once we started using these bottles during the day, her nursing improved dramatically. We're now back to nursing every other feeding, and bottle feeding pumped milk on the feedings in between. My goal is to exclusively nurse on nights and weekends once I return to work.

6. aden + anais swaddle blankets


[photo from Babies R Us]

First off, let me say that I love the SwaddleMe blankets and the Halo sleep sacks, but our girl isn't big enough for them yet. In the meantime, we are loving this swaddle blanket. Yes, we have swaddled Aubrey with regular receiving blankets, but they are not big enough, and as a result, she ends up "busting out" of the swaddle. These are long enough, plus, they are so soft and cuddly.

7. Pampers Swaddlers


[photo courtesy of Sam's Club]

We actually use both Pampers and Huggies, but Pampers are actually my favorite. I like the fact that they have the wetness indicator and I haven't had any problems with them leaking as long as they aren't too big or too small. Plus, the Pampers reward program is a nice perk, too.

8. Mam newborn pacifiers


[Photo from Bed, Bath and Beyond]
We received one of these pacifiers as a gift. They are small and easier for my baby girl to hold on to. Plus, they come in all sorts of cute designs. We were divided on whether we should get her paci, but these have definitely been good.


9. Boppy feeding pillow


[Photo from Boppy.Com]

This thing is awesome!! Right now we use it for nursing- I've never really been able to get her to the correct height with just regular pillows. It's also great for propping up babies who can't sit independently and for tummy time.

10. DexBaby Mommy Bear

[photo from Amazon.com]

Our baby is something of a light sleeper. We got this bear when we had Emorie- it was a hand-me-down gift from my cousin. Emorie didn't really use it, but Aubrey has. We put the bear near her and turn on the womb sounds and she usually goes right to sleep. DISCLAIMER: Do not put stuffed animals, pillows, or blankets in areas where babies sleep (cribs, cradles, bassinets, pack and plays, rock and plays, etc).

So there you have it! Please feel free to comment and add your newborn necessities. As Aubrey gets older, I'll post more necessities. Thanks for reading!




Linking to Stonegable, Worthing Court, Cedar Hill Farmhouse, Confessions of a Plate Addict, and French Country Cottage!

Of maternity leave and toilet plungers

As most of you know, we just had a baby.

[Hillary Graves Photography]

She is now three weeks old, and I took about four weeks off from blogging. I wanted to tell you I am back now and will resume a normal schedule.  Today we are decorating for Christmas, and boy, has it been fun!

But first, a funny story...that may or may not be TMI.

Someone in our house clogged the toilet. 

After calling out for the husband to bring a plunger, we realized we didn't have one. Even though we always have.  Where it went, I don't know. 

A short time later, my hubby amateur plumber called from the hardware store. 

"Can you look at the toilet and see what the flush capacity is?"

I told him I'd be happy to, but at that moment, I was nursing. 

"Why do you need to know?" I asked.

He then told me that he was shopping plungers and needed to make sure the one he was buying was appropriate for our toilet. 

Huh? I hadn't ever realized there were varying degrees of toilet plungers. I thought they were pretty much "one model fits all...." that you just went to the store, bought a plunger, and then came home and well, plunged. 

Clearly, I have a lot to learn. By the way, it's called a magic plunger and apparently, you can use it to unclog sinks as well. Who knew? I'm not sure how it stacks up to regular plungers, but it got the job done. 

An announcement...and a birth story :)

If you're wondering where I've been lately, and why this blog has been so quiet, I promise I have a good reason. After dealing with several days of false labor, I decided to give myself some time off from the blog to make sure I was as ready for Aubrey as I could possibly be, both at school and at home.

You can probably guess what happened next: this sweet girl arrived on November 6, 2015 at 8:04 p.m., after a long and difficult labor. She was born a little over 3 weeks early, and we initially dealt with an extended hospital stay for jaundice, but everything is OK now.

I worked on Thursday, November 5, and had contractions all day long. I timed them, and while they were fairly consistent, they were still pretty far apart. I didn't think too much about it, but wondered if maybe we might be going to the hospital that night. In the afternoon, I began to suspect that my water might be leaking. When I was in labor with Emorie, the doctor broke my water, and this was definitely nothing like that. I called my doctor and they suggested I come to the hospital.

I spent a few minutes making sure things were ready in case I was out of school the next day, then headed home to wait for Michael and make arrangements for Emorie. Upon arriving at the hospital Thursday evening, I was monitored and doctors ran tests to check for amniotic fluid. The initial tests came back negative, and I prepared myself to leave. Doctors wanted to run one more test, and it came back positive.

I was admitted, and spent the night in labor and delivery being monitored. My contractions, while still coming, were not necessarily getting stronger or closer together. In the morning, doctors and nurses made the decision to start me on Pitocin. My heart sank- I am a natural childbirth mama and was worried about how much more intense the pain would be.

I labored several hours more on the Pitocin, and when I still was not dilating at a quick pace, I asked my doctor how he felt about stripping membranes. I knew they would typically not do this prior to 37 weeks, but because my water was leaking, I also knew they had to deliver her. My doctor agreed, and then discovered my water had not completely broken. He chose to break it the rest of the way.

Things began to progress rapidly after that. I remember the nurses coming in and telling me I was dilated to a six. Five minutes after that, I had a strong contraction and yelled to the nurses that the baby was coming. She checked me and ran to the phone. My doctor nearly missed Aubrey's birth, but arrived just in time. After being in labor for nearly 24 hours, Aubrey entered the world in three pushes. She was completely OK, despite some bruising on her head and face, and having to receive phototherapy for jaundice. Her slight prematurity has not had an effect on her, blessedly.

Something funny- Aubrey and her sister Emorie have so many similarities. Emorie was born at 37 weeks, Aubrey at 36 weeks, 5 days. Emorie was 6 pounds 2 ounces, and 19.5 inches long and Aubrey was 6 pounds, 1.4 ounces, and 19 inches long. Both girls had jaundice and had to have phototherapy. Both girls have similar features and were both born with a head full of dark hair. If you want to read Emorie's birth story, you can find it here on our old blog. 

Emorie adores her little sister and constantly wants to hold her and kiss her.

Our hearts are full. Thank you for all the prayers for our family. 

Getting organized before baby: how to keep baby gear from taking over your house

Everyone knows babies require lots of...stuff. And if you're anti-clutter like me, then it's truly easy for all the baby stuff to take over your house and make you crazy. Our house is not big, and the house where we lived when Emorie was born was even smaller. One of the hardest challenges to storing baby items is finding a place to put everything.

Here are a few ways to combat the storage issues and most of them are pretty easy.

1. Only bring what you need into your home. 
A common idea among new parents is that you need everything for your baby before the baby is born. We were guilty of this the first time around, too. Now that we have had one baby, we are more conscious of what we need and when we need it. You can really cut down on the clutter by not bringing things you don't need yet into your home. For example, we are aware that our child won't need a high chair until she is at least six months old. For this reason, the high chair is being stored elsewhere until we need it. Another way to accomplish this is to look for items that are dual purpose. The first time around, we purchased a bassinet, a bouncer seat, a Pack 'n' Play, and several other items that we didn't need altogether. This time, we have realized we don't need a bouncer seat as the Pack 'n' Play has a built in bassinet that has the vibrate feature our bouncer seat had. We sold the bouncer seat. The Pack 'n' Play can be used in place of a co-sleeper or a bassinet, as it has a "newborn napper" attachment.

2. Donate/consign/pack away baby items that are outgrown/ no longer needed. 
If there are baby items that your child has outgrown or no longer needs, get them out of the house as soon as they're no longer needed. You can donate them, give them away, or consign them for a little money. If you're planning on having more kids, do what we did and pack them away until they're needed again.

3. Use "sneaky storage" spots to store things. 
Crib skirts are your best friend. When baby is tiny, the crib mattress is at its highest point. This provides you with a lot of storage, and the crib skirt will hide the mess. We have underbed storage bags and small plastic totes underneath Aubrey's crib, in which we are storing extra diapers, wipes, baby wash, and other small items.

4. Try a closet organizer 
My dad helped us build closet organizer shelves in both girls' closets to give us vertical storage, and this gave us nearly twice the space we had before. Now, we can store things in baskets in the middle of her closet, as well as on the top shelf and in the bottom.

5. Dresser drawer organizers keep items easily accessible. 
We have used dollar store containers, old wipes containers and plastic baskets to section off drawers so we can keep items separated and easy to find.

6. Try some storage furniture. 
We currently have one tall bookshelf and two cubby shelves in the playroom. We are in the process of getting another vertical shelf. We are going to use the shelves to store items belonging to our older daughter so we can keep items with small parts or art supplies out of baby's reach. We also plan to use the cubby drawers and baskets to corral smaller toys and keep them organized.

Do you have any tips for managing baby gear and not making your house look like a Babies 'R' Us store? Feel free to share!

Linking to Stonegable, Worthing Court, Cedar Hill Farmhouse, Confessions of a Plate Addict, and French Country Cottage!

Getting ready for baby: Packing the hospital bag

I love planning ahead when there are significant events approaching. When I had Emorie, her hospital bag was packed almost two months early. I also way overpacked- I was a first time mother, and I had no idea exactly what I'd need and what the hospital would provide.

This time around, I'm way more conscious of what we need and don't need, but nowhere near as prepared as last time. My doctors told me last week we had probably about four to six weeks before baby comes, so I realized I'd better get my butt in gear.

I knew I would need to pack bags for me and the baby, Michael, and Emorie. Emorie will be staying with relatives, so she will need an overnight bag. We are also making a "big sister kit" for her (more on that later).

The monogrammed bag is mine, the princess bag is Emorie's, and the pink one in the back is Michael's. Yes, it's pink LOL 

The hospital provides almost everything I'll need for the baby, so I didn't pack a lot for her. The following items are in my hospital bag:

My bag contains a coming home outfit for baby girl, an extra outfit, two extra diapers, a plain onesie, baby socks, prenatal vitamins, lip balm, hair ties, a bag of snacks and vending machine money for Daddy, a huuuuge nursing bra for when my milk comes in (no one said postpartum is fun), three nursing tanks, nonskid socks, comfy jammies, and bathroom toiletries. Not pictured: a comfortable going home outfit for me (black stretchy pants and a comfy shirt), Boppy nursing pillow, and a stack of thank you cards and a pen. 

My hospital provides baby diapers and wipes, Vaseline, maxi pads, disposable undies, and post partum healing/pain management supplies. 

Don't forget about Dad's bag! Michael's bag contains his bath stuff and toothbrush, pajamas, two changes of clothes, unmentionables, and extra vending machine money. I didn't take a picture of his bag, since his doesn't have as much.

And here is what is in Emorie's bag: Two changes of clothes, bath stuff, extra toothbrush, haircare supplies, pajamas, blanket and favorite stuffed animals. Not pictured: animals, blanket, unmentionables.

Here is a free checklist you can download to help you pack your hospital bag. Just right click, save it, and print it :) Have a great day! 

Linking to Stonegable, Worthing Court, Cedar Hill Farmhouse, Confessions of a Plate Addict, and French Country Cottage!

Nursery reveal: A shabby chic nursery fit for a princess

We found out we were expecting our miracle on March 24, 2015- one day before my husband's birthday, and five months after the loss of our precious second baby. I knew almost instantly that she was going to be a girl. At the end of June, we found out for sure that we were having another girl.

Wordless Wednesday

"For this child I have prayed and the Lord has given me what I have asked of him." 1 Samuel 1:27

\

Linking to Stonegable, Worthing Court, Cedar Hill Farmhouse, Confessions of a Plate Addict, and French Country Cottage!

DIY Friday, one day early

Hi all! I know you're probably getting tired of my nursery posts, so I promise you, we are almost finished.

Yesterday, I created one of the easiest DIY projects I've ever created. It started with this beautiful silver 8X10 frame I had lying around. I also had some left over vintage lace from when I created the lamp on the table beside the nursery chair.

I started by hot gluing the lace to the frame.  I put a piece of scrapbook paper in the back of the frame just to give it some color. After that, I just used some Command strips to attach it to the wall. Then, I put all of these cute little hairbows on it. I think it made a nice addition to her room! 

Linking to Stonegable, Worthing Court, Cedar Hill Farmhouse, Confessions of a Plate Addict, and French Country Cottage!

Nursery progress: Cornice shelves

Hi, all! I hope your Wednesday is off to a great start. Here at Organized and Simplified, we are celebrating the nearly finished status of our daughter's nursery. Monday, we showed you her new nursery chair and some really cute art work we hung above her changing table. Today, we will show you how we decorated her cornice shelves and tall dresser.

Nursery progress: DIY art

We are almost finished with our sweet girl's nursery. This weekend, we were finally able to get a nursery chair- we bought it off Craigslist and it is wonderful- so comfy and so cute. I was a bit concerned about the color until I saw it, and then I realized it was perfect.

Getting organized: Small-spaces nurseries

This summer, we are working hard to get our baby's room finished. She will not be here til November, but I am going back to work soon and we want to be finished before then. One of the most important things to me was that we get organized in an effort to make things easier for us. 

One of our first courses of action was install a closet shelf to give our large but poorly utilized closet some additional storage space. 

The baskets contain shoes, baby pajamas, plain white onesies, socks, hats, and some toys. The white baskets across the top shelf contain clothes that are organized by size (to conserve space in the dresser drawer). The baskets are organized like this: 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, 24 months, some miscellaneous items, and a basket for my breast pump items. 

DIY Friday/Monthly organizing project

Hi all! If you follow me on Instagram, you probably saw this post on Wednesday:

That is my baby's closet, or what I liked to refer to as "organized chaos." Just like all the closets in our house, this one was a nice size but very poorly laid out. Lots of wasted space!

DIY Fridays: A Shabby Chic Lampshade

We have begun working on Baby Girl Boone's nursery, which right now, looks a bit like this:

We are getting ready to start painting in there soon, so it's kind of a hot mess. OK, it's definitely a hot mess. I want the finished product to have a shabby chic theme, so I have been working hard to secure or make items for the room. I purchased a gorgeous handmade quilt from Etsy, which I love! It really does look like a vintage quilt and there are so many beautiful colors in it. I can't wait to show it to you. 

I wanted a lampshade with rosettes, similar to this one:

[source]

I quickly went to our local big box store and bought a plain cream colored drum shade for $5.00. I also bought five rolls of this ribbon: 

[source]

I hot glued the ribbon to the shade, making sure not to let any gaps form. I didn't want the shade to be visible through the lamp shade at all. When I finished, here is what I ended up with: 

Since the nursery is in the shape that it is currently in, I am staging this lamp in my oldest daughter's room. I kind of like it there- I may have to make a smaller one for her vanity :)

Thanks for stopping by! I'll post another DIY Friday project next week. 

A really fun photo shoot...and an announcement :)

Guess what, everyone?

Baby Boone #2 is a GIRL! We are delighted, and big sister couldn't be happier. 

These very sweet pictures were taken by a good friend of mine, Hillary Graves. If you live in Central NC, you should totally give her a call next time you need pictures done. She has done our engagement pics, my bridal portraits, our wedding pics, our maternity pics, some mother-daughter photos of me and Emorie, and Emorie's four year old pictures. In a few months, she will be doing maternity pics and newborn pics for us. We love her and are always happy with her photos. 

Have a great day, everyone. 

Nursery planning: What I'm loving right now

We recently completed our oldest's big girl room, and are now beginning to work on our baby's nursery. The baby will be occupying what is now my daughter's former nursery. I have so many ideas floating around, but I certainly want to keep the farmhouse theme. Of course, we don't know the gender yet, so I can't do too much planning. We find out the gender in 4 weeks, and then I can plan all I want.

Here is a list of some of my favorite nurseries that I am currently crushing on. These are, of course, in no particular order.

1. Beadboard or board and batten in nurseries

This is something I definitely want. I haven't decided exactly which type of molding I want yet, but I do know if will be one of these. I love the board and batten, wall sconces and art work in this picture.

[The Bump}

[http://www.projectnursery.com]