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Activities for Kids, Aptos, California, Cher Joy, Family, Felton, parenthood, Phoenix, Santa Cruz

The Summer To Do list

At the start of summer we decided to plan out a monster to-do list for our little family, filled with new and old things we like to do. But looking back a lot of time was spent at our little rental house here in the Cruz, playing on the patio, making pillow forts, having balloon parties, picking blackberries on our street and riding bikes in the neighborhood. Continue Reading

baby registry, parenthood

What to registry for your baby – month 1-6

I remember when I was pregnant and was searching the internet for what I should register for to best prepare me for mommyhood. Cup of Jo has a pretty good post on what to registry for, but other than that, I wasn’t finding much. In all honesty, Cup of Jo’s is pretty extensive. I pretty much registered for one of everything she recommended. And occasionally I’d see something on Instagram I’d save to my registry. So, after being at this for a few months now, here are my honest-to-God, must-haves for the first 6 months with baby. Yes, you’ll want to have some other things like a breast pump, wash cloths, onesies, pacifiers, rattles, and a jungle gym {maybe a swing of some sort}, but these were our absolute saviors.  I don’t know how to add a number graphic to my little collage graphic just yet so I’ll try to go in order, from top, left to right. Here goes:

1. Mrs. Meyers Baby Blossom. Seriously the best smelling laundry soap ever for baby. I smell it and my brain goes crazy for baby. It’s what reminds me of Jace now, in clean clothes. When he smells sweaty and ripe from his day at daycare, I give him a quick wipe down and put on a clean onesie, fresh out of the dryer, and it’s amazing. It has never irritated his skin and is about the best thing you’ll put up to your nose. Babyland deliciousness.

2. Lanolin. Next to coconut oil, this was my nipples’ best friend when I was breastfeeding. Safe for baby, too.

3. The Honest Co. Healing Balm. I not only use this for skin rashes, but for anything of the sort. If his chubby neck rolls were starting to chafe, I put some on. If he was sunburnt {bad me}, I put some on. His skin never reacted and it did nothing but heal him — and fast! Good stuff.

4. Snap-N-Go Carseat Carrier. It really is as easy as it sounds. You snap your carseat in {of any brand} and go! Easy to fold up and the best thing to have when you don’t want to carry around your 17 lb baby in a carseat in CVS. I didn’t leave the house without it and still don’t.

5. The Happiest Baby on the Block. best. book. ever. This book prepared us like no other. Even in the first day of having Jace I used some of the techniques and saw it work instantly. Who knew shushing would work?! Jace loved it, among all the other little “S”s! Go for the DVD, too, while you’re at it.

6. Miracle Blanket. If you read The Happiest Baby on the Block, you’ll need a swaddle. Or in my case,  the Miracle Blanket. It looks complicated at first but once you get it after a couple tries, it’s the easiest thing in the whole wide world and so effective. Jace slept the soundest when he was swaddled in his Miracle Blanket. You need one. I’m telling you. If you can’t tell already, I’m using the word “easy”a lot — see a pattern? The easier the better.

7. Twelve Hours Sleeps by Twelve Weeks Old. All I gotta say is, it works. Trust me, Jace is 6 months and STILL sleeping all through the night. Brilliant and easy to read and follow. Make it work for your household and everything should fall into place {or at least it did for us, with some practice & routine}.

8. Zutano Fleece booties. It was hard for me to spend money on baby shoes. Especially when they’re growing so fast from newborn to full on baby. Jace even grew out of socks fast, so when I came across these booties, handed down from a friend, I was so happy. They go with everything, are easy to put on {and wash!} and they keep the baby toesies very warm. A must for your baby’s feetsies! They even come in cute stripes.

9. Digital baby monitor. Night-vison, temperature gauge and alerts, music, walkie-talkie, great sound, easy to charge and set-up. GREAT product and so important to have when you start putting baby in the crib to sleep at night or down for a nap during the day. You can empty the dishwasher, read a book on the patio, or take a shower, worry-free with this monitor! It’s awesome.

10. Dr. Brown’s bottles. They’re great. I used the Medela bottles while breastfeeding and pumping, but then moved to Dr. Brown’s shortly after. Something about their vent, easy-flow system that makes feeding so much easier and happier for baby. Less spit-up, great burps and faster feeding when ready. Super happy with these bottles.

11. Newborn to Toddler bath tub. A big favorite of Rob’s. Guess his family used this with his little brother & sister. And I’ll tell you, we tried a few different baby wash tubs, and this one definitely topped them all. Loved the newborn swing. Then it was easy to remove to plan for the baby stage of sort of sitting up, sort of leaning. Easy to use and clean, lots of room for baby to kick and splash, fits in the sink or in the tub. Get it. The price is right, too.

12. Aden + Anais swaddle blankets. Great for swaddling, a light blanket to lay over a sweaty baby, wiping up drool, lying on the floor with toys, anything! Easy to wash and they really hold up. And the different designs are darling.

Hope this helps! I’ll be taking note of all my favorites moving into the next 6 months. Can’t wait!