Baby Faves {0-3 Months}

Yikes folks, it's been two whole months since my last post! But I have a pretty darn good excuse. Not only have we been traveling all over the east coast, but we've officially moved from good ole' sunny Florida to beautiful Virginia, but I will post about that later! We also are closing on our first home next week, yippee!

Now that our little nugget is almost three and half months old (holy cow) I thought I'd post some of our favorite baby items for you precious mama's-to-be out there! When I was pregnant I scoured the internet for the "essentials" C would need as a newborn, mainly because I knew getting out and about was going to be almost impossible within those first few days and weeks (thank goodness for Amazon)! This is also a great reference for those of you that are looking for good baby gifts for friends that are expecting, but you have no clue what would be helpful! So here you go, some of our favorite baby things from Newborn-3 months...

1) Summer Infant Swaddle

*Ok people, let's be honest here for a second. When it's 3am, you've just pushed something the size of a watermelon out of you, and you haven't gotten more than one and a half hours of consecutive sleep in the last three days, the last thing you want to be figuring out is how to use one of those darned swaddling blankets. Those things are GREAT for other things (noted below) but not in my case. These swaddles are incredibly easy to use, are super snug, and keep little one fast asleep!

2) Newborn Napper

*This thing has been a lifesaver for us! For some reason C refuses to sleep flat on her back, except when she is napping during the day, so this thing helps tremendously. It's also very helpful for babies that have bad reflux as it keeps them in a more upright position while sleeping. It's very portable, and MUCH easier to carry around than a Pack N' Play. I usually keep it in the bathroom during the day so she can hang out in it while I take a shower or get ready which is great.

3) Newborn Gowns

*Ok, again with the whole "What do I really want to be doing at 3am thing". These are great for quick and easy diaper changes in the middle of the night. Just roll it up, and roll it back down. Couldn't be any easier!

4) Ergo

*I can't say enough good things about the Ergo. Simply put, we love it. When C was really little I would put her in it when she was fussy and walk around on the porch outside and she was instantly a happy camper. She wasnt much for the Moby Wrap, so this was a great alternative. It helped get those little burps and poots out too since she was upright. Now we use it at the grocery store and when I'm shopping so I can have both hands free as she's not big enough to sit in the grocery cart. It's also great when she is really clingy and I need to get house work done. Strap her in, and off we go!


5) Ubi Diaper Pail

*LOVE THIS! The thing I love the most about this pail is that it can alternate as a cloth diaper pail and a regular diaper pail. Just throw a garbage bag or your wet diaper bag in there and you're good to go! It really keeps all the smells in, much better than a diaper genie. It's pricey, but in our opinion worth not having your entire house smell like a load of dirty diapers ;)

6) Aden & Anais Swaddle Blankets

*I'm sure these are already on most of your lists, but I will reiterate how great they are! We use these for everything. From a nursing cover, to a stroller cover, to a blanket, to a burp cloth. They are the most versatile gift we received and we never leave the house without one, or two!

7) Vick's Rectal Thermometer

*Ok, I know this has the word rectal in it, but for real, this has been a great gift as well. Since C has been teething early on and ran a fever after her first set of shots, this thermometer was so easy to use and works fast...which is always helpful with a squirmy or screaming little one.

8) Portable Changing Mat

*This mat is great to keep in your bedroom, or on the main level of the house. I can't tell you how annoying it was to run upstairs every time C had a blowout or needed a diaper change. This was so easy to just roll out and keep downstairs with our small caddy of diaper items.

9) Shea Moisture Baby Bath and Body 

*This stuff smells heavenly! I just want to eat her up after each bath...and 99% of the time in general ;) Plus you can purchase it at Target, and let's be honest, who doesn't want an excuse to go to Target?

10) Rear Facing Carseat Mirror

*I think this is one of those things that people tend to overlook when it comes to their registry. However, I will tell you that you will use things thing a lot. Like every time you get in your car. The AAP now recommends that children sit in a rear facing carseat until the age of two. So needless to say this will be a necessity for a good long while.

Last but not least I'd also like to make a plug for Amazon Prime. We've had it for years now, but can honestly say that it has been the best thing now that we have a little one. Sometime going to the store to grab a baby item just isn't going to happen. Especially in those first few weeks. This is where Prime comes into play. Free shipping on thousands of items right to your front door. If you don't have it I'd highly recommend it, you most likely won't regret it! If you do you can tell me you told me so ;)

{6 Weeks}

Our little Peanut is growing so fast and has already grown out of her newborn clothes and is into 3 month clothing! It makes me so sad to think she is already growing so quickly but it's so fun to see her develop new skills and learn new things everyday! She has even already gotten a tooth, yup that's right a tooth at 5 weeks old. Here are some of my favorite personal photos we've taken over the past few weeks...

 playing with her big brother!

I've started letting her nap in her crib on occasion and she does so well!

Savoring a sweet moment...

Mother's Day 2014

My in-laws were able to come into town for Mother's Day this year and we also had a special visitor all the way from Del Rio! Our good friend Ant came to visit us and meet Baby C this past weekend. It was great to see him and the family and to have some extra hands to help out.

On a side note, what is it about mom's that they are always so selfless and constantly giving of themselves? She drove all the way down on a special weekend meant to celebrate HER and instead spent the whole two days she was here taking care of her family by cooking, cleaning, and even babysitting little C for a few hours so we could get away to the beach. I have never felt so blessed to have such a sweet, kind, caring, and compassionate MIL.

Mother's Day has been a bittersweet day for me over the past three years since my mama went to heaven. This year it was especially hard knowing that she couldn't be here to share in the joy of being both a mother and grandmother to her newest granddaughter and my first little one. That being said I can't emphasis enough how truly blessed I was to be able to call her my mother here on earth even if was for only 22 years. I was lucky to even call her mine for a day in retrospect. As the anniversary of her passing draws close here within the next month I'm constantly reminded how truly selfless she was and how I strive daily to be as much of a blessing in C's life as she was in mine.

I'd also like to send out a HUGE thank you to all my amazing friends that reached out yesterday. I received countless Facebook messages, text messages, and general notes of encouragement from so many of you and it truly meant the world to me. I'm so lucky to have so many people willing to love on me and to remember me on what they know was a challenging day, although it is a time of celebration for most.

Baby C with Uncle Ant :) He's a natural!

Happy Peanut!

Love my family!

{1 Month}

Our little peanut is one month old! I can't believe how fast these past four weeks have flown by and I know that time won't be slowing down either. It makes my heart so happy that she is growing and thriving, but it also makes me sad to know that she won't stay this tiny forever. This past month has been challenging, yet so rewarding, and we are so excited to continue to watch her grow :)

Newborn Shoot

The week after our little peanut was born we had a newborn photographer come to the house to take some photos of her and our little family, Winston included! Before C was born I contacted Adria Peaden of Adria Peaden Photography here in Panama City about doing some photos for us and she was so enthusiastic about helping us out! She came to our home, which was so amazing. I seriously couldn't have imagined taking her somewhere to have them done when she was only 10 days old. Adria was so patient, kind, and did a fantastic job of making us all feel comfortable despite our major sleep deprivation and me still recovering from giving birth the week before.  Sweet little C was an angel the entire time and didn't wake up until right after the very last shot. Here are some of our favorites that she took for us!

Postpartum Hospital Must Haves

Another post for the expecting ladies, so all others please feel free to tune out until next time! Now that our little peanut is over a week old I thought I would post a list of some of the items I felt were must haves while we were staying at the hospital after labor and delivery. I wanted to post this as soon as possible while things are still fresh in my mind in hopes it would help some of you ladies that are getting ready for you own little one's arrival in the near future!

Wet Wipes: Our hospital didn't provide moist wipes ,therefore I was very glad I brought some to "freshen up" every time I made a trip to the restroom. The last thing you want to do is use hard toilet paper when you nether regions have been traumatized for hours on end. Plus, the thought of taking a shower or bath, at least for me, was so traumatizing that I preferred to use these for the first 24 hours until I felt up for getting in to clean off after the initial delivery bath.

Pillow: I would highly recommend bringing your own pillow, and one for the hubs. The hospital pillows are limp and awful and having your own makes you feel a little more like you're at home. Make sure and not use a while pillow case though so they don't get confused with the hospital ones.

Robe: I was so glad that I brought my own lightweight robe from home. The nurse wanted to me to get up and walk around the hospital halls a few times to get my "sea legs" back so I was thankful when I didn't have to wear that awful hospital gown around and have my bare bum exposed to the world.

Water Bottle: At our hospital they only gave us these teeny tiny styrofoam cups that could be gulped down in one sip. I was very thankful to have my camelback, which has been mentioned in a previous post.

Nursing Pillow: I took our Boppy to the hospital and was thankful I did. The nurses and lactation consultants tried using the pillows from the hospital to position Baby C when I was learning how to nurse which just didn't work. Using the Boppy made a world of difference and helped the process along immensely. 

Gatorade: A good friend recommended that we take some gatorade to the hospital for dad, but I was also very thankful to have some on hand postpartum. I got sick of drinking water after 24 hours and felt the electrolytes really helped me feel better. Buy a 12 pack and keep it in the car until you get moved to your postpartum room. 

Mittens: Your little one will have insanely long finger nails right out of the womb, so make sure and bring some for when you take them home! You'll regret not packing them when they claw up their tiny little face on the way home.

Folder: The hospital will send you home with all kinds of paperwork that will need to be taken to your pediatrician and insurance company so it's a great idea to have somewhere to store it all so it doesn't get lost!

Trash Bag: Let's just say that if you're water breaks before or on the way to the hospital, this is a good thing to have....for obvious reasons.

Blanket: Bring a blanket from home. We didn't have an extra bed in our postpartum room so the hubs was so thankful to have a blanket that wasn't paper thin to sleep with while I was recovering. 

{Sweet Baby C}

We were incredibly blessed to welcome our new baby girl last week! She was born on April Fools Day, exactly three days before her expected arrival. I was blessed with a fairly easy and uneventful (if there is such a thing) labor and delivery and she came into the world at a tiny 6lbs 10oz. We could not be more excited to finally have her here with us and are already head over heels in love with her. I have been blown away by the amount of love I feel for this tiny human and could not imagine life without her. God has blessed us immensely and we could not be more thankful or feel more honored to be her parents. 

Meeting my sweet baby girl for the first time.

First family photo!

First time daddy held baby C.

Grumpy face.

Proud daddy.

Leaving the hospital!