With Baby Comes Stuff

With a baby there comes stuff. We are a pretty simplistic family and typically do not like to keep a lot of stuff in our living space, does this mean we kept our baby stuff to a minimum? Well, yes and no. If you are asking me if my house is neat and clean, with all the toys put away, then no. It more resembles a hotel room after the rock stars partied hard; that is, instead of beer bottles its baby bottles, and instead of drugs its paci's, and  instead of trails of mangled magazines and newspapers with scandalous reviews, well ok, that one we have (of course the reviews are which brand of diapers, or what teething toy, but still). We, also, have mounds of things that didn't quite work like we expected and things that we absolutely love. So, here is my 6 month list of very important baby items that we never knew we needed.

First and foremost, The Rock N' Play. Tempest slept in this from night two, night one for the few hours we were not doing after birth stuff she slept between me and my midwife. It was a perfect "nest for her. We could move her around the house. She got to sleep right next to me, which was great for waking up every 2 hours. At almost 7 months, we are still using this. Tempest wakes up around 5-6am and does not want to be alone. So, into the rock n play with a bottle she goes. She falls asleep while eating, i can just pull the bottle and go back to sleep ( I am not an early riser, if you wake me up before 8 you better do so with coffee or an energy drink). While we don't use this around the house anymore, It is still the single most useful baby thing we used.

Boppy. While this is great for breastfeeding support, we really didn't use it much for that purpose. It is more so for tummy time, naps, sitting up, and most recently throwing at the cats. I won't go into much detail about the specifics since practically every list on the internet says how much you need one. I will just say, buy it, and buy the waterproof cover, I have the cover and then the pretty covers that go over it, so easy to wash when say baby pees on it

Mini-Boppy. I got this as part of a gift set that included an activity mat. While we didn't use the mat much, we used the crap out of the pillow. While they tell you to start tummy time as early as possibly, what they don't tell you is babies hate tummy time (at least mine did) also, what they don't tell you is the full sized Boppy pillow looks like a bolder against a tiny few week old baby. The mini boppy was the perfect size. It was also great for head support to prop her up a little. And again is currently being used as a weapon of punishment for any cat who dares not listen to Tempest's babble that I can only take to me "Come here, Kittie!"

Mini-Boppy for Mini Baby

Chain/Links: Seriously, this toy looks kinda dumb, I mean its simple; its just rings that clip together, how entertaining is that? Well, let me tell you, extremely. Not only does Tempest love these rings, they are also the most useful things in the world. We use them to clip toys on everything; her carseat; stroller; walker; high chair; Mobile. You can pretty much use these anywhere. it prevents toys from be dropped to the ground and being lost forever. I have found, they are, also, making great teething toys.

Jeep Stroller: we looked at a lot of strollers. Seriously, I had no idea there was a world of types of strollers. I wanted one that had 3 wheels and that the wheels were big enough to go over pebbles without getting stuck like some form of rocky quick sand. I love walking and hiking and wanted something that could stand up to trails. This does it. Its heavy duty, never gets stuck, and so easy to push i can do it one handed while walking next to the stroller (for optimum cuteness viewing). I have no doubt when she is a little bigger the cup holders and wheel toy on the front will be a big hit. And while I haven't used the built in speaker feature yet, I love the idea and plan to use it as soon as I can steal my husbands MP3 player

A Book of Sleep By Il Sung Na
This book is so good, I am including a link to amazon so you can buy it right now. It is simple, sweet and the pictures are amazing! Seriously, I am so in-love with this book that i made photos from it my background on my laptop.

http://www.amazon.com/Book-Sleep-Il-Sung-Na/dp/0375862234/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1370556566&sr=1-1&keywords=sleep+na

While we have plenty of other things that we use on a daily basis, these are the best products!