Favorite Baby Products

This past week has had some rough moments for me. The newborn stage is just hard with all the middle of the night feedings, constant diaper changes, and endless piles of laundry from all the blowouts. On top of that, I have a toddler to literally chase around. Needless to say, my house is a mess and I look like a mess more than half the time. However, I find some baby products to be extra helpful during this crazy time so I want to share those with you. If you have even more (or better) products you love, feel free to share!

mamaRoo baby swing

This swing was my saving grace with Lizzie. When she was still really little, she would not nap well during the day at all. She would only take cat naps and it drove me crazy. My mother-in-law was so kind enough to gift this to me in hopes that Lizzie would be able to sleep better in it. Well she did! She was only able to take long naps when in the swing. We had her nap there for a few months. This high tech swing has several different motions, speeds, sounds, and you can plug your phone into it to play your own music. It's seriously the coolest swing. I want one for myself to sleep in.

HALO SleepSack Swaddle

This swaddle is the only one that I have found that Flynn won't completely break out of. That little guy is stronger than he looks. When the baby is ready to transition out of the swaddle, you can leave their arms out while the rest of their body stays in the sack, making transition easier.

Homedics Sound machine

I'm a strong believer in babies sleeping with white noise. This is the one I bought for Lizzie and now Flynn sleeps with it. It has helped my babies sleep longer at night and blocks out all the noise from the rest of the house. It has 6 different sounds and you can set a timer of 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 60 minutes, or just have it go until you turn it off yourself. 

Ergobaby carrier

I just got this baby carrier and I've used it a lot with Flynn since he's been born like when grocery shopping or going taking Lizzie to the park. It's comfortable and I don't get tired from wearing it. This is the Original version which can be worn 3 different ways - side, front, and back.

Contours Options Tandem Stroller

I am in love with this double stroller! I like the staggered seating so the child in the back can actually see. It has a huge basket underneath to store all your baby needs. I also like that the seats are easy to remove and rearrange to face different ways. Bonus: it comes with a universal carseat adapter - usually you have to buy those separately.  

Daddy's Day

Happy Father's Day! I'm so glad we have this day to celebrate the fathers in our life. I don't know where I'd be without my Dad. He has been such a great dad and has always taken care of us. He is a wonderful example of integrity, kindness, and faith. He is always honest in his dealings with others including in his profession which is he is so passionate about. He is one of the nicest people you'll meet and a total softy - like, he'll cry if you give him a thank you card. And then there's his firm faith in God. He is unwavering in his beliefs and religion; I admire him for that. I'm forever grateful that he is my Daddy.

Of course, I can't let Father's Day go by without a little tribute to my husband, the father of my children. It seems to me that Tyler was made to be a father. It took me a little while to be brave enough to start having children, but Ty was ready long before I was. And he is so good at it! He has an impressive amount of patience (which I lack). He works very hard to provide for us, but makes sure to find time in his busy day to spend with us. He loves his children so much and would do anything for them. His children love him too, Lizzie is always excited when he walks through the door. And Flynn...well we're pretty sure he loves his daddy too, he hasn't really told us. My love for Tyler grew when I married him, and it grew even more when he became a father. We're extremely blessed to have him in our eternal family.

Flynn's Newborn Pictures

I'm slowly adjusting to life with 2 kids. I dreaded the day Tyler went back to work leaving me alone with the kids all day. However, we have had so much help from family members, it's made the transition easier. And although I am walking around like a zombie (or mombie) today, I'm happy to be a mother to two beautiful children.

With the help of my dear friend Emily, we were able to get some cute newborn photos of Flynn. I only wish we could have gotten more shots of him sleeping but he was wide awake almost the entire time! Oh well. I love this little boy!

Flynn

He's here! Baby Flynn has finally arrived and we are so in love with him. Here is his birth story:

My due date was May 29th. I scheduled an induction date for June 1st but I was pretty confident our little guy would get here before then because I was already dilated to 3 cm a few days before the due date. Well, I was wrong. My due date came and went. It was funny going out in public where people would ask me when I was due and I would respond, "yesterday." Then watch them get nervous that I was going to pop any second. So I ended up being induced. I was nervous about it all since I've never been induced before. One upside was that since it was scheduled, I could better plan Lizzie's living arrangement while Ty and I stayed at the hospital. My parents were kind enough to take her for those days. I went into the hospital around 7 am but wasn't started on pitocin until around 9:15. My first nurse was new and tried twice to get an IV in me; it actually hurt pretty bad and I have bruises to show for it. For the third time, a more experienced nurse did it and a bunch of blood spewed out in the process. I started getting way dizzy and nauseous. Once the IV was in and started working, I felt better. I've never had such a rough experience with an IV before! So that wasn't the best start. The doctor broke my water an hour or so later, by then the contractions were getting stronger so I just went ahead and ordered the epidural.  The anesthesiologist had a hard time putting it in for some reason, so he had to do it really slow. I could feel so much pressure of the needle going in and I was hurting from contractions at the same time. My epidural with Lizzie was way easier, so I wasn't expecting this. I don't know why needles were such a problem on my body this time around. Well the good news is the epidural did it's job perfectly...at least until delivery. Labor was really quick, and I was ready to push around 12:50 pm. When I started pushing I realized the epidural was not working as well anymore, I could feel quite a bit and boy did it hurt. I seriously don't know how women do all this without medication. Thankfully I only pushed like 3 or 4 times before Flynn made his entrance into the world. He was born at 12:54 pm on June 1, 2016. When he first came out, he didn't make any noise and was blue. Ty and I were both worried but the doctors and nurses didn't seem phased by it. They just patted him until he started crying a few seconds later. What a relief. He weighed in at 8 lbs 10 oz, 21.5 inches long. 2 oz lighter than Lizzie was, but taller by 1.5 inches. He is healthy and perfect.

(excuse the bad quality of the first 3 photos...they were taken from a phone)

^ Such a good dad!

^ Lizzie meeting Flynn of the first time 

^ She's not sure what to think 

^This photo was taken after we took her monkey stuffed animal out and put Flynn in haha 

First family of 4 photo!

I still can't believe we have 2 kids now. It's been a little crazy around here but we have had a lot of help from family and friends. I'm dreading the day Tyler goes back to work and I'm left with these kiddos by myself! Lizzie seems to be handling it all well so far. The first time she met Flynn in the hospital, she was not too interested in him but she's getting much better. She calls him "baby" or "Fin"and we did get her to give him a kiss once which was adorable. Now she likes to help out by giving me his diaper and giving him his pacifier - or at least trying to. When he cries she gets really concerned and says "a cry" in a sad voice. She's already a good big sister. Ty has been more than wonderful. He has been doing all the laundry, cleaned out our cars, and gets up in the middle of the night with me to help with Flynn. I love my little family more than I can express and am looking forward to getting to know Flynn as he grows and develops.