New Mama Must-Haves

In the past 6 months, I have had one sister have a baby, three friends have babies, and two more who are preggers.

It's baby season around here!

In light of that, I've thought about what some of my (personal) new mama must-haves are.  The ones that are truly must-haves, not the $500 stroller or the 15 different baby carriers.  These are the things that come to mind first when I need to buy/make a gift for new mama:

1.  Food. 

     Seriously, I think this is the best.  Make a nice healthy homemade meal (bonus points for a fresh meal AND a freezer meal for another day).  New mamas (especially breast feeding mamas) are STARVING, all the time.  With zero time to eat, let alone make a meal.  A homemade meal will always be a welcome treat for a sleep deprived, overwhelmed, and exhausted mama (and daddy).  Bonus points for a disposable pan so there's no dish washing and returning.

2.  Housecleaning/Sleep

       When I bring a meal over (if I know the person well enough), I always bring some Clorox bleach wipes in my purse.  I tidy up the kitchen and bathroom, offer to vacuum or do some dishes or laundry.  If that's not feasible, think about maybe going in with friends for a few weeks' maid service. 

       Also... sleep.  If you just come over and offer to hold the baby so Mama can nap for an hour - well, let's just say you might be upgraded to Best Friend Ever.

3.  Hand Sanitizer

        I was never very freaky about germs or hand washing, but it's different with a days-old newborn.  A pump of hand sanitizer in a prominent place encourages everyone to wash up before holding baby.  And on that subject - most new mamas LOVE to hold their babies and some even get a little nervous about others holding him/her, so make sure you ask first and don't hold for too long.  I always would have preferred someone come over to help with food/housework instead of holding the baby, because I just needed that bonding time so much.  Make sure to be sensitive to the poor, hormonal new mom.

4.   Burp cloths

       Hundreds of burp cloths.  Seriously, I don't think you can ever have too many of these.  They are great in the living room, in the nursery, in the bedroom, in the diaper bag, in the stroller, in the car...seriously, EVERYWHERE.  Great for spit up, wipes in an emergency, spit up, boogers, spit up, leaky milk...need I say more?

5.  the Ergo and/or the Moby wrap

     Babies love to be held.  A lot.  As a newborn, my Moby wrap was the only thing for the first three months that helped me get laundry/dishes/cooking/vacuuming/anything done.  If I could have worn that thing in the shower, I would have.  Cole and I both loved it and it's super easy to use.

     Once Baby starts to get a wee bit bigger, however, the Moby doesn't quite cut it - and that's when we got our Ergo.  And if Cole didn't weigh five thousand pounds we would STILL be using it because he is a clingy little monkey.  I'm not going to lie, it takes a bit of practice to figure out the back wearing part of it, but it is amazing and very comfortable to wear.  Downside: it's pricey.  But could be a great gift to go in on with a group of people.

6.  The Cloud B Sleep Sheep

   Yup.  STILL use ours.  Hint: get the mini travel size one.  Smaller, does the exact same thing, and cheaper too.  I think white noise has saved our booties many times.

7.  the Woombie

       This is actually on my wishlist for when we finally have another baby.  Cole loved being swaddled but always wriggled out - I'm pretty sure this will be an awesome solution to that problem!

8.  Aidan and Anais blankets

      Everyone I know absolutely RAVES about these blankets.  Lightweight, large, and perfect for a million different uses - these are a must-have for sure!

So there you go.  Some of my best ideas for new mamas - anything else you'd add to the list?

FULL OF STUFF

Cole, while not having too much imaginative play yet, has the classic toddler "put all the things in the bag!" syndrome.  If I'm having trouble locating something, I usually check one of his many bags lying around full of "STUFF, MAMA! FULL OF STUFF!" and frequently find my missing item.

Recently Cole rediscovered his backpack and it has been SO adorable watching him run around the house with his "PACK PACK" filling it full of "STUFF".  But my favorite part is after he goes to bed and I peek in his backpack to see what treasures he thought to put in it:

1. his favorite froggy pull toy
2. an old wallet (his new favorite toy)
3. three boxes of oysters from the pantry
4. a wooden train
5. an orange crayon
6. his "cellphone" - an old remote

Tree Climber

There are some skills a kid just NEEDS to have.  This weekend, Cole was introduced to one of the most important: tree climbing skillz.

 

 

 

 

 

Yup...needless to say, he loved it.  I see many nail-biting moments ahead, in which I frantically watch Cole climb far higher than my mama-heart would like...but at the same, rejoicing in his new skill!

My Boys

I just love them!

Proud

Dear Cole,

 I seem to have never ending pride in you, son.  Whether we are at a restaurant and I get to show off your beautiful table manners and appetite, or we are in a meeting about your speech and I get to brag about your counting (to 11!) and your extraordinary literacy (reading sight words!).

 But occasionally, the pride sneaks up on me.  Yesterday, after we had got you into bed, I went into our bathroom.  I noticed a bleach wipe in the garbage can, so I asked your father if he had cleaned up the bathroom at all.  "Nope." he said.  We looked at each other, and I realized that you, my dear boy - you had missed the potty a little while you were peeing, so you took out the bleach wipes and wiped up your own mess.  Without being asked.  Without advertising your good deed.  You simply fixed it and went on with your life.  My darling...at two years old, you show more responsibility and thoughtfulness than so many adults. 

I know there will be many moments in the years ahead - graduations, college acceptances, awards, marriage, promotions - where I will feel outstanding pride in your accomplishments.  But I think I will always look back onto this moment as the proudest I have ever been of you.  Wiping up your own pee - it tells me a lot about the strength of your little character.

And I know your future spouse will appreciate it, too!

Easter Festivities

While we didn't do as much fun Easter this year as last (whose bright idea was it to have Easter in March, anyway?  don't they know that March belongs to St Patrick's Day and APRIL is for Easter?!) because it snuck up on me this year - but we still managed to get some fun holiday-ness in.

Cole did some Easter crafts - including making marbled paper eggs with shaving cream:

 

Easter morning, we got up early and went to church, then came back to find what goodies the Easter Bunny left.

Cole searching for his Easter basket:

 

This year was seriously SO MUCH FUN with Cole.  About two weeks ago, he somehow got the idea of the Easter Bunny (not sure where??) and that he brings Easter baskets.  So he requested to see pictures of the Easter Bunny, wanted a countdown every morning of when the Easter Bunny was going to come visit, and told me "EE-SER BUNNY BRING COLE EE-SER BASKET! EE-SER BASKET WIF' M&M'S FOR COLE!"

So of course, the Easter Bunny obliged and brought M&M's.  And some books, of course. 

He spies the basket full of treasures - so excited, he doesn't know what to do!

 

 

 

 

Handsome boys!  When we got Cole dressed for church, he turned to me and said, "COLE SO HANDSOME, MAMA! SO HANDSOME!"

In keeping with our yearly tradition, Sean and Kadance and Declan came over for Easter dinner.  We ate yummy food, dyed eggs, and did an Easter egg hunt!

 

 

 

 

 Cole's name egg:

 First Easter Egg hunt!  Took Cole a minute to figure out what to do, but then he was all over that action!  Hopefully next year the weather will cooperate so we can have a big one outside.

 Declan Boy loved the hunt!  After they got all the eggs, he started putting them back in their hiding spots!

 

 

 "LOOK WHAT I GOT, DADDY!"

 

 Cole loves his friend Declan!

Hope you all had a Happy, Hoppy Easter!

A Day in Our Life

Every once in a while, I love doing these kinds of posts.  It's awesome to go back and see what our daily routine was like a year ago, two years ago.

(Note: this was our routine pre- Operation Bye Bye Bink...our new schedule consists of too much crying, tantrums, and Cole refusing to sleep...in memory of our beautiful, peaceful days we used to have, we'll go with our old schedule.)

So here it is...a day in our life:

Cole wakes up around 6:30.  I hear him calling "MAMA! MAMA!" over the video monitor.

I go to his room - the instant I open the door, he requests "YIGHT ON PEESE!".  He's not a fan of the dark still.  We snuggle for a bit, then he goes pee (all by himself! we've been working really hard on being more independent in certain areas) and changes from his nighttime undies.  We head upstairs for some breakfast.

Pretty much every morning is the same breakfast: Cole has a carb of his choice (whole grain waffle with peanut butter and honey, toast with peanut butter, or oatmeal with fruit), along with milk and some scrambled eggs.

The instant Cole hears Daddy's alarm go off he morning, he's off to "help" him get ready for work.  Cole always waves bye to Dad - "BYE BYE! LUB YOU DADDY!"

Cole helps me clean up from breakfast. We've been working on giving him some more responsibilities, so when he's done eating he takes his dishes up to the sink, puts his bib away, and pushes in his chair.

We read books for a while.

Then begin the LOONNNGGGG process of getting ready to go for a walk.  It seriously take longer to get ready to leave the house than it does for our walk.

 

 

 

9:30-10:00 As soon as we get home from our walk, we brush Cole's teeth, pee, change into nighttime undies (pull-ups, still working on not wetting the bed), and climb into bed for nap.  Cole gets one or two stories, then reads in his bed until he falls asleep.

10:00 I shower and get ready for the day.   Unload/load the dishwasher, vacuum, clean, do crafts, read books, and catch up on Downton Abbey or Grey's Anatomy.

12:00 - 1:00  Lately, Cole has been taking AMAZING naps.  2 -3 hours.  It's incredible.  Cole is eager to get up as soon as he wakes up first thing in the morning, but after his nap he's a total cuddler.  He likes to wake up slowly in his bed, snuggle with me for a little while, and THEN get up for lunch.

1:00 Lunchtime.  This day, Cole chose pasta with olives, tomatoes, and parmesan, kiwi, carrots dipped in hummus, a handful of pistachios, and Greek yogurt.  For his one "special treat" of the day, he chose a cookie.

 

2:00 Now we begin the other LONG process to leave the house.  I try to get out most afternoons of the week, because we tend to go a bit stir crazy in the house, but if we don't get out we use the afternoons for reading, playing, crafting, and running up and down our downstairs hall like crazy people.

If we have errands to do, I clean Cole up from lunch, ask him to go pee, take the dogs outside to pee, help Cole get dressed, let the dogs in, bring the dogs upstairs to our room where Cole begs to give them each their biscuit, pack a snack for Cole in the diaper bag, and grab a jacket for him ("COLE BRING JACKET JUST IN CASE, MAMA? JUST IN CASE?")

4:00 Home from the park/errands/etc.  If I didn't put something in the crock pot for dinner, this is the time I use to make dinner while Cole plays with toys or "helps" in the kitchen.  If the crock pot is making dinner for me, we go for a bike ride, play with toys, read books, or take a bath. 

 

5:00 Daddy arrives home and Cole runs around screaming at the top of his lungs. SO EXCITED!  He immediately requests a story:

We have dinner together:

 

 

And then bedtime routine - brush teeth, pee, jammies on, stories, and bed.  Again, Cole reads in bed until he falls asleep - he is asleep by seven at the latest.



Chris and I have an uninterrupted stretch of time in the evenings for reading (me), basketball/racquetball (Chris), and watching movies (both).  I'm almost always in bed by nine or nine thirty (see above: Cole's wake up time).  And then we wake up and start all over again! 

I love the routine of our days.  There's a quote about motherhood: "The days are long but the years are short."  Occasionally, our days are long...but the majority of the time they are just right, filled with simple busy-ness and just the right amount of activity.

Tell me about your daily routine.  What are your days like?