It’s so cliche, but time really just flies by!  Jellybean is over a year old … and random question, but at what point do we stop saying our kid is X number of months old and just say how many year?!  I remember making a conscious decision to stop telling people how many weeks old she was and just say the month.  In part it was easier for me, but mainly because I felt bad making people do the math! Any-who…

Somehow over the last few months we’ve managed to identify even more baby gear essentials/favorites.  Seriously this little person’s stuff, who doesn’t even weight 20 lbs might I add, has somehow managed to literally take over our condo!!  We’ve even had to clear out the DVDs in the living room tv stand to make room for all of her books.  Honestly though, not complaining AT ALL that she’s already a little book worm!

If you are new to the baby essential series definitely check out our favorites for newborns, 3-5 months and 6-8 months.

Favorite Baby Gear Months 9 to 12 | Life's Tidbits

Nuk Sippy Cup // Doesn’t leak, which is hugely important.  Like many parents it took a few sippy cups to find the one Jellybean liked.

Stride Rite Shoes // These were gifted to us from Jellybean’s nanny share friend.  They are fabulous!  Easy to get on and have actual soles.  I found a lot of baby shoes don’t have real (rubber) soles on the shoes.  Jellybean wore through her first pair of shoes in just a couple of weeks.  These shoes have held up well considering the little lady is putting them to VERY good use.

Sit-to-Stand Learning Walker  // Jellybean always wants to be on the move.  Before she could walk on her own she tore around the house like a little bat out of hell on this thing!!  The toy attached to the walker is also a huge hit and great sensory toy.

Britax Marathon Car Seat // We made the transition out of the infant carseat to the ‘big girl’ carseat on the early side.  This was two fold … 1) I wanted a new stroller and the only way to financially justify it was to sell the old one with all the extras 2) Jellybean is tall for her age and I felt like her legs were just too long for the infant seat.  This car seat got rave reviews online and from friends.  It was an easy choice for us!

Toes, Ears, & Nose! A Lift-the-Flap Book // Jellybean loves ALL books, but peak-a-boo and flap books (think interactive) are just about the best thing in her world.  She points to where ever the book is and say ‘more, more, more’ until you fetch the book, sit down and read it to her … endlessly!  LOL

Baby Banana Bendable Training Toothbrush // Great for making good habits AND she had 8 teeth prior to her first birthday!  A little dental cleaning was and is in order.

NoseFrida // Jellybean came down with her first cold … queue theme song from Jaws {or whatever else sounds scary}.  While it’s bound to happen at some point during the little ones 1st year there isn’t a parent out there that wouldn’t do just about ANYTHING to relieve their pumpkin’s symptoms.  The NoseFrida is amazing at providing sed relief.  That is assuming you can actually use it on your kiddo.  If your child is anything like mine it takes two parents to ‘administer’ the NoseFrida, however it was well worth the struggle.

Favorite baby gear for months 9 to 12?  Any recommendations for 12 to 24 months (or should I say 1 to 2 years??)?

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I struggled with if I should call it a baby welcome basket or baby shower basket.  Since I got the basket as a welcome gift for Jellybean, welcome basket won out!  A friend of mine reached out shortly after Jellybean was born and asked if she could come meet the baby.  She texted on her way and offered to bring us Starbucks, which I happily took her up on.  Not going to lie, the husband and I were pretty excited about having lattes delivered to the house!  When my friend and her husband arrived they not old had Starbucks, but also a gift basket for the little one AND some much needed sustenance (soup and cupcakes) for the husband and me.  Talk about thoughtful!!

Being new parents with little to no time to cook for ourselves we quickly ate devoured the cupcakes and soup.  Truth is, we totally had cupcakes for breakfast a few days in a row … when you had a newborn you eat what’s available, plus those cupcakes were DA BOMB!  It didn’t dawn one me until after they were gone to blog about the food and gift basket.  C’est la vie – the welcome basket is really what I want to show you anyways.

babywelcomebasket

This gift is both unique as well as personalized!  I just love it and we’ve used everything in the basket with the exception of one item that doesn’t fit Jellybean quite yet.  The pink dog is a huge hit not only with my daughter, but the little girl next door who is a few months older is pretty into it as well.  The contents of the basket included:

  • Book
  • Headbands
  • Night Gown
  • Onesie and Pant outfit
  • Pink Dog Tag Along Toy
  • Bath Cozy

babybasket_contents

Soooo fabulous, right?!  I can’t wait to copy my friend’s idea and create a welcome basket for someone’s new bundle of joy … as copying is the highest form of flattery!  Since my friend is kind of known for creating these baskets I certainly don’t plan on stealing her thunder, so I am going to have to hold off under a non-mutual friend has a baby.  :)

Have you created a welcome basket for your friend’s new baby before?  If so, what did you include in it?

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When you were little did you ever read The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein?  It was probably one of my favorite books as a child.  This tree stump reminds me of the very end of the story where the old man returns to the tree and sits on the stump.

treestump_blackandwhite

Happy Friday and have a fabulous weekend!!

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Each pregnancy is different and everyone has their own list of must haves for being pregnant.  I really appreciated all the tidbits my friends, coworkers and family shared with me on what I need or will need to help me enjoy being pregnancy.  Let me be honest; I have good days and bad days.  Sometimes I LOVE being pregnant and other times December can’t come soon enough.

It’s a roller coaster ride for sure, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.  It took some trial and error in the first trimester, but I slowly identified what “stuff” was essential to a “happy pregnant Nicole”.

So here are my pregnancy essentials … at least so far! :)

Pregnancy Must Haves and Essentials for all trimesters |  Life's Tidbits

{1}  Snoogle Total Body Pregnancy Pillow with Jersey Knit Cover
After sleeping SO well the first trimester I was shocked at how uncomfortable I was in the second.  While maternity clothes shopping, my mom made friends with another grandmother-to-be and her daughter.  The woman swore by this pillow and after a 5 minute conversation on “why this pillow is a-mazing” I was sold.  I LOVE this pillow … I’m not sure the husband does though as he keeps joking he has been “replaced”.  I should have invested in a pregnancy pillow sooner!

{2}  Kashi Chewy Granola Bars
I keep at least two granola bars in my purse at all times. I learned the hard way in the first trimester that if I skip a meal or wait too long to eat I start to feel horrible. Granola bars have been a life saver when we are on the go!

{3}  Manis and Pedis {I love the OPI colors!}
A little pampering for the Mom-to-be never hurt anyone, right?!?!

{4}  Cotton Lace Waist Thong
Comfy underwear is a must! I purchased these a size larger than I normally wear to give the tummy room to grow.  They have a good amount of stretch and I probably could have stuck with my normal size (at least so far … we shall see how the 3rd trimester goes).

{5}  What to Expect When Your Expecting
To quote myself from an older post … “This book is a classic.  It comes in handy when I have questions like “is this <insert pain/ache/feeling> normal?”.  Unlike Goggling it doesn’t give all these horror stories …”

A lot of moms and moms-to-be have mentioned Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Lotion is a pregnancy must.  I just started using it about two weeks ago when the belly started getting itchy.  Luckily my friend warned me this was on the horizon so the lotion had already been purchased before the itchiness began.  I’m not sure if it will make it onto my pregnancy essential list, but will definitely keep you posted.  :)

What are/were your pregnancy must haves?

signiture_nicole

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And no we aren’t talking about the book in this post.  Although I have heard fantastic things about the 5o Shades of Grey trilogy; I just haven’t had time to read the books yet. They are at the top of my list after I finish the Book Thief!

Instead we are back to the painting theme of the last few weeks and referring to the 50+ different paints I looked at in various shades of gray for the living room and hallway.  I honestly had no idea that gray could have hints of blue, purple and brown. It’s crazy how one color can have three “looks”.  A color online is different from the color swatch and then the color swatch can look different depending upon lighting and decorations within a room.  It’s really crazy how a color that’s considered neutral can take on a life of its own.  We had to stop looking at color swatches in our old place, because they looked so different in our new place.

While on the search for a living room shade of gray I realized I am somewhat afraid of color as well.  Afraid in the sense that I didn’t want to go too dark and have the walls take over the room.  Then there was the issue of not being able to visualize color sample on the wall painted on the whole wall let alone the entire room.  Despite knowing I was new to painting (as a form of decorating) I was very shocked at how difficult I found it the whole process.  I was all about finding the PERFECT color.

My husband was more than happy to slap whatever version of gray (that made me happy) up on the walls and call it a day.  We ended up purchasing so many sample paints I think the cost was close to a gallon .. oopps.  After 8 colors painted in “small” rectangles on one wall and 2 HUGE nondescript shapes painted on the walls we FINALLY chose our version of gray.

Luckily for me my husband is a taping machine.  I mean honestly taping takes FOREVER! It shocked both of us the amount of time it took him to tape things.  We tried to do a little painting without the tape, but neither of us have steady enough hands for that. :)  It took us a while to figure out how to paint/tape the bulk heads.  At first we thought we’d paint the whole thing the same color, but then I noticed the bottom of the bulk head was painted the same color a the ceiling.  We double checked all three rooms and they were the same.  So we only painted the “walls” of the bulk heads our new color.

Below is the husband checking out his taping handy work.

After much taping and covering up the hardwood floors our living room was ready to be painted!  So we go to it.

After a FULL, long and exhausting day of painting the room was finally done!!!  Despite the tape we still had a few oopsies.  To make sure we would know what to fix the next day we went back to the condo to do the touch ups.  See all the little blue dots … lots of little mistakes.

After doing touch up our living/dining room was ready for our stuff!  Although it took us forever to pick in a color in the end we love it and it was worth the multiple trips to the paint store.  The next weekend we moved into our new place … and all that was left was to unpack …

Happy home improvements!

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