our favorites | the first three months

This is one of those posts that I've been meaning to write for a while.  Like when Elsie turned three months old.  And now we're a week into our fifth month.  But you know.  I was close.  Here are a handful (plus a few) of items that got a whole lot of use during Elsie's first three months of life.

Halo Sleepsack with Swaddler  ::  The truth is I've had a love hate relationship with this thing.  I LOVED it with Ryann.  With Elsie I've been better at swaddling with blankets, but I still prefer the sleepsack at night.  Because at 3am when I can't function I need simple and velcro.

Pottery Barn Baby Bath Wrap  ::  We've used the kid sized towels with Ryann since she was about six months old.  They are just thicker and better well made than any other 'kid' towel that I've tried in my opinion.  So it just seemed natural to pick up a baby one for Elsie.

Zip-Up Sleepers  ::  First of all, half the time I was too damn lazy to put a real outfit on her.  Secondly?  Again, at 3am you want easy.  Millions of stupid little snaps that you can't sees when you're trying to keep it somewhat dark and you're really not all there anyway?  Not cool.  So zip-up sleepers are a must.

WubbaNub  ::  When we came home from the hospital, the only pacifier Elsie would even consider was the soothie.  Want to know what happens when your sweet little babe spits out a soothie?  It bounces and rolls through the biggest dust bunny in your house.  The wubbanub solves that problem, and you can also kind of prop it against stuff to keep it from falling out of your little one's mouth.

Jacques the Peacock Take Along Toy  ::  I think these things are ridiculous, but Elsie seems to like it.  It is the first toy she ever grabbed for.  She even face crawled across a blanket to get for it.  So apparently it's cool.

Boppy Pillow  ::  This thing is great for nursing, but also for propping baby up as well.  Both Elsie and I hate nursing without the boppy.  Seriously, she sucks at nursing in public because she gets all pissy that her legs are dangling.  Not sure what we're going to do in a couple months when she really is too big for the thing.

JJ Cole Car Seat Cover  ::  I absolutely love this thing for winter babies.  It kept her warm and snug without putting anything behind her (which is a safety hazard).  The only downside is if you use you're carseat without the base you have to pull the bottom off to get the seatbelt through the hooks.

Shea Moisture Organic Baby Bodywash & Lotion  ::  Ryann's skin was pretty sensitive, so we used California Baby smells like nothing thus leaves your kid just smelling wet bodywash.  No fun.  We decided to give the Shea Moisture stuff a go when Elsie was born, and not only do I actually get to enjoy a clean baby smell (it is quite possible I could get high sniffing my kids after they are bathed, so good), but it hasn't seemed to make Ryann's skin any worse.  Win win!

Boon Grass Drying Rack  ::  We were gifted this by a couple of our friends, and I just love it.  We had a Dr. Brown's drying rack, but this one is just so much cuter, and relatively effective.  We have one of the little flower attachments that is nice for hanging smaller stuff off of.

Motorola Video Baby Monitor with 3.5 inch Screen  ::  With Ryann we had a Summer brand video monitor, and I absolutely loved it.  Having a video monitor gives me piece of mind, and came in super handy when we did some sleep training.  But when it came time to add a second camera, the model we had no longer had second cameras available.  And after some research I decided to try the Motorola monitor.  Aside from the battery life of the parent unit, this thing has been AWESOME.  I love the ability to pan the camera from side to side.  I wish I could view both rooms at once, but really this gets the job done.  There are some other video monitors out there that I wish I could compare side by side with this one, but again, overall I am VERY happy with it.

Fisher Price Rock 'N Play  ::  Hands down absolutely our most used baby item.  I've mentioned it before, we tried having her sleep in a cosleeper next to the bed.  After a couple of days of little sleep I tried E in the rock 'n play, and never looked back.  She has slept in it for nights and nap pretty much every day of her little life.  It lets her sleep on an incline (big score for spitty babies).  It is light and easy to move around the house.  Pretty much?  I love it.

I've also got a few items not pictured above that definitely deserve a mention...

Chicco Keyfit 30 Infant Car Seat  ::  Our infant seat is still going strong and I still really like it.  It isn't the heaviest carrier on the market, it clicks in and out of the base easily, the straps adjust easily, really it is pretty great.  The only thing I wish now, is that I could have an all black or dark grey infant carrier.  I loved our pattern when we got it, but now I'd prefer something more neutral.

Medela Pump in Style Advanced  ::  I don't pump all that often.  Once a day really if I'm lucky.  But this pump has been great.  Easy to use, and efficient.  And as a mom you quickly learn that speed and efficency is key.  In theory if I'm only pumping once I could use a hand pump, or a single pump, but this one works great and I'm glad it only takes me 10 minutes to pump.

Hands Free Pumping Bra  ::  It took one time of sitting there holding the stupid shields up to my boobs and not being able to do anything else for me to make a run to Target for a solution.  The one I have is by Medela.  This one has the best reviews on Amazon from what I can tell.  If nothing else at least I can play on my phone while I'm pumping.

Medela Quick Clean Micro-Steam Bags  ::  You can pop these babies in the microwave with your pump parts, or bottles, or pacifiers, whatever you need to sterilize.  Another item that wins because it is easy to use.  Each bag can be used 20 times, I think my box came with five bags.  So 100 uses from one box.  Not too shabby.

Express Best Loved Bra Cami  ::  For the most part I prefer these over a nursing tank or bra.  Around the house (and uh, out of the house, whatever) I'll wear one under my shirt.  They are stretchy enough that I can pull them under my boob, but sturdy enough that they aren't really stretching out.  I tried a Target cami and it just didn't get the job done.  So I pull my shirt up, the tank down, and I'm mostly covered while I'm nursing. 

Seamless Clip Down Nursing Bra  ::  This bra gives me more support than the tank, but it still really comfy.  And it has enough stretch that it can accommodate a changing bust size.  I do have two gripes with it though, the pads inside get shifted around with pretty much every feeding (annoying) and it comes up relatively high, so you have to wear a regular t-shirt or a pretty high cut shirt to not see it.  But it is comfortable enough that I can sleep in it, and almost prefer it to my sleep bras.  I do need to pick up a more structured nursing bra.  I'm open to suggestions!

Apple iPhone  ::  Duh.  My phone is by far my most used posession ever.  Phone calls, texts, pictures, video, this thing is pretty much the bomb.  And with two kids dragging around my big camera is less appealing, so the phone is definitely winning.  I've also got a baby tracker app.  So my phone does and knows all.

I think that about covers the bulk of our favorite items.  If you want a more extensive list of gear that we've used check here.  If you have any questions on gear feel free to ask, and I swear I'll do my best to answer!  I've been terrible about responding to comments.  I'm aware.  But I PROMISE I read every single one.  Thanks for being awesome readers!