Show Us Your Life-Baby Gear

So this week it's show us your life - baby gear over at Kelly's Korner! As a mom of 2 I def. know what has worked for us and what has been more of a waste of money. Some things look so cute but then they turn out to pretty much be a waste. So if any new mom's or mommies to be have any other questions feel free to ask! Emma was a preemie so some things we used with her weren't useful with Tanner.

Thermometers:

Ear thermometers have been great with both mine! This is the Braun Thermoscan Ear thermometer that we use. It's very simple to use, the batteries hold up great! and it doesn't take but just a second to take the temp.

Travel System:

This is the travel system that we used with Emma and we still use the carseat with Tanner. Evenflo makes great baby gear and it's held up very well! There is hardly any wear and tear on the carseat or stroller. (and both were used with my niece as well)

Swing:

Swings are def. a MUST HAVE!! It was a life saver with Emma & it has been with Tanner as well. Both of mine have fought sleep when its nap time and putting them in this swing has made life so much easier! Tanner goes right to sleep if he's moving in this! It has 6 speeds and music and has the toy pictured here.

Bumbo Seat:

The bumbo wasn't useful with Emma, in fact we never used it with her. Tanner loves to sit up even though he's only 4mths. (almost) lol These are suppose to help baby learn to sit up but Emma was sitting up by 6mths with no problem! If your baby seems to want to sit up earlier then I would def. say to get a bumbo! Tanner loves to sit up while I cook dinner or just to watch tv with his big sister. :)

As for all those bottles you will need washed (if you bottle feed or pump) these dishwasher baskets are lifesavers!! Get at least 4! I hate washing bottles by hand because it takes so long to wash all the parts, esp. depending on which bottles you choose to use. I have tried to do bottles in the dishwasher a few times with only 2 baskets and some lid always falls off and ends up in the heating element! ha! As far as these go they also come in handy when you start using sippy cups! The lids and valves to sippies will do the same thing!

Exersaucer:

This was a God send for us! Emma played in her exersaucer from 4mths until I know at least 1yr! Tanner has just started using this and he loves to chew on the toys and watch tv. It gives you somewhere to put baby while you shower or cook if you choose to not use something else. These are def. worth your money!

Soothing Motions Glider:

The first 2 wks home with Tanner this is what he lived in! He slept in it all the time and loved it. It has 2 speeds and songs and the toy bar. I wouldn't say this is a necessity though. The bouncy seat or swing could easily replace this. Tanner just always loves to be moving so this helped from day 1 home!

Bedroom Bassinet:

This is the exact bedroom bassinet by Graco that we used up until this month. Tanner loved it! He slept in our room in this every night. It has the toys, 2speeds of vibration, music, lights, nature sounds, an alarm..everything! This was well worth our money. While the bassinet part is up it has the storage area underneath which was very helpful for those middle of the night feedings and diaper changes! It also rolls very easily so you can move it from one room to another!

Bottles:

The playtex Drop-Ins & The Avent bottles have worked best for us with both kids! The drop-ins don't have alot of parts to clean and the liners are disposable so it works out great. They have worked great at keeping air bubbles out of their little tummies too! The Avent bottles are simple to clean as well and they have not caused any gas/tummy troubles either.

Double Strollers:

This double jogging stroller is the one we have by Instep. It is a breeze to push and it works sooo great!! I don't know how we would make it without this. With 2 kids that are 34mths apart it's very difficult to find a double stroller that accommodates both kids easily. It was very difficult to push both kids in the tandem double strollers too. The ones that sit front to back are great as far as trying to take them to the stores or something but our experience has shown that they are HORRIBLE to push. Some people love there strollers that sit front to back but we hated ours. The wheels never seemed to want to push the weight of 2 kids and a diaper bag. Trips to the fair and anyplace that is not paved have become soo much easier with a jogging stroller. I don't actually jog with the kids nor does my hubby, but it it so much better to push than the other stroller. We originally had a Combi Counterpart Double Stroller and it was horrible. I suggest if you are going to have 2 children fairly close together or at least like we did, to get a jogging stroller.

These are just the things that have/have not worked for us so they may work/not work for you! Trial and error is a big part of being a mom! Diapers are always controversial for mom's- some work well for some and they leak for others! Don't discount using store brand baby products - diapers, bottles, formula. These things have all been used in our house at one time or another and we have a healthy 3yr old & 4mth old to prove it. :) Again, if anyone has any questions about any of this as a first time mommy or soon to be mommy of 2 email me! Going from one kid to two was a BIG transition for me and it was kind of difficult to say the least so if you have any questions about that either! I'd be glad to help!!

Where has the time gone?

It has been much too long since my last post! Little Man will be 14wks tomorrow!! yikes! Sassy pants had a wonderful 3rd birthday but mommy was very emotional that day. I just couldn't believe that my little 6lb 14oz baby girl had already done and learned so much. :( We had friends and family over to celebrate at our house. The kids enjoyed some water time in the 2 little pools, sprinkler, and slip n slide Emma wanted. They all had a blast and many did not want to go home. We have been blessed with such wonderful friends and family that the day was so special to us. There were many people who didn't make it for various reasons but we had a wonderful time. I'll add some pics at the end of this post. :)

At Little man's 3mth appt. he weighed 12lbs 11oz! He is a growing boy I tell ya! He loves to hold his head up and sleep on his tummy! He eats 6oz about every 3-4hrs sometimes more often. I think he's going through a growth spurt right now though. He was sleeping anywhere between 8-12 hrs a night and now he has suddenly started waking up to eat once during the night. Hopefully he'll be back to sleeping all night again soon. Oh how I love that time!!

Sassy Pants only weighed in at 27lbs at her 3yr checkup. She has always been in the bottom percentiles for her weight for age so it was no surprise. She had a great checkup other than the constant double ear infection that wouldn't go away. After 3 antibiotics she is headed to see an ENT Tuesday and hopefully we can resolve whatever the problem with the resistant bacteria in her ears are. Please say a prayer that she doesn't have to be put to sleep to have tubes!!!! I'm soo scared that that is whats gonna happen.

We took Emma on her first camping trip a couple wknds ago. She had alot of fun. We took the rhino on a cancer ride. All the proceeds went to cancer and since it is close to our hearts we were very happy to participate. We grilled, made s'mores, and slept in the tent for 2nights. She wasn't feeling too good on the last day though and was ready to head home. She had fun and was so excited though.

I am still doing classes online and at the college. It seems to never end but hey its leading towards a better future. The hubby is working as much as possible and the kids are both doing well. So I hope everyone has a great week and weekend!! Enjoy the pics!

Family Pictures!

Wow!! Time has flown by so quickly! I can hardly believe Little Man is 8wks old!! He has gotten to be so long and such a big eater! :) He thoroughly enjoys his bottle! haha! We had family pictures made by a great friend/photographer! These are just a few of the ones she took from our session and I am so in love already! Little Man was so great with it all and he took alot of great pictures. Sassy Pants on the other hand had a major meltdown and did not want to take any at all. We managed to get a few good ones I think! I did however just realize that I am the whitest out of the 4 of us! haha!!

Emma Grace will be 3 this saturday! I can hardly believe that she has grown up before my very eyes! It seems like just yesterday she came into this world a tiny little girl being transfered to the NICU. She has done so much since she came into this world and is well beyond her years. :) I am so excited for her to get to spend a couple hours with so many people that love her so much. This birthday I think will be the best so far because she will be able to interact and do everything everyone else is. I will def. post pics afterward!

Tanner goes for his 2mth checkup on the 11th so we'll see how much he has grown and how much weight he has gained. I do believe he is well over 10lbs though! He has the cutest little fat legs! Hopefully the shots won't be horrible! He hasn't had any since birth so i don't know how he will react yet!

Guess I will get back to my mounds of laundry awaiting me! Have a great week!!

Giveaway!

Jenn over at First Comes Love...Then Comes Marriage is having a GREAT giveaway for a super cute onesie! Head over and leave a comment and become a follower to be entered!! She has so many cute designs to choose from or come up with your own! :) Good Luck!

Busy Busy!!

Wow! Things are definitely crazy with 2kiddos! I don't think I honestly thought they would be so jam packed with things to do. But they are all fun things as long as they are with these 2 little loves! :) Tanner will be 5wks on friday!! I can't believe he has grown so fast. It seems like just yesterday he was born. He is growing like a little weed. He weighs 9lbs 11oz and is 22in. long! He's almost gained 2lbs since he was born. Emma is loving have a new little brother. She wants to help feed him and change him and even burp him! It's so cute. Things are going so fast and have been so crazy that we haven't had many outings lately. We're still adjusting to things and its still very hard waking up every 2hrs to feed him but hopefully we will all be adjusted soon! Hope everyone has a great week!!

Introducing...

Baby Tanner

Tanner has finally arrived!! He was born June 5th at 12:45pm via c-section! He weighed 7lbs 15oz and was 19.5 in. long!! He is perfectly healthy and growing like crazy. His big sister is very excited and can't wait for him to be bigger already. lol She spent a few nights at her grandmother's until mommy can get adjusted to waking up at night and all the new mommy stuff again. It's strange to go from one baby to two!! I thought I was well prepared but boy was I wrong. The c-section went well and there were no complications. I was very sore the next day and still am a little. I had my staples (23) out this week and recovery seems to be going much better since then. I find myself slowly doing more and more each day to get back to "normal". Hopefully this will be a smooth transition for all of us and not be too hard. Let's all hope and pray!! That's about all the details for now...I'm gonna go spend a little time with the hubby & little man before big sister gets home! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Our last weekend as....

a family of 3! Things around here this weekend have been pretty normal...not much going on. Friday I had my last dr's appt. before delivery and Emma Grace went with me. She loves to hear his heartbeat and giggles when she hears it. It's so cute! Dr.M said that I had to be at the hospital 2 hrs before my csection is scheduled so we've worked out who will be with Emma while they are doing it so that she can be there when he is born. Immediate family will be at the hospital during the procedure and then the next day extended family and friends will be welcome. Having a csection and a tubal is going to take a lot out of me and I remember how recovery with Emma was afterwards so we're going to try to keep visitors to a minimum for a little while. Everyone seems to understand so let's hope it all goes well!

Today was really the only day we had actual plans though. We got up and got ready and headed to my 2 great aunt's house. They cooked an amazing lunch and then the kids ran around and played. After a while the heat got to us all though so we all packed up and headed home. After a trip to the grocery store we are all home for the night and ready for what's in store this week.

Please keep us in your prayers as we go in Friday! We pray that nothing goes wrong and everything as planned with an easy recovery for me! We mostly pray for a healthy baby with no complications during delivery!! Emma is getting so excited to meet her little brother and so are we. It will be difficult to adjust at first but I'm positive that we can make the transition from a family of 3 to a family of 4!! I hope everyone had a great weekend!! Enjoy some pictures from this last weekend as a family of 3!! :)

Show Us Where You Live Friday!

This will be my first time participating in Kelly's Show Us Where You Live Friday!! I have enjoyed looking through all the other rooms that people have posted about and gotten so many great ideas! There are so many great decorators out there!

As for our house, baby Tanner is scheduled to make his debut next friday so there isn't much time left for decorating his nursery! I have managed to get the basics in and get things put together. His nursery is nothing extravagant but I thought I would share anyways! Hope you enjoy!

His bedding is by Baby Martex and has adorable turtles and frogs on it!

His dresser is crammed full of cute little outfits just waiting for him to wear! :) I made the two picture frames that are on top of the dresser with an extra valance that came with the crib set. I'm hoping to put some photos of baby Tanner and his big sister in them.

Changing table

Gifts from family & friends!!

That's all for Tanner's nursery...any decorating ideas are welcomed and appreciated! ;)

Aside from Tanner's nursery we have Emma Grace's room! Her room has the cutest color on the walls- it's called dragonfruit! She got new "big girl" bedding that she picked out herself and we've tried to match the things in her room but it began to get a little difficult. Hope you enjoy! (Ignore the messiness)

Emma's mosaic "E" was a gift when she was born!

Her "big girl" bed

Organizers full of toys! haha!!

Dresser (desperately needs a new paint job or some kind of updating)

Hairbow holder

Emma Grace

Thanks for stopping by to check out Tanner and Emma's rooms! I look forward to enjoying the rest of the nurseries and rooms posted on Kelly's blog! Come back to meet little Tanner soon!