Baby Must Haves First 3 Months

I’ve had a few friends ask me what my must-have items have been for baby boy.  While everyone is different, and I’m sure you’ve all seen most of these, here are the few things that I’m not sure that I could live without!

Wubbanub – I lub these nubs! Seriously though, I love that the paci doesn’t just fly out of his mouth all the time.  And at night when he is swaddled it is a definite plus that it rests comfortably on his chest, all sprawled out, and doesn’t fall off until he moves around.  We were originally wanting to go the no-pacifier route but he loves it, and for us it’s better than his thumb.

Motorola Video Monitor – I love my sleep.  And since I don’t get a lot of it, it’s really nice to just be able to roll over and check on him when I want to.  I can make sure he’s breathing, yup I still check constantly.  And if he starts to get restless, I can look at him to see what’s wrong before I make the long walk down the hallway.  Yes I know it’s only about 10 feet down the hall, but man that’s a long walk when you are in a zombie-like state at 2 am.

Bumbo Seat – Baby boy loves his seat! Since he has more head control, I love to put him in it to watch me cook dinner, or fold laundry, or whatever else I need to do when I can’t hold him.  Yes, they recalled them and want you to get online and order the safety belt, which I will order soon.  But honestly, as long as you are watching your child, they are pretty darn safe.  And it’s best not to put them on top of the counter, which was the biggest issue people were facing.  Geez people.  Ok off my soapbox.

Boppy Pillow – This has been great for baby boy to take a few cat naps in.  It keeps him feeling secure like he’s still in my arms, so he doesn’t startle as much.  Great for breast feeding too!

Halo Sleep Sack – My friend Lori aka Mama Need Sushi got me this after the swaddle-me velcro swaddlers kind of stopped working for us.  These are amazing! I love the fact that I can get baby boy ready for bed and can feed him with his arms free, then wrap him up right before he falls asleep.  At 3 months now it is the first time we are running into the problem of him being too strong for it, and he can wiggle out quicker than I can get it fastened.  May be time to stop swaddling this little ninja!

City Mini GT – LOVE this stroller.  It is lightweight, and folds up with one hand! Great investment.  Only thing that bothers me is the front wheel tends to lock on its own, but I’ve seen that other people that have the same problem have just called the company and they’ve sent them a new wheel, no questions asked.  I plan on calling soon.  Just like I planned on calling a month ago!

Graco White Noise Machine – I really like having this.  It has a built-in night light and plays many versions of white noise, heartbeats, and music.  You can also plug your iPod into it which is a definite bonus! 

Playtex Ventaire Bottles – These were recommended to me by a coworker, and it’s the one and only bottle we have ever needed.  We started baby boy on a bottle around bedtime at 4 weeks knowing I would have to return to work.  He took this type like a champ.  And since they vent out of the bottom, I have NEVER seen an air bubble.  Like, not one. Ever. Nada.  He actually seems to have less gas problems with the bottle than with my breast. 

{How To Chop An Onion}

It took me a long time, nearly losing a few fingers, and crying many many tears before I found out the quickest and easiest way (in my opinion) to chop an onion.  I was watching Rachael Ray one day and she explained it while she was cooking.  It was a total aha moment for me and was when I really started cooking and finding new recipes to try.  That was the same Christmas that I asked for a good chef’s knife and cutting board.  I am much faster at it now and can almost do it without shedding a tear.  Almost. 

Choose your onion. You want one that doesn’t have any soft spots.  However, if you don’t have much choice, you can always cut that off.  And most of the time when you peel off the outer layer the soft spot will come off with it. 

Cut off each end of the onion close to the roots.  Some methods have you cutting through the roots lengthwise but I like doing it this way a little better.

Now you have more of a base so that you can chop your onion without it slipping all over the place. 

Cut the onion in half.

Peel off the outer layer from each half of the onion.  Sometimes you have to peel a couple of layers off if the onion is a bit old. 

Once you have the peeled you should have two beautiful halves, ready to chop!

Slice the onion parallel with the rings and keep it all together as much as possible.  This will make the chopping process much easier later.

Once you are finished, turn the onion 90° and chop perpendicular (oh yeah there’s my geometry teacher vocab coming out!) to your original cuts. 

You may find that as you get closer to the edge while making these last cuts, that you feel like your onion is getting a little wobbly and you are on the verge of losing a finger or two. Never fear!

When you get to the point where your onion feels like it is about to bust apart, lay it down, and finish your cuts, which will make the last few chops much more enjoyable, and you’ll save your fingertips.  Trust me.

Once you get done, you have perfectly chopped onions for soups, stews, sauces, etc.  If you want to dice the onions smaller, just make your original slices closer together. 

There you have it…The more I have chopped, the faster I have gotten.  Now chopping onions is no big whoop and I can get back to the cooking!  Good luck!

Then and Now…

Then…I would wake up and hit the snooze at least 3 times.  Sometimes I would even purposefully set my alarm for 30 min before I actually needed to get up just so I could hit the snooze.  Weird I know…

Now…I wake up at 4 a.m. for breakfast and I am never the one that gets to eat.

Then…I showered once a day.  Most days.

Now…You don’t even want to know.

Then…Babies breath was only something I associated with cheesy wedding bouquets.

Now…Babies breath smells like milk.

Then…Dinner consisted of a well planned meal, the best ingredients, taking pictures, and a glass of wine.

Now…Dinner is whatever I can quickly get my hands on.  And I still get the glass of wine every once in a blue moon. 

Then…I got to eat when the food was hot and ready.

Now…I understand the mommy diet.  Which is working on eating your plate of food for an hour or more, then quitting eating because it’s cold and just not really that tasty anymore.  Not that it was really that tasty to begin with!

Then…the only thing I pumped was gas

Now…I pump three times a day and get 5 minutes to eat lunch.  You gotta do what you gotta do!

Then…I wished I could lose 5 pounds.

Now…I wish I could go back to wishing I could lose 5 pounds.  And I would tell that girl she’s stupid and she better love her body!

Then…Slobbery kisses were a total deal breaker.

Now…Slobbery kisses make my day.

Then…My husband, family, and God were the center of my universe.

Now…Everything has changed, but for the better.  I didn’t think my heart had any more room, until I held this perfect little guy in my arms.

They say that your life completely changes when you have a baby.  It truly does, in the most wonderfully complicated way.  Every minute of my day is consumed by this tiny little person, and I love almost every minute of it.  It’s the hardest, most rewarding job I’ve ever had. 

So you may see less posts from me, well heck, let’s be honest you haven’t seen many posts from me at all for months now.  But I do still love to cook, and take pictures of food (and just recently learned the wonderful world of manual mode on my camera! woop woop!) and this blog is a way for me to keep track of all my recipes.  A few of you even print them out every once in awhile …I hope that I can add a few new things to the blog, especially making my own baby food.  But we’ll see.  For now I’m just going to snuggle this handsome baby boy and try and enjoy every minute of it.  And if cooking and blogging just happen to get done in the process, well great! And if they don’t…I’m sure you’ll understand.