I tried it and...

Welcome to my first installment of "I tried it and..."

I am going to try to do one of these a month.  So many times I go into a store, see a product and wonder if it's really everything the company says it will be. 
I want to be that friend you can go to and say "Have you tried this?  What do you think of it?"
I promise you my answers will always be 110% truthful.

My little man loves the squeeze pouches of food.  He actually gets excited when he sees me take one out of the pantry.  The problem is that they can be really expensive, even on sale. 
Walking through WalMart one day I saw these:

They are called Squeez'Ems and are made by BooginHead.
Cool...a reusable squeeze pouch!
They come in a pack of two and were around $8.00.

RATING: 4/10
:(

I was excited to be able to fill them with yogurt for Little Man. Now that my blueberry bush has ripe blueberries I thought I could make a puree and mix that with the yogurt as well.

They sell a funnel separately that you can use for easier filling but I just mixed everything in a zip top bag, cut the corner off and squeezed it into the pouches.

Filling them was pretty easy as the larger mouth is pretty big.  The problem comes when you try to snap the top on.  I pushed down really hard and it seemed to be closed.
Handed it to the little man...turned around to fill the next one.  Looked back over at him and there was yogurt EVERYWHERE.  All over his highchair, his head, clothes and even some on the dog.

Out of the four I have, the top only stays on one of them. 

The screw on top also gets in the way a bit too.  I can appreciate that they wanted to attach it to the pouch so it doesn't get lost or become a choking hazard but it is usually just hitting the little man in the face when he is trying to eat.  He gets annoyed at it and starts hitting the whole thing against the tray on his highchair...the top pops open and food is everywhere.

As far as being dishwasher safe, I put it in the dishwasher and it did not get clean.  I would recommend washing by hand with a bottle brush.

I had really high hopes for this product but just wound up being disappointed.

There are three more products along this line that I am going to try:
Infantino Squeeze Station
Yummi Pouch
Squooshi

I will let you know how it goes and if I would actually recommend any of these products for you to buy.


Let me know if there is a product you have been wondering about.  I will let you know if I have tried it!

Baby Toys

As far as baby toys go, you can't really go wrong.  There are tons of super cute toys out there and they all do a million different things.
In my experience these are a few favorites:

It is really easy for babies and toddlers to grip, this one has a rattle, and they can throw it (fling it) surprisingly far.

Another must-have is Sophie the Giraffe:

 



There is just something about Sophie that kids LOVE.  She is made of natural rubber and super squeaky.  She is easy for babies to grip and they love to chew on her legs.  I totally have a soft spot for Sophie.

Play mats are excellent for tummy time.  I recommend the Kick and Play Piano by Fisher Price.
My Little Man loved to kick at the piano and it kept him busy for quite a while.  Another nice feature is that once he was able to sit up, we could tilt the piano so he could sit at it. 

Bouncer/Exersaucer-
We registered for a combo bouncer/exersaucer so Little Man could have the best of both worlds. Just remember that they take up a pretty good amount of room.  They never look quite as big when they are on a shelf at the store.

WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING:
This next toy is the bane of my existence.
It is so annoying even Mother Theresa would have taken the batteries out of it.
Don't be fooled by it's cute face and happy smile.
It is pure evil

Ugh...I get chills just looking at the picture of it.
First of all it has that little string in front that is not long enough for a toddler to actually pull it along the floor (I know, I know, it has to be shorter than 9 inches so it is not a strangulation hazard) so it is usually being dragged upside down all over the house.  This is a real joy to listen to if you have wood or tile floors :)
See those 26 cute little alphabet legs?  They each play a different song (or say a different letter).  So as your little one is dragging it around and it is crashing into everything, it starts one song then another, and another, and another, and another and JUST FINISH ONE DAMN SONG YOU STUPID CATERPILLAR!!!!!
Okay, I feel better now. 
I am not sure how much product testing Leap Frog did before they put this product out but it would have been nice if it would lock out the other legs from playing songs so the first one could finish.
Needless to say Caterpillar Pal spent a lot of time with his switch in the OFF position.
And when the kids could figure out how to turn it on...Oh no...batteries are "dead".



Have fun registering for baby toys.  They should be the least stressful part of your registry and you really can't go wrong.  Unless you register for Caterpillar Pal...if you do that you are on your own...don't say I didn't warn you!

Baby Bedding

I would like to start with my number one bedding tip:
www.cloudsandstars.com
There is nothing more frustrating than changing crib bedding. You practically have to remove the entire mattress every time you want to change that fitted sheet. And if your baby spits up frequently, you could be changing that bedding almost every day. Clouds and Stars have a line of sheets that are called QuickZip, they actually zip on. A sheet goes under the mattress and comes up the sides. The top sheet simply zips around the edges. This is probably one of the best inventions ever. Trust me, you will not regret buying these.


My absolute favorite part of getting ready for my little man was designing the nursery.
We knew we were having a boy but we are also planning on having more children in the future so I wanted to do the nursery gender neutral.
I am a huge Beatrix Potter fan and love her beautiful soft illustrations.  After searching the internet and Pinterest I found exactly what I was looking for and discovered it was from Pottery Barn Kids.  There was just one problem.  The photos I found were for a bedroom set that was no longer available.  I searched eBay, Amazon and anywhere else I could think of and couldn't find what I was looking for anywhere.  Here is one of my inspiration photos: I love the walls!!

So I took matters into my own hands.
I went to Michael's (a very dangerous place for me) and bought plastic for making stencils (the Martha Stewart line sells it in rolls) and the heat tool used to cut/melt the stencil material.
I looked at my inspiration pictures and drew my version.  I added deer into mine and a few extra critters.
After taping the picture to the underside of a piece of glass (I just took it out of a picture frame) I taped the stencil material to the top and started to trace it with the point of the heat tool.  Go slow!

My husband painted the top half of the wall a neutral beige and the bottom half green.  I used the rest of the green to paint in the stencil (using a sponge stencil tamper thinger).
Over the course of a week I did a little at a time.  I am absolutely in LOVE with how it came out.  The bedding in the rest of the room is from Pottery Barn's new Peter Rabbit line.

It is a good idea to remember to think outside the box when you are designing your baby's nursery.  I was not very happy with the nightlight that was a part of the Pottery Barn Kids line.  The reviews were not great either. 
I found the perfect nightlight on Etsy.  It is absolutely gorgeous and I even went back and bought another for a friend.  The quality is incredible and I couldn't be happier with it.
You can check it out here:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/SwansonGlassDesign?ref=shop_sugg

 

Diapers Baby!

Alright, round two of the baby registry posts...DIAPERS

Diaper Bag-
If you are a girly girl and want that beautiful floral diaper bag, you may want to let your man take over the registry gun for a moment and let him pick out his own diaper bag.  Trust me, he is going to be much more willing to go out on his own with baby if he doesn't have to carry around a huge floral bag with him.  There are some really nice ones out there that even look like backpacks. Just remember if this is not your primary diaper bag, you should check it often to make sure the wipes are not dried out and the diapers are actually the size your baby is currently wearing (speaking from experience here).

Wipes Wipes Wipes-
You will be using these for just about everything for at least the next two years.  Don't be afraid to add like 10 of these to your registry. We buy Costco size boxes of them and use them for everything from diapering to a quick face wash on the go for the little man.

A warning about wipes warmers (I have used the Prince Lionheart wipes warmer) warmth + moisture can definitely grow bacteria.  I know most of the brands have a antimicrobial pad that goes in the bottom to keep this from happening but please read the instructions.  The pad doesn't last forever and must be replaced every so many months.  Also, if you use the last wipe and forget to refill it, the pad in the bottom will start to cook, turn brown and get hard.

Diapers-
Remember to register for a variety of sizes and remember baby won't be in the newborn size for very long.  My little man is 10 months old and wears size 3.  I feel like they are in this size for a good amount of time so if you are going to stock up on a size, 3-4 are good ones to get a large volume of.
*Dudes and Diapers- Many times, the soon-to-be Dad will hang out with his buddies while the baby shower is going on.  If he is planning on doing something like this it is fun to have each of the guys bring a box of diapers to give to the Dad. 

Diaper Rash Cream-
Putting 4-5 tubes of this on your registry would not be too much.  I have had good luck with the Desitin Creamy.

Diaper Pail-
I am a HUGE fan of the Diaper Genie.  I love that if you only have 3-4 diapers in it and one of them is a doozy, you can tie off that section and not waste an entire garbage bag.  Also...I just found out that Target makes their own brand of Diaper Genie Refill that I am testing out right now (as we speak) and so far I have been very happy with it.

Changing table stuff. 
2-3 changing pad covers are a good idea.  Lets face it, there are going to be days where poop gets all over the place.
They also make a pad that goes on top of the cover (so you can just toss that in the hamper rather than the entire cover) I have the Babies-R-Us brand and I hate them.  They refuse to lay flat on the changing table.  The edges roll up and most of the time it is bunched up under the little man's head.
USELESS.  If you can find the kind that lay flat they are awesome. 

Missing: Sock Buddies

A few years after I graduated college I started to nanny for a family with two little girls.  They loved to help me with anything and everything.  I am pretty particular about how I like to fold laundry so I wanted to find something they could do to help while I did the folding. 
I made up a game called Sock Buddies.  It is basically Go Fish with Socks.  They each had a pile and had to work together to make all of the matches.  They had fun playing and I got some work done!

One of my big pet peeves is when I can't find my sock buddies.  Baby socks are the worst.
I do the laundry and those little baby socks get stuck everywhere!  They sneak inside of Little Man's pants, they are so light they get plastered to the top of my washer during the spin cycle and are forgotton up there until the next load of laundry goes in.  Lately they have also been getting sucked into the rubber drain area at the in the front of my washing machine (I have a front loader).  The laundry is done and I have these soaking wet little baby socks blocking the water from draining out of my machine.

SOLUTION:  Mesh lingerie bags.  I clip one to the side of his laundry hamper and put all of his little socks in it.  When I am ready to do laundry, I zip it up and toss it in the wash.  After that it gets tossed into the dryer and I am a happy momma.  No missing socks and I don't have to frisk the entire basket of laundry to make sure there aren't any sock buddies hiding somewhere.
The best part...you can usually find mesh lingerie bags at the dollar store :)