Prepared for Baby...then Baby Happened

So I just read an article about The 10 Things You Don't Need to Buy for your New Baby, find the article here. This article got me thinking, about what would I have done differently or we are doing differently, since baby #2 is coming in about 6 weeks?  Where there things that we thought were must have's? Yes of course. Out of the most expensive things you can buy we actually did pretty well.

Changing Table/Pad

We didn't buy a "changing table", we just converted an already used dresser into one, by putting the changing pad on it. Worked out great but since we were so tall, we soon just changed our son on our ottoman with one of the best inventions the Patemm Pad! FYI, Patemm just turned 6! Till the end of July you can get your own pad for 20% off. Use code 6BDAY. This pad is great because it is ROUND not rectangle or square and it folds up into a square. Easy to clean and it eco-friendly. We love ours.

Crib/Co-Sleeper

 Meemaw bought us a crib from Ikea, above. I liked it when I viewed it on the web and I liked the price. It doesn't really fit through our house doors, so when we decided to move into our bedroom from the nursery, we found that it was a real pain to have break down and put back up again. Plus, I don't like how the bars are round. Our son is a mover and a shaker when he sleeps anyways, but I am thinking now, I should of found a crib that had flat pegs and he might of slept better. But truthfully, he has been sleeping with us since he was brought home from the hospital. The only time we use the crib is when he naps. But this would of been solved if we bought a co-sleeper pad that fits on our bed, so he would be safe from falling out. I found one at one of my favorite sites Franklin Goose.

Humanity Organics Family Sleeper

Still wondering how it work sleeping at night and movement but it seems to be a good idea. We are looking forward to breaking the crib down. With Baby #2 we have a borrowed bassinet but we will see how it works out to co-sleep with both of them.

With regards to co-sleeping, I have so many of my friends and even family that have not heard good things about co-sleeping. We made our minds up to co-sleep after doing research on attachment parenting and then making an educated choice. If you want to learn more Google attachment parenting or find parents that co-sleep, there are more out there doing it than you think, then make up your own mind after you feel you have been educated on both sides.

Stroller (Double)

We bought a stroller, Phil and Ted Sport with the doubles kit, above. Found it on a great site called Pish Posh Baby. We knew we would have more kids soon so this was a logical and small footprint of a choice. I had known other mothers that had double strollers that barely fit through doors and even through isles of stores. PRO: I wanted one that was easy to move around but could fit two kids and I could manage to afford. We will soon find out how the doubles kit fares. CONS:  Just from looking at the stroller I don't know if it will work out to have an infant and our son in the stroller but to be honest we rarely but our son in the stroller until he could hold his head up.CONS: The break is pretty had to engage and release. I am ex-college basketball player and can easily lift and carry things, most men should. So finding that the break is hard to use is not speaking lightly. One good thing though, once that darn break is engaged, it is engaged!

What I would of done different?

BOB Revolution Duallie Stroller, found at REI.com

Now I wish I would of looked at the Bob (found at REI or Bob Gear) I have had a few friends that rave about their Bob. Go test drive it at your nearest REI!
Or another option:
 Bumbleride double strollers. The features seem to be right on with what we would need and narrow enough to fit into places that some strollers don't. I think both would be nice to have now that we have two coming.

2010 Indie Twin from Bumbleride

Sling/Carrier/Wraps

I don't know if we are sling/carrier incompetent, but when I say we I mean me, but maybe my husband wants to be included on that. We have tried a handful of slings. I don't know if it is because we are so tall (6'0 and 6'4" respectively) but slings just didn't seem to work. We knew we wanted to have our son near us at all times and a car seat/stroller option just was not in the cards. Everywhere we went, he was carried by us in some sort of fashion. After trying out a few slings we went to the carriers. We tried the Baby Bjorn but found that we could not hold him very long before both our backs started to hurt. Plus, to me, if I had privates and gravity was in play and I had to sit ontop of a small plastic piece, I would not be very comfortable. Our son never told us differently. He seemed to like it.

The next thing we bought was the Moby Wrap.

I think we bought this a little to late since our son was already 6+ months and he was just a little mover. I think this wrap is perfect for newborn in the "4th Trimester." They are close to the parents heart and swaddled which are two things that soothes newborns.You can find them anywhere, Target, Baby R Us, but also online. A great place to shop for anything baby it Diapers.com or Diaper Junction.

Our current carrier is the Boba Organic G2.

I have not been able to try it since I am well into my 3rd trimester, but my husband has twice. The great thing about this carrier is it is more erogonomical for the child to sit. Plus it comes with foot rests so the babies/child legs are not hanging and pressure is created. Boba also has extra inches of height to keep the parents center of gravity closer to your body and support to give more support to the babies/childs back. Our son is still getting used to it, since he loves to explore with his new found walking talent. But we think it will be great once the other baby comes. One baby in the Moby and our son in the Boba. We got our Boba at another great place for baby Franklin Goose.

Diaper Pale/Diaper Caddy

We received one as a gift and by now (1 year later) we don't use it. One- we went to cloth diapers, well Hybrid cloth (GroVia). We can either use cloth inserts or disposable inserts (biodegradable in 100 days). If it is a poopy diaper, we either flush the waste or take the disposable insert out to our garage. If you know me you know we live in a very hot summer climate so you might say, well that will make your garage smell of dirty diapers. I would have to say, we have not experienced that as of today. Our garage still smells like a garage.  We also went to cloth wipes. We found a local woman who makes them, so our waste is pretty much rare. We love our cloth wipes. We still use eco-friendly disposable wipes when we are out and about. We used to use Natures Babycare Fragrance Free wipes. PRO: Very absorbent and thick. CON:  if you don't put them in a warmer or another carrier, we would get 2-10 wipes at a time. It was hard just to get what you need so we ended up using more than needed or stuffing the unused back into the package. We now use Seventh Generation Wipes, which you can find most anywhere but I purchase mine from Diapers.com (free 2 day shipping over $49). I like them because we get out what we want to use. They are eco-friendly and clean up messes very well.

Things We Don't Buy New Anymore

Having baby #2 on the way, and soon to be living on one income, we have come to realize that there some things that we just don't need to have be new anymore.
              #1 Toys- We have found that the best toys are things around the house. Our son loves pots and pans and basically anything else that we find that is safe for him. The toys we do have were either given to us or we go to a second hand store and stock up. But really, the best thing is just the interaction with him and us. Our house is not overran with toys and it will stay that way.
              #2- Clothes- It is nice to get new but then reality hits. 50% or more of our sons cloths were worn once or never worn at all. It is nice to get things from the Grandparents but I have even let them know that if they find sale pieces or second hand, send it our way.
Second hand all the way, or if I find a good deal online at my favorite deals and steals websites. Babysteals and Kidsteals has one steal a day. When the item is gone it is gone. Most pieces are over 50% off and are high quality, must have items. Zulily, Totsy and bTrendie, you have to sign up to access their sites. I have ordered a few things off of these sites and the order takes a little longer to get, but is well worth it.  Babysteals, Kidsteals, Zulily, Totsy or btrendie. Kids outgrow clothes so fast. Why spend full price on something? Find a great second hand store or even better, consignment sales.

Wel, hopefully this shed a little light into the maze of things to buy, things to not, things to wait and see, things to really research. Being a parent is an amazing experience so take each moment as they come. Everyday is learning experience, isn't it.