Yardsale Find #2 - Sand/Water Table

As we were riding around the neighborhood looking for Anna a bike, I saw this Step 2 Sand and Water Table sitting in someone's driveway. A little boy was selling some of his old toys to make a little money. It came with an umbrella that wasn't in the best of shape so we have taken that out for now which also allows us to put the lid on it. The lid has already come in handy as we had a downpour of rain last night after filling the table with fresh sand. The table is meant for both sand and water but the girls are happy enough with just sand and I'm hoping it will keep the table less messy. The table has already provided an hour of entertainment, so for $15 I'm well pleased.

Yardsale Find #1 -- New Bike

As the rain clouds crept in this morning, we decided to forego a trip to the NC Agfest and drive around the neighborhood to see what our neighbors in WoodSpring had to offer at their yardsale. We were hunting for a new bike for Anna since she has outgrown her tricycle. After stopping at several houses that had smaller bikes with no training wheels, we finally found this one.



It was in fairly good shape, had a cute basket on front, a place for Anna to put a doll on back and pink - so for $15 it was hard to pass up. When we got home we took a quick test ride down the sidewalk and Anna was able to pedal with a little help from Oma.



Maddie quickly took her place on the tricycle.



I look forward to watching them both learn to ride their bikes this summer.

Busy Ball Popper

The number one toy around our house these days whether it is just Anna and I here at the house or if one of her friends is over is the Playskool Busy Basics Busy Ball Popper. The idea is that this toy shoots plastic balls into the air and then catches them in a tray over and over again. Anna got this toy last Christmas (at 2 months old) so she didn't have a lot of use for it at the time so I stored it away in a closet. We would bring it out whenever kids over 2 came to visit and they LOVED playing with it. Anna now gets the same joy out of it. If a friend comes over Anna will walk over to the ball popper, push the button (of course lots of loud music starts playing), and then Anna will dance with excitement. She even knows how to put the balls back into it if they roll out onto the floor. This seems to be a great toy for kids one year and older. Here's Anna and her cousin playing with the ball popper.

A Better Deal on Shoes

Just as the sales lady at Stride Rite told us, in three months Anna outgrew her shoes. Previously in my blog I mentioned the Stride Rite shoes and the sticker shock my husband and I had over them. To us, we feel it is important for Anna to have at at least one good pair of shoes to run around in (plus her foot is too thick to fit well into the shoes at Target), so we decided to check out the Stride Rite Outlet while we were at Myrtle Beach. It was a hit - we walked out of there with 3 pairs of shoes for a decent price including a pair of $15 tennis shoes. I'm guessing they are all last years shoes, but Anna is 14 months old and I'm not too worried about her being out of style :).

Here is Anna in her "funky" shoes...

Pow-Pow-Powerwheels

One of Anna's Christmas gifts from her Mimi was a hot pink electric Power Wheels car. Anna looks absolutely adorable riding along in her car.


The car has a stick out of the back that allows the parent to control the steering and movement of the car and then the stick can be removed so that Anna can do it herself by pushing the button on the steering wheel. Right now she is content to just sit and hold on.

This gift though has made me wonder... is there such thing as "too good" of a gift? After several trips out in the garage to get in our real car with Anna crying because she cannot ride in her little car, we finally covered the car up with a blanket.

Discovery Dome

Being new parents at Christmas, we had no clue what kind of toy to buy for Anna (she was about 2 months old at the time). One day I saw a commercial on tv for Playskool's Discovery Dome and I thought - that's the gift.

It was sold out at Target until after Christmas but we bought it in January since the age range started at 3 months. 3 months!! The advertising sure fooled me. Anna is now 7 months old and she is for the first time inside of the Discovery Dome and playing around. Now I need to figure out what gifts are good for a 8 month old :).

Floppy Seat

During a baby shower we received a floppy seat which can be used in either a grocery chart or high chair. One key feature is that they are suppose to be more sanitary than the nasty carts and high chairs that you find at stores and restaurants, but I like how comfy it is and how much easier it is to keep Anna's toys in. I used the floppy seat for the first time last week and it took me about 10 minutes standing in the parking lot to figure out how to correctly put it on the cart. Today I was back at the same store and the floppy seat fit on there much better, so I'm getting better with practice. I see many kids in them when I am out and about - many different manufacturers make them and some even have built in toys. I am greatly enjoying that Anna can now sit in the grocery carts and I no longer have to try to fit everything on top of her stroller or nervously push her around the store with her carseat sitting on top of the grocery cart. This is such a fun age!

Jump, Jump, Jumperoo

We are having some work done on the downstairs of our house and so Anna and I have been spending a lot of time upstairs. I wanted to get something to entertain Anna and so I purchased a Fisher Price Rain Forest Jumperoo. Anna absolutely loves it! I put her in it first at Babies R Us to see if she would enjoy it. At first, she wasn't sure what to do and looked a little scared since she was surrounded by toys. I gently bounced her a few times and then she got the hang of it. Now, as soon as I put her in it she immediately starts jumping and smiling. This Jumperoo has a rotating seat so that she can go around to all of the toys. It's amazing to watch Anna figure out new toys. I just hope Anna doesn't outgrow it anytime soon - the maximum weight recommendation is 25 pounds.

Picture People

Yesterday we took Anna to Picture People to have professional pictures taken. When we arrived at the mall, Anna was taking a little nap and it took us awhile to wake her up for her pictures. Next time, I will get there even earlier and play with her for a bit first. The store manager was in charge of our photo shoot and was eager to get started. For thirty minutes Erik and I did everything we could think of to get Anna to smile and to pay attention to the camera. It was difficult with people walking by and looking through the mall window at her. The lady took pictures of Anna in her cute Easter dress and some in just a diaper. In the last set of pictures bunny ears were put on Anna and Anna started crying (who can blame her).

We ate lunch and walked around the mall for a little bit while we waited for the pictures to be ready. Once we arrived back at the store, all of the pictures were printed for us to look at. They were ADORABLE and I was so pleased. I will definitely use them again.

Stroller / Infant Carrier

Running errands, going for walks, taking car trips - these are things we do nearly every day and so it was important that we got a good car seat/stroller. We spent hours researching on Consumer Reports, asking friends, and trying them out at Babies R Us. In the end, it was the Babies R Us employee who convinced us to buy the Chicco Cortina Travel system. The key thing for me was a stroller that I could easily get in and out of the car and an infant carrier light enough to carry around. Well, there isn't exactly such a thing as a "light" carrier once you put a 16 pound baby in it- but I am very happy with our purchase. The infant carrier easily snaps in and out of the car base and stroller and the guy at Rex Hospital even said the base was easy to install correctly in the car. The stroller has a bassinet feature which I used today when taking Anna out for a walk around the neighborhood. The bassinet allows for babies to lay in the stroller without the carrier. The one negative review that I read on it which I agree with is the sunshade is a little short on the infant carrier so she may get a little more sun in her eyes than in another carrier. All in all I am very happy with this travel system and if I had it to do over again, I would make the same decision (except maybe get it in black and green :))

Laundry, Laundry and more Laundry

Today is Monday therefore it is laundry day. It is definitely true that with a baby comes more laundry - I had no idea. In the beginning I was doing laundry almost every two days but with a few purchases have been able to extend that time out to a week (as long as there are no diaper "explosions"). The main reason I was doing so much laundry was because we were always running out of burp cloths - it finally dawned on me one day, just go buy more :).

The other laundry saver I found is the sheet saver. The sheet saver was recommended to us, but when we looked at them pre-baby I didn't see why we would need one and so skipped over them for our registry. To me it seemed silly that they were so small because I thought the way the sheets would get dirty was from a leaky diaper. At the time, I had not tried to put a crib sheet on the crib mattress nor did I realize that the sheets would get dirty from Anna spitting up during the night, LOL.

Hooter Hider

Another mom introduced me to the Hooter Hider, more formally known as Bebe au Lait. This is a nursing cover with some unique features - my favorite being a hard arch in the top which allows you to see the little one while they are feeding. It comes in lots of cool fabrics, but beware that anything super bright and flashy may draws more attention during a time you might not necessarily want it :).

http://www.bebeaulait.com/

Lily Padz

A friend introduced me to these FABULOUS breast pads called Lily Padz. They are reusable (lasting about a month) and despite claims by other breast pads of being thin, these are the only ones that don't show through my clothes. They are much more effective after the first month of breastfeeding since the milk supply has regulated and there's less leakage, oh joy!

Lily Padz can be found online at Lilypadz.com or locally at Rex Hospital.

Bath Time

When we first brought Anna home from the hospital I remember being scared to give Anna a bath. She seemed so tiny and fragile. We made it through the first bath with the help of my mom by quickly dousing Anna with water and a little soap. Bath time is now a fun time in the house and we have gotten the hang of it.

Fisher Price Aquarium Tub: we love this tub! When Anna was really little and still had her cord, she laid in a hammock above the tub so that she was not submerged in the water. Now that she is bigger, the hammock has been lowered and she can sit in the water and has a comfy pillow. This tub will transition one more time when she gets a little bigger. I recommend it.

Huggies disposable wash cloths: To me, the disposable wash cloths made bath time so much easier. I'm sure I could have almost as easily put some soap on a wash cloth, but to me they made a difference :)

Exersaucer

Anna loves this hand-me-down. It is the Graco Baby Einstein Discover and Play Entertainer. In it, she sits surrounded by all kinds of toys. She started using this toy around 3 1/2 months since she needed good head control to keep herself standing tall.

Bumbo Seat

As Anna has gotten older she prefers to be up and looking around instead of laying flat on her back. Therefore, we bought a Bumbo seat (www.bumboseat.com). Its a lightweight portable seat that holds her in the sitting position. The age range on the product says 8 weeks to 12 months, but I'm not sure it will hold her that long. She has already started to try to lean forward and get out of it. If nothing else, it makes for great pictures.

Baby Bjorn

This afternoon we headed to Home Depot and the Baby Bjorn went with us. (The Baby Bjorn is a front carrier for the baby. Many friends I know have had them since their baby was born and loved being able to "wear" their little ones during the day to get housework done. We started out with a hand-me-down carrier made by LL Bean and there's a big difference - the Baby Bjorn is much more comfortable.) Now that Anna has control over her head, she is able to face outward in the Bjorn and LOVES to look around. The Bjorn is great for walks, malls, grocery stores, cleaning around the house and anywhere else I need my hands free.

I did learn the hard way though to look around at Anna every once in awhile. When she is in the Bjorn people tend to smile and comment, but they don't tell you when your child has LOTS of spit up running off of her face!