My list of baby must-have's revised after baby #3

1. Swing

2. Bouncy Chair

3. Crib

4. Crib mobile

5. Crib music soother

6. 2-3 crib sheets, 2 mattress waterproof pads

7. Sleep positioner

8. Humidifier

9. Nose aspirator (washable!!)

10. 2-3 towels

11. 4-5 washclothes

12. infant bath tub

13. non-slip mat or sticky pads for bathtub

14. bath toy holder, faucet cover

15. plastic spoons and forks (use a plastic toothbrush holder for travel)

16. high chair with at least 2 trays (3 preferable) or a highchair booster seat combo. (Revised after 3^rd kid, at first my hubby didn’t like the booster seat that attached to the chair, but now we hate that a separate high chair takes up too much floor space.  We like the Fisher Price Healthy Booster Chair.  It’s great for travel and everyday use.  Easy to clean and you can even use it on the floor/ground if you picnic.)

17. plastic bowls

18. plastic bibs (at least 3)

19. changing pad

20. 2-3 changing pad covers

21. lap pads (4-5)

22. cloth diapers/receiving blankets (7-8) we used them only as spit clothes

23. fold up bottle drying rack

24. snack cups

25. bottle brush

26. sleep sacks

27. Exersaucer

28. Activity Gym

29. Umbrella stroller or jog stroller.

30. Infant car seat

31. Pack n play (simple unless you’re going to have it out in your house.  If you use it all the time, then splurge for the vibration/music.  If you just use it for travel, don’t need all the bells and whistles.)
                For the Pack n Play, buy the quilted crib sheet, makes it much more comfy for the babies to lay on. 

32. Floppy seat cover for grocery cart/restaurant high chair

33. Ergo carrier (much better than the Bjorn)

34. Stroller travel system.  If you have two cars and will both be using strollers, get a snap n go for the 2^nd car.  I’d buy the snap n go used, cuz you don’t use it for that long.  (Revision after 2^nd child, if you need a stroller in two cars, I’d do BOB revolution w/infant seat attachment in one car, snap n go in the other.  Later on, Snap n go can be replaced with umbrella stroller.)  (Revision after 3^rd child: I think travel systems are out now.  I hear great reviews on Baby Jogger City Mini for non-BOB fans.)

35. Go go kids carseat roller (for plane travel)

36. Kiddopotamus Tiny Diner placemat. If you go out to eat often. (We love this!!)

37. Kiddopotamus plastic bib (good for travel as well)

38. Something to swaddle.  I’ve tried all the swaddle stuff, the kiddopotamus and ultimate swaddler but I found that regular blankets worked best. 

39. Gripe water (loved this, especially for my colicky babies), Infant tylenol and advil (advil only after 6 months old).

40. Baby monitor.  If you have a big house, and the baby’s room is far away then splurge on this one.  Our house is small, we hardly used it.  I just leave our doors open and can here her.  I mostly use my baby monitor when we travel to friends/family houses when we’ll be far from her room. (Revised after 3^rd child.  We remodeled our house and now our master bedroom is far away from kids rooms so we use monitors all of the time.  I didn’t splurge for video monitors so I got the Phillips Avent Basic Baby monitor with Dect technology.  We have brick walls and it works awesome.  We have two one for each kids room and they don’t interfere with each other.  And I like being able to talk back to the older kids walkie talkie style, I use that feature quite often.)

41. Glider (not essential, used in the early years but hardly used now except for story time reading) (Revised after 2^nd and 3^rd child, I use the glider for nursing baby at night in their room.  After newborn phase I didn’t want to have baby sleep in bed with us if possible.  The only way was if I was sitting up.  I would nurse in the glider then put baby back to bed. Still use it to rock baby to bed or nap every day.)

42. My breast friend or Boppy  I like it better than the boppy for positioning for feeding.  But the boppy can be used to position the baby in on the couch, tummy time etc. 

44. Breast pads (tossable ones in the beginning, washable ones the rest of the time)

45. At least 3 nursing bras and tanks.

46. Nightgowns with snaps or button closures for night time feedings or nursing tanks for summer.

47. Car mirror

48. Digital thermometer

49. Pacifier (depends on your parenting thoughts)

50. Lovey (depends on your parenting thoughts)

Revised with 2^nd Child:

51. Aden + Anais blankets for swaddling.

52. For cloth diapers if you’re going that route, try the Jillian Drawer’s Diaper trial.  We went with Bum Genius 3.0 diapers. 

53. Bum Genius Diaper sprayer

54. Robeez shoes (helps keep socks on)

55. Medela Free-style pump

56. Itzbeen timer for keeping track of breasfeeding times. (Though now everyone has smartphones, not useful anymore.)

57. Jumperoo

Revisions/additions after baby #3.
58. Register for a carseat for after baby has outgrown infant carrier.  They can outgrow them before a year old and those suckers can be $$.  I like Britax but I’ve heard great reviews on Gracos.

59. Double strollers…I really like our BOB revolution double, especially because I can have all 3 kids ride at once if need be.  But I am a runner and use it for that.  We mostly use our BOB double for zoo’s/amusement parks, etc.  Day to day we just use single BOB revolution and can have 2 kids on it if need be.  I hear people rave about Baby Jogger City Mini double strollers if you’re not wanting the hefty BOB.

60. I really like Pediped shoes, very sturdy sole yet flexible for growing feet.

61. Bum Genius diapers…I’ve been using them now since 2009, I still love these diapers.  They have lasted well over the years and I haven’t had any issues with them.  The Velcro ones are getting a little worn but the snaps ones are lasting well.  The only downfall with snaps is when you have a wiggly baby it takes longer to get them in.  As for detergent for the diapers, I use either Kirkland Free and Clear or Trader Joes Free and Clear.

62. Used clothes…I can’t express how fast kids go through clothes, after baby #1 I realized used clothes are totally fine and actually use my local mom’s group for those resources.  The clothes I try to buy used all of the time are snow clothes/boots.  You usually only go a couple of times to the snow and pay so much for new stuff.  The stuff used is barely used and marked down way low.  And I double the boots as rain boots for my kids so I don’t buy two pairs of boots.

63.  I like Kushies on the Go wet/dry bag for cloth diapers, wet/dirty clothes holder, great for pump parts storage if you pump at work, I got tired of using Ziploc bags everyday so used this bag.  Just throw in the washer to clean.

64. Itzy Ritzy zipper snack bags for snacks.

65. Diaper bag/backpack.  If diaper bag, get one that clips to stroller, I hated lugging them around. 

66. JJ Cole Bundle Me.  I love this, it’s great for Bay Area babies.  I use it when running or working out in the winter with the jog stroller.  Also great for just pushing baby in regular stroller out and about.

Resolutions 2013

I haven't really thought it thoroughly so here's a rough outline .
1) Run 700 miles in 2013.
2) Complete 3 family photo albums on Blurb.
3) De-clutter a few times during the year.  Thoroughly purge rooms/garage.
4) Host several dinners for friends.  Especially BBQ's in the summer.  (I got a bunch of hosting things for Christmas because after last year I realized I didn't have platters etc to host meals.)
5) Read 50 books.  It's been a couple of years since I've reached this goal so I'm going to make an effort this year.
6) Try a new recipe a month. I think this is a good one, gives us variety in our diet.  Plus I really need to learn how to make a good appetizer or side dish.  Whenever there is a potluck I fail on this dish.

Resolutions 2012 Completed

The Resolutions: 
January 2012
1) Cook a new recipe once a month. (And post them here if I like it.)
2) Run 500 miles. I have already signed up for 2 half marathons (One in April and one in May)
3) Lose the 7-8 lbs I'm still carrying of baby weight.
4) Try new classes. Look for groupons or deals to experiment with different fitness classes in my area. I've already started a boot camp class that I bought on groupon.
5) Read 50 books. (I'm on book two right now.)
6) Host several dinners for my friends, especially the ones I haven't seen in ages.

Resolutions revisted.

1) I know I tried at least 12 new recipes if not more, it came in bursts so it wasn't monthly.

2) I ran 612.21 miles this year so I surpassed my goal by far.

3) I lost all the baby weight, woo-hoo!

4) I tried bootcamp, and I signed up to teach BOSU so kinda half completed this goal in my opinion.

5) I totally failed on this resolution.  I read 36 books.  I tried lowering my goal to 40 books but couldn't even reach that.  I guess if I didn't run the extra 1,000 minutes I could have used that time to make my reading goal but maybe working out was a better choice?

6) Host several dinners, I can name perhaps a handful of dinners I hosted for people I haven't seen in a while, but several with friends I see often.