My List of Baby Must-Haves

Just wanted to note that this is mine and hubby's list of must-haves. I've since modified it with baby #2, but this is the list I've forwarded to several friends for registry ideas. Note, baby to baby preferences are not always the same. So this is just my experience.

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 or booster seat with at least 2 trays (3 preferable)

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

30. Jogging stroller (if that’s what you’re into)

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.)

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.)

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

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.

41. Glider (not essential, used in the early years but hardly used now)

42. My breast friend. 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

45. At least 3 nursing bras.

46. Nightgowns (for mama) with snaps or button closures for night time feedings.

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

Books Read 2010

2010 Books:

1. The End (Series of Unfortunate Events #13) by Lemony Snicket
2. I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak
3. Comfort Me with Apples by Ruth Reichl
4. Toddlers Gone Wild! Rants from a Mommy Brain by Rebecca Eckler
5. Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
6. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
7. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
8. Switchcraft by Mary Castillo
9. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
10. Girl with The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
11. The Gift by Cecelia Ahern
12. Restoring Grace by Katie Fforde
13. The Importance of Being Married by Gemma Townley
14. My Life in France by Julia Child
15. A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
16. Made in the USA by Billie Letts
17. A Wild Affair by Gemma Townley
18. House Rules by Jodi Picoult
19. My Horizontal Live: A Collection of One Night Stands by Chelsea Handler
20. Through The Heart by Kate Morgenroth
21. As Nature Made Him: The boy who was raised as a girl by John Colapinto
(Insane story, true story! A little bit more technical than I liked, but I'm glad I read it.)
22. What Was She Thinking? Notes on a Scandel by Zoe Heller
Bit of a lackluster ending.
23. What The Dead Know by Laura Lippman
24. Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin
25. Naptime is the New Happy Hour: And other ways toddlers turn your life upside down by Stephanie Wilder-Taylor
26. Promises to Keep by Jane Green
27. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
28. The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton

29. They Did it With Love by Kate Morgenroth

30. Animal Farm by George Orwell

31. This Little Mommy Stayed Home by Samantha Wilde

32. Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner
33. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffeneger
34. Maid to Match by Deanne Gist
35. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney (Hilarious book, great conversation topic in the break room. Many parents had read this book.)
36. The Story of a Marriage by Andrew Sean Greer (Really loved his book Max Tivoli but this was disappointing.)
37. UnCharted TerriTori by Tori Spelling
38. Honolulu by Alan Brennert I liked this book, but it was a little long winded.

39. Size 12 is Not Fat by Meg Cabot (Was soo disappointed in this book. I really loved Cabot's Queen of Babble series, but this start of Heather Well's series was horrible. I really wanted to stop reading but I felt I should try it out because it was a fast read. I will not be reading any more of this series.)

40. The Year of the Fog by Michelle Richmond (This book was recommended to me by a friend who said if I like Jodi Picoult I would like this author. Wow, this book was intense. It made me think what if my child went missing. I'm now doing "Stranger Danger" talks with my daughter because of this book. I admit, I had to skip to the end to see what happens but all in all it was a great book. I really liked that they talked about a place I've been down to the bridge I've taken a picture with. I don't want to give too much away but it was really great to feel a connection landmark/wise with the book.)

41. I Did (But I Wouldn't Again) by Cara Lockwood (I read her book I Do (But I Don't) a long time ago and that book was about the sister. Anyways, back to I Did. It's a funny chick-lit novel. I enjoyed the quirkiness of the characters. A light read that was enjoyed.

Next Up: Mini-Shopoholic by Sophie Kinsella

Currently listening on CD: Bee Season by Myla Goldberg. Almost finished with that book, will be listening to Cold Mountain next. I saw the movie a long time ago but haven't read the book.

The infamous sub-2 half marathon

It's no secret that that is my goal. Finishing in under 2 hours. I've been close...2:06, but I can't seem to get there. For today's half marathon I trained with a fast runner. I trained hard and I tried to do the best I could. But alas...I didn't even PR. :( I can blame it on a number of reasons but it really comes down to I just didn't have it in me. I wish I could have met up with my new running partner at the start, but I didn't find her. Not that running with her would have guaranteed a PR. She finished in 1:59, amazing! I'm so proud of her, and a tiny bit jealous. :)

But the main thing I need to understand is that not every race will be a PR for me. Since I started running...and I mean really running races, my situation has been a little different. I started running half marathons in 2005. I ran my first half then got pregnant with my first child. After her birth I ran 3 more half's. Each half got faster and faster. PR'd on my last race before I got pregnant with child number 2. Ran 6 halfs since he was born, and same thing...each run got faster and faster (should clarify that faster and faster means I did get slower than my pre-second child but got faster each race thereafter)...except for these last two. But two weeks ago it was just a "training" half so I didn't push myself the whole time. So my PR is still before second child, but I get sooo close. I'm not giving up, it may not be this year but I heard that runners peak in their mid-30's, so I have a handful of years to work on it.

New Songs

I have two new songs I JUST had to have so I downloaded them from Itunes tonight.

Club Can't Handle Me by Flo Rida
Just the Way You Are by Bruno Mars

I am also digging:
Dynamite by Taio Cruz
and
DJ Got Us Fallin In Love by Usher
(Those are my next to download.)

I realized I haven't posted some of my new songs on my running playlist.
California Gurls-Katie Perry
Paper Planes-MIA
Cooler Than Me-Mike Posner
Bulletproof-La Roux
I Like It-Enrique Iglesias
Breakeven-The Script
Sweet Disposition-The Temper Trap
Imma Be-Black Eyed Peas
Your Love is My Drug-Ke$ha
Baby-Justin Bieber

Palo Alto Moonlight 10k

Last Friday I ran the Palo Alto Moonlight 10k with a coworker. It started at 8:15pm so it was definitely dark. The weather was awesome, kinda on the warm side. 70 degrees at 8pm. The run was a loop around the bay trail. Only 2 miles were on city streets so 4 miles were pitch black except for the full moon, glow sticks, flashlights and head lamps. It was beautiful seeing the east bay lights and the moon on the water, the smell of the bay was disgusting though. It was a fun race and fast crowd.

My only issues were, parking was annoying. There were signs pointing in two directions to park and the one I took was full. When I had to make 3 U-turns to get back they were removing that arrow. Thanks for the late notice.

There was no bag check (official) and they handed us our t-shirts when we got our bibs so we didn't have time to go back to the car to put them away. We put them in a reusable grocery bag and set them on a bench (the 'bag check' area).

Porta potty lines were LONG! That's why we didn't have enough time to get back to the car, we waited 10-15 min in line.

Water was a joke. At the end of the race they handed you the itty-bitty dixie cup for water. It was a shot of water, are you kidding me? Then they said keep your cup so you can reuse it. They had arrowhead jugs for people to fill up their dixie shot cup, so annoying. I had my two shots of water and then headed to my car for my bottle of water. You'd think they'd be able to hand everyone a bottle of water.

Other than that it was a good race, longer than the stated 6.2 miles. My Garmin and my coworkers Polar foot pod both registered the race as 6.35 miles. When that distance I was averaging 8:56 pace.

Ice Bath

I had never truely taken an ice bath (full on ice in the tub and everything) until today. Oh it was glorious!! I have been missing out. Today I ran a "practice" half but it was still a race. I finished in 2:09:43, could have PR'd but knew I didn't want to push myself too much. I wanted to heal my legs more quickly because I have a 10k on Friday and my "actual" half in 2 weeks. So I tried it out tonight. Maybe it's the quiet 10 min I get to read while my legs go numb, maybe it's the appeal of a bath that my kids won't want to jump into.

Books Read 2010

2010 Books:

1. The End (Series of Unfortunate Events #13) by Lemony Snicket
2. I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak
3. Comfort Me with Apples by Ruth Reichl
4. Toddlers Gone Wild! Rants from a Mommy Brain by Rebecca Eckler
5. Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
6. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
7. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
8. Switchcraft by Mary Castillo
9. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
10. Girl with The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
11. The Gift by Cecelia Ahern
12. Restoring Grace by Katie Fforde
13. The Importance of Being Married by Gemma Townley
14. My Life in France by Julia Child
15. A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
16. Made in the USA by Billie Letts
17. A Wild Affair by Gemma Townley
18. House Rules by Jodi Picoult
19. My Horizontal Live: A Collection of One Night Stands by Chelsea Handler
20. Through The Heart by Kate Morgenroth
21. As Nature Made Him: The boy who was raised as a girl by John Colapinto
(Insane story, true story! A little bit more technical than I liked, but I'm glad I read it.)
22. What Was She Thinking? Notes on a Scandel by Zoe Heller
Bit of a lackluster ending.
23. What The Dead Know by Laura Lippman
24. Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin
25. Naptime is the New Happy Hour: And other ways toddlers turn your life upside down by Stephanie Wilder-Taylor
26. Promises to Keep by Jane Green
27. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
28. The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton

29. They Did it With Love by Kate Morgenroth

30. Animal Farm by George Orwell

31. This Little Mommy Stayed Home by Samantha Wilde

32. Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner
33. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffeneger
34. Maid to Match by Deanne Gist
35. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney (Hilarious book, great conversation topic in the break room. Many parents had read this book.)
36. The Story of a Marriage by Andrew Sean Greer (Really loved his book Max Tivoli but this was disappointing.)
37. UnCharted TerriTori by Tori Spelling
38. Honolulu by Alan Brennert I liked this book, but it was a little long winded.

Listened on CD:
The Shack by William Young (Interesting theory about Jesus, but the coolest thing was the little MP3 player the book was on that I borrowed from the library.)
Wives Behaving Badly by Elizabeth Buchan Allright, I was hoping for a funny book but ended up with a slightly depressing book.

Crohn's Disease

What is Crohn's disease?
Crohn’s disease is an ongoing disorder that causes inflammation of the digestive tract, also referred to as the gastrointestinal (GI) tract.
Crohn’s disease can affect any area of the GI tract, from the mouth to the anus, but it most commonly affects the lower part of the small intestine, called the ileum. The swelling extends deep into the lining of the affected organ. The swelling can cause pain and can make the intestines empty frequently, resulting in diarrhea. Crohn’s disease is an inflammatory bowel disease, the general name for diseases that cause swelling in the intestines. (Taken from NDDIC website.)
Symptoms:
The most common symptoms of Crohn’s disease are abdominal pain, often in the lower right area, and diarrhea. Rectal bleeding, weight loss, arthritis, skin problems, and fever may also occur. Bleeding may be serious and persistent, leading to anemia. (Taken from NDDIC website.)

Little known fact about me. I have Crohn's disease. I was diagnosed when I was 14 years old, freshman in high school. What a horrible time to be diagnosed with something (though when is it ever a good time?). Entering high school is bad enough, but then to start feeling very ill?!

My symptoms were very minor but that meant it was hard to diagnose. I was very thin, just under 100lbs, and being 5' 4'' did not look good. I was exhausted all of the time. I would go to school, get home fall asleep, wake up to eat dinner then go back to bed. Eating hurt. Every time I ate about 10-15 min later I was doubled on the floor in pain. So I started to not eat as much. I lost 5-8lbs, bringing my weight to the low 90's. I also ran a low temp every day. My parents began taking me to the doctor but no one could figure out what was wrong with me. I didn't have the classic diarrhea symptom of Crohn's. Some doctor said he thought I was just anorexic. As if?! It hurt to eat. I was poked and prodded, I had to visit a gynecologist (talk about embarrassing!), got an ultra sound as well as various other tests because one thought was that I was having my periods internally since I hadn't started menstruating yet (probably because I had no body fat). I was referred to a gastroenterologist who took one look at me, saw some subtle symptoms that other doctor's didn't see like the bruises on my shins and decided to do a colonoscopy. Lo and behold, I was diagnosed with Crohn's. I was put on steroid treatment and sulfa drugs. I hated the steroids. My face ballooned up, noticebly. I remember a guy in my Spanish class commenting how my face was so big. (Moon face, one of the many side effects of prednisone.) 7 month's later I was slowly tapered off the steroids but kept on the sulfa drugs, but by end of high school I wasn't even taking those anymore. (And that same guy in class commented how my face got skinny again. Thank god it went back down!)

I had one relapse in 2002, had another colonoscopy, tried some med's but they didn't work out for me. I stopped taking them and went into remission again. Thankfully I've been feeling good, I want to attribute it to my working out. Starting 2002 I began truely competing in triathlons and running. Perhaps that's what's keeping me well.

So what prodded me to post my story? A few weeks ago I was going through some old boxes from my parents house. I found a bunch of "Get Well" cards from when I was first diagnosed. It brought back my memories of that time and felt I should share.

New Music

I just downloaded some more music for my spin classes. I thought I'd share my new fav's that will definitely be on my playlist this week:

Bullet Proof by La Roux
I Like It by Enrique Iglesias feat Pitbull
OMG by Usher Feat will.i.am
Sweet Disposition by The Temper Trap
Halfway Gone by Lifehouse
All The Right Moves by One Republic
Solo by Iyaz
Your Love is My Drug by Ke$ha
Nothin On You by B.o.B Feat Bruno Mars
Baby by Justin Bieber Feat Ludacris (OMG, my first Justin Bieber song. I never even knew what song(s) he did until I found this. And BTW, this is the only one I know so far.)
California Gurls by Katy Perry
Paper Planes by M.I.A
A couple of cooldown songs:
Breakeven by The Script
Fix You by Coldplay

Book Read 2010

2010 Books:

1. The End (Series of Unfortunate Events #13) by Lemony Snicket
2. I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak
3. Comfort Me with Apples by Ruth Reichl
4. Toddlers Gone Wild! Rants from a Mommy Brain by Rebecca Eckler
5. Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
6. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
7. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
8. Switchcraft by Mary Castillo
9. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
10. Girl with The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
11. The Gift by Cecelia Ahern
12. Restoring Grace by Katie Fforde
13. The Importance of Being Married by Gemma Townley
14. My Life in France by Julia Child
15. A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
16. Made in the USA by Billie Letts
17. A Wild Affair by Gemma Townley
18. House Rules by Jodi Picoult
19. My Horizontal Live: A Collection of One Night Stands by Chelsea Handler
20. Through The Heart by Kate Morgenroth
21. As Nature Made Him: The boy who was raised as a girl by John Colapinto
(Insane story, true story! A little bit more technical than I liked, but I'm glad I read it.)
22. What Was She Thinking? Notes on a Scandel by Zoe Heller
Bit of a lackluster ending.
23. What The Dead Know by Laura Lippman
24. Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin
25. Naptime is the New Happy Hour: And other ways toddlers turn your life upside down by Stephanie Wilder-Taylor
26. Promises to Keep by Jane Green
27. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
28. The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton

29. They Did it With Love by Kate Morgenroth

30. Animal Farm by George Orwell

31. This Little Mommy Stayed Home by Samantha Wilde

32. Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner

Funny, I've read a couple of classics lately. I liked Animal Farm. I had never read it in high school and decided to pick it up recently.

Fly Away Home was really good. I liked the story and the way Jennifer wrote each character.

I listened to two books on CD, one was The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory, LOVED listening to that one on cd. I actually want to pick up her next book on CD. I also listened to "There's a Slight Chance I might be Going to Hell" by Laurie Notaro. Funny book, glad I listened to it rather than read it.

Current book: "Her Fearful Symmetry" by Audrey Niffenegger

Current book on cd: "The Shack" by William Young