My baby is seven months old and I have officially survived six whole months of being a mother! Lets be honest... Motherhood is no joke. If you read my last post, there was a quote from Briar's grandpa “It’s more work than you could imagine, but also more love and joy than you possibly could have imagined”. To sum that quote up into two words: motherhood is beautifully exhausting. There are days where I cry several times or times I just feel touched out. Then there are days where I am filled with so much joy and love that I forget about those rough days. Some days I miss my old life (mainly the sleeping in 😆), but I wouldn’t change my new life for a second.
You don’t realize how quickly time flies by until you have a child. They grow SO quickly. How do you make it stop!? Honestly though, I’ve loved watching our little blob learn and discover the world as she grows into this tiny human. Those first several months were a whirl wind just trying to keep my feet on the ground, head above water, the baby alive, and my family fed. I managed to do that! Now we are thriving.
I don’t think I would have made it through these months without the support of my husband, friends, and family. They all helped keep me sane, gave advice and encouragement, and supported me in all the ways the could. If you don’t have mom friends, I encourage you to go out into your community and find some! Going to a local story time with one of my best friends, who has a daughter two months older than Briar, we made a nice group of mom friends all with babies just a couple months apart from each other and it is something we look forward to get together with them once or twice a week.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I wanted to share the must haves for mama and baby that have gotten us through these last six and a half months! You use a lot of things when raising a baby, but these are the things I used frequently and found most important to share.
Stain Treater | Stanley cup |Nursing Sleep Bras |Nursing Sleep Bras | Reusable Nursing Pads | Diaper bag
F O R M O M:
If you’re breast feeding, have water bottles everywhere. Gotta keep hydrated! The first several months I actually had 3 water bottles that I drank them all when I was breastfeeding several times a night. My most used water bottle is my Stanley cup! I like this over the side handle that everyone owns because it’s easy to carry and less likely to spill when tipped over - keep the spout closed when not using!
This product is multifunctional. It’s used for nursing, sitting, and tummy time. I really only used this for nursing at night since I’m sleepy it gave me and baby that extra support. I find that the most supportive way is to have the pillow wrapped around the side as opposed to the front of you. Whenever I had it wrapped with the opening to my back, it would always shift forward. But now with it wrapped around my side it no longer shifts from me. As she got older she also used this to practice sitting and tummy time. I would place her in the opening and give her some toys. For tummy times, I would lay her tummy down and give her some toys to reach for.
These have saved me during those times where baby has slept through the night. I remember the first time I forgot to wear them and I woke up drenched... I chose to get that the reusable ones so I could just toss them in with the laundry instead of the trash. I do want to try different ones next time because they do tend to shift around at night, but I still would recommend these!
I love these because they are so comfy to sleep in and easy to maneuver in the middle of the night. I like that they come in a pair and I would suggest buying two sets!
I’ve gotten many compliments on my bag! I love many things about this bag. I like how there are two types of straps: backpack and an over the shoulder strap. It has tons of pockets and slots for the loads of stuff you need. The only thing I do not like is that it is hard to zip the main flap with one hand
I love this picnic blanket. I have the 5 x 10 and it fits a ton of people. More pros are that it can easily be wiped down, it’s easy to fold up and carry AND it’s cute!
This spray works wonders. We don't only use it for when there is a poop explosion, but we've used it when we get stains on our own clothes. Definitely a must have. It is worth getting it in all the shapes and sizes offered!
2-Way Zipper Pajamas | Velcro Swaddle | Hatch | Portable Noise Machine | Snuggle Me | Portable fan |
F O R B A B Y
This is a link to one of the pjs we had, but any 2-way zipper pajamas are the way to go. They are great because you don’t have to fully unzip and can do a quick diaper change. I love a cute pj, but the buttoned pjs are not worth it.
I could never get the hang of wrapping the cloth swaddles. I loved this swaddle because you could easily slide it on and the velcro was in multiple places. It also makes for an easy transition out of the swaddle.
If you are looking for a night light + a sound machine, this is perfect. The Hatch has so many features to it: selecting the light & its brightness, different sounds from rain to a lullaby. You can even schedule times for it to come on or change light/sounds. My favorite thing that I have used this for is when she wakes up and starts to call out for us, I switch the rain noises to birds and change no light to a green light. This lets her know one of is on our way to get her. Once we switch it she stops crying and watches the door!
This has been so nice to have either in the diaper bag or left hanging on the car seat. Just make sure to charge it after each use so it doesn’t end up running out of juice whenever baby is sleeping! We've used this in the car and on the go. It's a great way to drowned out the noises around her when we are out and about.
Our life saver. Our baby slept SO well in this. I definitely suggest getting a cover because B gets sweaty and it was a hassle throwing the whole thing in the washer when I could have just thrown in a cover.
This is a life saver in the heat of Texas. We use it out and about and I have it wrapped on her car seat so she has some air circulating around her in and out of the car.
We love this because it’s an easy thing to put her in when we need to be hands free and keep her entertained. When she was little she couldn’t reach the toys hanging, but she would look at them! We use this on the daily, multiple times a day. Now she grabs the toys and bounces herself while pumping her little chunky legs.
She LOVES this book. We keep it in the car so she has something to play with in the car seat and she’s never not played with it. It keeps her entertained a large portion of our drive if not the whole drive.
Comments