fun baby stuff!

Well with only 10 weeks left, I thought I should at least start to get things ready for Ms. Mollys debut!  Lucky for me I have a great connection with a lot of other mommy friends (a lot of them, photographers too) that are always making great suggestions of new things they’ve come across or things that are new.  Seeing as we’ve already done with once with Jackson I have a pretty good idea of what we’ll need .. and although she’ll be getting a lot of hand-me-downs from Jackson, there are some things that she will need for her own! Especially since this time around its a GIRL and that means PINK! dresses! bows! hats! tights! shoes! all kinds of fun stuff! 
Here are a few things we’ve come across that are pretty cool… check ’em out for yourself or for anyone you know who’s having a baby! 
1) Golden View Ultrasound.  So I’m a slacker and haven’t scanned the pictures yet, BUT for Father’s day this year I went to have a 3D ultrasound for Rick.  Talk about crazy!! I have a DVD with the ultrasound on it but I also have some still pictures of Ms. Molly and boy is it crazy how much she looks like Jackson!  I was shocked when I first saw her little nose!  She even held up her hands crossed over his face just like him!  They have a location in Boston and Chicago but I’m sure other states have it too.  They have gift certificates which is such a great idea for a shower gift for moms-to-be!  I felt like I was cheating or something – It’s like a sneak peak preview of whats to come.  The crazy part was in the lobby they had ‘in and out’ pictures — ‘in’ pictures of the babies in the womb, and ‘out’ pictures next to them when the baby was born! craziness I tell you 🙂
2) Pampers Gift Certificates.  How cool is this!  One of my fellow pregnant friends blogged about it (thanks Beth!!!) and I had no idea — Who doesn’t need more diapers! I had no idea you could buy people gift certificates just for diapers.  Which, having been through it once before, I’ll tell ya – you never know the size you’ll need!  We bought all size 1 diapers before Jackson was born, but the poor thing was so tiny he was in newborn diapers for a looooong time!  Granted we used the size 1 but I think we ended up giving some away too because he moved into size 2 quicker then we thought he would and we had too many size 1’s! Granted, if you’re a good girl like my best friend Kim who will be using G Diapers (or so she hopes to!!! haha) you wouldn’t want this gift certificate but, We loved the swaddlers with Jackson and to be honest, I don’t know if I can’t be the good person Kim is with the G Diapers right now – Maybe after a few months… I’m terrible for the environment, I know.  (For what its worth, I LOVE the idea of G Diapers – and I’m so proud of Kim for wanted to go that route – But to be brutally honest I know I’d fail miserable if I had to start it right now.. especially since Jacksons in diapers too!) 
3) ITZBEEN. Where was this thing when I had Jackson?  Oh my lord how cool.  I literally had excel sheets that lined our house of charting Jacksons latest events.. sleeping, diapers, eating whatever.. how cool that its digital and all in one place.  Love that.
4) Angelcare Monitor.  LOVED THIS.  This was worth its weight in gold when Jackson was born. With Rick traveling I swear I lost more sleep because I was standing over Jacksons bassinet making sure he was breathing.  Once we got this thing I felt like a whole new person!  I have serious anxiety problems anyways but this was SUCH piece of mind for me.  Some people can just lay the baby down and be fine with it – me? not so much.  This is the new model that tells you a lot more information then the one we had – temperture  etc. but regardless, it is worth it if you’re a super neurotic like me! 🙂 
5) Video Monitor.  Okay I know I said the Angelcare was worth its weight in gold but THIS my friends, is THE BEST monitor out there.  Once Jackson moved to his own room – and could wiggle around (obviously!) we had to stop the Angelcare because he would roll off the sensor pad and it would alarm (talk about panic! haha) so we opted for the Video Monitor.  Holy moly it is the best.  You can watch them, make sure they are okay – make sure the blankets aren’t over their head etc. all without going into their room to disturb them. LOVE LOVE it.  Everyone should have one. 🙂
6) Animal Playmat.  How stinkin cute are these! Don’t they look super cuddley!! After finally finding the muffin mats (below) and nearly falling over when I saw how much they were we started looking at alternatives… How cute are these!!! I know Jackson would love it too! 🙂
I’m sure we’ll come across 100 more cool things in the meantime but those are just a few that I’ve got bookmarked.. The things ‘off the beaten path’ are always the coolest – especially when you hear first hand how other people love it! But, other then that we only have a few things other we’d like to pick up – the aquarium swing, her crib and dresser, some storage things and of course girlie clothes! And because a few people have asked,  We’ve also been told its acceptable to have a second shower these days – especially when its a different sex baby then your first –  but we haven’t decided if we’re going to have one yet.. We really just want to celebrate her arrival with our friends and family so maybe we’ll just have a party for her instead!!  One of my mommy friends said to set up a registry even if you don’t have a second shower for family and friends to get the few things you do want instead of something you might already have from the first time!  Good call – You can check us out under babiesrus.com and target.com. 
We are so excited to get working on her room.. Well, I am because I’m nesting LIKE CRAZY! (you know, the whole clean out the entire house and everything in it phase? yeah. I’m there!)  But we had almost everything set up for Jackson at about now – We haven’t even started for Molly!  We have painting to do, furniture to move and all sorts of things to organize (in her room and around the house!)  With only 10 weeks left I guess we better get moving ‘eh… 🙂
Can’t wait to have that newborn baby girl in my arms! I know it seems like forever away right now, but I also know how fast the time is going to go and then I will be a mother of TWO! YIKES!! 😀
Pictures tomorrow… its been a crazy few days the past week!
Hope all is well for all of you!
xoxo
K