Eating Adventure!

We decided today was as good a day as any to introduce baby oatmeal cereal to Julia!

I legitimately don't think even a portion of an ounce went in.  It was hilarious though, high quality Saturday night entertainment

Mike was ready to give up after 2 spoonfuls, and I see some extremely messy afternoons in my future!

New toy?

Faking us out like she's going to swallow

Being vocal about this new development

I'm the boss, spoon!

Not so bad

The aftermath

Sometimes...

Ya just gotta let loose!

I made the executive decision today to really enjoy the last time I'd be with 2 of my 3 siblings until who knows when... We are a family that definitely goes with the flow, so I rounded up (read: texted) the troops and we met in the middle for a dinner of fun and drinks!

They made fun of my thoroughly suburban self when I suggested we have after dinner drinks at... Whole Foods.  Who stop serving booze from their (in grocery store!) bar at 8:30pm.  Despite the mommy-friendly last call time, I stand by my tipsy statement that WF is my personal "Disneyland".

And I purchased beer to go and milk from said bar.

Love it!

Fine Dining

Plus, coming home to a husband who volunteered to babysit folding the laundry and a sink magically free of dirty dishes was the Mickey Mouse eats hat on top of my faux Disneyland sundae

Besties just hangin out!

Baby Registry 101 - Sleeping

Organizing baby gifts was basically heaven for a control freak like me!

Since a few of you other mommies to be and gift-givers asked for some of my bebe recommendations, I thought I'd devote a few posts to what I think are the best products or items to register for and buy.

I tried to logically divide it up into Sleeping, Playtime / Baby Containment, Eating, Bathing & Diapering, Miscellaneous, and Extra Bits, basically.  Dude, these little guys and gals need* a lot of stuff!

All links are to Amazon, since they have EVERYTHING, but there are endless places to find most of these items.

So without further ado, here are my top pics for sleeping:

1. A crib, obviously.  Some people put the babies straight into the crib as soon as they get home from the hospital.  As someone who is just now transitioning Julia into her crib after sleeping in our room for her first almost 4 months, I can't say that this is a bad plan!  I was/am basically really lazy and was anticipating the all-hours breastfeeding when I decided to keep Julia in our room. 

A crib is pretty fool-proof, but I just like the extra feature on many now that allow the beds to grow with your little one.  These are called convertible cribs and often go from baby crib to toddler bed to a headboard and footboard for a double bed with big mattress. 

We got a DaVinci one, a popular brand that's available many places.  I have no complaints! 

2. We actually have this play yard in our room and started Julia in this.  In my opinion the attached changing table is the best part!  We personally didn't use the fancy attachments like vibrating, music, nightlight, etc., all that much, so you could definitely get a simpler model. 

3. This Rock n' Play was a lifesaver and a crutch.  I would say get it FOR SURE but be careful about training the baby to sleep in it.  Julia hated to be swaddled so this was great for us as it contained her just enough without her trying to hulk out like she did when swaddled and flat on her back.  Plus nothing could be more portable - she used this on a recent roadtrip and it was great!  But now she has to get used to sleeping flat again, so she's only sleeping about 7 hours as opposed to the 9 we were getting.

4. Assuming you didn't birth a houdini like me, you'll want swaddle blankets.  These are great and take the guess work out of folding with the velcro.  If it's chilly in your house the fleece ones are a nice option too.

And, um, take a minute to read how the swaddle works... 

We legitimately thought this was correct for a couple days (not even close):

5. Entertaining the baby while in the crib is great because they can learn to self-soothe and you can get a few more precious minutes.  Our niece is obsessed with this mobile and Julia likes it too!  For white noise we actually use the Sleep Sheep, which works really well.  I swear it puts me to sleep now though.

6.  Obviously, you'll want to creepily watch all of this sleeping.  I think a video monitor is absolutely the way to go!  We've really liked this one. 

7-9.  A mattress, which should be of a "breathable" filling - I think the mid-priced ones are great, a mattress protector for messes - we are fans of this organic one, and finally bedding (!) the most fun part, in my opinion.  Pottery Barn Kids has the cutest out there and it's worth the investment to really make the room.  I will say though that the quilt they always upsell with bedding is nice to look at but totally impractical - no loose blankets in the crib! And they're too pretty to put on the floor.

Hope this is helpful!

* Clearly babies today have more stuff than ever before.  These are products that have certainly made life easier, but the only thing you need is a crib and a monitor (which you really only need if the baby's room is out of hearing distance! Apartment dwellers, you can skip even this!)

Window Shopping

These days I seem to have no time (or money really) for shopping, but that doesn't mean I don't stay up too late online shopping and leaving fabulous shopping "bags" all over the internet!

I wanted to share some fun things I'm really considering for this fall - especially because this year I have a person much cuter than myself to shop for! I mean, she looks great in everything, lets me pick every part of her ensemble, and never scuffs her shoes!

It's not the most diverse list, but these are pretty much all the places I shop! And seriously BabyGap has THE best baby clothes. Like, I would wear all of them.  Not sure what that says about me.

In the height of corny, I combined my girl Jules' and my outfits to show how great we'll look when we actually leave the house and I wear something besides yoga pants to Target.i

It's all very mix and match-able, obviously, because it's very possible I have a navy, tan/cream, and stripe problem.  I like what I like! Hopefully you'll have fun clicking around and going "shopping" too!

J. Crew Denim Shirt & Sweater Blazer, Old Navy Jeans, Frye Boots

BabyGap Onesie & Sailor Jeans (!!!)

 Just for Mommy -  Gap - already sold out!, Anthropologie, and Loft Blouses

J. Crew Cardi, Ivanka Trump Flats - who knew?, BabyGap PIG onesie (!), Cardi, Jeans, and little boy mocs

 J. Crew Cashmere Sweater, Gap Tassel Loafers, BabyGap Pants, Top, Sweater, and girl mocs

Gap Dress, Old Navy Dress, Anthropologie Cardi, Tory Burch Flats, Zara Baby Dress, & BabyGap mocs

Anthropologie Dress, Piperlime Flats, Etsy Booties, Zara Baby Dresses

Gap Cardigan, Frye Boots, BabyGap Dress, Onesie, & Tights

Don't Call it a Comeback

Due to popular demand, I'm really going to try to reinstate the blog after this 6 MONTH absence!

We are a brand new family and everything is new and different.  I am not in an office anymore, my free time is almost nonexistent, and I feel like with all the social networking I participate in that I am almost over-exposed.

I mean, you can see Lemon and Jules being cute 24/7 on Facebook,

know what I'm thinking about any given thing on twitter (though not that often),

see Julia fake living in the 70's on Instagram,

and see me being completely unrealistic aspirational on Pinterest.

Still, I wish more than anything I got to spend more actual quality time with my loved ones, and this blog is a great way for people to keep up with us on a slightly more personal level, and of course read me ramble on as much as I do in person.

I'm thinking follow up on Julia's room, a receipe, comprehensive baby stuff - some of my friends are joining me in the whole procreation thing and I'm more than happy to share what works for us, and maybe some clothes I'm crushing on? Ohh or baby clothes.  Jules' closet is unreal guys!

So! Without further ado, I'm going to try to post every day this week, let me know if there's anything you'd especially like to be updated on!

I'm back baby!

So, what can I say? I commit.

I didn't just buy a house, we bought a house in a suburban neighborhood.  With friendly neighbors. And a yard. And a school. And extra bedrooms.

Well, one less extra bedroom... And one extra Marin!

Yep, as (I think) all of you know, we are expecting to add a little lady to the mix in mid March.  I decided to stay off the blog for the duration of the pregnancy - a) because pressure about house stuff stressed me the hell out, and b) because I am kind of private and not just a little cautious about pregnancy stuff and wanted to keep it off the general interwebs.

But from my limited science know-how I can understand that the babe is all formed up, and just plumping these days (thank god, is there anything better than a chunky baby thigh?!) so I feel comfortable hopping back on here to share lots of house, baby, and life deets with you all.

Let me know what you'd like to see first! Baby Room, Master, Dining Room... nothing is actually done but ya gotta like progress :)

Sorry!!!

Ok, I really do feel super bad and guilty about this blogging break. It turned into a big one! We have had some weird health issues going on (everything is fine) so house stuff majorly took a back seat and I felt like I didn't have much to contribute blog-wise.

And lots of spare time has been spent with family as well; most of mine is abandoning us moving to Charlotte, NC for: new jobs (my dad, brother), college (other brother), and to finally get that pool they've been wanting for years (my mom).  I'm doing everything I can to hold on to my sister though, including recruiting her as free labor a roommate while she finishes up classes this fall!

We also, full disclosure, just got really sick of doing stuff. I wouldn't recommend moving at the start of your favorite season (mine is summer) because you really don't get a chance to enjoy it and you start getting all whiney and house-resenty even if the nice little house didn't do anything to you, per se. Note: in typing this I realized Mike's favorite season is fall...I hope he doesn't have the same season-based resentment I do, or we're going to be propping up a Christmas tree with a ladder and tools...

BUT we have made some fun updates (that didn't involve power tools or a contractor) that I'm looking forward to sharing.  But sorry again for gettin you hooked (your words) then leavin you hangin. So rude!

And because I like to include pictures, here's a day in the life of lazy homeowners (you can see the new rug and bedspread though!):

 

What, did you think those were going to be like actual photographs from a camera of Mike and I working away?  I told you, we've been bums! 

Bums whose phones are embarassingly full of pictures of our dog. 

What?! She's freaking adorable.