As a mommy to be, I poured through every article on the internet, read every baby book and spoke to every recent mother only to find out I still had no idea what I really needed to have a baby. I mean, REALLY NEEDED and USED REGULARLY. Had I known now what I known then, I really would've saved a lot of money and would've had people buy some more important things at my baby shower. Here are some of the top things I really needed and the top things I really did not need...
THINGS I DIDN'T NEED
1. Diaper Genie - For one thing, I hate the fact that you have to buy bags for it, for another, I hate how much labor has to go into it. When I had a disgusting, vomit inducing, get-it-out-of-my-hands-now, type of diaper, I wanted it disposed immediately! And then when it's time to empty it out...good lord! You get a sausage ring of poopy diapers from the past 3-4 days. EW! Dispose of yuck diaper in plastic bag, tie, throw in garbage pail. Throw out garbage frequently. Repeat. When you start potty training and you use pull ups, you won't be using the diaper genie. Final word on this: Don't buy a diaper genie, mine is currently sitting pretty with the extra bags on top of it, not knowing what to do with itself.
2. Wipes Warmer - What the hell was I thinking? More work than necessary and frankly, Julia didn't give a damn whether the wipe was cold or not.
3. Bottle Warmer - I froze all my milk in individual packets and when it was time to defrost a packet, we'd take one out and put it in hot water, thus warming the milk. And if we had milk in the fridge that was leftover from earlier in the day, we'd put the bottle in hot water. Why did I need the bottle warmer?
4. Bottle Sanitizer - I used it 3-4 times. It was a hassle. Washing bottles in hot water and boiling binkys and rubber nipples in a pot worked out a lot better for me and kept Julia healthy.
5. Diaper Changing Contoured Pad - We always threw our travel changing pad on the floor, bed, couch, somewhere and changed Julia.
6. Diaper Bag - I did use it but not too frequently and I hated it. It was bulky and really hurt my shoulder. I ended up using my stroller's diaper bag which, although just as bulky, slid right into the stroller when I didn't need it. In addition, when I wasn't using the stroller or needed to go out for a quick run, I was always looking to shove the least amount of things needed into one of my purses. Small and comfortable is good.
THINGS I NEEDED
1. Baby Gates - Have been and continue to be incredibly useful! I particularly love the ones you step on to open and really hate the ones that require you to use your hands. We regularly eat dinner in our living room, so bringing plates and drinks are easier when you can just step onto the pedal and your gate swings open!
2. Binkys - Although I weaned Julia off of Binkys after 5-6 months, I was a big fan of it. It really helped quiet her down especially when we were out in public.
3. Swing set, Jumper, bouncy chair - All loved and used by Julia regularly. It helped for sleepless nights and when I needed "a moment".
4. Ice cube trays for making my own pureed food in advance. I also used ones that were designed specifically for this too which made sending it over to my parents easy because it had a lid on it. But I would make her solid food in advance, puree them and pour them into my ice cube tray which also had a cover for it. After it froze, I would take them out and put them into a ziploc bag in the freezer. Whenever it was time to eat, I would grab one and heat it up. Simple!
5 - Orbitz Stroller and Car Seat - Oh how I love my Orbitz stroller, not a moment goes by when we are out that people ask us about it. It made our first year very easy to transfer her in and out of the car. The car seat easily rotated and snapped right in to the car via a base already in place and to the stroller which allowed us to rotate her any way we wanted. We didn't really need any other stroller until she was a bit older. The toddler car seat and stroller worked out well too even though the toddler car seat doesn't rotate or snap into a base any more, it's installed the same way any other car seat is. But on our trip to Disney, we just snapped her into her stroller from the car and that was that!
6 - Stroller cover/highchair cover - I loved this thing! This not only helped with a lot of gross out moments when Julia would attempt to mouth the shopping cart or high chair but it also worked when there wasn't a high chair available. I was still able to strap her to a chair at Dim Sum and not worry about her falling off.
I'm sure this list would be different for every mom out there, but for me, at least for baby number 2, I'll have a better idea of what I need to do....
On my love for work and my love for Julia and how the two just don't get along...
Pre-Julia, I have always been about work. If I've told you several defining characteristics about me were my love for all things muppets, my karaoke style singing that's too pitchy and my need to be in the moment at all times - I lied to you. If I have to be honest to myself, work is what really defined me. Work always consumed me and I secretly had no problem with it-even after I got married. I think Carl always knew work came first for me. I love what I do and even more, I love the children and people I work with (no matter how much I may complain about them - the people, not the children!).
But since I had Julia, she has become major competition for this prior love affair I have for work and sometimes, if not most times, she wins...and I am just not used to that. Although I have grown to love my "family first" motto, it's hard to always adjust to it when having to work is something I must continue to do, financially and mentally. So most of the week, it's all about work but I anxiously look forward to weekends, holidays and vacations to spend time with Julia.
Unfortunately, this past Spring Break left me very sick which resulted in me being unable to spend time with Julia for 5 of the 7 days I had off. Boy, did I feel so gypped! And throughout the whole ordeal, I couldn't help but think about all the time I lost with her and will continue to lose with her. The night before returning back to work, I so desperately wanted to hand my resignation letter and say "Nope, it's Julia time for the next couple of years and tack on a few more for the next kid too - whenever that is!" I figured Carl would just have to accept the fact that I wouldn't be working any more once he realized checks were not coming in for me after 2 weeks or so. And finally, for once, all would be well and good and Julia would have a mommy again.
But of course, reality set in - our financial needs, my love and need for work, the fact that Carl would kick my ass....well that all reared it's ugly head in the morning and I went to work. I subsequently, forgotten all about my woes by the time my cup of coffee was emptied (except of course when I am up at 3 in the morning and blogging about it).....
So all in all, in the end, work still wins. I just hope Julia never sees it that way. :(
But since I had Julia, she has become major competition for this prior love affair I have for work and sometimes, if not most times, she wins...and I am just not used to that. Although I have grown to love my "family first" motto, it's hard to always adjust to it when having to work is something I must continue to do, financially and mentally. So most of the week, it's all about work but I anxiously look forward to weekends, holidays and vacations to spend time with Julia.
Unfortunately, this past Spring Break left me very sick which resulted in me being unable to spend time with Julia for 5 of the 7 days I had off. Boy, did I feel so gypped! And throughout the whole ordeal, I couldn't help but think about all the time I lost with her and will continue to lose with her. The night before returning back to work, I so desperately wanted to hand my resignation letter and say "Nope, it's Julia time for the next couple of years and tack on a few more for the next kid too - whenever that is!" I figured Carl would just have to accept the fact that I wouldn't be working any more once he realized checks were not coming in for me after 2 weeks or so. And finally, for once, all would be well and good and Julia would have a mommy again.
But of course, reality set in - our financial needs, my love and need for work, the fact that Carl would kick my ass....well that all reared it's ugly head in the morning and I went to work. I subsequently, forgotten all about my woes by the time my cup of coffee was emptied (except of course when I am up at 3 in the morning and blogging about it).....
So all in all, in the end, work still wins. I just hope Julia never sees it that way. :(
On little white lies I've told Julia so far...
All Slushies from 7-11 are coffee.
The T.V. is broken.
The computer is broken.
We're not allowed to wake up until we see the sun.
The monsters live outside, take you away and only give you water to drink - no ni-ni (milk)....
Carl caught me saying this to her and gave me the look of death...O.K., so the last one was a bit much but she tried to outdo me and I couldn't help but take it a step further- something I do regret and not because she has an unhealthy fear of monsters now...
It all started with her telling me she was "broken" and me, jokingly, responding with "Uh-Oh, we're gonna have to trade you in, get a new little girl!"
"A new little girl?"
"Yes, a new one, maybe Nicky will want to live here."
"And I go to Aunt Laura's and live?"
"No, you're broken, we'll have to send you to the curb for the garbage pick up."
"Garbage?"
"Yeah, we'll have to put you in a box and Daddy will take you to the curb."
"I have to live in a box?"
"Yup, you wanna live in a box outside?"
"Yea!!" she says, eyes gleaming with excitement.
"Err.." think fast, Mariann, think fast..."But then the monsters will come and get you."
"The monsters?!"
"Yeah, the monsters! And you'll have to live in their house and they won't give you anything yummy to eat!"
"No ni-ni? Only water?"
"Yup, only water!"
"Mommy, I want to live with the monsters..."
WHAT?!
Once in a while, Julia will continue to remind me that she's broken and needs to live with the monsters and she'll keep up the story about how they'll make her live in a box and how they're scary and somehow, at the end of it, she sings the last piece of it in a Broadway musical version with "And they don't give any Ni-Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" with outstretched arms and all but without the spirit fingers (which would've been the pièce de résistance-but who am I to critique?).
I'm not sure whose lying to who now but I'm pretty sure that Julia has got me beat.
The T.V. is broken.
The computer is broken.
We're not allowed to wake up until we see the sun.
The monsters live outside, take you away and only give you water to drink - no ni-ni (milk)....
Carl caught me saying this to her and gave me the look of death...O.K., so the last one was a bit much but she tried to outdo me and I couldn't help but take it a step further- something I do regret and not because she has an unhealthy fear of monsters now...
It all started with her telling me she was "broken" and me, jokingly, responding with "Uh-Oh, we're gonna have to trade you in, get a new little girl!"
"A new little girl?"
"Yes, a new one, maybe Nicky will want to live here."
"And I go to Aunt Laura's and live?"
"No, you're broken, we'll have to send you to the curb for the garbage pick up."
"Garbage?"
"Yeah, we'll have to put you in a box and Daddy will take you to the curb."
"I have to live in a box?"
"Yup, you wanna live in a box outside?"
"Yea!!" she says, eyes gleaming with excitement.
"Err.." think fast, Mariann, think fast..."But then the monsters will come and get you."
"The monsters?!"
"Yeah, the monsters! And you'll have to live in their house and they won't give you anything yummy to eat!"
"No ni-ni? Only water?"
"Yup, only water!"
"Mommy, I want to live with the monsters..."
WHAT?!
Once in a while, Julia will continue to remind me that she's broken and needs to live with the monsters and she'll keep up the story about how they'll make her live in a box and how they're scary and somehow, at the end of it, she sings the last piece of it in a Broadway musical version with "And they don't give any Ni-Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" with outstretched arms and all but without the spirit fingers (which would've been the pièce de résistance-but who am I to critique?).
I'm not sure whose lying to who now but I'm pretty sure that Julia has got me beat.
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