Baby Dreamin'

First of all, hallelujah that January is over!  I just don't like January but I was able to pass this year's with some fun things and we'd have relatively mild weather ... plus now it's over!  So I didn't even hate it this year.  Amazing!  Now I can almost say that I have only 6 weeks left of being pregnant and wow I'm really excited to breathe through my nose regularly again ... and of course snuggle my little angel.  Pregnancy stuffy nose has been so much worse for me this time.

With all the changes that are going to take place this year, I feel like this walking (read: wabbling) anxiety volcano.  Sometimes it's calm and the lava stays safely deep inside, and I feel like an average ginormus mountain (ok, maybe the pun is intended), but then there are rumblings and more rumblings and eventually explosions (like right now) which often lead to NOT SLEEPING because my mind is reeling and the lava is flowing or immature emotional outbursts, which will only be recorded in my journal, rather than on the world wide web. :)

So these are my coping mechanisms for not sleeping.  I start at the beginning and give each, in its order, a legitimate chance to put me back to sleep before trying the next.

1. Roll over.
2. Make a solution plan in head, sip water by bed, then roll over again.
3. Try to start a really awesome dream.
4. Pray.
5. Refuse to think about anything and listen to my breathing.
6. Get out of bed and eat a bowl of cereal, preferably sugary so that the sugar will hit in a few minutes and make me tired.
7. Clean my email inbox.  Deal with random stuff there.
8. Pull out my planner and write down every meeting/appointment/plan I can think of and as many lists as there are floating around in my head.
9. Wonder if the sugar cereal sugar rush is ready to crash me yet.
10. Surf for baby products I want for my little man because this is light-hearted and exciting rather than worrisome and stressful.
11. Blog, apparently.
12. Probably lay down and try again... or sew.

So now the real intention for my post... I've been thinking I had every imaginable baby thing I could want or need for my little baby boy angel since we just did this two years ago, but I've discovered that I can still find ways to spend our money afresh.  What a skill, right?  Some new-mom friends of mine are partially guilty for this because I see all their cool stuff!  Partially I'm guilty cause the first time I always thought, "Oh my goodness, you don't need that!!"  Now I'm over my haven't-actually-lived-with-a-newborn pride and realize that anything that helps is a dream come true.


First on the list.  Just heard about these!  Movement monitors!

You put it under your baby's mattress (or sheet?) and anytime it doesn't sense movement for 20 seconds, it alarms, ie if your baby stops breathing.  HELLO!  I cried/prayed myself to sleep so many times with Caleb just praying he didn't die of SIDS during the night.  Talk about peace of mind!  I would sleep so much better knowing this would wake me if my son needs me to start some CPR.

Second, a baby tub.

We had this mesh thing for Caleb that he nor I ever liked, so I got rid of it quite a while ago.  These things are so huge, but it seems like they are worth it.  Maybe I could have a baby who likes bathing rather than screaming through it??

 



Third, a swaddler with velcro.

I was so scared to try these with Caleb, even though he loved a good swaddle but broke out of them pretty early.  But I think I'd like to try them this time.







Fourth, the pacifier everyone loves, but I never tried.

Caleb kind of took a pacifier the first three months, but he never loved it and it never really helped us that much.  Granted, then we never had to wean him from it, but I'm still allured by the baby-soothing possibillities. 

Fifth, some adorable baby play mat like this with lights and sounds.

We just spent the weekend in Columbus with some of our BYU friends and they have one like this for their baby daughter.  Caleb thought it was so cool.  He layed on it with the 2.5-month-old, danced to the music, and played with the toys.  Not to mention, Baby loves it too.  Anytime she wasn't laying in there, he would look at the person holding her and pat the mat as if to say, "Hello!  Can't you tell she wants to be playing on this awesome mat?!"  It was very cute.  I have something like this but very minimalistic without the lights and sounds.  Upgrade!

Sixth, a white noise maker.

Tyler gifted one to me for Caleb for Christmas and we love it!  His isn't a stuffed animal, rather a little machine, but so helpful, especially in a small, loud house.  So I want one for each child!  I would be happy to have another little box one for the infant, but the reviews got me interested in the cuteness here.  There's a velcro strap on the back that can attach to a carseat or stroller for when you're out and about even!  Nice!  Plus, it's just cute!

Seventh, more of these types of little gizmos.

Granted, little babies only play with toys so much, not matter how cute they are, but I only have a few of the youngest-intended stuff.  I'd also like to find some black and white stuff for his little eye/brain development.

Eighth, a jumperoo.

If Tyler hasn't died or deleted this post yet, he is about to now.  Yes, we have an exersaucer, but this is different!  It allows for a much bigger jump at a much younger age.  Very cool.  Sorry Tyler, for you it's anything Apple, for me it's anything Baby.  Let's be honest: my entire list still costs less than the next Apple product you're dreaming of.

Nineth, plastic catch-all bibs.

I've never used one, but they seem so pratical to me now!  I only have little cloth ones.  I liked the idea of cloth better with Caleb cause of the softness factor, but they weren't often terribly effective.







There are a few other things like sheets for the pack n play since that will be Baby's sole bed for the first sevearl months, pacifier and hand-sanitizer wipes, an all-white blessing outfit for this man (so that he can have his own to keep forever and ever), a super cute hat for his newborn pictures, and of course the usual stock of diapers and wipes and shampoo.  I also want to pick out the most adorable take-home-from-the-hospital outfit ever ... he needs a few non-hand-me-downs for the really important moments. :)

At some point I also have to face the double stroller quandry.  My plan right now is to strap the baby to my body in either the Bjorn or the homemede moby wrap my friends made for me (or Ergo if I get the infant insert?) and keep Caleb in the single stroller.  I don't really know if this is a good plan.  Double strollers are huge though and I just can't decide which one I want, so I think I'll wait to decide until I've tried a few outings with two.  Maybe I'll be wiser then ... haha!  Probably not.  Just more desperate and willing to make a decision.

I rhink that pretty much covers all the product thoughts I've been having for this baby bundle.  I am so excited to meet him and get to know him!  I wonder if he'll look like Caleb or totally different.  I wonder what his personality is like.  He might look like Caleb, but I'm sure he'll have a different personality just because everyone has their very own.  He's a mover now, but in different ways than Caleb was in the womb.  I'm dreaming that nursing will be easier (ie less painful) and hoping that I will be a better soother.  Watching Caleb with babies lately has made me very hopeful about the meeting of the brothers.  Of course I know it will not be all smooth-sailing, but so far his first instincts with infants are very very sweet.  I'm so excited for our little boy to arrive!!