Thursday Things: 10 Products We Regularly Used for Jack (3-6 Months)

About the time Jack turned 3 months, I wrote a post outlining our top 3 things we needed for an infant. Basically our little guy needed a place in our room to sleep, warm clothes to wear, cloth diapers, a good carseat and mama's milk to thrive {ironically I don't think I included any of those things in my original list}.

As a follow up, here are the top items we used for Jack during the 3-6 month phase of his life on planet Earth.

1. Crib – we moved him to his crib around 4 months. We were thrilled to be able to get a good, modern crib at a steal of a price from IKEA {we chose the SUNDVIK and painted and stenciled the ends}.

2. Bibs/Burp Cloths – our little one spit up A LOT for the first 6 months of his life. Bibs were a life saver once I started using them regularly. Our favorites were the Just One You by Carter's cloth bibs with a snap {instead of velcro} from Target.

3. Play Gym – Jack loves the mobile on his play mat/gym. He especially loved it once he could grab the little birds that were circling above his head. I liked having a place I could lay him where he could be entertained while I caught up on work.

4. iPhone – I finally upgraded to a smart phone {for work reasons} around the time Jack turned 3 months old. The iPhone was easier to use than my Kindle {one handed} when I was nursing Jack. Talk about improving my life. I could read books, surf the internet, and track our little guy's nursing/diapers/sleeping habits with the Baby Nursing app.

5. Books.Books.Books. – we read a lot of books to our little guy. As the months passed he has become more and more engaged in what we are reading. By 6 months he was reaching out to help turn pages and/or trying to eat the pages.

6. BOB Revolution Jogging Stroller – we decided to skip out on a regular stroller and picked up a used BOB Revolution via Craigslist {retail is $399, we paid a fraction of that price}. We LOVE this stroller. We use it regularly for running/walking. It fits our lifestyle to a tee. We do not own another stroller and are glad that we didn't go with a typical travel stroller system.

7. Baby Bjorn – for the first 6 months of Jack's life I used the Baby Bjorn carrier specifically for grocery shopping and doing chores around the house. It kept Jack close to me and safe. I liked that he could interact with people {especially as he got bigger and we faced him outward} but I still had control over this interaction with strangers. We picked up a used carrier at Unclaimed Baggage for $8 {this carrier generally retails for $74+ on Amazon}.

 

8. Kelty Messenger Diaper Bag – Daniel actually picked out the diaper bag we carry for Jack. Since Jack is a boy and Daniel didn't want to have to carry anything that looked overly feminine, he won this battle. We agreed on the Kelty Messenger Diaper Bag in black/gray. We really like the sleek look, durable material and the portable changing pad that comes with it. On the rare occasion I have changed Jack on a changing table in a restroom at a restaurant, I really liked being able to 1) lay our changing pad down for Jack to lay on and 2) being able to access things within the diaper bag without laying it on the ground. It is just big enough to carry several cloth diapers, a couple of changes of clothes, a couple of bibs and burp cloths, a toy or two and my phone and wallet. There is an insulated pocket for bottles, but it is not something we have used.

9. Baby Monitor – This item made the transition from bassinet in our downstair's bedroom to nursery on the second floor easier. It took us a while to get the sensitiviy settings correct. I had many a panicked moment in the first few days where I thought Jack must have stopped breathing due to our monitor going off. This item gives me a sense of security. Though having it go off due to a power outage in the middle of the night is not a lot of fun. We own an AngelCare Movement and Sound Monitor. We chose to skip on the video monitor so that we won't be tempted to always be watching him. Though we can totally see the merit in owning the video, we just didn't think it was right for us.

10. Sound Machine – When Jack slept in our room he didn't need a sound machine. He probably still doesn't actually need one since he is fine without it when we travel. However it is nice to turn it on when he is sleeping and know it will block out some of our noises and probably help him to sleep a bit longer.

That is about it. We don't have a lot of extra stuff for Jack. We haven't found it necessary to have extras. No Pack N Play. No bottles. No excessive amounts of toys everywhere. Jack's needs are met and we don't feel overwhelmed by stuff. Which for us works.

One thing I have learned since becoming a parent is that everyone does it differently. Everyone has different needs and different ways of handling this thing called parenthood. This is just what works for us... we know the days are coming where the stuff will probably take over, but we are enjoying having a limited amount of stuff at this time.

*Update: I don't want to give the impression that this is all we own for baby. Of course we have changing stations {two in fact, one upstairs and one down}. A bathtub for bathing – the one we have has a sling that held Jack when he couldn't sit up. That sling would stink to high heaven though, no matter how often we washed it!!! We own some toys and there are a handful of pacis on hand throughout the house. Teething rings and blankets are all important staples. I just wanted to focus on our top items.

Nursery: Crib and Blanket

A few months ago I had my heart set on a crib from IKEA and then IKEA pulled all of its cribs out of US stores due to recent laws that had passed concerning drop sides on cribs. I was disappointed, but held out hope that IKEA would modify the designs and bring their cribs back to the US.

Luckily that is exactly what happened and we were able to get a crib we loved without spending an arm and a leg.

Daniel and I decided on the white SUNDVIK crib {above}. Once we had it home we hacked it to make it fit in with our nursery look. We painted the end gray to match the dresser and then I stenciled bicycles on it.

I created the stencil from a piece of fabric I scanned into my computer. I love technology!

The Michael Miller Bicycle Haze fabric has been the basis for the theme in this room. I purchased the fabric off the internet and had every intention of buying a custom blanket from an Etsy shop owner. Unfortunately the Etsy owner decided to pull out of working with me and I decided I would take a stab at making my own blanket.

Nursery Progress

We had an exhausting, but productive day in Atlanta yesterday. Before we headed to Georgia we really debated whether to take Sophie with us. The upside is that she isn't stuck in a house alone all day long – for possibly 12 hours {eek}. The downside is that she is stuck in a car all day – but she is with us and we take breaks and let her roam around when we can. Plus the outside temperature was perfect. In the end, we took her with us.

This was a good thing since we were gone for close to 12 hours {we try not to leave her alone for more than 8 hours at a time, with a max of 10}.

Anyway, we left Hollywood and made a few stops in Chattanooga first – errands that really needed to be taken care of. When we finally arrived in Atlanta, our first stop was the La-Z-Boy Furniture Gallery in Kennesaw. 

We had already been to the Chattanooga AND Huntsville stores and gotten the whole spiel from the salespeople. We were hoping to avoid the sales pitch again, but those guys are good at making you listen to them. The positive was that we knew exactly what we wanted to look and our sales guy, Ed, was actually really helpful. If they had had our rocker in stock in the color we wanted we would have bought it from them in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, the fabric we want {graphite} is a special order. 

After much debate we decided to order from Chattanooga to save us some drive time. Thankfully we know what we are getting. Unfortunately it won't be here for 6-8 weeks, so Jack should be here before our La-Z-Boy is. Such is life in the world of habitual procrastinators.

our Reclina-Rocker

After La-Z-Boy, we made our way to the Target at Midtown to pick up a Fisher-Price Newborn Rock 'n Play Sleeper. We have been looking for this item for a while. Unfortunately Amazon sells it for double the price of Target, but none of the Targets that are close to us had any in stock. Thank goodness for living close to a variety of major cities.

Post Target we hit up IKEA. Our IKEA plan is always to know what we are there for BEFORE we arrive. We were on a mission and were able to get in and out in about an hour and a half. 

There were two dressers that I was interested in – one for an upstairs changing table and one to be used in our foyer area {that could also double as a downstairs changing area if needed}.

 

HEMNES 3-Drawer Chest 

EDLAND 2-Drawer Chest 

We may eventually paint it another color to match our downstairs furniture better.

We also found a chair we both liked for our bedroom. This is our solution for the first few weeks when Jack sleeps in our room. It will also come in handy until our La-Z-Boy arrives.

 POÄNG chair with Ottoman. 

We chose a black frame with the Dala Natural cushion.

 

And finally the crib for the nursery. The plan is to paint the end panels a dark gray – pictures to come. You can see what we have in mind from my nursery mood board.

 SUNDVIK Crib

I would call our shopping day long but very productive. We were home by 10PM and very tired. Today we are painting an old dresser and the crib. We hope to have most of our pieces assembled by the end of the weekend. That pretty much covers the big items. As soon as we have it all pulled together I will post pictures of the nursery. 

We still have plenty of little things to pick up, but we are all about a minimalistic approach to having a newborn... Jack isn't going to need a whole lot right away and we have the important items covered. We will get the rest as we go. No need to rush out and buy a bunch of products we aren't even sure that we want.

As for Sophie... we managed to fit everything INSIDE the Subaru. This left a small area for her to ride home in. But she was a trooper. I think she would rather be driving around with us {even surrounded by boxes of furniture} than to be left at home alone... That's what we tell ourselves anyway!

Mood Board for Our Nursery

 

Sad to say that I am about 5 weeks from my due date and almost zero progress has been made on our nursery. We are planning on remedying that this weekend with a trip to Atlanta.

Above is a mood board I have created of some of the pieces we are considering for the nursery – mind you that seeing this stuff in person will determine whether or not we get it.

The artwork {seen here – we used it as decorations at out baby shower} is completed and framed, waiting to be hung {which requires furniture for placement}. 

We also have an old chest of drawers that we are painting white – possibly with gray panels and bicycles stenciled on to match the crib.

The crib we are considering is the SUNDVIK from Ikea. I plan on painting the outside panel and stencilling bicycles to match the Bicycle Haze fabric by Michael Miller.

The rocker recliner is the gray Cole Reclina-Rocker® Recliner by La-Z-Boy.

The blanket was found on Etsy with the Bicycle Haze fabric.

And the locker chest is from Ikea – I am thinking it would make a good window seat.

We will get it finished, we are just hoping that it will happen before baby boy arrives.