Me ranting about too much stuff again. . .

When we first had Lucas we got all sorts of things that all new Mom's get. Diaper pail, Baby tub, Changing pad, Changing pad covers, Diaper organizer/stacker, Wide variety of bottles with various nipple types and sizes, teeny tiny bibs, those worthless devices that look like a pacifier but instead hold food in a net (good luck cleaning those bad boys), tummy time activity mat. . . and on and on. And with Lucas, my first child, I used most of this stuff (except for those stinkin' way too small bibs which I found to be stupid and wasteful) but with Nick I really didn't use any of it. The only thing I used for Nick was the baby tub. The rest was useless to me. Nick has never once been on a changing pad. Not once. I didn't even pull it out of storage for him. He gets changed on the floor, couch or bed and if it is really messy he gets a towel thrown under him. Diaper organizer/stacker? Ha. What was I thinking spending money on that thing when the box the diapers come in happens to hold the diapers just fine - just not as fashionably. Poor Nick doesn't get the fancy stuff that my first born Lucas got.

So I took it all to the consignment store! It is funny how when you have a new baby - your first - you must have all new and all pristine equipment. At least I did. But most of it was silly stuff. Hopefully someone won't be as stupid as I was and waste their money on new equipment when they can get almost-new stuff from a consignment store like the one where I just took all my stuff.

Here are the things I found to be helpful if not essential. I am assuming that you give a damned. (Yes I know every one's list is different but I like reading what others found to be essential and comparing it to my list.)

• Exersaucer (thank you A.M. for convincing me to get one)
• Baby Bjorn and a baby backpack
• Large ziplocks for stashing clean diapers and wipes in the car
  
• Baby Einstein activity table
• Convertible car seat (Britax is my favorite)
• Boppy pillows (cheap one for the car and a nice one for the house)
• Baby gates
• Sippy cups (neither of my boys would ever take a bottle so we use sippy cups instead)
• A really good umbrella stroller (which I still use all the time even though I have two kids)
  
• A really good Double stroller that has tons of storage (helpful for longer days)
• A blender with a small blending cup
• Pacifiers - which I swore I'd never use
• Receiving blankets - or some other swaddling wrap. That is a must have.
• Baby monitor - We still use it 2.5 years later
• Variety of snuggly blankets
  
• Humidifier - a good one. We had several break before we found a good brand.
  

Did I miss something? I'm sure I missed several things. There's not much stuff on that list though. So why do I HAVE so much stuff in this house?

I've got a baby jumper-thingy (the kind that fit in a doorway, that I have used successfully two times. Both kids hate the thing and quite honestly so do I. You know what is great? Bubbles. Cheap fun bubbles. Pots and pans with spoons are great too. In fact both kids think they are better than some of their toys. Know what else is great? Paper. To crinkle and tear (for Nick) and to color and practice with scissors on (for Lucas). It is so popular in our house that we bought a big roll of butcher paper at Sam's club really cheap and use that for all of our art work and wrapping paper. Lucas colors it and I wrap presents for the family with Lucas art.

And you want to know another thing (if you don't then stop reading)? All the things I swore I'd never do as a parent. . . you know all those preconceived rules about babies and parenthood that you start out having - mostly because of all the research and reading you do? Remember those? Well they all went out the window a while back. There was the pacifier one - I swore pacifiers were terrible and my kid would never use one, both kids now use them and I don't care. I also was so picky about what went into Lucas' mouth. "No cookies!! No processed sugar!! Is that organic?? OMG did we wash fork after it fell on the floor??!!". Once Nick arrived most of my dietary rules went out the window too. My new rules go something like this: "If the majority of consumption is healthy than it's been a good day." I now have rules I didn't anticipate having like now I have really structured, consistent days. Breakfast: 7:30am, Snack: 10:00am, Lunch 12:00pm, Snack: 3:30pm, Dinner: 5:00 - no exceptions (or very rarely anyway).

I'm done now. And I feel better now that my rant is over. Your suffering is over. Now for fun pictures . . .


Here is Lucas putting on Nick's sock. Very cute.


Lucas is still trying to get that darned sock on. He later gave up and tried to put it on Nick's head like a hat. Nick started laughing hysterically when Lucas tried to put the sock on his head. He knew that the sock was supposed to go on his foot and actually got the joke. I can't believe a 10 month old would get it, but he is after all a genius. ha ha.