Our Registry: Gear

While I'm not a mom (yet), I have done many hours of research on the best items to have on a baby registry. I thought I'd share what's on ours (and what's not), in case any of you need some help getting yours together one day. We are registered at Babies "R" Us and Amazon.com.

Let's start with the most researched baby registry items: Gear!

The First Years Wave Stroller

I've blogged about this before, but it's worth repeating. Every time I think I might like another stroller better, I find another awesome review of this one and my choice is confirmed. I was actually registered of the black one with the red sunshade, but I realized this one with the patterned interior is $100 cheaper, so I immediately switched the color. My husband's grandmother has already told us we're getting this for Christmas!! I can't wait.

The First Years Via Infant Car Seat

I don't NEED a car seat that matches the stroller, but it gets great reviews and it isn't too expensive, so why not? I've also registered for an extra base so we can easily go from car to car without re-installing.

The First Years True Fit Convertible Car Seat

I know some people say to skip the infant car seat and just get one of these, but I know how convenient it is to transfer a sleeping baby from car to stroller to house with the infant one (I have a 10 year old brother, remember?), so I want both. This one we'll save for when he grows out of the infant seat - by they way, when does that happen? Six months? A year? I can't remember. I originally registered for this car seat in all black, but it's no longer available, so grey it is.

Inglesina Fast Table Chair

We already have the Ikea Antilop highchair, but I saw this on MODG and thought it would be nice to have for traveling. I like the dark, neutral color and compact design.

Graco Pack 'n Play Playard

A mommy friend told me to get a pack 'n play with bassinet attachment to use right after the baby is born instead of a separate bassinet. I'm all about saving money and space, so I think it's going to work great for us. It also matches our bedroom perfectly!

Skip Hop Duo Deluxe Diaper Bag

Designer diaper bags aren't my thing. I want something that's going to last forever, hold all I need it to, and something my husband won't feel uncomfortable carrying. I like messenger style bags to keep my hands free and the skip hop ones all come with cool stroller attachments.

BABYBJORN Baby Carrier

I was registered for this popular baby carrier until my sister in law gave us the exact same one! She rarely used it, so it's in great condition and I'm so happy we get to try it out! I do need a tutorial on how to wear it, though...

Moby Wrap Baby Carrier

I can't wait to try this sucker out. Jenna from That Wife did a great how-to video on this and I'm excited to use it with our little guy. It seems like the easiest way to go shopping with a cart, travel, or anything else where you need two hands. Plus, I've read that babies who are carried in slings like this cry less.

What do you think of our gear choices? Anything we forgot?

Next: Feeding

It's a...

If you remember, my husband's 30th birthday was on Thanksgiving this year. We thought we might open our card the night before, but we were so exhausted from going to a friendsgiving dinner, that we decided to wait until the next morning when we would be fresh. All night both of us had multiple dreams about opening the card and for both of us, every time we opened the card in our dreams it was a boy.

Well...

Our dreams came true!! Right after we opened the card (which also had an ultrasound picture of the genitals that I've decided to keep private), I gave my husband his other birthday present.

He's a huge Raider fan and I ordered this onsie thinking it could work for a boy or a girl, but it REALLY works for a boy.

As for our reactions? I didn't cry right away. I think my husband did, but he'd probably deny it. Later, though, when I went to pick up the cupcakes and to Starbucks, I was crying every five minutes. I would see something that made me think of our little boy and cry. It was quite overwhelming.

After picking up the cupcakes, we decided to try some to make sure the filling was the correct color.

They got it right! Crumbs was just great about this whole thing. I definitely recommend them for your custom cupcake needs.

I just know our little boy will grow up to be as handsome and kind as this guy. I can only hope he will be as silly :)

Then, we headed to my parents' house for some cupcakes and champagne, followed by Thanksgiving dinner.

Here's our plate of cupcakes with my little question mark flags. They were super cute, but not super practical. Nobody wants to bite into a cupcake with a toothpick in it, so you have to take it out first, but with the surprise filling, you run the risk of seeing the color on the toothpick before the big bite. It was a nice idea, but I wouldn't recommend it.

I love this picture! They haven't even seen the color yet, but they're so excited!

Can you see my brother doing the fist pump YES! ? He was super excited, as were my mom and stepdad.

After some more cooking and football watching, it was time for dinner. My parents make the BEST turkey ever. The breast is so moist and flavorful, even the next day out of the microwave.

After dinner we played games and had underdone pumpkin pie (that I made - whoops) while watching Christmas movies.

The next day, we headed to my husband's parents' house for our second reveal and third thanksgiving. However, we wanted to wait until my husband's sister, nieces, and friends arrived the next day, so we had to hold in our news. It was so hard and I think my husband slipped once, but he tried to cover it.

Finally, everyone (well, almost) arrived and we got another plate of cupcakes ready.

This time, only a couple of flags in the middle.

From left, Molly (sister-in-law), Ann (mother-in-law), Gwen (niece), Stella (adorable baby), and Caren (our sweet friend). My husband's dad and our other niece Ava are just out of the frame of the picture.

Yay! It was so funny to see if people would bite into the cupcake or rip it in half to see the color.

This will be their first grandson (they have two granddaughters), so they are so excited.

Our friends Paul and Jackie arrived a little late, but we saved cupcakes for them!

Jackie lost a bet on this one!

Then, it was time for dinner. My husband worked hard carving out 12 mini pumpkins for a delicious butternut squash soup that Ann made from squash from her garden.

Adorable and delicious!

I wasn't quite sick of turkey yet, but this meal might have put me over the turkey dinner edge. Delicious!

More games, toddler play time, and lots of talking about our future baby boy and it was time for bed. What a weekend!

The majority of you guessed that it would be a boy in my poll, so as a reward to all of you, even those who guessed wrong, I'm going to have a little giveaway! One lucky winner will receive 12 delicious mini cupcakes from Crumbs! They are not sponsoring this post, I'm paying for them out of my own money because I love you. Leave a comment on this post to enter and be sure you are signed in with your email address or leave it in the comment! Comment by Friday at 11:59pm.

Get ready for lots of nursery inspiration, baby boy clothes, and more fun baby related posts!!

Baby Shower Inspiration

The last week or so, my friends and family have been asking about shower dates, locations, and themes. I have a wonderful group of friends who all want to help my mom plan a shower locally and my aunts up north are going to plan one for family that lives farther away. I'm leaving the out of town shower up to my aunts, but I'd like to be more involved in planning the local shower. I love planning parties - especially the decorations - so why not join in on the fun with my own shower? 

I've been gathering baby shower inspiration for years, so here's some of my favorites.

via Spearmint Baby

I love the monochromatic color palate of this shower with the sweet pom pom details. And how cute are those nesting dolls?

via Amy Atlas

The natural elements in this shower are so pretty. They sell big burlap drop cloths at the hardware store that could work as table cloths and those diaper pins? Adorable.

via Amy Atlas

I love the colors in this one. The garland and paper lanterns are so pretty!

via Amy Atlas

This one is so casual and elegant. I love the dishtowels as napkins and the mason jars as glasses.

via Amy Atlas

I have loved this gender reveal party for a long time. I think the craving snack bar is genius!

via Amy Atlas

Peonies are my very favorite flowers. We had them at our wedding, but they won't be in season for the shower. However, I love the tin cans as vases.

via Amy Atlas

This is the first of three hot air balloon inspiration pictures. I love this theme so so much. 

via Amy Atlas

Look at those puffy clouds! I die.

via Babble

Perfection.

via Amy Atlas

Since I'm a teacher, a school themed shower would be cute. I know I definitely want to use chalkboards in the decor to go with my weekly bump photos.

via One Charming Party

Another school themed shower with a vintage twist. Click the link to see the invitations. They're awesome.

via Babble

How fun is this bright and cheery pink and yellow shower? I do love lemon bars...

via Babble

Being a girly girl at heart, nothing thrills me more than pink as far as the eye can see.

via Babble

This bedtime story party is very unusual, but kind of awesome. 

via Babble

I adore this garland with lines from lullabies. It would take some time to make, but it would be worth it.

via Babble

This is from a gender reveal party, but it would definitely work for a cool gender neutral baby shower as well.

via Babble

I love camping, but maybe not enough to have a camping themed baby shower. I do love the casual rustic decor, though.

via Babble

She's about to pop! How cute is that? And a super cheap wall decoration with the colored plates that look like bubbles.

Are you ready for my very favorite one? One that I'm totally copying? One from the one and only Martha?

from Martha Stewart via Babble

It'd called Once Upon a Baby Shower. I'm in love. I knew I wanted to do some sort of book theme since I need a lot of them for our wall of books in the nursery. The color palate of this shower could easily be changed for a boy, too! I love the books wrapped in paper and the garland. There are printable invitations and book plates that come with it, but I'm thinking about making my own. I could combine this with some of the other ideas I love, like the burlap table cloths and quote garland, and make it really special. Eeek! I'm so excited!

Do you think it's weird if I plan the decor for my own shower? I hope not because I really want to do it :)

Baby Binder

Read all of my Spearmint Baby posts here.

My husband is the king of the library. He has a long commute to and home from work each day, so he likes listening to audio books in the car. Once we saw the heartbeat on the ultrasound, he started checking out audio and regular books on all things baby. It's pretty adorable to see his latest read about fatherhood in the bathroom with his page marked.

Around the same time my husband went baby book crazy, I read a post on Bee Kim's blog about how, with her first pregnancy, she wished she had prepared less for the birth and more for dealing with a newborn and breastfeeding. So, on my husband's next trip to the library, I tagged along and picked up some books I had heard about and some I thought would be worthwhile to check out.

Some of the books had some information I knew I would want to refer to later, when the baby arrives, but since they were library books, I decided to make some copies and put together a binder with all the most important info I think I'll need later. I put some extra dividers in the binder so I can add to it throughout my pregnancy and I think we'll also use it for the baby's important information like doctor's visits.

Here are the books I liked best:

Baby Wise is a popular book all about scheduling. While I would really like to avoid being one of those parents who freaks out over my baby's schedule getting disrupted, I do see how important a consistent schedule can be for the baby and the parents. This book claims that 8 week old babies can sleep through the night! I know this idea is controversial and many people think babies that young need to be eating in the middle of the night, but I'd like to try it out as long as my baby is gaining weight appropriately.

The Happiest Baby on the Block focuses on calming baby's cries and keeping him or her content. It outlines a method using the 5 S's: Swaddling, Side/Stomach (not for sleeping), Shhhhing, Swinging, and Sucking. This method is supposed to help the baby feel the comfort of the womb and they emphasize matching the baby's vigor when doing one or more of the 5 S's. For example, if the baby is crying very loudly, the Shhhhhing should be just as loud. The book doesn't advise using these methods to put the baby to sleep, just to calm the baby.

The Nursing Mother's Companion is just what the title suggests. While husbands may giggle at the illustrations of engorged breasts, the visuals really help someone like me who has never breastfed (and is terrified). I've heard that reading books about nursing isn't enough to prepare a new mother for the challenges (a lactation consultant coming to the house seems to be the best thing to do), but I like to be prepared and reading about it now helps me get my mind ready (I had a dream last night about nursing and it came very naturally to me).

The New Natural Pregnancy is a bit granola for me, but it has some really great exercises that my favorite prenatal yoga teacher does and since she's in South Africa for a few months, I copied some of the pages so I could do them myself. It also has some good illustrations for massage, hint hint hubby.

What are your favorite books on pregnancy and infant care? I'd love to add to my binder!