Baby Products I Could Not Have Lived Without This Past Year

This post has been a long time coming. So many of you have asked my favorites in a lot of these categories, so here are my opinions! Feel free to leave your own. Or, if there is something that you couldn't have lived without be sure to let me know so I can try it!

Equipment:

1) Bugaboo Stroller for the navigating the city streets

2) Maclaren Quest Stroller for traveling and trips around town that require a taxi

3) Jumperoo

4) Swing

5) Baby Bjorn

6) Bumbo

7)  Playmat

 8) Alphabet Playmat

 

Nursery:

1) Pottery Barn Harper Crib

(I found mine at the Pottery Barn outlet!)

2) Beautiful Crib Bedding and Accessories from Monarch Creations

(see right sidebar for coupon code)

3) Pottery Barn Rocker Dream Swivel Glider

(We found ours at the Potter Barn outlet!)

4) Colgate Classica I Foam Crib Mattress

5) Waterproof Lap/Crib Pads

(great for changing table so you don't have to change your cover every time and also good in basinette/crib...you can't have enough of these!)

6) Rumble Tuff Changing Pad'& Rumble Tuff Changing Pad (4 sided)

7) Pottery Barn Canvas Toy Storage Bags

(I bought mine on Craig's List brand new!)

8) Storage Baskets for baby

Feeding:

1) Born Free Bottles (worked the best for my reflux child when I quit nursing)

2) Nuby Sippy Cups (we like the straw cups the best)

3) Munchkin Spoons

4) Bumkin Bibs

5) Earth's Best Soups

6) Baby Mum Mums

7) Gerber Organic Apple/Strawberry

8) Yogurt Melts

9) Green Puffs

10) YoBaby 

Bath Time:

1) Fisher Price Whale Tub

2) Pottery Barn Towel for infants

(this was one of my favorite when Baby J was little)

3) Mullins Square Towel for bigger baby and toddler (they have two sizes and the larger size is perfect for our 1 year old)

4) Skip Hop Whale Spout Cover

(great for the bathtub when they start moving around!)

5) Bath Organizer

6) Squirt Toys

7) Johnson and Johnson Moisture Care Wash and All Over

8) Mustela for Cradle Cap, Mustela All Over, Mustela Relaxing Bath

9) Stool for Mama and Baby

(I use it when I give J a bath every night!)

Diaper Bag:

1) The Pottery Barn Ultimate Diaper Bag (it is AWESOME!)

2) Monogrammed Wipe Holder

3) Diaper Holder

(don't forget to use the code MMMBLOG!)

4) Snack Cup

5) Formula Holder 

6) Pacifier Holder

7) Pampers Swaddlers until they crawl

8) Huggies Little Movers from crawling to walking

9) Pampers Sensitive Wipes

Toys:

1)Sophie

2) Winkle

3) Crazy Eye Panda Bear

4) Lovie

5) Step 2 Car

6) Music Table

7) Blocks

8) Melissa and Doug Puzzles

9) Drum Set

10) Radio Flyer Wagon

 

Favorite Baby Clothes Brands:

1) Kissy Kissy

2) Magnolia Baby
3) Bailey Boys
4) Funtasia Too
5) Carriage Boutiques

6) Anavini

7) Kellys Kids
8) Amanda Remembered
9) Little English
10) Castles and Crowns

11) Shrimp and Grits

12) Claire and Charlie

And so many more...

Favorite Websites:

1) Julianne Originals

(my favorite for monogrammed bibs, football bibs and monogrammed gowns)

2) A. Tierney

(the BEST monogrammed burp cloths and monogrammed sun hats)

3) Palmetto Princess and PST Designs

(great custom longalls, I've ordered from both)

 

4) Diapers.com

(Don't forget to enter code MMM blog for $10.00 off your first order)

5) Amazon

(We bought the amazon prime membership and I LOVE it!)

6) Alice.com

(Get $10.00 off your first order of $50.00)

7) Ebay 

8) Etsy 

9) Best Dressed Child 

Books:

1) Pat the Bunny

2) 123 NYC Counting Book

3) Halloween Jack ( or any of the other Roger Priddy funny face books)

4) That's Not My Dinosaur

5) Toes, Ears and Nose

6) The Very Hungry Caterpillar

7) Touch and Feel Animal Books

8) Usborne Truck Book

9) Barnyard Dance (or any Susan Boyton book)

10) Goodnight Moon and Goodnight New York City

11) Peek-a-Moo

Travel:

1) Travel Sleep Sheep

2) Maclaren Quest

3)  Foogo Thermos for milk on the plane or on the go (it keeps 12 ounces cold for up to 12 hours!)

4) Britax Roundabout 50 (The best option for our family since we don't have a car in the city and we only rent. We wanted it to be on the smaller side, but the 50 makes it go up to 50 pounds! It is GREAT!)

5) Carseat travel bag (fits a Britax)

Happy Fat Tuesday!

We had an AMAZING trip home for Mardi Gras! It was so much fun to be with my family and friends. I was able to meet one of my best friends new baby boys. However, I did have to wait a few days because Baby J got a fever virus and ran 103-104 for a couple of days. He's all better now, but we couldnt' be around any kids until he was better. I ate lots of kingcakes and I LOVE the new moonpie flavors of mint and peanut butter. They are SO GOOD! They taste like Girl Scout cookies. My parade was a blast and J enjoyed trying his 1st moonpie, meeting new friends and catching beads. A was unable to make it because of the snow in NYC (and in the South) so that was sad.

We bought J his first pair of "real" shoes. More details to come later. Thank you for all of your suggestions. 

Have you heard of Zulily? It's another membership sale group, but it is for babies, kids and Moms. Right now they have Graco, Caden Lane. Melissa and Doug and Primigi are coming up. Email me at magnoliasmarriageandmanhattan@gmail.com if you would like an invitation.

I received my latest Ebates big fat check. This time it was for $254.00! Do you use ebates? If not, you should! You just got to their website anytime you buy something online and a portion of your sale is credited back to you. They pay every few months and it really adds up! Click here to sign up if you want to try it out.  

Diapers.com is running a special on their referrals this month. You get $10.00 off your order and so do I! If you have not tried this fabulous service, you should at least check it out once. I mean...hello $10.00 of diapers, wipes, formula, baby food, toddler snacks, shampoo, even clothes, towels, and toys!  All you have to do is sign up and please use my code MMMBLOG to get your $10.00 off your first order. Shipping is free for all orders of $49.00 or more. Let's help each other out!

What did y'all do to celebrate Valentine's Day? A surprised me at LGA on Sunday. In NYC most people do not meet you at the airport because they don't have cars and it is easier to just hire a car or get a cab. It was so sweet of him to be there the minute we walked off the plane! He then presented me with Valentines Day cards and let me know that he arranged for a babysitter and dinner for Monday night! We went to Market Table and it was FABULOUS! 

Hope y'all are having a Happy Fat Tuesday! Eat some king cake, drink a hurricane and INDULGE in whatever you like!

Off to Mardi Gras!

Baby J and I leave Friday for Mardi Gras! It will be his first Mardi Gras and I CAN'T WAIT! I had this little longall made for him to wear to the parades. Isn't it adorable?

 

The week of J's 1st birthday we started switching over his 3 formula bottles to sippy cups and milk only. He now takes a sippy cup of milk when he wakes up and then drinks from it during the day and a bottle of milk at night. Pretty good for just a few weeks! I'm so scared to give up that night bottle, but I'm sure he'll be fine once I get the guts to do it. Any tips? Also, this trip will be our first without formula. It is pretty easy to travel with formula (or while you are breastfeeding), but I'm worried about the milk. I went and bought this. It says it will keep the milk cold for 12 hours. What do you do about milk when you travel with your toddler?

Oh, quick question for all of you Moms of little Southern boys. What kind of shoes do your little boys wear? I want something that goes with Baby J's smocked outfits and also gives him enough support for his walking. The Striderite store on the UES is not cutting it! Their options are SO UGLY! Help a Southern girl out! What's a great 1st shoe for new walkers? I've just been putting him in his little white robez and he needs more support!

Can anyone recommend a good book to read for the Toddler years. We are already experiencing the terrible twos, I bought this book, because I loved this one. But, would love a couple more!

Baby J and I are traveling by ourselves. I've done it quite a few times now, but since he is REALLY walking it should be interesting trying to get him to sit in my lap. The flight from LGA to ATL is 2.5 hours and the flight from ATL to PNS is about 1 hour, so we decided not to buy him a $350 seat. The last flight to California was the 1st time we bought a seat, so now I'm spoiled. Oh well! "A" will join us for my parade next weekend. I can't WAIT! This is going to be such a fun trip.

Tomorrow, one of my very best friends is being induced with her 2nd child.. You may remember praying for Scarlett, her 1st child that is missing the tissue that connects the left side of the brain with the right side. Scarlett is almost 2 now and doing pretty well. She has a lot of physical therapy, but is still not quite walking. Although she is a great climber! My friend will have her hands full, but I'm so excited for her. I am even more excited to get my hands on her little man! I can't believe I will get to be there!

On Saturday, I'm going to Mardi Gras parade and ball with some of my high school girlfriends. On Sunday, we have float loading. That is where we bring all of our bead and throws and put them on our floats. It is also a big party and I can't wait to see all my friends and their families. On Wednesday, it is one of my best friend's birthdays so we are celebrating with a Crawfish Boil! So fun! Thursday is our rehearsal and meeting and our float's party and Friday is our parade and ball!!!! This is going to be such a fun time with my family and friends!

Do you want to get in the Mardi Gras spirit? Order a king cake! A friend of mine up here asked where to get a King Cake shipped from and a few of my friends recommended these places:

http://www.kingcakes.com/
Gambino's Bakery: http://www.gambinos.com/shop/default.php
Cake Palace: http://www.thecakepalace.com/

Hope everyone is staying warm! Laissez les bonne temps roulez!!!!

Birthday Presents for One Year Olds

What do you buy a one year old for his birthday? I've received that question a lot the past few weeks from friends in need of the perfect gift. Here are a few gift ideas that Baby J received for Christmas and birthday that he LOVES! Any of these would make a great gift for your favorite one year old. Do you have any other ideas, please leave them in the comments!


1) Board Books
Every 1 year old loves a good board book! We love regular books too, but those are all on a high shelf and can't be used yet because my 1 year olds will tear out all the pages! At this age they want to taste, touch, feel and interact with the book. Touch and feel board books are our favorites! We LOVE Funny Faces Roger Priddy Books Halloween Jack is J's favorite! (He doesn't seem to mind Halloween was months ago.) Be sure to include a gift reciept with your book, because even at this age they have quite a collection already!


2) Balls
Small or big, balls are fun! We love sensory balls. We also have a mini basketball that he loves to play with. One of Baby J's current favorite toys is the Hasbro Playskool Busy Ball Popper. It is a workout for Mommy to go chasing after the balls as they pop all over the place, but he LOVES to push the button and watch it (and me) go!



3) Wheels
If it has wheels then my 1 year old little boy LOVES it! He recieved this tractor and he thinks it is a ton of fun. He likes trains, cars, trucks, etc...I swear if it HAS WHEELS then he likes it.



4) Puzzles
Melissa and Doug make great toys, but their puzzles are the best! We love the touch and feel puzzles,the sound puzzles, and the jumbo puzzles. I hear their magnetic puzzles are also a lot of fun! Speaking of magnetic, the LeapFrog Fridge Farm Magnetic Animal Set is a GREAT toy to put on the fridge for hours of entertainment. One of J's good friends gave it to him!



5) Music
My little one loves music! We gave him this Melissa and Doug Band in a Box he loves it! It says it is for older kids, but we didn't give him the triangle...just the tambourine, maracas, clapper, etc. He loves it! A set of maracas is also a great gift. He loves this Fisher-Price Crawl-Along Drum Roll that Santa gave him for Christmas. One of Baby J's best friends bought him the Plan Toy Oval Xylophone and he adores it, such a cute gift! Most likely the 1 year old in your life already has a music table, but if he doesn't then his parents will thank you for the 15 minutes of free time they will get from one of these toys!



Things to avoid (in my opinion):

1) Clothes (unless you know for sure what kind of clothes the Mama likes and the right size to buy)

2) Stuffed animals (most babies received a small zoo when they were born...they just don't need anymore and unless it lights up or talks, they really aren't that interested)

3) Anything that says it is for kids older children! While some toys are good for younger kids, most of the age labels are correct.

4) Anything that says CHOCKING HAZARAD. There is a label if it has small parts that are not appropriate.



From Mom/Dad or Grandparents:

1) Personalized Pottery Barn Anywhere Chair (get the middle size)

2)Radio Flyer Push Wagon or regular wagon

3) Ride on Toy such as Step 2 Push Car, Little Tikes Cozy Coupe 30th Anniversary Car, Fire truck

4) Savings bonds or money for college!

5) A birthday outfit (or money for the Mama to pick out a birthday outfit)

What do you give for 1st birthday gifts? Something special?