Love It & Leave It

Hello Blog friends!  I am Natalie from Designer Bags and Dirty Diapers! 

 I am a stay at home Mama to a two year old boy, still trying to figure out this crazy world of Motherhood!  I was so excited when Brooke asked me guest post about my favorite and least favorite baby items!  This is a post I would have loved to have read 2 years ago before I had my son Sterling!  It is such a genius idea for all us mothers to share what we love and don't love!

First off lets start with the good. 

{BUGABOO FROG STROLLER}

One of my favorite baby items that I still use daily is our Stroller.  I splurged a bit on this one item and I am so glad I did.   I debated long and hard about what stroller I wanted and in the end I went with the Bugaboo Frog.  I loved that it had a bassinet for when my son was little, a toddler seat for when he got older, and that you could strap your car seat into it as well.   It is easy to fold up and works great.  I still walk/run with my son in it so it has totally stood the test of time!  I can't say enough good things about it!  I got the bright orange color and adore it.

Now on to the bad.  A product I bought and never used was a sling.

{HOTSLINGS BABY SLING}

I tried several times to use this but it made me so uncomfortable that my son would fall out or get smothered.  It made me worry more than it was worth plus it felt awkward wearing it so I ditched it.  Next time I would never go the sling route and just use the Baby Bjorn instead.

I hope that helps all you Moms and Mom-to-be's!  I can't wait to read the other posts!  Thanks for having me Brooke!

xoxo

Love It & Leave It

Hi guys! I'm Andee from The Honeybee blog. I'm a wife, mommy, health nut and fashion junkie living life in beautiful Orange County. As a new mommy myself i'm super excited to be a part of Brooke's "Love it & Leave it" segment!

 There are so many baby products I love that it was hard to choose just one! It was a toss up between Little Tummies Gripe Water and WubbaNub's. Since we use the WubbaNub daily I decided that has to be my "Love it" item! It was really hard to find a soother my newborn liked and could keep in her mouth. We were beyond excited when we came across these with the little stuffed animal attached to it! They really do help to keep it anchored in. I can't tell you how many times this little guy has come in handy! Highly recommend!

 I have tried so many products in the last three months with my little girl and have definitely been the queen of returns! I agree with Hello Happiness on the wipe warmer. We have one but as soon as you take the wipe out of the warmer and bring it your babies tush...its not that warm anymore! So I'd skip that as well. The thing I could have done without was all the frilly newborn clothing. As cute as they were, half still have tags on them or were only worn once! My little girl lived in onesies for the first 6 weeks because they were just so practical. So, I would definitely invest in some super comfy onesies and save your cash for when they get a bit older. When people tell you they grow out of them quickly...it's so true!

Hope this was helpful for all the new mama's out there, and thank you to Brooke for letting me share my picks with you!

Xo Andee

Love It & Leave It

 Hello! I'm Ashley from The Johnstons . I have been married to my best friend, my high school sweet heart, for 3 1/2 years & everyday is better than the day before :)

 We have had so many fun adventures  over the 8 years we have known each other & now we're embarking on our greatest adventure yet...we're PARENTS! Our sweet little Giuliana was born December 19th 2011& we already cant imagine life without her.

When Brooke {thanks Brooke!} asked me to write up a guest post  on items i think new parents should LOVE or LEAVE, i was so excited!

When we were picking out baby items, we had NO IDEA what we would need. I thrived off of my other mommy friends advice.

So here we go, my Items to LOVE & LEAVE:

We Love, love, love all of the aiden & anais products

I seriously think i have an addiction

We used the Cozy sleeping bag for when she was really little & sleeping in our bed.

We felt she was safer having the sleeping bag on rather than being under our blanket.

& she was still nice & warm!

 

Its no secret that EVERYONE loves the aiden & anais swaddle blankets.
& for good reason, they are AH-MAZING!
they are so soft & big!
She is 6 months old & i can still swaddle her up
We use them for everything, swaddling, stroller cover, nursing cover..etc

we also use the dream blanket in her crib.

Its nice & warm & still breathable, so i don't have to worry about it covering her face.

*I do have to add, the aiden & anais products that are for sale @ target & buybuy baby are NOT THE SAME as the ones you get directly from aiden & anais.

I know it sounds crazy, but its true! The products you get directly from them are MUCH NICER!
I guess they make 2 different lines of products

An item to LEAVE:

the wubbanub pacifier

 I know,  I'm probably the only person that hated it.

Its a great item to buy, if your baby likes the soothie pacifier,

but the only pacifier we can get our sweetie to take is the MAM latex pacifier

I ended up making my own "wubbanub" so that Giuliana still had the ability to locate her pacifier in her crib when it fell out at night {& have a cuddly friend!} I sewed a MAM adapter to the ear of her Lovey {Which i made with an aden & anais "issie" blanket & a lovey bunny} and snapped in a  MAM pacifier.  It works so well! She loves it! She sleeps with her little lovey every night. The other thing that is nice about this versus the Wubbanub, is i can detach the pacifier to sanitize it daily, & throw the lovey in the wash. 

Brooke, good luck on your search for the best baby items! & thanks again for thinking of me :) Hope this was helpful!                                                                     

Love It & Leave It

Happy Tuesday! I am so excited to introduce a new series, 'LOVE IT & LEAVE IT,' where first-time moms will be sharing one product or item they love (couldn't live without), and one they would leave behind. As my due date is a little less than 3 months away (wow), I thought this would be a fun and helpful series for all moms, and moms-to-be in the blogosphere! I'd like love to introduce you to my first guest, Natasha!

Hey yall! First of all, I want to say a big thank you to Brooke for allowing me to come over and post on her wonderful blog. My name is Natasha and I am the author of Hello! Happiness. I am a 20-something southern gal from Nashville, Tennessee. I am a wife, a new mom, and a girl who loves to entertain, exercise, cook, travel, and decorate.

My Husband and I...and we just celebrated our 1 year anniversary on June 11th

Our darling Caroline...she is almost 3 months old!

My favorite place...home sweet home

Moving on to why I am here...when Brooke contacted me about participating in her guest post series, I couldn't say no. As a new mom myself, I have definitely found my share of products I LOVE and products I could LEAVE behind. I hope this helps!

LOVE IT: The number one item I cannot live without are Aden + Anais muslin baby blankets. By no means is this something glamorous, but it is an essential at my house. They are soft, lightweight (perfect for spring and summer), and are my favorite blankets to swaddle our little peanut. Plus, they have adorable prints on them, but they don't scream BABY like some other blankets out there. I'm telling you now, run out and buy some of these...you won't regret it. You can buy them on their website or at Target!

LEAVE IT: Some may totally disagree with me, but one thing I could do without has been the wipe warmer. I registered for it because of course I was told to, but I have yet to use it and doubt I ever will. Not sure what the premise is behind the gadget because I am sure that it does help make the wipes toasty for the wee one's tiny bum, but to me it is something that is totally unnecessary and you can absolutely live without.

There are plenty of other products out there I could rave and/or rant about, but these are the two that stand out to me most! I am always featuring my favorites over at my blog so please feel free to stop by...again, thanks Brooke and I can't wait to read what other mommies are out there saying about their favorite and not-so-favorite items ;). 

- Natasha