One Honest Mommy

Photo Credit: www.pixabay.com Oh teething, what a joy. Suddenly my sweet little happy boy became cranky and fussy. The culprit? Teething! Teething has made my poor baby moody at times because one minutes he is fine and the next minute his teeth and shooting pain. I was told to use baby Orajel and Tylenol to help relieve some of his pain. I also use tethers. I have a couple of different types but the  Nuby Teethe Eez Soothing Teether  is by far his favorite. He loves that specific one so much I actually went out and bought another.  He also has the    Nuby Ice Gel Baby Teether Keys Nuby 3 Stage Teether Set RaZbaby RaZ- Berry Silicone Teether MAM Mini Cooler Teether with Clip MAM Bite and Relax Teether While Noah's little teeth have not come through just yet, he is most definitely teething. He has been showing signs for a while. My doctor refuses to believe me. If you have a doctor who is strictly by the book like mine is, sometimes you just ha...

Photo Credit: Megan Malone I don't know about your baby but mine has never enjoyed tummy time. It has just never been his thing. Even though he can hold his head up now he still does not like it. Even now that he is trying to crawl and roll over he still hates it because he just ends up getting mad that he cannot make the  movements he wants. I have found a few things that make it a little more enjoyable for him though. Now these new found ideas do not make it last to much longer but they have helped some.  Lay with your baby's tummy on yours so they will technically be doing tummy time but still in contact with you. Put a toy for them to observe in their hands where they cannot help but see it. This really works well with Noah most of the time but you really cannot do it until your baby can hold his/her head up well is the only issue with this idea. Give them a mirror to look at. Some babies are fascinated with their reflection, when Noah was curious ab...

Hello Everyone, I am so sorry for the lack of posts lately. Life has been some what crazy. Keep checking back and I will post as soon as I can!

Photo Credit: www.babiesrus.com Graco Pack N Play The Pack N' Play pictured above is the exact one I have at the house for Noah. The bassinet/changing table attachment is a pain in the butt I must admit. Once you take it off it just is always in the way, or at least it was for me. Other than the little attachment for the bassinet feature I like this product. When you have the bottom raised up for when baby is younger it can sway a little so it almost helps rock the baby to sleep.  I also like that theme can be used with a boy or a girl. Personally I think every family needs one of these for vacations and such. I have found Graco to be a really good brand too if anyone is looking for one. 

Photo Credit: www.walmart.com Grace Travel System When I was picking out a stroller it took me forever to make a decision on one. At first I did not want a travel system because I did not picture myself always taking Noah's car seat in and out. I ended up with a travel system anyways, the one picture above is the exact one I have for my son. I love it. Being able to take the seat in and out is really a life saver especially if I am shopping or going into church and Noah has fallen asleep during the ride I do not have to wake him up to get where I am going, I just bring him in sleeping in his carrier. Trust me when baby is already asleep it is a lot easier on everyone involved if you can leave him asleep at all costs, especially since my son is so good at fighting sleep. The stroller part is really nice too, it has a lot of places to put stuff while you are on the go. The cup holder tray on top is what I use the most. If I am shopping with my son though I will sometimes put...

Photo Credit: www.honest.com Honest Diaper After finding out that my Husband and I were expecting our first child, naturally I wanted to use only the best products for him or her. I had heard a lot of good things about The Honest Company, and their diapers were super cute too, so of course I wanted to try them. My mother in law got the pack we tried for us but I think you can sign up with The Honest Company and get a trail pack but I am not entirely sure on this. When we tried these diapers I was extremely let down. The name of the company is The Honest Company, so you would expect the diapers to be completely pure and not cause irritation. This was not the case. After a few times of wearing these diapers my son's entire bottom area where the diaper touched was super red and irritated looking. I still do not know what in the diaper caused this reaction but I do know that as soon as I quit using them on him his skin cleared up. I had to get rid of almost a whole pack of ...

Photo Credit: www.walmart.com Fisher Price Infant Tub I have used this Fisher Price Infant Tub since day one with my son. While he was still small I would lay him in the sling part and bathe him. Now that he is bigger he sits up a little more in the tub and can splash and play. Once he is able to sit up completely on his own he will be able to use the green seat pictures above, it inserts into the tub. The little blue spray bottle in the picture has been wonderful for getting him completely rinsed off. The tub comes with the green seat, the polka dot sling, blue spray bottle and the orange water toy as well so you do not have to go out and buy anything extra. The tub set it really nice and like I said you can use it when your baby is still a newborn too. I am not sure the pricing of it though, I received mine as a baby gift. I have seen the tub at both Walmart and Babies R Us though. My experience with this product has been great, and I would recommend it to anyone who is lo...

Photo Credit: www.walmart.com MAM Bottles I decided to try the MAM Anti-Colic Bottles because they were recommended to me by a family member. I had originally planned to use the Dr.Browns bottles but I heard they were hard to clean at times. The MAM bottles can come completely apart which I really like because I can get in there and clean each individual part. These bottles also can sterilize themselves in the microwave if you put them together a certain way and fill it up with water (instructions on how to do this come with the bottles) which can be very helpful if you are traveling and cannot use your sterilizer. Another thing I noticed about my son is that he has a very wide mouth when he latches and the nipples on these bottles support wide latches. I tried him on other bottles with different shaped nipples and none of them really worked well for him besides these MAMs. The bottles come in 5oz and 9oz sizes and the colors available right now are purple, blue, and a yellow/...

Photo Credit: www.walmart.com Pampers Splashers When you take your baby to a pool a regular diaper is not doing to hold up very long. Regular diapers have an absorbent gel that will literally swell up if it gets in water. I am sure Huggies has swim diapers if you are a Huggies mom, I just do not know what they are called. If you have read my post about diapers you know I like Pampers best. Naturally the same goes for swim diapers. The Pampers Splashers are what I use for my son to go swimming in. They work really well. For some reason I have noticed that swim diapers are on the expensive side, the twenty-four pack pictured above costs around $9 I believe. My only complaint is that the only size I have ever been able to find in these swim diapers is the size pictured 3-4, so for a while my son's swim diaper is just going to be a tad big. 

Photo Credit: www.walmart.com Coppertone Water Babies If you have read my post  Swimming With Babies  you know I was struggling on deciding if it was okay or not to use sunscreen on my son who was about two and half months old at the time. Eventually I did end up just deciding to use which I talk about in my other post. Coppertone Water Babies is what my mom used on me as a child so I decided to make it the first brand I would try on my own son. Noah at time has shown skin sensitivity to certain things such as perfumes or laundry detergent but he has never had a problem with Coppertone's Water Babies Sunscreen. The only thing I would say about this sunscreen is if you put it in your baby's head be careful it is hard to get out of their little hair, I would recommend just doing a little baby hat instead of sunscreen on the top of the head.

Photo Credit: www.walmart.com Pampers I posted earlier about my experience and view on  Huggies  diapers, while I do not really have anything against the brand it just does not work well with my son's build apparently. I am a Pampers mom through and through. They seem to be wider made in the legs and hip areas so the fit my son a little better and do not dig into his little legs as much. Pampers also does not leak as much as the Huggies I tried him on at first. I am not saying to let you baby wear it until it is overflowing, I am simply just saying that in my experience Pampers hold up better. When I was in the hospital giving birth they used Pampers Swaddles (pictured above with link) and I really liked them. However, as I have said constantly on this blog, all babies are different so you really just have to find what will work with your child. 

Photo Credit: www.walmart.com Huggies Every mom has her preference to what diapers she wants her baby wearing, Huggies just simply aren't my things. There is one particular type of Huggies that were not too bad, it was the kind with Winnie the Pooh print on them, I do not know what kind they are because they were a gift in a diaper cake so they did not come with the box. The Huggies pictured above that feature  Micky logos were okay but my son would fill them up almost immediately. The cut of these Huggies do not fit my son well either, he is wearing a size 2 in Pampers right now and if I were to go out and buy these Huggies for him, I would have to buy a size 3. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying Huggies is a bad diaper, they just simply did not work for my son. I guess diapers are like clothes, different brands fit different people in different ways. 

Photo Credit: www.walmart.com Dreft Babies have such delicate little skin, for example, recently I found out that a perfume I was using was breaking my son's face out when he would lay up against me. Anything you wash baby's clothes or sheets in should be gentle and this Dreft is the best. I have even washed some of his  snuggle & teethe toys  in this detergent because they are mostly made of fabric. Dreft actually smells good while also being good for baby's skin too!

Photo Credit: www.walmart.com Similac Pro Advance Photo Credit: www.walmart.com Similac Pro Sensitive Photo Credit: www.walmart.com Gerber Goodstart Soy Oh formula, as much as I do not want my baby to grow up I won't mind not having to deal with formula one day. If you have seen my post on  breastfeeding  then you know why I ended up using formula. The first formula pictured on this post is the  Similac Pro Advance  and it is the first kind my son was started on. In the hospital we began to supplement because my milk was taking a while to come in, and this Similac Pro Advance is what the hospital I was at brought in for my son. I really liked this one because it has a component in it for baby's immune system that was previously only found in human milk. However, babies have sensitive tummies, mine more so than others apparently because he did not last long on this formula. When he was about two weeks old he began to get very gassy and spit up a...

Pictures by: Kristen Pate Rights Owned by Megan Malone Maternity pictures were not something I was very into. In truth I only agreed to do them because my Mom wanted to me too and the photographer let me bring my dog. I did not want to take them because I did not like my appearance. I still am not crazy about all the weight gained but looking back I am glad I took them. There is something so precious about being able to look at my son and then look at these pictures and know that my sweet little boy was resting inside my belly. I am still so amazed to look at him and think that he was the little baby moving around in my belly during this entire photoshoot.  If you are feeling the same was I was during this time in my life there are ways to make the photoshoot fun and comfortable. I mentioned before that I brought my dog, I used him as the main focus for the first group of pictures until I got comfortable in front of the camera again. I also brought little props to ...

Photo Credit: Megan Malone My little chihuahua Jax is basically like my first child. He really does not know he is a dog. When I found out I was pregnant I was really worried that Jax would be very jealous and not like Noah. Of course I went straight to Pinterest to find ways to get my fur baby prepared for my real baby. The things I read said to prepare the dog for the sounds associated with a baby, and also try to get him something of the baby's to be able to get used to the child's scent before he was brought home.  Photo Credit:  University of Illinois Extension This is the exact guide I used to get my sweet boy Jax ready for the new baby. After reading this I went straight to Youtube and began to play sound effects of babies crying every now and then. Jax did not like this sound it upset him very much that he could not find the crying baby so I tried not to do this one to much. We even took Jax's favorite blanket, and our bed sheets and washed them in ...

Photo Credit: www.babiesrus.com Playtex Diaper Genie Complete Antimicrobial Pail Throughout my whole pregnancy everyone was adamant about getting one these Diaper Genies. I really did not understand what all the commotion was about until I got one. I love it! Those super smelly diapers do not stink up the whole room when they go in here!  The whole system is relatively cheap too. The Diaper Genie I have is around $20 which is not bad at all. The bag refills that help keep the smell out are around $5 for a single refill and $17 for a three pack. The refills last a while too.  My Diaper Genie is grey and to my understanding when they first came out they were only available in white I think. Mine was ordered online and we could choose the color. Grey just matched my nursery better. I think they have a line called Diaper Genie Expression that comes in different patterns but I could be wrong, seeing as how that is not the line of Diaper Genie I have I do not know much ...

Photo Credit: www.walmart.com Bright Starts 3 Ways to Play Walker Ford F-150 My son love this walker. We purchased it a little early just because he loved to stand up so much. At only 24 inches he is still a little to short to move it around but he loves the sound effects it makes!  The steering wheel makes noises when it turns, there is a green button on the dash and when it is pressed it sounds like the engine is being turned on. There is also a stick shift that makes real sounds, and a horn button that makes the sound of a horn when pressed once and the sound of a radio when pressed again.  When the baby gets bigger he or she can start to push the truck around because it has a handle that comes up for them to hold onto and the wheels really turn so the "truck" will move. The dash with the steering wheel, buttons, and shifter is also detachable for floor play. The truck comes in either red or pink as well.  I chose this walker because I thought it was coo...

Photo Credit: www.babiesrus.com Baby Bullet Food System This is the system I use for my son. I was originally skeptical about buying a complete system just to make baby food. However, I have ended up loving it. I did have to buy more storage trays and things like that to freeze the food I make in. What I really like about buying the whole system package was that it came with a manual that provided me with recipes until I learned how to make the food on my own, and instructions for storage and serving. The manual is such a big help, the back of it also comes with a place to log what food you fed the baby, the date you fed it, the time it was fed, and any reactions. The food journal section is wonderful for keeping a record incase the baby developed any allergies. The Baby Bullet and all of it's components are very easy to clean as well which is a nice bonus.  I love this product and it is something I use constantly with my son. I got mine from Babies R Us and it was aroun...

Photo Credit: www.walmart.com MAM Paci Let me just start this by saying that I am a mother who believes whole heartedly in pacifiers! When my son was born I tried to  breastfeed  him for the first little while. When I think about this time in my life two words come flashing in my mind: Cluster. Feeding.  What is Cluster Feeding?  Cluster feeding is a breastfeeding pattern displayed when a baby groups several feedings closer together at a certain point in the day. Basically, the baby eats a bunch of small feedings in one big spurt. Some babies will eat a large feeding, then space out their next feeding hours later. With cluster feeding, however, the baby may nurse several times very close together. More often than not, cluster feedings occur in the evening hours during the baby's fussy period. During this time, the baby will demand to be fed several times over the course of a few hours. For the mother it may feel as if she is breastfeeding her ba...

Photo Credit: www.pixabay.com While I was pregnant I had this rose colored view of breastfeeding. My plan was to do it for six months and I ended up doing it for a week. I pumped for three weeks after and just gave him the milk in a bottle. I hated it. Noah was not really keen on having to work for his milk, he just wanted it to come flowing out for him and that not how it worked for me. Once my colostrum dried up it took a day or two for my milk to come in and I had to supplement while waiting so he would get enough to eat. As much as I hated breastfeeding, it made me feel so guilty that I like using the supplemental formula so much. I felt like such a bad mom because I would rather just give my kid formula than suffer though what I was always told would be best for him.  Let me stop here are say that a lot of people feel this way, breastfeeding can be a very emotional thing, especially when you can't do it or it does not work out like you have imagined it would for the p...

Photo Credit: www.walmart.com Dapple Baby Bottle and Dish Liquid I recently just began using this to wash my son's bottles because even though I would wash them and run them through the sterilizer they would still have that distinct formula smell. If you do not know what smell I am referring to, consider yourself lucky. I feel like my son's bottles are a lot cleaner after washing them in this soap and then putting them through our sterilizer. They no longer have that nasty formula milk smell or any left over foamy residue.  This product is wonderful, you can get it for about $5 at Walmart! I would definitely recommend using this and after washing  your bottles out with it running them through a sterilizer.