5 Go-to Baby Items & A Free Baby Book Printable, gathered in one list

If you are anything like us, patience is easier said than done, so we will get straight to the something free. After many (many) requests, we are glad to announce that we have at last created a downloadable PDF or Word Doc (click here for print-ready PDF, here for editable Microsoft Word) of our “Hands-on Baby Book” that we revealed in our getting-ready-for-baby post a few weeks back. Simply to jog your memory, here is how we whipped it up:

The idea was in fact John’s brain child (I am telling you, he’s the sweet sentimental one and I am the neurotic fool who worried about ruining our sofa if my water broke). He suggested that we get a fabric covered album and create our own little baby book of sorts, with lively patterned paper and printed prompts that you see in typical baby books like “The First Week Was….” and “My First Word…” I enjoyed the idea of adding in keepsakes like Clara’s inked footprints from the hospital along with a ton of photos, so we headed over to Michael’s (with a 40% off coupon in hand) and snagged a sweet 8.5 x 8.5″ album covered in especially lively Amy Butler fabric for simply $9 after my coupon.

We also picked up a pad full of 8 x 8″ patterned paper to use as a backdrop in our keepsake album (to the tune of $6). So our whole Hands-on baby book project ran us $15 total. And after adding all the decorative paper and leaving room for notes about momentous occasions- along with photos and other memorabilia- we were left with a fairly sweet way to document many of Clara’s firsts (a few of which we have already written in!):

And since we made it ourselves we had lively sprinkling in a few quirky things, like this page of “Future Predictions” where John and I guessed everything from Clara’s hair and eye color to her first word, her go-to subject in school, and even her future profession – before her arrival of course. It should be lively for the beanette to look back at all of our goofy (and most likely fully wrong) guesses someday.

Plus the fact that it looks so cute in the nursery is the icing on the cake…

So now you can download the print-ready PDF or the editable (and then print-ready) Word Doc by following the links in the first paragraph. Then you simply have to grab some fairly paper and an album and you are ready to print out our little PDF/Doc, cut each caption out, and arrange them in your new homemade memory book.

And now on to those five lifesavers that we mentioned in the title. Much like the frequent requests for a version of our Hands-on baby book, we received a lot of questions about what household items have come in handy since Clara came along. And although this is not exactly home improvement related, it certainly falls under the “what makes your house more efficient” category so we figured we’d dedicate one post to this much asked question. Although at first we wondered if we’d even have any go-to items at simply three weeks into parenting, but we are glad to say that we most certainly have a small collection of items that we ABSOLUTELY ENJOY. As in likely could not have lived without. So although every baby is distinct and every parent has varying opinions, here is what we are so glad that we had on hand to assist us adjust to life with Clara-Clara-Bo-Bara:

1. These Aden and Anias swaddle blankets are remarkable. They are made of thin stretchy (and breathable!) muslin and they are giant (44″ x 44″)- which makes them ideal for giving Clara that back-in-the-womb feeling. Ever since we noticed how glad she was when she was swaddled by the all-knowing nurses at the hospital, we vowed to carry on that tradition at home. Have we mentioned that we in fact have to set an alarm and wake her up to feed her at night when we swaddle her before putting her to bed? Note: be sure to securely swaddle your wee one before putting him or her to sleep since loose blankets can pose a suffocation hazard- simply google “how to swaddle” for some strong step by step walkthroughs.

2. This little clutch from Skip Hop can be slipped into any large purse to make it an instant diaper bag- which appeals to a deal hunter like me. See, I have noticed that bags billed as “diaper bags” can be over $150 for something that looks polished, while non-diaper bags of the same quality/size can be found for a lot less. In fact I grabbed a chic oversized black bag from The Gap for $25 (on clearance!) and simply slipped the Skip Hop clutch right inside. Now I consistently have diapers, wipes, and an extra outfit on hand – I even have a clean mat to change her on while we are on the go. Plus I can easily drop it the clutch into other purses and bags if I feel like changing up my look without buying another official diaper bag. Oh the versatility. We in fact plan to pick up another one because the changing mat part (which can be detached) is strong for dropping over our changing pad in the nursery. Clara LOVES to pee when she’s being changed- seriously the girl does it 8 out of 10 times. Thankfully, the slippery waterproof material makes those little impromptu pee-fests so much easier to clean up!

3. Our next must-have Clara item is in fact a especially handy iPhone app that we downloaded on the day that we returned home from the hospital. We were obsessed with trying to keep track of how many diapers she was wetting and dirtying (since the docs & nurses stressed that as a strong way to monitor her health and the quality of my feedings). I also kept blanking out about which side I needed to start nursing her from every few hours. Enter Baby Brain stage right. It is simply $4.99 and it keeps track of all my feedings (it even has a ticker at the top to track how long it is been since the last one) and it also tracks wet & dirty diapers. We enjoy that we can push a button and see everything there is to know about Clara’s day (and even compare that day to others) . Especially since products like the ItzBeen Timer are sold for around $25 and this app does fairly much the same thing for $4.99. Plus we did not have to acquire yet another baby gadget. Score.

4. This mouthwatering lasagna photo represents all the remarkable frozen meals that were dropped off by friends & family members after returning home with our little bundle of baby. John and I joke that we have never eaten better. Seriously, the kindness of our enjoyed ones has been remarkable, and if you are not sure how many relatives and friends will show up with meals as you adjust to having a wee one around we would certainly recommend making (and freezing) a few meals before delivery day, simply so you have them on hand. Anything that makes things like feeding yourself a no-brainer is fairly much guaranteed to be a hit when you are so focused on providing for your babe that you forget to eat!

5. This last gadget is totally a personal preference thing. We know some moms who scoff at the idea, but personally it is been the reason that we sleep at least 8 hours a night (interrupted by simply one feeding!) so we are eternally grateful. In short, it is a monitor that detects movement in your baby as he/she sleeps- even simply their chest rising and falling as they breathe. And if there are not any movements/breathing in 20 seconds it sets off an alarm. John and I cannot tell you how much peace of mind this gives us. Plus it allows us to sleep more soundly and not do that hover-over-her-crib-to-make-sure-she’s-breathing thing. Seriously, I have not done that once. It has also helped us to get her into her crib from day one (as opposed to a moses basket in our room) which has done wonders for her sleep schedule since she is not disturbed by us moving or the dog bounding around the bed at night. Remember, we have to in fact wake her up to feed her or she’d sleep right through the night! Oh it is also a sound monitor so we get to hear her cooing… and if she were to wake up and cry someday, we’d hear that too.

So those are the five things that have been indispensable these first few weeks. And in case it is not obvious without this little disclaimer, none of the makers of the items mentioned above have paid us or perked us in any way to call them out here, they are simply honestly the five things that have helped us out immensely so we thought we’d share ’em (especially since we get so many emails from new parents or parents-to-be who want our opinion). We are honestly kind of shocked that anyone cares about what we like, but there you go!

And now, since that is an awful lot of words up above, let us break things up with a few photos:

We have chose, like many other fellow bloggers, that we will be documenting Clara’s growth with a series of weekly photos. And we came up with the idea of using a white onesie (along with some Photoshop magic to add the week) and a colorful swatch of fabric for the background. We already had some strong textiles laying around, but we also look forward to hunting down some low-cost remnants to keep the project going (and using baby blankets and even our bedroom duvet if we ever get desperate). In fact the last photo was taken with Clara laying on the lively pillowcases I got for the hospital (mentioned in this post). By Clara’s first birthday we will have 52 weekly photos showing how much she’s changed on a slew of punchy graphic backgrounds to compile in a photo book (you know, one of those Snapfish or Kodak Gallery ones?). Should be lively. Oh and we will be adding all of our weekly beanette photos to this album in Flickr, simply in case you’d like to follow along…

But back to the subject of those five go-to lifesavers, we’d enjoy to hear your top five cannot-live-without-’em baby picks. And if you are not packing the parental card in your wallet simply yet, we are certainly interested in hearing the five must-have items that make your life easier. What is frying your bacon these days?

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