Babies/Kids
July 2006: Elijah in the Bebe Pod
Baby Essentials in Our Home
1. Boppy Pillow- I don’t know too many breastfeeding moms who don’t love this nursing pillow. I have survived without it, but it is one luxury that I would pick above many others. I wore my first one completely out and bought a second!
2. Organic NursEase Shawl- I prefer to keep myself a bit more covered when nursing in public and this nursing shawl was a great find for doing so. So many nursing shawls are like blankets where they only cover your side or front. this one covered me all around and never shifted or fell off. Plus it is made of a nice light weight, organic material.
3. Bebe Pod- Elijah spent hours in his Bebe Pod (there is the Bumbo brand as well… I am not really sure of the difference because we just bought the one that was in stock at the time). He spent hours sitting at the toy bin just playing in this. We used to also travel with it and use it as a high chair when we went on car-trip vacations.
4. Baby Bjorn or Bumkins Bibs- Either of these two kinds of bibs are wonderful for catching all the food your newly trained self-feeder will drop. They are durable and easy to clean too. After I got my first, I never purchased another kind of bib again!
5. Lansinoh Lanolin Cream- If you know a new mother who is going to breastfeed, buy her this. It was a lifesaver for me all three times I breastfed. I don’t know a breastfeeding mom who has survived without some type of lanolin cream.
6. Munchkins Fresh Food Feeder- Another of Elijah’s favorites when he started self-feeding. It makes serving fruits and veggies a breeze by just popping them in the pocket and letting baby go to town. And really cold foods can be put int here to use as a great soother for hurting teeth.
7. California Baby Products- These natural baby products are so wonderful. I use them on myself sometimes!
8. FuzziBunz Cloth Diapers- We made the switch to cloth diapering in February 2006 and it was one of the best decisions we ever made. Not only have we helped the environment, but our pocketbook benefited as well. Even if you think you could never cloth diaper, check these out before you decide.
9. Kushies Flushable Biodegradable Cloth Diaper Liners- I spent a year cloth diapering without these, and I don’t know how I did it. They are a necessity for us and something we stock up on and bring overseas.
10. Hyland’s Teething Tablets- A natural way to help your little one through the pain of teething. They don’t always work miracles, but they do seem to take some of the edge off.
January 2009: Naomi with her Peltor Ear Muffs
Our Favorite Kid Products
1. New Balance Shoes- Since meeting with a podiatrist in July 2009, we have all been wearing sneakers more. All of our kids are fitted with New Balance sneakers. This is one area where health takes a priority over style!
2. Daisy Bows- I may be biased because the women who run this shop go to our church, but I think these bows are so cute. And if you want specific colors, you can special order to your liking.
3. Melissa and Doug Products- I just love everything about Melissa and Doug products. The toys are simple, yet beautiful. And there are ton of really practical things they sell too. We have the responsibility chart and the calendar, which are both beautiful re-usable charts that we have gotten a lot of use out of.
4. School Zone Products- For educations workbooks and games, I really like the School Zone products. There customer service is superb and there product selection is great.
5. Seeds Music- If you are looking for a fun and uplifting way to hide God’s Word in your little one’s heart, look no further than the Seeds music CDs. You will actually like listening to them too!
6. Children’s Desiring God Fighter Verses- For Scripture memory, the straight forward system of the Fighter verses can’t be beat. And you can memorize right along with your child too.
7. Cedarmont Kids’ Products- Our kids have loved all the music we have from Cedarmont kids. We have around 6-7 of their CDs and the kids don’t seem to get tired of them. Most have split tracks where you can sing along with just the music too.
8. Blackstone Audio- Abby loves listening to audio books and Blackstone has a huge selection of unabridged titles. You can search for a book or browse their many genres.
9. Peltor Kid Ear Muffs- Being a communication disorders major in college, I was never comfortable with the noise level the kids were hearing at Joe’s games. These ear muffs block ot much of the harmful noise, while still allowing the kids to hear me when I speak in a normal voice to them. Abby even likes to wear them at home sometimes.
