Investment purchases for Baby, that are not baby items!

Plenty is said about which stroller is the best and which high chair is the ultimate. But what about those items that are not intended for baby, but will prove very useful? I will list some that have come in handy for me!


1. Immersion Blender

I got this immersion blender for Christmas when I was pregnant. My mom knows I like a good kitchen gadget and thought I would like that it matched my color scheme. Turns out that not only do I like it for cooking for Ryan and I, but it works wonders on making baby food. Now if you have a blender you could just use that. I just found that when I did, I had to scrape down the sides ALOT in order to get all the lumps out. For my daughter, texture is king. There are only a few things she doesn't like at all, but even her favorites are met with a face of disgust (proof) if it isn't completely smooth. The immersion blender takes care of that.

2. Keurig

I can't emphasize enough how completely head to toe exhausted you will be during those first few months. You know how you used to feel after finals week? When you were up all night studying and then dragging yourself to tests all week and you kept yourself going with the thought, "I will just get another cup of coffee because I only have three more days and then I can sleep till 2:00pm every day for a month!" And that was a week. A week. This is months. And if you are a coffee drinker at all you are not going to have the energy to wrestle with filters and measuring. This bad boy saved my life. Ryan and I would joke that before baby we would swear off caffeine after 3pm because otherwise we would be climbing the walls at 3am. Then in those first three months we would have a cup at 7:30 to get us till 9:00pm. Sleep deprivation sucks big time, but in the grand scheme of things it doesn't last long and when you're awake you see faces like this

 

(Addison 8 days old)

3. Kindle

This is one of the things that got me through some of the early days with the nighttime feedings. You need to stay awake and you haven't slept for more than two hours at a time for days, weeks, months. Yes, when it's daylight and I have had something to eat and I feel a little more like a human being than I am absolutely enjoying the bonding time for me and baby. Breastfeeding can be a truly wonderful time. But if no one else wants to say it, I will. When you are nursing 10- 12 times a day those first few weeks and you are exhausted then it doesn't have to be a rainbows and butterflies moment every single time. Sometimes her eyes were closed and it was all I could do to keep her awake because I knew if I didn't she would wake up 45 minutes later ready to start again. And I did not have the energy to have a loving  Lifetime original movie moment every single time she fed. Anyone who makes you feel like a bad mom for reading to keep yourself awake while feeding, is not being a fellow mommy warrior. Now I'm not saying that you should mindlessly nurse all the time. Lord knows it hurts enough that I doubt you will even be able to; but if you feel you have gotten a quality amount of time with your bundle that day and you just feel like getting in a couple chapters to get yourself to the next feeding, than READ ON SISTER! Of course you might substitute youtube videos, podcasts or Netflix. But this is a post on the Kindle because it helped me.

4. Tupperware

This is one of those things that I always said I was going to invest in but never did because I couldn't bring myself to pay money for something like that, when I could always use the old Chinese food containers or the empty tub of whipped topping. But during the Christmas season that I was pregnant with Addie Tupperware sets were one of those things that went on a great sale. I guess it's because it's also a great thing to have going into the season of hosting guests. Throw out anything you have without a matching lid. You don't need it and it will only serve to make your blood boil when you are holding on to your sanity by a thread and you dump leftovers into a container that you then discover has no matching lid. If you're like me it will then be like a Seinfeld episode they never wrote where you're angry you now have to clean this container and then you leave it out to dry, someone puts it back in the cabinet, and the cycle starts again. ("What is the deal with the mismatched tupperware?" Anyone? No one? ) Life is short, toss it. Or up cycle it. I'm sure pinterest can tell you how to turn a bowl with no lid into a bird feeder or a sky light.

5. A good bathrobe

So you're about to be a mom? Well then you're about to have more company than you've ever had before. I think that's the reason God created the nesting instinct. Stock the freezer with some loaf cakes. I had a lot of company. I think we had visitors every day. And I was certainly not complaining. Want to hold my baby so I can shower? Perfect. Keep her warm and snuggled while I take a nap? Glad to have you! But here's what they didn't tell me. Breast feeding is messy. You leak, you spray, sometimes she unlatches and that doesn't mean your flow suddenly stops. All those pretty nursing tops? That's for mom's with 4 month olds. For me, it meant that I was changing my clothes all day long. And I never wanted to wear nice stuff. I wanted sweats. Sure I went out places (I started teaching privately again and singing at church when Addison was 2 weeks old) so I did get dressed up. But if I could help it, I wore pajamas. But if you have people in your home on a regular basis you're gonna want a forgiving bathrobe. Something that can take a hit (spit up, breast milk, even bath time gets you wet) and still be good to go. Also something long. You're gonna feel exposed enough after labor and delivery no need to add to it. I got maternity p.j.'s in preparation for baby and they came with a bathrobe that was a jersey material. Pretty. Not practical. One drip of anything on you and you will quickly find yourself signing for a package with the UPS guy staring at the nipple shaped wet spots on your chest. Or worse, your grandma. Get something thick.