children

a few of Ari’s favorite things //

November 16, 2013 by Rachel 6 Comments

Moms-to-be & new-moms!
I have been waiting ONE year to tell you about the products #BabyAri and I have learned to love and the baby items we simply cannot live without!

Newborn Must-Haves:

Aden + Anais Swaddle Blankets.
You might think “Dang! These things are expensive and cannot be practical or worth it!”
But the truth is? You will need these blankets. No other swaddle blankets will work.
The Babies R Us blankets?? Not big enough. These blankets?? These are perfect. In every way.

The Nap Nanny.
I knwow this product has been recalled, and I’m not advising against the recall.
But I can tell you that this thing is a life-saver.
The first time Ari ever slept at night, it was in this thing.
He was too tiny for it, and we wedged him in with a blanket;
but it was the start of a new chapter — the chapter of sleeping again!
So if you can find a used one on Ebay, DO IT.

Infantino Sash Mei Tai.
Vacuuming with a baby = bliss!
Seriously. this is the perfect snuggle-up carrier.

Bright Starts Portable Swing.
Ya know how those fancy Crade and Sway swings look SO awesome??
Well, they suck. Majorly. Big time.
Ours broke within 30-days of use. And apparently they have a record of doing that.
But our sitter uses this one and Ari LOVES it.
Next baby?? I’m getting this.

Nursing Mamas:

My Brest Friend.
This is the ultimate nursing pillow.
I thought the boppy would work, but it didn’t.
This pillow helped support his head and body
so that I could focus on trying to get my little guy to latch.
It was my “third arm” when I needed it!

Lansinoh Nursing Pads.
I registered & received two sets of Lily Pad reusable nursing pads.
But they itched like a mother trucker!
I wanted to love them. I really did. But they are not practical.
You leak, you itch.
Some things were just meant to be disposable. So invest in these, please!

Medela Pump In Style Breastpump.
Sighhh. My saving grace!
It’s no secret that as an exclusively pumping mommy, I need a pump that would be the best.
And this was. I loved it. Completely worth the cost.

For Mom:

Netflix.
Because you will be up at UnGodly hours with zero on the DVR.
Because your baby will want to sleep on you in uncomfortable positions.
So you need Netflix. Now.

Babies of any age must-haves:

Honest Diapers.
Fragrance and chemical free.
Adorable designs. Environmentally friendly!

My Pal Scout from LeapFrog.
This toy is a lifesaver!
We programmed it with Ari’s “favorites” + his name! Scout seems some catchy
(and annoying)
songs, but is totally worth it! It’s a distraction and snuggle partner for baby.
I’ve seriously bought THREE of these for different friends who have had babies recently!

The Tinydiner Placemat.
I didn’t register for this item, but I got it during my shower. I thought “really?? Will we actually use this??”
But truthfully, it’s been a lifesaver. I don’t ever freak out when we’re in a restaurant, because this suctions to the table,
throw some puffs/pieces of food onto the placemat, and he goes to town!

Yo Gabba Gabba.
This was the one thing that made Ari stop crying while he was colicky.
It’s our baby crack. Love it. Hate it. Live with it.

Cart & Highchair Cover.
This is actually the exact cover we have. And it is awesome!
We use it every single time we make a Target run (which, let’s fact it — is at least three times a week!).

ThredUp.com.
Baby clothes are expensive. And if you want cute ones that you don’t spend HUNDREDS of dollars on,
this is the place to buy them.
ThredUP.com is a resale site of brand name baby/kids clothes.
We have found the most amazing winter coats and Gap sweaters on this site!

For Mama + Daddy:

Go The F**k To Sleep.
The book.
Cause everyone needs a comedy to read when their kid isn’t listening and is screaming for hours on end.
Get it. For real.
That is all.
Ha.

just trying to enjoy a baseball game.

June 13, 2010 by Rachel 11 Comments

Friday night we went to an Akron Aeros baseball game. We received free tickets from one of BFs friends, so we invited my sister and her friend, and one of my bestest friends, C, and her boyfriend, T.
We had pretty good seats {which pretty much just means I could actually see what was happening} in a pretty packed crowd. There was a family behind us with two small children. The whole bunch was there… grandma, grandpa, mom, dad, uncles, and a three year old and probably 5-ish year old.

At first I was all, “awe, they are taking the little ones to a game! How cute!” That was, until the peanut shell spitting started.

Let’s be clear. This is a minor league team. The rows of seats are very close together. But these children were chewing up peanuts, and spitting the shells in my hair/on my back and on C’s back. And the parents? They. Laughed.

Only after the laughing did the parents say “Don’t do that,” and then continued to laugh more. Way to reinforce not to do something when you think it’s FUNNY.C and I were visibly irritated. We were wiping the chewed peanut shells out of our hair and off of our backs. But I still let it go. Just kids, right?

That’s what I thought. Until the ~~devil children~~ children started to walk back and forth from Grandma {who just thinks EVERYTHING is “So cute!”} to mom and dad… using our hair/backs/clothes as ways to keep balance. Then the screaming began. Not your normal “I’m-at-a-baseball-game” screaming, but possessed-by-the-devil, screaming at the top of their lungs. In. Our. Ears.

BF could tell I was getting annoyed. And he didn’t try and calm me, as he usually does, because I think he realized I was within reason.

But then the one devil child, whom not surprisingly the mom let open the sippy cup, decided to dump the sippy cup contents onto my back/lap as well as BFs back/lap.
I can’t even say that this was the worst of it. Cause then the parents didn’t even apologize. They had the balls to say, “Don’t worry. It’s just water. Mostly. …and juice.” and continued to laugh at their devil-childrens antics.

BF, who always keeps his cool, was irritated. And then the dad said “If you want you can spank him,” to us.

I was furious. Furious! How could these people be so non-chalant about their children being downright awful in a place so public? Again, I understand that when in public settings, it’s impossible to have your children behave like little angels. I give the benefit-of-the-doubt to parents with children who just refuse to behave. But these parents didn’t even attempt to put their children in line. They thought it was funny. Cute, even. I was so disgusted. I did not go off on these people, but I felt that I had the right to say something. This morning I am frustrated that I let it go.

What do you think? Was I within my rights to say something to their horrible parents?

Baseball Games: The New Birth Control

June 14, 2009 by Rachel 4 Comments

Last night I went to an Akron Aeros (local team, obv.) baseball game and his (Big Brothers-Big Sisters) little bro. It was fun. I expected to have no common ground with this kid, but quickly realized that he is very similar to my 16 year old cousin. It was fun, minus the hundreds of screaming children surrounding us.

Looking on the brightside though, lately I’ve been warming up to the idea of (possibly way in the future) having a child (again, someday way in the future). But being around that many children was perfect birth control.

We went out to Luigi’s afterwards for some grub. I haven’t had Luigi’s pizza (or any pizza really) for about a year. It was delicious. But a belly ache quickly followed.

During the whole outting event I had palpitations about three or four times…. a couple were almost enough to make me pass out. I haven’t passed out from them yet, but it’s making me so dizzy and starving me from oxygen long enough that it’s making me have to cough for air. I’ll be following up with the doctor on Monday.

I attempted to call the doctor today while I was working at the yoga studio, but, of course, they were closed. I was worried that if I actually got ahold of the doctor she might send me to the ER. No thanks.

BF and I hit up a Mexican restaurant for dinner tonight and stopped by Dick’s Sporting Goods to look for some roller blade wheels and bearings, but they appearantly don’t carry them anymore. I told BF that a bike shop will probably have them (and there are about a million bike shops in this area, not sure why) and he’s pretty positive they won’t. We’ll see. I think I’ll win this challenge though.

The other plus of today is that I finally got an iPod Nano 4th Generation so I can start my Nike + workout tomorrow. I can’t decide whether I want to train for a 10k or a 1/2 Marathon. I’m pretty sure I could easily run a 10k now, so I may be bold and go for the 1/2 marathon training. Eek! That’s pressure though!

Ok, off to watch a scary movie (Quarantine). Have a great night everyone!