My maternity leave is slowly sneaking up on me, and that means we’re getting closer and closer to when our little lady is going to be here. If I’m being completely honest, I’ve been eyeing baby (and mom) items since probably the same day I found out I was pregnant.
While there are obviously a ton of must-have and nice-to-have items when it comes to having a baby, I’ve found that there are a few in particular that I’m most excited about. So, I figured I’d share some of those with you guys today!
I learned about these before I got pregnant through one of my favorite YouTubers, and I quickly purchased one not long after we found out we were expecting. I looove this journal for so many reasons. First and foremost, the design is incredibly sleek and simple, which is totally my style. It doesn’t actually look like any sort of baby / toddler journal, and I love that. I know that there aren’t going to be many items that don’t look overly “kid-ish,” but I’ll enjoy this one thing.
The other reason I really love these is because it goes literally from the first trimester all the way until 18 years old, and there are unique questions for each trimester and year of life to document your child’s life. It’s really exciting to me to think about filling this out as the years go by!
All the heart eyes emojis for this one, y’all! I knew right away that this is the diaper bag I wanted because 1) it doesn’t look like a diaper bag and 2) it’ll be even better if / when we have a second child and I need to really pack in all the things before we go somewhere. I also like that this is clearly big enough for me to throw extra things in for myself, so I can streamline and ditch the purse for a while.
I’m sometimes hard on myself for having expensive taste, and if you’re anything like me and are eyeing some sort of expensive bag here’s my tip: watch for second-hand sellers. A few years ago I got a used (GASP!) Kate Spade handbag for probably half of what it cost brand new, and I actually snagged this diaper bag off Poshmark for $20 cheaper than the brand new price (and that was including shipping). It has a slight little ding to one of the shoulder straps, but I probably wouldn’t have noticed if the seller didn’t note it.
For those of you who don’t know, my husband is in the Navy, and he is currently serving on a submarine. So, when I stumbled upon Banner Toys and then saw this teether, I about died. I grabbed it instantly, and I’m glad I did because it didn’t take long for it to sell out. I totally get that this might be geared for boys, but I have a feeling our little lady is going to get her fair share of submarine related things because of her daddy’s job.
For those curious, like my parents, “What about splinters?” the teethers from Banner toys are seriously so smooth and while they may get worn down once baby starts actually teething on them, they recommend just sanding them down again to avoid any harm.
As I mentioned earlier, I started looking at baby items right away after finding out I was pregnant and had heard about a lot of great products on YouTube by the time we found out, so I knew quickly what items were going to be worth their price. I’ve heard a lot about the fourth trimester and how beneficial baby wearing can be (for a few different reasons), so I knew I wanted some sort of carrier.
I put this wrap on my registry primarily for myself, and we plan on getting some sort of more “normal” carrier for my husband! I’m also keeping an eye on the Wildbird Ring Slings as another alternative.
Similarly to the wrap, Rock ‘n Plays seemed to be getting a lot of love lately, and because I’ve heard that these are really great for getting the baby to nap in during the day I knew I wanted to get one to see if our little lady would like it as much as some other babies do.
Probably mid-way through my second trimester I was browsing on the Facebook Marketplace and found someone selling one of these and a play mat for just $25, and I thought it was too good to be true. We quickly grabbed it, and I’m glad we did because we managed to get one that matches her nursery, and we now have two play mats that we can alternate with.
Jimmy Fallon’s Books: Mama + Dada
Is this one obvious? As soon as the dada book came out a few years ago, I instantly knew we’d be getting one for our future little one. I ended up getting this one for my husband for Father’s Day as a fun “you’re technically a dad, but not quite yet” gift. It was our little lady’s first book, and it’ll be interesting to see if it actually works on her.
Since I was so excited about that book, I almost screamed with joy when I saw there was going to be a mama book as well. I put this one on our registry, and my mom ended up pre-ordering it for us. These books are just too adorable, and I can’t wait to sit down and “read” them with our daughter.
Like I said, I know there are a ton of must-have items, and we have a lot more things in her nursery that I’m pretty excited about (like some adorable swaddle blankets and pretty much all of her clothes), but these are the items I’m most excited about!
If you have a little one already, feel free to let me know in the comments some of your favorite items from those first couple of years. I’m keeping a running list of things we’ll need as she gets older, and I’d love to hear your suggestions!