Introducing Avery Rose...

Avery Rose 

Birthday: November 16th, 2012

Time: 5:37am

Weight: 5lbs 13oz

Length: 19 3/4 in 

Whew! I have had a lot going on since my last post. Obviously. My baby girl finally came and my labor and delivery experience was overall amazing. I don't have anything to complain about. She is such a good baby and I am so in love. I'm a bit tired but that is undoubtedly expected when you are up at night with the demands of a newborn. Of the products I have posted about so far, I have used the car seat, playard, bedtime bath and boppy pillow. I haven't used the stroller yet since I won't be taking her out anywhere other than the pediatrician for at least a month. The belly bandit is a little too small but I should be able to start wearing it soon I hope. I have dropped 20 pounds since I had her so it better fit soon. Anyway, the car seat works great but the pillow insert doesn't really work for her yet because she is so small. I just use a rolled up blanket instead and make an upside down U at the top of her head so it extends down to her shoulders to cushion her head. Hopefully that makes some kind of sense haha. The bedtime bath smells wonderful so I am pleased with it. The boppy pillow is a godsend! There is no way this child would sleep flat on her back for very long because she wants to feel close and secure. She sleeps on it at night and during her naps. I don't know what I would do without that thing! The playard is great for when I need to change her. The changing table is awesome and I use it every time. The crib part I use occasionally for naps but have been using it more for clothes and a place to set her wet wipes. Thus far, I would recommend everything I have tried, especially the Boppy pillow! This isn't the exact pillow I ordered but it looks even better.

Kickin' back on the Boppy pillow

Just a few things...

 Evenflo Aura Baby Travel System

This is the travel system I have for Avery and I can't wait to see it all set up. You can get it at Sears and it is so cute. I'm really picky about the way things look so I was glad it didn't take forever to find something I liked. It is $179.99 for the combo at Sears. You can find it here. 

 Evenflo BabySuite Select Playard:

This playard is a changing table, crib and playpen all in one. I will be using this as her crib due to limited space and the fact that it is 3-in-1 makes it even more fantastic. It's also cool that it matches her travel system. Although, the two will probably never be near each other for it to even matter but hey, we all like matching merchandise! I also got this from Sears. It was $104.99 and here is the link.

If you are an expectant mother I highly suggest joining babycenter.com because I have learned so much as a first time mom speaking to others about pregnancy. You will also sometimes hear from other women about great online deals. I recently came across a post from someone that made me so happy. Diapers.com will give you free shipping on orders of $49.00 or more and right now they have a promotional code you can use on your first purchase to receive $10.00 off your total order. The code is (OHBABYTEN). Here is what I picked out:

The Belly Bandit Original

I have heard nothing but amazing things about this product and can't wait to try it after I deliver. It is a compression wrap that helps shrink your belly, waist and hips back to your pre-pregnancy size. For an extensive summary go Here. I got mine for $28.29 which is almost half off it's cost on the majority of other websites. 

Carter's Terry Robe

This was $9.99 and I thought it was adorable. Size 0-9 months. 

Johnson & Johnson's Baby Bedtime Bath

This was $4.99 which is probably average cost but I was trying to keep my total at $49 so I got a couple smaller items. I also figured it would help relax baby before bedtime. (But that is also it's intended purpose.)

Sassy Teething Feeder

This item was $5.29 and is used for introducing baby to new foods without worrying about them choking and also to soothe them during teething.

Learning Curve My First Keys

These were only $0.99 and it was just enough to get my order up to the amount I needed to qualify for free shipping and $10.00 off. Babies love to play with keys so why not?!

My total order cost after free shipping and the promotional code was only $39.55 for all five of these items. I placed my order today and they are supposed to be here Saturday. I think this is an amazing deal and I can't wait to test everything out!

The Waiting Game...

 

So, here I am at 39 weeks incubation with hardly any progress toward impending labor. *Sigh*. All of these months flew by as if I wasn't even waiting and now I feel like the day will never come. But I suppose that's how it always goes when you are close to the due date of any exciting event.

The Boppy Pillow

 Anyway, I purchased a Boppy pillow off of eBay because I plan on breastfeeding. I have heard mostly great things about it. I know.. It's a disconnected, circular pillow, how amazing can it be? But hey, I'm new at this and I figure it's worth a shot. It was only $5 not including shipping so if nothing else, maybe it can be used as one of those neck pillows during a flight. Haha not really. It can also prop the baby up when I lay her down on the couch or bed. I will let you know if I love it or if it's a "meh".

3 Ingredient Brownies

During my current free time until baby comes I sometimes try out the amazing things I find on Pinterest. If you haven't boarded that ship, get on it.  These brownies are literally three ingredients and weren't bad at all. Next time I plan to add some sort of baking chocolate, a little frosting or maybe a mini candy bar to melt in the middle. They aren't very sweet or decadent as most brownies are but that can easily be adjusted. All I had around to add was some peppermint pieces and it helped. I'm sure these can be amazing with just a little creative touch. Here is the recipe: 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Nutella
• 2 eggs
• 10 tbsp flour

Directions:

1. Put all 3 ingredients in a bowl. 
2. Mix with spoon or electric mixer until well combined. 
3. Pour into a pan or muffin tin. 
4. Bake at 350F for around 30 minutes (less time for cupcake form, more time if the centers aren't baked through).

I filled the muffin tin about 3/4 full which ended up only making 9 large brownies. So, if you want them bigger but want more than 9, I suggest doubling the recipe or only filling them maybe 1/2 full.  Enjoy :)