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8 Necessities to Help You and Your Baby Sleep Through the Night
There are a few night time necessities that are vital to our bedtime routine for John Woodford and really help create that perfect sleep environment for baby. After implementing our sleep routine over the last few months using these items, we have been able to get our baby to sleep consistently through the night. You can find a full post with all the details and steps of our bedtime routine here. As a first time mom, I am definitely not an expert when it comes to all things baby! I did do a ton of research on sleep related baby products while pregnant though, and I think I’ve rounded up a pretty good selection! I hope this can help guide you and give you an honest opinion on these products, whether you are a first-time mom or seasoned veteran!
My Baby Essentials from Amazon
When you’re expecting your first baby, putting together a baby registry is such a daunting task! I had no idea what I needed and felt SO overwhelmed with all the choices out there. I ended up registering at a few different places but Amazon was by far my favorite! I would highly recommend doing a baby registry with Amazon because of the vast variety of items available and how easy it is to put together. They have anything and everything you could want and the prices are usually much cheaper than other stores. I also was amazed at how many cute clothes, decor, and accessories they had available. I wanted to share my favorite items I received from our registry that we use everyday! Our portable sound machine, diaper bag backpack, and owlet heart rate monitor are just a few of my everyday essentials that I would recommend to every first time mom.
John Woodford's Vintage Southern Nursery
We welcomed our sweet John Woodford into the world on November 26th, 2019, exactly a week after his due date. Almost two months have simultaneously flown and crept by since then, but I am loving every second of watching this precious boy grow. John Woodford has slept in his nursery every night since the first night we came home, so this room is getting plenty of use. I wanted to finish it completely before he arrived, and since he took his time, I had plenty of extra days to work on it! There are still a few things I want to add here and there, especially now that I have a better idea of what we need practicality wise, but overall I love how it turned out. It’s the perfect mix of traditional southern, modern, and vintage with sentimental keepsakes throughout. I loved designing this space as it was just an empty, blank white room when I started a few months ago.
2018 + Learning to Let it Go
I learned a lot in 2018 but the thing that stands out the most is learning to let go. I always want to do it all, myself, down to every detail. I want to have control + I think I’m the only person who can do it “right.” This year though, I was forced to let go a lot.
Our Fixer Upper: Nursery Updates
We have less than a month (hopefully) to go before Baby Woodford’s arrival which inspired some serious nesting and nursery work this past week! I dedicated two days to putting away and organizing 2 shower’s worth of gifts and hanging shelves, artwork, curtains, and decor. We also got our overhead light installed this week, so I finally have some light in here when it’s dark out! I feel so relieved that the bulk of decorating and prep in here in complete now and I only really have a few finishing touches left which I should be able to work on this week.
Our Fixer Upper: Nursery Progress
We have paint, we have a crib, and we have a rocker! Finally I feel like I can get rolling with baby Woodford's nursery design and I hope to have it mostly finished before October. Previously on the blog, I discussed my paint color choices (here) and some inspiration photos for the space (here). I now have the key furniture pieces and also plan on using a vintage dresser I already had for the changing table (it just needs some cute new knobs!). The next step is choosing a rug, curtains, and light fixture, and I cannot make a deicison! I've narrowed it down to four different combinations, some more modern and some more traditional. I would love to mix in some more modern, eclectic pieces since everything I have so far is fairly traditional, but I also really love the two more traditional rugs I have found and think they would really compliment the paint colors. Take a look at the combinations I've pulled together below and let me know what your favorite is!
Our Fixer Upper: Baby Riddle Nursery Design
Time is flying by and I already feel like I'm so behind on getting the nursery ready for baby Riddle! I have made some progress over the last couple of weeks, narrowing down crib options and paint colors for the room though. I have a good idea of the overall style of the room that I am going for and have already started collecting a few cute accessories and vintage decor items. I really am leaning toward a more traditional, Americana style overall and this first inspiration below is one that I keep coming back to.
Our Fixer Upper: Nursery Design Inspo
Now that we know the gender of baby Riddle, I'm ready to start designing and decorating the nursery ASAP! I've been working over the past month to get my former office cleared out which we will be using as the nursery since it's right next to our bedroom and super convenient from all parts of the house. We will be moving my office to the bonus room space over our garage, so it will be bigger and more spacious (with room for a little play area for the baby too)! The future nursery is one of those spaces of our house that I have done absolutely nothing to since moving in, so it's really a blank slate.