Adorable baby shoes

How cute are these little shoes???

Umi makes adorable baby shoes for boys and girls, and though they are pricey, they have this deal going on now - Take 15% off any purchase at UmiShoes.com plus free shipping and returns! Use code Link15 at checkout!

They have a little size ruler you can download from the site and print out to measure your little one's feet, that way you will get the correct size, and they come with room to grow on purpose - so don't order large unless you are getting something for later.

to swaddle or not to swaddle

We have tried alot of different swaddling techniques and tools and our little Houdini manages to get out of each one, some take longer than others though. part of the problem admittedly, is that we are too nice. We feel badly about doing it really tightly even thought we know intellectually that babies like it, even need it.

At first we were using blankets, but every nurse in the hospital showed us a different technique which meant we didn't get very good at any of them. Then we had this Miracle blanket -

Which was great, and we have friends who SWEAR by it, but again, we are softies who had a hard time wrapping him up tightly enough in it.

So we moved on to the Halo Sleepsack swaddle -

which did work for a good long while, until I caught him one night - while sleeping- struggling to get his arms out, and succeeding. We do still use it, and if he is really tired it's great, he doesn't seem to bother working his arms out, but if we velcro it a little too loose, he is out in about 2 minutes.

So now, we are on to this one -

I'm hoping it will hold him until he is rolling over - which actually looks like it will happen soon...whoa.

Figure 8 Maternity and Nursing

I'm still looking for good nursing tops, and Figure 8 is a fantastic site to use as a resource (for maternity clothes too!) like this Japanese Weekend top -

And they are always offering discounts and free shipping and free returns, too good to pass up!

Isabella Oliver Clearance

Isabella Oliver, hands down my favorite maternity line, just added a lot of pieces to their clearance section and the deals are so good, I'm considering stocking up for next time!

The wrap around top is on sale in certain colors -

In the blue shown and crimson red (the color I got and LOVE) it's marked down a whopping 50%!

The wrap dress (another pieces I LOVED wearing) is marked down 40% -

And there are so many more great deals where those come from. Pretty much all the great pieces from the site that I have blogged about are on sale. They also have nursing tops among them!

Nursing Tops

So I'm at the point where I'm just a little sick of always wearing nursing tanks and cardigans, although I've just gotten some great cardigans I need to post about. But I'm thinking it's time I get some actual nursing tops because as much as I enjoy wearing my regular tops again (what a nice feeling) baring my stomach when I nurse is not fun.  Even with my nursing cover something shows, it just can't cover all of me. So I'm looking around for my options, and I was thinking these are cute -

a great maternity top

I saw a friend wearing this recently (thanks for the inspiration Megan!) and I am totally in love with it-

Is that weird? I mean that I love it so much? It just seems like the perfect tee, it's soft cotton (does anyone do it better than Spendid?) the right length, I love the sleeves and the narrow stripes and little pocket. It actually makes me miss maternity clothes!

The Co-Sleeper Dilemma

Nate is only 3 months old, but is already outgrowing his bassinet. We aren't ready to move him to a crib yet, so for now he will move into a pack n' play. We didn't really know how this would work before, his sleeping arrangement I mean, and next time we will definitely get something bigger for the baby (our current bassinet was a hand-me-down). This is what I'm thinking -

The Arm's Reach Mini Co-Sleeper -

It doesn't convert to a play yard like some other others, we don't need that feature because we already have a pack n' play.

But it's also still kind of small, so there is the full size co-sleeper  (which does convert to a play yard so it's two things in one) -

But they just aren't pretty, so if you want your co-sleeper to be an attractive piece of furniture they also make them in a sleigh style from wood -

While the first two co-sleepers have weight restrictions of 30-50 lbs, this last one, because it's made of solid wood, holds up to 500 lbs. Obviously you aren't going to have a 500 lb baby, but it's nice to know it's so solid that an older child pulling on it or jumping wouldn't be able to break it.

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