My baby essentials

One of my dear friends is expecting her first baby, and I'm so excited for her! She mentioned that she might want some baby registry ideas, and I decided to run with it and bombard her with my lengthy "must haves" list. I love seeing what other people find useful for their kids and getting new ideas. Our house is really small, so I always try not to have too many things and definitely nothing big. Disclaimer: these are obviously just my preferences, and every baby is different and likes different things. So here are my top 15 baby items (and lots of baby pictures):

1. Swaddle. An absolute must-have for Mik newborns. All 3 of my babies have been excellent sleepers (like sleep through the night at one week old excellent sleepers), and I give all credit to this amazing product (and good sleeping genes from their Mommy who loves sleep). SwaddleMe. Go buy one immediately.

It might look like a straight jacket, but she loves it (and is already getting too big for it)

2. Pacifiers. I know this is one of those heated topics of parenting these days- did I tell you about the time the Officer and I got shamed and had to be "trained" by a nurse because we wanted to give Third little girl a pacifier when she was only 3 days old?!?!- Yea, well we gave her that pacifier and haven't looked back since. I know some parents don't want to use them, and some babies don't want them, but all 3 of my girls have loved them for sleeping (And my older girls dropped them very easily before they were 2- the thumb has not been so easy to drop for Bug). There are all kinds of pacifiers and kids all like different things, but these are the ones that all 3 of my girls have liked the most (and keep in the easiest as babies!).... Nuk pacifiers. My babies don't leave home without them.

Belle loved sleeping with her pacifier and Puppy

3. Clip to attach pacifier to car seat, because yes, pacifiers are that important to my life. Must. never. lose. pacifier.

4. Nursing pillow and nursing cover. So I am a high-maintenence breastfeeding Mama. This is the pillow that I have and love. I always like to be covered when breastfeeding in front of people..... again with the heated parenting topics. That just makes me more comfortable, and I have a very curious 3-year-old who likes to ask "why" to EVERYTHING, so it helps keep her questions about breastfeeding to a minimum age 3 appropriate level.

Bug preferred her arms to be out of the swaddle

6. This seahorse. For no important reason, other than the fact that my girls like it.

Belle and Bug have always been best buds

7. Diaper sprayer. Because we use cloth diapers (love BumGenius!), and for me that is the most important accessory if you are going to cloth diaper. (added bonus: it's great for cleaning out toddler potties which are just the worst things ever).

9. Bouncy seat (or reclining highchair, bumbo, or jumperoo when they get a little older), because babies like to see what's going on around the house.... especially when there are wild toddlers they can watch all day. I don't know if I can really call ours a bouncy seat, because mean old Mommy Mik doesn't believe in ever replacing batteries, so ours has not turned on for years, and I'm totally content with that.

Bug rocking the umbrella stroller

10. Strollers. Plural because I have a stroller problem. Different situations need different strollers. Last week I was at Lowes buying a vanity, and the employee was helping put it in my car.... he could not fit it in the back of my van because I had literally 4 strollers in the back. FOUR. I have 3 children, and I was driving around town with 4 strollers. Yes, I have a problem. I promised the Officer I would be giving one of them away, but here are my 3 that I will always keep. A nice, cheap umbrella stroller. Never underestimate the small, light, cheap umbrella stroller. Ours came free when we bought our carseat. This is the double stroller I have after a recommendation from my sister, and I love it. It's a very reasonable price for a double jogging stroller, and I have zero complaints about it. Then of course my little snap n go stroller, that I can easily put the carseat in for quick in and out of the car trips- it is perfect for babies (and I just learned worked well for flying with an infant when you want to carry on a carseat).

This stroller is perfect for carrying children and pumpkins

11. Changing table. The Officer REFUSES to change a diaper sitting on the ground, and I want him to be happy while he's changing all the diapers ;) It's also nice because the diapers are very easily accessible for the toddlers when I ask them to grab me a diaper for the baby 35 times a day. Any will do just fine, and I love ours all the more because it was another excellent hand-me-down from my generous sister Michaela (just like almost every baby item I own).

12. Forehead thermometer. Here is the one I have. I thought this was unnecessary before I was a Mom, but fortunately one of my sisters bought it for me. Just trust me on this- buy it.

13. Baby carrier. I always think that I will use these more often than I ever do, but they are nice to have sometimes (and some babies want to be in them always).  My babies always love them, but again lazy Mommy Mik never feels like putting them on, and my babies are usually pretty happy sitting in a seat. I haven't found the perfect one yet, so maybe fellow Moms can recommend their favorites to me.

14. Don't forget all the other basics, which I have no specific recommendations for- crib, pack n play, carseat, 7 million baby wipes....

15. A camera- that takes video- Babies grow SO SO SO quickly, so please take 90000 pictures and videos a day and don't be ashamed of it.

Any must-haves that I have forgotten or not learned about yet???