InMadison's Profile

I drive by this house every week and have always admired it. Fun to get a sneak peek on the inside! Wonderful - truly wonderful. Let me know if you ever want to sell :)

I'm echoing others' comments, but from friends in the NICU:
- gift cards to local restaurants
- cleaning service
- payment for a babysitter if other children are there
- Check out mealbaby.com - it's a great site that helps organize meals, etc.

Bottle warmer, wipes warmer, changing table. Fortunately we held off on these items, because I never missed them at all. My daughter still likes to be rocked at nearly 3, but I have a friend who got rid of her rocker as soon as her baby didn't like it anymore. Another lesson in starting and staying small with items and buying used.

I'm not going to add anything new here... I think all babies should we welcomed and honored. For our friends having their 2nd or 3rd, we generally put on there, "bring a little gift for mom and baby," and people bring all kinds of things - thrifted clothing, soaps, IOUs for errands, etc. And also, if you don't want to go, don't go.

My daughter is almost 2.5 and we use a Diaper Genie. I agree that they are by no means necessary, but a "nice to have." We haven't had issues with smell, etc., and since we generally only need to take out our garbage once a week, we just empty it then. It's fine. But I have plenty of friends who just throw it in their kitchen garbage.

A good friend of the family said something to me years ago that I say to myself each year. "There's another word for Thanksgiving: Thursday."

We have a general monitor and need it even with a toddler because we are on a different floor from her. Looking back, it would have been nice to have a video monitor because we could have saved trips to the other floor to see if she was OK when she was just giving little squaks in her sleep.

I did for a year. It was a wonderful way to receive healthy and delicious food a few nights a week. We used glass Pyrex dishes since they could easily be placed in the oven to warm up. We made whatever we wanted and it veered toward mostly organic items, but we ate Cuban, Mexican, Greek and grilled items often.

Some suggestions: see if you can do it with neighbors who are close and have a similar food palate to you.

Thanks, everyone. We currently use the California baby, but as I mentioned/asked, it can get pricey. I really like the idea of using the foaming soap dispenser to cut down on the amount I use. I will also look into Dr. Bronner's. We use it ourselves, but since my experience has been with the original, I imagined it would be too harsh on wee ones. And I mostly use soap for the desired bubbles my toddler requests and for washing her abundant hair, but do use plain water on her face/body. Thanks again! Any more ideas out there would be great.

You can also toss into a front-loading washing machine. I do this every few months and then line dry.