In My Expert Opinion!!

Since being a mom of a 3 month old makes me an expert and all (totally kidding) I figured I would share some of my favorite and least favorite baby things we have used so far!

Diapers:

What we have tried: Pampers Baby Dry, Pampers Swaddlers, Huggies Snug and Dry, Huggies Pure and Natural, Huggies Snugglers, Seventh Generation, Parents Choice Walmart, Luvs

If money wasn't an issue: I would only use Huggies Pure and Natural on Ava!! they are the best but at about 30 cents a diaper, thats a no go.

Because money is an issue: I am loving me some Luvs with the bear stretch tabs! I like the baby powder smell to them and they fit Ava wonderfully. At 15 cents a diaper they are much more practical for our budget.

What we hated: I didn't have a big problem with any of the other diapers other than the 7th generations and the Walmart diapers! They leaked horribly and I will never use them again.

Wipes:

What we have tried: Pampers Sensitives, Huggies Sensitives, Huggies Soft Skin with Shea Butter, Huggies Thick-n-clean, Walmart Parent Choice Sensitives

What we love: Since I can get so many Huggies wipes coupons, money isn't a big deal in this field so I buy what I love and thats the Huggies Soft Skin with Shea Butter!!! Again, totally love the scent and I love how thick these wipes are!

What we hated: I didn't have a big problem with any of the other huggies wipes, I didn't love the pampers sensitives but they were fine... I hated the Walmart Parent Choice one's however, they never stayed wet enough, always drying out and they are tiny, I go through so many more wipes when I use them.

Bottles:

What we have tried: Avent, Gerber Gentle Flow, Gerber Nursers, Gerber Nuks, Green to Grow

What we love: I love the Avents and we have a few but since money is kinda an issue again, I found that Gerber makes a copy cat Avent bottle called the Gentle Flow! I get 3 9oz bottles for 8$ (plus I use a coupon) so much cheaper than the 8 dollars a bottle the Avents usually run! Ava loves using these types of bottles!

What we hated: The Nuks!! HORRIBLE... well at least for refluxy Ava... bad investment only 13$ for 3 bottles but we bought 6 plus different speed nipples.. oh well maybe next baby will use them.

Pacifiers:

What we have tried: Possibly ever pacifier out there...

What we love: Ava only loves 2 different pacifiers. One is a no name pacifier that you can get at Babies R Us with your babies name on it and the 2nd is any 6-18 month Avent pacifier! She hates all other pacifiers.

What we hated: All the other pacifiers we bought that she doesn't like, especially the itty bitty sized ones... she has always liked the huge pacifiers.

Other things I love and couldn't live without:

Our Graco Snugride 32! Perfect carseat for us (even if people do think she is a boy because its blue)

The stroller that goes with the carseat! Adore it.

Ava's swing was a god send! Its the Fisher Price Starlight swing! Ava LOVES it!

Bath sling thingy... super cheap and way less space than a baby tub!!

Baby Swing

Yay I have been in love with this swing for a long time! It's here, its set up, I am ready to use it (well not quite I guess)! I like how it lights up and that it plugs into the wall :) its perfection :)

Crib

Yay after a long long wait for this crib we finally picked it up today and Dan put the whole thing together. One step closer to things getting done!
And I actually did my hair and make up so wanted to put in a "better looking" belly photo for 32 weeks!

Yay for strollers and car seats

Never thought I would be so excited about a stroller and a car seat! But they are here and it was super easy to put together! I had seen this set in the store but liked it even more when I had it home and could read through the manual and figure out what it can do. It's magical! haha.

There was a tear in the mesh on the basket underneath so we are waiting for 10% back from Babies R Us and the replacement basket from Graco. The price ended up coming back even (actually we saved 5 cents...) The whole system is in my car right now because I wanted to see if it fit alright, and I was too lazy to bring it back in :)

Baby Gear

We were not planning on buying any big items for the baby this weekend or even really till January, but some good deals came up that we just couldn't resist! We ordered her stroller, car seat, crib and we found a used pack n play that's in great condition for a steal!

The crib won't get here till the end of January, but that's okay. We ordered it through a really nice little boutique in Mesa. I was really happy we went through this lady because she was so honest with us about the different cribs, she wasn't just trying to "sell" us something. She was genuine about which cribs have caused problems and told us which cribs she won't even order for parents anymore because of safety issues, even though the companies keep selling those styles/cribs! I can't wait to get the crib here and start setting up her room.

It took me forever today to figure out how to set up a pack n play... It was a work out. Shows you how unfit I am! My mom saw the pack n play and was surprised it was used because it looks new. Turns out the pack n play and the travel system we bought are both navy and light blue. Not to mention her bedding is red, yellow and blue. We will put lots of bows and pink on her so she can still be girly!

I'll post pictures of her crib with bedding and also her stroller once they get here! But today my achievement was putting together her pack n play! (ignore the fact that the canopy is so low, I figured out after how to stick it up higher...) It also comes with a changer thing too that sets up on top. :)