I am going to start by stating the obvious and say that every baby is different. Some are breast fed, some are bottle fed, some have colic, some have reflux. I have dealt with all of these between my first two so what worked for one did not necessarily work for the other! Just stating this so no one can come back and say “XYZ did NOT work for me!” Babies are a learning game and you just have to do what is best for you and your family! That being said, here are some of the must have items for us!!

Item number 1- A video baby monitor!

With 2 older kiddos, I can’t spend every second hovering over my sleeping infant, so being able to visually check on her from another room is such a huge benefit! For baby number 3, we are going with the KODAK CHERISH C525. There are a couple of features that this system has that drew us in!

• I love that you can use it with either the monitor, or your smart phone/tablet. For me, I always have my phone with me so to get instant alerts when my baby is crying or making noise is wonderful.

• The camera, as well as the monitor have a rechargeable battery! We love to travel and be on the go, so to have the option to use the camera anywhere is another huge benefit.

• This system offers a two-way talk feature. When the baby wakes up and I am on another floor, I can talk to her and reassure her that I am on my way to get her! I wish I had had this with my oldest. If she was not picked up immediately upon waking from her nap she would scream her head off!

• Another great feature is the ability to check the temperature in your baby’s room! My husband likes to keep our home an ice box, therefore I love that I can check and make sure it does not get too chilly in the room that she is in!

I am linking the video monitor we went with here in case you’d like to check it out!

https://kodaksmarthome.com/baby-monitors/c525-video-baby-monitor/

First of all the website name alone was enough to draw me in. The walls in the nursery REALLY needed some love. They are plain white but painting them seemed too “final” so I did not want to go that route. After conducting some research and browsing hundreds (no joke) of websites and themes I finally found exactly what I was wanting- peel and stick wallpaper!

Trust me when I say I understand if this freaks you out. The thought of applying any sort of wallpaper was terrifying to me. I started watching YouTube videos and reading blog posts and decided I just needed to go for it. I contacted Walls Need Love and spoke with them directly about my project. It was determined that the wall mural was probably the best option for me so that is what we went with! I chose the Tropical Glam Wall Mural, which for my wall, was 6 panels.

I cannot stress enough how scared I was of this project. I debated hiring a contractor because I was afraid of lining up the panels and basically just overthinking every little thing that could go wrong. I finally got my mind right, and purchased some additional materials! I ordered a cheap laser level, and a step ladder and I was ready to begin!

First thing first- I cleaned the entire wall. I wiped it down with a damp cloth and let it dry for a couple of hours.

I followed the directions basically to a T, but there were a few things I did differently that may help someone else, should you decide to tackle this project! For one, it was recommended that you peel back the backing a couple of feet and cut it off. This was way too much “sticky-ness” for me to work with, so I only peeled back about 6 inches and it made it a lot easier for me to work with.

Another must have, in my opinion, is definitely having another set of eyes. I would hold the top to the ceiling and then my husband would line up the design towards the bottom to make sure everything was straight and that it matched up perfectly. Once he gave me the ok, I stuck the top onto to the wall. Then I just rolled down the backing about a foot at a time, smoothing out the wallpaper as I went along. A couple times I would notice a bubble or that it was not as smooth as I wanted it to be so I would just pick that part back up and press it back down. I could not believe how easy this part was! Walls Need Love sends a smoothing tool that is such a huge help.

Once we had the entire design exactly where we wanted it, I cut the bottom off with the exacto knife. As my oldest daughter would say, “Easy Peasy!”

So, if you’re looking for a quick way to spice up a room, I highly highly reccomend Walls Need Love and their peel and stick wall murals! I keep telling my husband that I want to do a wall in every room in the house. It just completely transforms a space and they have SO many options! I am attaching a gallery so you can see the process and I will link everything I used below! Please reach out if you have any questions!! I went filter-free so you can see just how beautiful this design is!

GIRL!

I truly am not surprised, but surprised at the same time, if that makes any sense at all. We have always joked that we would have 10 girls before we would ever have a boy! (Don't worry we are not going to test this method, we are DONE!)

But, since this is our last baby, we wanted to do ALL the things. I had heard of an ultrasound studio in Louisville called Baby Blessing Ultrasound, that does 2D, 3D, 4D and 5D/HD Live Ultrasounds. I knew without a doubt I had to try it out! We were so eager to know if we were gaining another little princess or our first baby boy. I set up an appointment for right at 17 weeks and off we went!

The Baby Blessing Ultrasound Studio itself is absolutely gorgeous. You walk in and everything is so bright and open, with a couch and baby photos covering the wall! (See photos below!) We were greeted immediately by the owner, Deanna; who had me fill out some paperwork, while we waited on my husband to arrive.

Once my husband arrived we were taken back into the ultrasound room. The room itself was large, which a huge couch and additional chair for seating. The TV where the ultrasound was displayed was HUGE! I loved that everyone could see everything and there was not any confusion on what we were looking at. Deanna began explaining what we were looking at throughout the ultrasound. She explained the baby was butt down, where the arms were and then the "potty shots!" Our girl was not shy and we could easily tell that she was, in fact, a female! I love that Deanna did not immediately shout out "IT'S A GIRL!" but said that she was going to look at things from a few different angles first, and explained how parts look on the ultrasound. It was such a cool experience to get to see everything with my family. She took her time throughout the ultrasound and I never once felt like she was rushing through it- like they often do at the doctor's office.

There are a few things that made Baby Blessing Ultrasound stand apart, in my opinion:

They are owner operated and Deanna is a Registered Diagnostic Medical Sonographer with 10 years of experience. She is such a kind and patient person, especially with my crazy kids in the room!

She allows you to return at NO CHARGE within one week if baby is being camera shy. This is great, especially when you are trying to find out gender!

Deanna said a blessing over our baby while doing the ultrasound. This was such a special experience and I love that she gave the option of this before the ultrasound started.

They have an option that allows her to record the baby's heartbeat and she can then place it inside a stuffed animal.

Lastly, she provides a DVD video of your session. Again, this is our last child so this is something I will always cherish!

I was so happy with our experience at Baby Blessing Ultrasound! If you are in the Louisville area, I highly recommend checking them out!

https://www.babyblessingultrasoundstudio.com/