If I'd only known.......

My little sister Mandy once told me that mom & dad had to have 5 kids (actually she said 2 girls) before they got it right and she came along. I didn't know quite what to say to that (she was OBVIOUSLY kidding- weren't you?) other than they had one more kid after her- so what does that mean to her logic? Unfortunately, she has a point. I mean, when I was pregnant with my second all I could think about was what I was going to different because I already screwed up parenting the first! So now that I'm a mother of 3 I'm practically perfect! (insert sarcasm) I thought today I would share some things I wished I'd known when I was pregnant with my first & maybe someone out there in blogger world could avoid some of my mistakes. So here you go- here is everything I know about being a mother......

Ok. You got me. I'm still just as confused as ever- but I do have a list of baby items I wished I'd had with all my kids.....

1. Buy yourself a nice diaper bag. You deserve it! I found this one from Kalencom and loved it because it was laminated so you can totally wash off spilled milk & gooey finger prints. I found a week old leaky milk bottle spilled in the bottom. The smell was horrific and I thought I'd just have to throw this bag away. But because its laminated over the fabric I was able to bleach the entire bag and it didn't do anything to the fabric. AMAZING! Diaper bags can be pretty expensive but Kalencom's are under $80 usually, so treat yourself to a fun bag!


2. This baby bath was given to me by my mother in law when I had my first and it's the best bath ever! It fits right into most kitchen sinks too! It's adjustable as well so it fits them when they get older. This is called a Thermobaby baby bath and I've LOVED it. (we call it the barka lounger because the baby looks so chill in it!) I totally recommend it!

3. Ok. Seriously folks I wished I'd had this rubber placemat & bib set when I had my first two. This is amazing! Its made by Kiddopotomus and you can find them online. The placemat is perfect for restaurants because it has suction cup grippers on the bottom. It also has a little catch cup that hangs off the table to catch spilled food and it rolls up really small. This is such a great way to AVOID sickness in restaurants by having your kids eat off the table. LOVE IT!




This bib is awesome too! Its totally rubber so you don't have to have a million bibs that you have to wash in the laundry. I only use this one bib and it quickly washes up after each meal. It too rolls up nicely for travel.

4. Get rid of your huge high chair folks! What was I thinking? I had this expensive high chair that was so big it was practically a full size recliner that was taking up a huge amount of real estate in my kitchen! The worst part was that it had a fabric cover and lets face it- babies are kind of gross/messy, if you know what I mean. The fabric was just sick! And a total pain to wash! This chair doesn't take up any room in your kitchen because it straps on to your regular chairs. The best part is that its totally plastic- which means you can HOSE it off after each meal. Which trust me, you will need to after giving your baby chocolate pudding!

5. And now for my sentimental advice: Spend your money on a nice video camera & a digital camera! Someone gave me advice to video tape my 2 older children meeting our 3rd baby at the hospital. This is by far my favorite memory and I wish I had it done this when I had my 2nd. I also have heard of people recording the kids reactions to hearing that they are going to have a new baby brother or sister. In my opinion this could be a dangerous video that may need to be deleted if the reaction doesn't go well!

6. Spend the money and get some newborn photos. I fortunately have a good connection and my sister Renee took a bunch of photos for me. YAY! I'm SO SO HAPPY that she did but totally wish I had a done this for my other 2 kids. They grow up so fast and you will be thrilled that you spent the money later on. P.S- even if you purchased a really nice camera you will NEED to find a professional to do baby photos. A professional does NOT mean JCPenny's or Target or even Kiddie Kandids. Google your city name and the words newborn photographer and then look through all their photos to make sure you like their style. Newborn photos need to be taken preferably in the first 10 days of life for the sleepy shots!

7. Totally cute advice I was given- Pick out a different lullaby for each child & sing this to them each night. What a cute tradition!

So now if you're still reading this, and are not totally bored, you can avoid a few mistakes I made. I'm not going to tell you the 100 other embarrassing/bad parenting mistakes I made. But I would also like to suggest that you read the Baby Wise book and maybe watch about 30 episodes of Judge Judy. You will see a ton of awful parents watching that show and maybe you won't beat yourself up so bad. Plus you can get alot of great parenting advice from Judge Judy like don't dress like a hoochie mama when you come to court. Dont ever let your kids friends borrow your car! And NEVER leave your teenagers unattended over a weekend while you go on a vacation. That's just a lawsuit waiting to happen! What's with my fascination of Judge Judy you ask? Some kids got to watch Sesame Street before nap time when they were kids, I watched Perry Mason, I love Lucy and Judge Judy! Fortunately, I turned out just fine.

Or did I?