Ruffles + Cute baby butts = Rufflebutts!!

Mommas of baby girls, this might possibly be the absolute cutest way to show off chunky baby thighs this summer! Rufflebutts carries the bloomers and swing top that you see on Kid #2 in the photo above and a bunch of other to-die-for ruffle adorned baby girl items, all of which I wish I had. The cheapskate in me won't buy them for full price, but I've been able to catch them on sale. Now I just need those animal print ones to go on sale and I'll be a happy camper.

You need something muslin, trust me

I think the world was willing me to discover baby products made of muslin fabric. Everywhere I looked, on every website, fanpage, discussion board, magazine I read I was seeing muslin swaddles, or muslin sleeping bags, or muslin blankets, etc. I gathered that muslin is supposedly a soft, breathable fabric, perfect for swaddling babies. But I knew nothing of this company I was reading about over and over... Aden + Anais??? Mommies all over have been shouting their praises for this company and their products. Finally it caught my eye.

I'm a self professed bargain hunter (ok, you can say I'm cheap if you want), so when I first checked out the Aden + Anais website, I'll admit I was turned off by the prices. Who in their right mind would pay so much for a blanket? I have a million baby blankets. I certainly don't need anymore!

Well, I've since changed my mind. My curiosity got the best of me so, with the help of a gift certificate (because I'm cheap, remember?), I recently acquired my first Aden + Anais products: a Dream blanket, and a Classic sleeping bag. Kid #2 needed a new sleepsack for the summertime anyway, so at least I could justify that purchase!

The package arrived and my first interaction with my new fancy muslin products was a little disappointing. They were kind of soft and the prints I'd chosen were cute, but neither feature impressed me enough to explain what all the fuss was about with these products. And the muslin fabric kind of resembled a glorified cheesecloth.

Determined to discover why moms everywhere were so in love with these blankets and sleeping bags, I tried throwing them in the wash. (The package says they get softer with every wash.) Yes, they came out a little bit softer, but I still wasn't impressed until I actually cuddled with the blanket. Yes, I said cuddled. I slept with it... and now I love it so much that I want one in adult size. When I purchased the blanket, I had every intention of giving it to my daughter, but now I don't know if I'm willing to part with it. She can have the sleeping bag. I can't fit in it anyway.

Even Kid #2 likes our new Dream blanket. I caught her playing peek-a-boo with it at 3:30am. There is just something about the texture that makes you want to touch it! And you definitely have to cuddle it to understand the craze!! I'm officially sold on muslin fabric now and I definitely think another purchase is in my future!

A shower "system"

I know I'm not the only idiot who's bad case of Mommy Brain causes her to be unable to remember whether she has already shampooed her hair in the shower. Talk about short-term memory loss, right? You can't get more "short-term" than this... You either washed your hair two minutes ago or you didn't!!

When I'm outside the shower, I have my trusty blackberry. I use the calendar to keep track of appointments and I'm constantly setting it to remind me of all sorts of trivial things: which kid gets a bath that night, don't forget to switch the laundry, pick up milk on the way home. My blackberry has replaced some of the part of my brain that went missing in pregnancy/childbirth.

A few months ago, I posted about my shower-related idiocy on facebook and was comforted to know that I was not the only one having this problem. One friend suggested that i come up with some sort of "system". So I did just that. And I feel like a genius because it works perfectly. I feel like a real human with a whole brain again when I'm in the shower.

You have this problem too? You need a "system" too? Have no fear. I will share.

See the picture? That's my system. The pink cap sits on top of my shampoo. When I remove it to wash my hair I put it on top of the conditioner. So now I can tell if I already used the shampoo because the pink cap has been moved. Then it goes back on top of the shampoo when I use the conditioner so it is ready for next time. So stupid yet so smart!

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Milk Bands

Another great product for the nursing moms...

I call it my "Left boob right boob bracelet", but the real name is "Milk Bands" (https://www.milkbands.com/cart/cart.php)

Any sleep-deprived mom of a newborn, knows that no matter how hard you try, it's pretty impossible to remember which side you last nursed the baby on. This alternative to the old "safety pin on the bra strap" trick is a silicon bracelet that has the word "Left" on one side and "Right" on the other. It is so simple, yet so smart!! Just flip the bracelet over to tell yourself which boob is on deck.

It also has two useful little counting sliders that you can use to track how often the baby eats or how many feedings, etc. Probably one of my most used mom finds - I don't think I took it off until my baby was 6 months old!
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