Welcome to No Manual, a momcast. We're here to
be there for other moms and just talk about the
reality of motherhood, have some fun, have some
laughs, have some cries. And today we are talking
about mom must haves, things that we registered
for that. We absolutely love things that we registered
for or people got us that maybe we've never used
in our life. Some stuff that we've discovered
along the way that have just been super helpful
in motherhood. Do you want to get started with
our mom moments of the week? I would love to
start. So my mom moment is actually from this
morning. I feel like a lot of the times my mom
moments are like this happened right before I
came over here. So this morning was just a morning.
The night was like not super great. Sleep has
been few and far between. So we're like sitting
down for breakfast as a family, which I love
that. That's like one of my favorite parts of
our day. And we're eating eggs and toast, which
is like a common Common breakfast for us like
our daily breakfast. Yeah. Yeah colt loves eggs
like he asks for eggs every morning So he gets
eggs if he's gonna ask for food eggs is a great
one for him to ask for yes and so toast we did
toast with it and I like put the bread in the
toaster and I was like hmm, that's kind of feels
a little funny like I don't know, a little bit
like harder than normal. And I was like, you
know what, it's fine. We just bought it from
Trader Joe's last weekend. I was like, oh, it's
totally fine. And then we are sitting down to
eat and Michael's like halfway through his toast.
And all of a sudden he just like spits it out
onto his plate. And I was like, what is, what
just happened? And I look and there's like a
big old fat chunk of mold. in the middle of the
bread. And then I look over and Colt is just
like eating his toast. And I was like, okay,
buddy. I was like, I'm gonna take that toast
from you and we're not gonna eat that anymore.
And he like got super upset, obviously. And I'm
like, I'm sorry, buddy. It's a little bit, it's
just caca, it's yucky. And he just like, didn't
get it, obviously. But he does not have a concept
of mold yet. No, but I'm like, why did I not
process, like, when I'm putting this bread in
the toaster and it feels like cardboard, shouldn't
I register, like, hey, I should probably check
to see if this bread is good anymore, but in
my head, I'm like, oh, it's probably just this,
like, this brand from Trader Joe's, I don't know.
Like, maybe it just feels a little funny. It's
a little stale, but we'll toast it and it's fine.
Yeah, and even when I, like, because I took a
couple bites of it too. I was like, this is kind
of like chewy, a little bit chewy. And so we
were very grossed out after that. And that is
my mom moment. That's so fun. You love moment.
What's yours? My mom moment is, so Stuart went
back to work from eternity leave on Monday. On
Sunday, I'm pretty sure Lloyd figured out how
to do literally everything. So he figured out
how to open our trash can which he loves to throw
things away But he doesn't necessarily understand
all the things that are supposed to be thrown
away So we had to make sure to lock that because
I was like inevitably he's gonna throw away like
our keys Yeah, or you know something actually
important. Yep So he figured out how to open
the trash can. He figured out how to climb up
on the TV stand. He figured out how to climb
up on the kitchen chairs and thus the kitchen
table. He figured out how to unscrew screw top
lids. There's at least one other thing that we're
like, we're so proud of you for being so smart.
You're figuring things out and that's great.
Very inconvenient timing because... all of the
things that are like kind of dangerous or yeah
like we knew he figured out how to do the screw
top lid because he opened a body armor and then
poured it all over the table and the floor of
course he's it's so hard when you're like i know
you're not you're not doing anything wrong no
because you're just learning yeah and you don't
know what you did is really inconvenient and
just made a mess and made me frustrated that's
not your fault but also now i have to mop because
yep the floor sticky and so that was my mom moment
and i feel like when you spill liquid it's not
just like even if it's a little amount of liquid
it looks like a lot of liquid and then when it
is a lot of liquid it's like oh this is This
is a lake of, that is, that's fun. Yes, it was
definitely so much. So that was my moment of
the week as Lloyd just learned all the things
and we're so proud of him. And he's so proud
of himself. Like you love that look in his face
when he's like clearly knows he's learning something
and knows how to do something. But it was very
inconvenient timing because that all happened
like the day before Stuart went back to work.
And I was like, I don't know. I don't know how
we're going to survive. I'm going to be feeding
Zeta and like trapped and Lloyd's going to be
jumping off the TV stand or something along those
lines. Oh, all power to you. That is that's how
that's how this week started. Man. What a fun.
What a fun week. Yeah, it's been great. Well,
let's jump into our mom must haves and registry
regrets and all the things. Should we get started
with maybe some things that we were super happy
that we got? Yeah. Do you feel like you registered
well for either, both babies? I actually do feel
like I did a really good registry for first baby.
For second baby, it's kind of more just like
filling in the blanks. I feel like like extra
stuff, maybe things I wish I would have had for
first baby or things that need replenishment.
So yeah, I do feel like I registered pretty well,
especially for the bigger things, like all the
essentials. So car seat, stroller, bassinet,
crib, mattress, crib, like that stuff. which
I put a lot of things on our registry where I
was like, oh, I don't think anyone's going to
buy this for us because it's so expensive. And
I was actually really surprised and felt super
grateful that the majority of that stuff, we
did not have to purchase ourselves. And now with
Second Baby, most of that stuff, if not all of
it, is just being reused again. it's super nice
that those kinds of items that are so expensive
are like timeless in a sense yeah yeah did you
feel like you registered well i think mostly
yes when i'm like going through my registry now
I think there are probably a few things I could
have registered for that I didn't think about.
I think I just like tried to be minimal. Yeah.
And there were things where I'm like, oh, now
I can't think of exact items. Yeah. Of course.
Do you feel like you were because I feel like
in my head, I was like, oh, I don't want to put
that many things on my registry because I feel
bad that I'm like I definitely asking for so
much. Yeah. I think that was definitely my mentality
is like I don't want to seem materialistic, which
is like And of course, that's not what it is,
but it's like these are the items that like we'd
like to have or we need to have because the baby
needs a place to sleep or whatever. Yeah. But
since they're like items and gifts, it does feel
super materialistic to be like, this is what
I want. Like this exact brand. Right. Yeah. No,
I feel like I can't remember who I had a conversation
with, but they were like, you know, someone's
not going to buy it for you if they don't want
to. Like you might as well put it on your registry.
That is super smart. And it's like, yeah, it's
there as an option. We had someone tell us, they're
like, put literally everything on, which again,
I wish there are a few things that I wish I put
more on. I think like clothes and stuff I probably
would put less on. Yeah. But we had someone tell
us, put everything on your registry. This might
have even been when we got engaged and we were
talking wedding registries. Put everything on
there because people are more generous than you
think. Yeah. Also registries give you discounts.
So anything that's not purchased it's like actually
for our wedding a lot of people just gave us
cash But since we got a discount we were able
to use that cash and get all the dishes we wanted
at a cheaper price because we had 20 % off Creighton
barrel or whatever that was and use the cash
that people were generous with yeah, and so with
baby stuff that's kind of the same where there
was a bunch of things I put on there with that
intention too where it's like okay we're gonna
get a discount so if no one buys us the baby
monitor or the whatever we can at least get it
15 % off or you know something like that so that
was part of why I put a lot of the like more
expensive stuff on there too was I wasn't necessarily
anticipating anyone buy it for us, like you said,
but then I was like, a lot of the stuff we need,
whether anyone gets it for us. And if we can
at least get it discounted with a coupon, then
we'll take it. Yeah. Yeah. That's so true. We're
kind of in that boat right now of like second
registry where it's like, we're starting to,
we're like two weeks out at this point. of a
baby potentially coming could really be any day.
And we're like, okay, we still need, well, I
guess we don't need anything else. Want is like,
I'd love to have a baby bouncer. I would love
to have that. And I feel like it would make our
life more convenient. So that's something that
I'm like, if no one purchases that for us, then
I'm probably gonna buy it at a discount and it's
gonna be worth it. For sure. Yeah. Yep. What
do you feel like was like, I guess a regret?
So I think like, actually, I know what my biggest
regret was is I knew what stroller I wanted and
Graco had basically the same thing, only cheaper.
And I was like, I'll just get the cheaper version.
Yeah. And I regret that so much because Our strollers
already like kind of starting to crap out like
not enough that I can justify buying a new one
yet Yeah, but it's like the wheels get stuck
more easily and there's just like a few things
about it that are like, oh I didn't realize it
didn't have this feature that the stroller that
I wanted does And the worst part is it wasn't
like significantly cheaper. It wasn't like wasn't
like $300 cheaper, right? I was like if it was
half the price that would have made sense, but
it was like a hundred dollars cheaper so like
I should have just registered for because I wanted
to get the mockingbird like To like one to two
whatever and Graco has the same kind of functioning
stroller where it's like you can add the second
seat You can do all of that. So I was like, I'm
just gonna get the cheaper version Because I
also didn't see like a ton of reviews that were
saying that it was like, you know The Mockingbird
is way better. The Graco was way worse or anything
like that. But now I'm like, oh there's like
a few features that it doesn't have. Again, it's
already starting to like crap out. We've had
it for not even two years yet. So. Yeah. So that's
like my biggest regret is there was, I like knew
this was the one that I wanted. And then I was
just like, no, like I don't want to like, I don't
want to put that. Right. Put the expensive one
on there. And I should have just done that. But
now I know. Did someone purchase that for you?
Yeah. So it could have potentially just been.
Yeah. So we should ask, like we should have just
gotten the more expensive one. Again, it wasn't
that much more expensive, but I've already told
Stuart, cause I'm like this stroller. It's probably
not going to last if we have another kiddo, which
we've talked about possibly wanting more kids.
So I'm like, if this stroller either like actually
bites the dust and we can't use it right now,
like the front wheels, sometimes they work and
sometimes they don't. Super reliable. They just
don't steer super well anymore. So I'm like,
if it actually bites the dust or if we have another
kid, then. we're getting a new stroller and I'm
just going for the one that I want, getting the
nicer version. Cause then one of the things that
the Graco doesn't have that the Mockingbird does
is the like scooter board function for like older
kids to like, so your older kid can ride on the
back and stand on a scooter. And I was like,
and if we have a third kid, then we're almost
certainly going to need that. Yeah. And the Graco
doesn't have that. So that's my biggest regret
is I was trying to be frugal and it just ended
up being cheap and being a bummer. And it's always
tough because sometimes the more expensive ones
are like, it's just because it has the brand
name. That's the only reason it's nicer. And
if you don't know, you don't know. Yeah, yeah,
that's so true. What about you? What's your?
Mine's nothing like nothing huge or anything,
but I think I just like the clothing thing. I
registered for a lot of clothing. Realistically,
it just it didn't get purchased. And that's totally
fine. Like people are going to pick out. And
you also need less clothes for babies than you
really think you do. Like you need more and less
somehow. You know? Yeah, I think I was expecting
to be like the beige mom where it's like all
the neutrals all the time. looking like super
cute, but really like when he was a newborn,
he lived in pajamas. And I should have like gotten
way more pajamas. But yeah, the clothing thing
I registered for a lot of people just didn't
really gravitate towards purchasing clothes or
they picked out their own outfits, which is totally
fine. The other thing, I mean, as a new mom,
you just don't know. You have no idea what your
baby's gonna want or need, but I registered for
like a ton of different types of bottles and
a ton of different like types of postpartum stuff.
I registered for like three different hawkas
and I ended up not even using any of the hawkas
actually. I think I tried to use Hakka once and
I've never actually used mine. I literally didn't
even open the boxes, which I feel bad that someone
like purchased all these things. I did give it
to somebody who needed them, which is great.
But I think I got like four or five different
types of nipple cream. I think we had like eight
or nine different types of bottles. And I just
most of that stuff just sat there. Yeah. And
we like ended up giving away most of the bottles
and stuff like that. I kind of wish I had them
now for like this baby, new baby coming in. Just,
I mean, you don't know what they're going to
like. Yeah. You don't know what they're going
to like. And so I don't know if that's really
a regret. Maybe I should have just waited on
that stuff, I guess. And like, rather than having
someone purchase that for us, for sure, maybe
get one type of bottle. And if He didn't take
that bottle then we try something else and we
purchase it ourselves so Not a huge. Yeah, it's
not like a a regret. I guess it's just one of
the things that I have a hard time with when
it comes to like Gifts in general. It's like
I would rather you not spend money on me Then
spend money on something i'm not going to use
Yeah, and so then if it is something that I like
I specifically asked for this and then I never
use it I feel way worse because i'm like, oh
no, like I told you like Told you didn't just
like go off on your own and buy something that
you thought I should want You bought something
that I specifically said I wanted and then didn't
use and I feel terrible cuz I'm like I want you
to Use your money. Well, and yeah, I don't want
to feel like you wasted money on me Yeah for
something that got left in a box or for sure
whatever But I yeah for most of the stuff that
we didn't use I think we tried to give it to
someone who it's like, okay. Yeah, you'll use
this Yeah, now I feel like Going into like second,
baby I Am feeling way less. I don't know way
less stressed about the items that Maybe I don't
have like I don't have nine different bottles.
Yeah prepared. I'm like, you know what we can
Amazon Prime something right really quickly get
it here a mile from the fulfillment center. So
it will be here by 3 p .m Yes. Yeah, and I'm
like, it's gonna be okay. We'll survive. It's
not the end of the world. Whereas like yeah becoming
a new mom You're like I need everything I need
right I need it in my house. Yeah now all organized
sterilized ready to go Yep, and I just I don't
know if that's like a common second time mom
thing, but I'm not feeling as stressed. Yeah.
I mean, I would say in general, I felt less stress
this time around, but especially with a lot of
that stuff where it's like, you know, we figured
it out the first time, we'll figure it out this
time and it'll work out as we go. And if we need
to order something on Prime and have it here
tomorrow, then we will. We might have a rough
night, but we'll survive. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Agreed.
One thing I did want to talk about too is one
thing I registered for. Well, we did this thing
called a diaper keg. And I don't know if it's
like a super common thing, but it's basically
like another party. And the idea behind it is
like you come to the party, you bring up either
a pack of diapers or a pack of wipes. And then
you get like your cup for the keg to have a drink.
And so This was one thing that I'm so glad that
we did because we invited pretty much everyone
from work. And I mean, not a ton of people came,
but we got probably 3000 diapers and it lasted
us like a very long time. Yeah, that's so nice.
So diapers, I feel like you definitely need to
put them on your registry. But also if you can
have like a diaper party of some sort, it was
a game changer for us of saving so much money.
I would say if you're buying something for someone
and either don't want to get anything off their
registry for some reason or don't know what to
get them, just get diapers in any size because
the baby's gonna keep growing. And a lot of times,
I feel like we got a lot of newborns and ones,
and I don't know that we... I know there was
at least one size that I think we gave to you
guys because we ran out or like Lloyd had grown
up and we're like We've got like half a pack
left. Yeah, especially at that point. We're like,
we don't have Storage for this. We don't know
the next time we're having a baby anyways, so
we're not gonna just like give it away So we
were like we're gonna make sure someone who's
going to use it is gonna get it And then we're
like so other sizes is also super helpful. Oh
for sure Yeah, there was the same thing happened
to us and I think we gave We gave the diapers
to the church or something like that. I was like,
oh, the church will use it. But the great thing
about diapers too is like, you can go pretty
much Walmart will like, you can exchange sizes.
No problem with no receipt. That's so nice. Target
same thing. Target's a little bit weird about
like returning with no receipt, but it's super
nice because you can just like exchange them
for, they'll do like a gift card or whatever.
Yeah, Target usually does store credit if you
don't have a receipt. But you're like, that's
fine, because I'm probably just going to use
this for more diapers or something else for the
baby that we need. Exactly. So that was a huge
win, must -have thing for us, was doing something
like a diaper party. Yeah, that's super smart.
Yeah. Yep. What are some things for you that
maybe you didn't put on your registry, but are
just mom must -haves? I have a whole bunch of
these. OK, great. One of the first things is
my Kindle. And so I had had one before Lloyd
was born, but one of the things that happened
is so I've exclusively breastfed both babies
and especially for late night feeds, but all
the time you're kind of just like stuck. when
you're feeding. And at first I would end up just
like doom scrolling on Instagram. And when you're
up at 3 a .m. and already hormonal and doom scrolling
on Instagram, that's just like not a good time
and not great for mental health and your brain.
So I ended up switching to reading books and
with a Kindle, it's super convenient. You don't
have to like try to flip pages or anything. It's
still just like a screen and you tap it. You
can register it with your library and get free
books. So when I was breastfeeding Lloyd, I think
I read like 20 books in like six months or something
like that. I read so much. That's awesome. That
was just what I would do when I would feed him.
And it's so much better for my brain. I was like
way happier after I switched to doing that versus
scrolling social media. There were a bunch of
books on my like must read list that I was able
to get through. So. That's definitely one of
like at least my personal must -haves. Yeah.
And then I've been reading not as much with Zeta
just because at least during the day I'm like
keeping up with Lloyd and stuff like that while
I'm still feeding her. Yeah. But it does make
night feeds better where it's like, okay, I'm
not just scrolling. I'm reading something. Also,
I would say don't read anything super serious.
Yeah. My go -to. Yeah. My go -to is like a Poirot
novel because I'm like it's... a feel good murder
mystery as much as that can be a thing. Yeah.
So yeah, so nothing super serious, but just like
kind of more fun books. And that's nice stuff
like that. So that's one of them. That's a great
idea. The Kindle. Yeah. One of the things that
we found. So there's a company that I think is
actually based in Lyons, Colorado. OK, it's called
Green Goo. And they just have like 100 percent
natural different. like skincare items and stuff
like that and one of the things they have is
called tattoo goo and it's for healing tattoos
and so Stuart and I both have tattoos and it's
like our favorite go -to thing for when we have
a fresh tattoo and it's worked so well for diaper
rash. Really? Like I will swear by this for diaper
rash. And did you just like try it one day or
you deferred from somebody? You know it's all
natural it's what we have in the house and like
it works really well for us like healing and
tattoo is basically Dry skin slash an open wound.
Yeah, so same. It's pretty much the same thing
as a diaper rash So we're like, let's give it
a try and literally overnight. It's gone So I
swear by it green goo tattoo goo is amazing.
And then my mom makes her own talo lotion Oh,
okay, and we have found that works really well
for eczema and dry skin for the babies. Oh So
definitely recommend. That's great Yeah, that's
awesome. What are some things that you've like
discovered. Yeah, really like the biggest thing.
I just love the Freedom Mom products anywhere
from like obviously the postpartum care items.
I like their postpartum items. Yeah, but the
biggest thing was the nose sucker. Like I remember
getting that and we've had a couple of them,
like a couple different kinds of them, but just
like the manual. nose sucker, like actual straw
one, which I was like, I'm never going to use
that. I'm like, that's so disgusting. But when
Colt got RSV like a year ago and that in itself
was like, oh my gosh, it made a world of difference
using that nose sucker. That was finally when
I was like, mustered up the confidence to actually
try it. And now I'm like, I should probably get
more of them and just put one in the car, one
in his room, one in my room, all the places because
I know with new baby coming, I'm just gonna probably
use the heck out of it. So that is probably the
biggest thing that I'm like, this is a must have.
And I know you mentioned another thing that you
were like, you have to. We recommend getting
a nebulizer. So we got it for the same reason
Lloyd had RSV. I think he had it right before
Colt did actually. And so first we got a disposable
one because we're like, we're not going to invest
in one if it doesn't work. And it made such a
difference when he had RSV. And now we just use
it like if he's a little congested or gunked
up or if one of us is a little congested or gunked
up. Zeta has been congested just I think because
it's dry out. Yeah. So like we've used it for
all of us just with like a salient solution.
So I highly recommend that even if it's not like
you're actually sick, just like you might as
well use it. Yeah. I don't know if you're like,
yeah, we already have it questioning it or. Yeah.
And it just, it makes Lloyd sleep so much better
if he's, you know, stuffy or has like a little
bit of a cough or something like that. So highly
recommend getting a nebulizer. That's smart.
Especially another thing I was going to mention
too is a humidifier. Yes. Like we live in Colorado.
It is so dry here. And a humidifier. That's something,
I mean, I didn't register for a humidifier. I
didn't really think of it, but we have his humidifier
running. pretty much 24 seven yeah because it's
so dang dry here and i feel like it if i don't
run it it's like i can see the difference the
difference that it makes yeah another thing we've
found is the earthly teeth tamer so earthly is
the brand and they have a teeth tamer it's just
like a tincture so it's like yeah an oil almost
thingy and loyd will literally ask for it Interesting.
It's crazy. Like, so it's catnip and cloves.
Catnip and cloves. And I think there's like something
else to make it like a little watery or something
like that. But that's basically it. And it's
been it's made a world of difference when he's
teething. It's supposed to it's calming. But
then it also is like a pain relief thing specifically
for like your mouth. And yeah, he'll like point
to it on his changing table and ask for it and
try like, okay, like it's all natural. It's all
natural. It doesn't hurt him. So that was a game
changer. Once we got it, it's a little bit expensive,
but it's totally worth it. If it's going to,
yeah, if it's going to work like, yeah, it's
worth the investment. All of the things. Sleep
has no price. True. Yes. Yeah. So that's another
big one for me. Dang. And then one thing. So
this is something my dad sent me. While ago and
actually he works with first responders sometimes
like a volunteer position So I don't know if
I think he might have learned about this from
them. There's this thing called Roth ID And I
never heard of it, but basically they're stickers
that you can put on car seats That are have emergency
contact so the stickers like the outside of sticker
is reflective red and white so it's really easy
to see But base and then if you peel the sticker
off like you write down emergency contact. That's
obviously not yourself so basically the Concept
is if the adults in the car are unresponsive
for whatever reason that there's an emergency
contact that first responders can call right
away. Because a lot of times, if there's little
kids, even if they're able to talk, they're like,
call G -ma. Paramedic doesn't know who G -ma
is. So it has three spots for three different.
emergency contacts like for ours. I put Stuart
just because I think like statistically speaking
it's more likely that something would happen
where I'm in the car with the kids and he's not
there. And then I put my dad and Stuart's mom.
So there's like someone from each side of the
family. as an emergency contact. Yeah, basically
the concept is like if mom or dad, you know,
adult in the car is unresponsive, they're able
to contact someone right away. So a lot of times
they're not able to find an emergency contact
information and then kiddos who are probably
already scared if there's, if that's the situation.
Just have to like wait forever to be around someone
that they know So it was like 40 bucks and I
got three or not three I got six stickers and
I was one of those things I was like, I hope
I wasted $40 and then they never have to be used
But I would much rather have wasted $40 and them
never have to be used then something happened
Yeah, so Roth ID highly recommend that is smart.
I'm gonna look that yeah, I had never heard of
it And as soon as I saw it, I was like, oh, this
is super smart. Just because you don't know.
I mean, it's a little bit like my anxiety and
paranoia, but like you just don't know what's
going to happen. And yeah. That's super smart.
Speaking of the car, one I just thought of too,
is our car gets so messy, like just from. obviously
a toddler. But one thing that we're trying to
do is like we have a designated like basket in
the car. It could be in the back seat, could
be in the trunk of just like extra diapers, toys,
maybe shoes, things like that, where it's like
they're all in one spot. for our child rather
than it just being like thrown in the car somewhere
like yeah we don't really take a huge diaper
bag with us currently anymore we take like a
little tiny backpack but it is nice to just have
like a centralized area to keep kind of like
all of that stuff in the car rather than it just
being like thrown all over the car for sure so
that is one of my like must -haves for organizational
that's super smart yeah I should do that, yeah.
It still obviously gets out of hand a bit, but
like when we're cleaning the car out and picking
it up, it's like we can reset and kind of restock
that. Everything goes back in one spot. Yeah.
That makes sense. That's nice. Speaking of keeping
things clean, one of the things that we got recently
is just like a portable little carpet cleaner.
This happened like so we have cats who already
just like throw up and have hairballs all the
time and are disgusting. So we were already like
we should probably get one of those. And I found
one that's not like massive because that was
part of why we had put it off. So like we don't
want like a massive carpet cleaner. And everyone
we know who has one has like one that's the size
of a vacuum or something like that and we're
like we don't want that so we found it's the
Bissell little green multi -purpose carpet cleaner
and then we got it after Lloyd threw up on the
carpet one day and then like five days later
I threw up on the carpet so we're like okay we
should probably have something to just clearly
gonna be a lot of throw up on this carpet yeah
our brand new carpet and our brand new house
is gonna be disgusting so soon yeah but I mean
just with kids like again there's that that happened
This week, Lloyd had a blowout for the first
time and I don't know how long and that got on
the carpet. And then, I mean, just with kids,
you're like, you're going to have spills and
they're going to make a mess sometimes just because
life happens and things happen. And with carpet,
it's just like. So, yeah, so that's something
we bought and it's definitely worth it. Super
easy to use. And it's like 100 bucks. So it wasn't
like cheap, cheap, but. but probably has been
worth it already. It's been worth it, and it's
cheaper than replacing your carpet. For sure.
Or then hiring someone to come clean your carpet.
Yeah. So, yeah. I'm at that stage, that's actually
like a really good recommendation, because we
have a good amount of carpet, I guess you could
say, in our house. But I feel like our like main
living room rug just gets the worst of it. And
I just need like... a spot cleaner or something
because it just like yesterday I was like Cole
is being a little too quiet right now and I go
in the living room and he's just dumping his
milk like onto he's trying to put it in his snack
container okay but he's like dumping it in the
snack container and then dumping the snack container
out on the You're like, I'm glad that you're
learning things. Yeah. I was like, buddy, at
least drink the milk out of the snack container.
We don't have to just dump it on the ground.
So it's things like that where I'm like, I don't
want crusty carpet. Yes. Yeah. Milk. We've had
so much milk spilled on our carpet. Yeah. It's
a good time. It is. And you're like, and then
if you don't like take care of it right away,
it gets sour and. Oh, gross. Yeah. Good times.
Anything else you can think of that were our
must haves for you? So the others that I would
say we discovered a company called Sparrow Sleeps.
And then there's a similar one called Rockabye
Baby. And they make lullabies for kids out of
like alternative rock or alternative music. Uh
huh. And then. classic rock. So, like, we have
an entire album of, I mean, we just get it on
Apple Music and stream it for Lloyd, but of,
like, Blink -182, Lullabies, or Tom Petty, Lullabies,
something like that. That's fun for you too.
Which is fun for us. I mean, we don't show him
a lot of kids music to begin with, so we're like,
this is fun to, like... This is our music that
we enjoy. Yes. And it's in lullaby form. So that's
one. Another one is the Imagination Library.
Oh, yes. You don't know what this is. It's just
registered for that. Did you? So if you don't
know what it is, it's Dolly Parton's nonprofit
where you just signed your kid up. They do have
to be approved, but I think it's just. Locationally,
I think they're not gonna deny you. Yeah, cuz
like they definitely didn't ask like income or
anything for us It was just like name location.
Okay, I think there just has to be like a library
in the vicinity that kind of like yeah, there's
cuz they have local nonprofits that support yeah,
so Yeah, and then they send your kid if they're
zero to five and like an age -appropriate book
once a month So we've gotten so many books for
Lloyd that way. We registered Zadix. We're like,
we love books at our house. I mean, there've
been a couple times, like we already had Llama
Llama Red Pajama, obviously, classic. And so
we got that again. And we're like, grandma, grandpa,
do you want a favorite book at your house? And
gave that to them. But it's totally free to sign
up for as long as it's in your area, which it
seems like they're in most areas. But again,
I think they have to have a local nonprofit partner
to work with. So that is probably another one
of my biggest recommendations is setting your
kid up for that. And then it's fun because, I
mean, Lloyd doesn't get super excited yet, but
Stuart and I get really excited every time he
gets a book. And we're like, oh, this is the
book we're reading for bedtime tonight. For the
next month. This is the book. That's so great.
Yeah. So that's probably another one. That's
a good one. I just thought of one more too, which
I feel like when I was registering originally
for First Baby, I was trying to decide what type
of high chair I wanted to put on there. And when
it came down to it, which I love the look of
super modern high chairs, there's a bunch of
expensive ones out there that are super great.
Really, the biggest thing that I was like, okay,
we need a easily wipeable high chair. I knew
I didn't want it to have cloth or anything sitting
that he would sit on. And at IKEA, they have
a $20 high chair. It has been the best thing.
So we just purchased another one because we were
like... The other one got kind of yucky. Like
this, the buckles got kind of like crusty, but
we were like 20 bucks. Like, yeah, easy. Like
we're just gonna, I'll just buy a new one, honestly.
But that high chair has been like a must have
in our house of like how easy it is to clean,
how simple it is. Like you can buy a bunch of
different like little attachments for it and
stuff like that if you really want, but it's
not needed. But that one is, yeah. That's just
something that's also designed to pull them right
up to the table if you want to. Right. Yeah.
Which is so nice. Yeah. Yeah. Our high chair,
we can pull them right up to the table. And I
think that makes such a difference in like how
he eats because he's like, oh, I'm a part of
things versus kind of off in your own world with
your tray eating. Yeah. Yeah. No, it has been
so great. Literally 20 bucks. Easy peasy. We
love IKEA, honestly. But that was that's the
last one I can think of. I have one more that
so I didn't register for this someone got it
for me and it's something I would never think
to register for is Warming pads that you can
put in your bra like you can definitely just
use like a normal heating pad or something like
that If you get like a clogged duct or something
like that, but I had someone give me the kind
of like heating pads that you can like throw
in the microwave heat up and then they fit perfectly
in your bra which is super nice especially I
got a couple of clogged ducts with Lloyd and
it hurts so bad and heat helps so much yeah but
also having one that you can just like stick
in your bra is so convenient because you're chasing
a kid around or just like trying to get your
life together yeah so if you have something that's
a little more portable like that and you don't
just have to like sit there is super convenient
so yeah i think another mom it has to be another
mom who would have gotten that for me and again
i never would have registered for i wouldn't
especially first baby i wouldn't have even thought
of like this is something that i should want
or do want or anything like that and now i'm
like that is a must have if you're gonna be breastfeeding
dang Yeah, that's clogged ducks. No fun. Yeah.
And I feel like in the moment of like getting
a clogged duct, you're like super afraid of mastitis,
like turning into mastitis. And so like, I don't
know about for you, but when I did get clogged
ducts, I was like super stressed out and like,
I mean, you try to do everything you can. I want
to take care of this right away. Yeah. Yeah.
And so that's a super convenient thing to just
have. Yeah, highly recommend. Yeah. Okay, any
last things that you can think of that you're
like wish I would have maybe registered for this
or for things that I'm like would not would not
recommend registering for microfiber towels.
Oh, yeah. I feel like every like registry list.
looked at was like you should get microfiber
towels specifically and Maybe we just got cheap
ones, but they Collected all of the lint and
like my hair would get stuck to them and the
cat hair would get stuck to them And they just
got so gross so fast yeah So we finally ended
up either throwing them away or getting rid of
them and just literally using regular like adult
sized towels yeah, and Those were great, so I
almost am like I don't think you need baby towels
They are convenient and cute if you want like
a smaller size, but like for both of our kids,
even Zeta, who's itty bitty right now, we still
just use a regular full size towel and it works
great. I wouldn't even think of microfiber towels.
It was one of those things where I'm like, I
think I just saw on enough lists that I'm like,
well, if everyone's telling me that I should
get it, obviously that's like the way to go.
But after using them, I'm like, they just got
gross so fast and it wasn't worth it. So that's
a no go. And then. This is something I didn't
register for, but it's just a funny thing that
someone gave us. We got a baby powder scented
candle. Interesting. Didn't know that existed.
No. Why? There's so many questions I have about
that one, about why it exists, why it felt like
a necessary gift. That's funny. I also, I don't
like candles generally because I'm really sensitive
to smells. So it was an additionally funny thing
to be like, I don't really burn candles in the
house very often if ever. So I'm never going
to use this. Maybe it's supposed to be like a
soothing thing for the baby. I have no idea.
I don't know. To be honest, it came from my grandma,
who's I think it's just like a different generation
thing is the only thing I can think of. But it
was just like a funny thing where we're like.
Huh, that was that was a choice like wow. Thank
you so much grandma But that was just like a
funny thing that did not register for but did
get that's funny Yeah, I don't see the reason
for that Yeah, and also I don't really need a
candle with a newborn that seems I mean with
a newborn It's less stressful, but just like
with a kid like yeah we don't burn candles in
our house with kids running around right now
because That seems dangerous. Mm -hmm, or it's
got to be like 10 feet up in the air. Right.
And then you forget that it's lit. They're going
to somehow find the ladder and climb the 10 feet.
Yeah, now that Lloyd can climb on things. He
will find a way to get there for sure. Yes. Oh,
fire. He's like, I'm going to touch that. That's
interesting. Yeah. It's a light. Oh, man. Well,
hopefully this was helpful for you, whether you're
a new mom or not, of just like what What is helpful
in this season? Maybe you can think of some like
must haves for you as you're navigating motherhood,
whether you're raising young kids right now,
or you've got older kids. We all have things
that we - If you have older kids, let us know
so that we can be prepared. Yes, please. We are
in it. in the thickness of it right now. Well,
do you have your win of the week? I do. So at
the beginning of the episode, I mentioned that
Stuart went back to work on Monday. Today is
now Friday, which means we made it through a
full week with Stuart back to work and me just
moming two kids on my own. Everyone is still
alive. There was no serious injuries. How are
you doing? Are you OK? I feel pretty good about
it. We had like a couple of rough goes I told
you before we started recording that Lloyd has
been having some trouble sleeping at night which
just means he's grumpier and then he's definitely
like clingier these days just like adjusting
to me not being able to give him full attention
now that dad's back to work. We were able to
like get out and do some activities like our
library has a story time so we went and did that
yesterday which he wasn't like super interested
in but we got out of the house and he got to
like see some things and hear some music and
all of that. Mostly doing good. I think honestly
the hardest part this week was we had an evening.
Stuart was already home but there was something
that he had to take care of that Also, we got
a new car, so he was putting the car seats in
the new car. And he was taking like a while to
do that because car seats are annoying that way.
And so he was taking time doing that, which is
one of those things where I'm like, I can't complain
because you were literally doing something for
me that you could have been like, I'm not doing
this tonight. You just have to go one more day
without a car. And that would have been reasonable.
But he was doing something for me. And in that
time frame, I'm pretty sure one, if not both
of them. were crying about something and like
Zeta, I could not figure out, it's like I tried
to feed you, I tried to burp you, I did all of
the things, couldn't figure it out. And then
Lloyd was crying about things where it was like,
well, I'm not gonna let you drink the Mirren
from the pantry. I'm not sorry about that actually,
like that's not something I'm just letting you
drink. You're not allowed to chew on a phone
charger or all of the things where it's like
he's just throwing a fit because I'm not letting
him do things that. are for his own good and
it was just like the end of the day and everyone
was tired and yeah all of that so that was probably
the hardest and then you're crying and then it's
just it's just a lot yeah so that was probably
the hardest part of this week the rest of the
week i think went fairly well yeah that's great
taking it day by day and trying to figure it
out and make it to nap time so i can also nap
oh man yeah what is your win this week yeah mine
uh happened a couple days ago um so My husband
is a youth pastor at the church that we both
work at. And the first Wednesday of the month,
they have this huge student rally, is what it's
called, where it's unapologetically bringing
as many kids into the room as possible. So Colt
and I will try to go to that once a month. And
so it's like... He for sure stays up past his
bedtime, because it goes from 7 to 8 .30. He's
usually in bed by 7 .30, 7 .45. And so that in
itself, it stresses me out a little bit going
into it, because I know it's going to be a later
night. He's going to get home really late. But
it's fun. It's fun for him to go see the worship
music and see all the kids. He just has a lot
of fun. There's a lot of activities and stuff
like that. So my win is leading up to that moment
or to going. I usually solo parent all day because
Michael's at work. Right. I'm working from home
parenting and we just had we had a pretty good
day, which was nice. We go to rally and I'm currently
almost 38 weeks pregnant and a couple of moms
like saw me just like chasing Colt around and
like. I could tell that I'm tired because my
body hurts and stuff. One of the moms just encouraged
me and was like, hey, Laura, you got this. Look
at you. You're really doing it. You got this.
I was like, you know what? That was just the
encouragement that I needed in that moment of
I'm exhausted and we're having a great time,
but I'm tired. She just went out of her way to
encourage me. That's so sweet. So I feel like
that was just like a win. And also like a reminder
to me that like we're all just kind of in, I
don't know, in some kind of thickness of motherhood.
For sure. And that the encouragement really does
help. Yeah, it makes such a huge difference.
Yeah. And I'm like, oftentimes we feel so alone
in like the season that we're in. Absolutely.
And it's just we need to I don't know we need
to rally together a little bit for sure more
so and it's always nice to hear it from a mom
who's like oh you survived this yeah like you're
not just like saying this because you can yeah
or whatever yeah you survived this sometimes
that's also harder to like you're out of it but
yes yeah okay your kids are now thriving at whatever
age they are yeah that's great yep Well, thanks
for joining us on No Manual, a mom cast for today's
episode. Hopefully you got something from it
and hopefully you can let us know what is a mom
must have for you in this season. Go ahead and
rate, review, join us on Instagram. We'd love
to connect with you, but we'll see you next week.
Have a great week.