Easter Basket Goodies

Easter has always been of my favorite holidays. I am so excited to celebrate this year with Ellie and see her face when she sees her basket the bunny left for her this year. I've already started looking for and buying some goodies for her. I thought it would make for a fun post to share and get some ideas from you guys too! Shopping for little ones can be so much fun, but when they're too young to really understand the holiday or the gifts it can be hard to see what would be good options for them. 

Outfit (here) // Towel (here) // Animal Eggs (here) //  Stuffed Animals (here and here) // Hat (here)

Books (here and here) // Blocks (here) //  Bath toys (here)  //  Swimsuit (here)

Sippy Cup (here) // Socks (here) // Sandals (here) //  Puffs (here)

Some other fun goodies would be bubbles, pool toys, a name puzzle (here), a teepee, or a porch swing. I plan on filling Ellie's eggs with puffs, Cheerios, and yogurt melts. I've gone back and forth with what type of a basket to get here. I'd love to get her a nicer basket to use year after year, but I don't have any Easter decoration and don't want to store just a basket by itself. I may wait until we're done having children and get them all the same type personalized. For now, I just got her a really cute throw away one. Growing up we had a variety of baskets; throw away ones, large wicker baskets, ones my grandmother made us, and it was kind of fun seeing what type of a basket you would get each year. Then, I also love the nostalgia of having the same one year to year like you do with a Christmas stocking.

What are some of your favorite Easter traditions? We always got our swimsuits every Easter and I look forward to continuing that with Ellie.

What goodies do you give your little ones?

Our Baby Food Journey

Introducing Ellie to food has been something we've been looking forward to and we chose to wait until she was 6 months before trying any solids or purees. As the 6 month mark approached, I began to feel nervous about what types of food to start with, how I wanted to introduce them, the order of foods to try, etc. Who knew feeding a baby would bring about so many questions? The only question I didn’t have was that I wanted to make my own food.

Most of the women in my family have made their own food, my mother did with both my sister and I, and my sister in law did with both of her children. Then Kristin, of Mama and Mou has also posted a lot about it and I’ve emailed her a few times with different questions I had- she was a great resource and thanks again for all your help!

We started Ellie off with organic rice cereal and with her first taste, she wasn’t a big fan of it (as you can see in the above pic!). The face she made was hilarious, and she was a good sport. She tried a few more bites before showing no interest and turning her head away. With her second taste, we couldn’t feed her fast enough! The first few bites she would make a face, but still want more. I think she was just getting used to the new texture.

My SIL and I got together after a grocery store run, and she helped me steam and puree all my veggies for Ellie. We used the book, Cooking for Baby for reference on how long to cook items and how to prepare them (steam, boil, or bake and whether the peels/skin were ok) and in 2.5-3 hours time, we made enough food for several weeks! I couldn’t believe how easy it was and couldn’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t want to do it. Now, I don’t judge any mother for what/how she chooses to feed her baby, maybe making food doesn’t appeal to everyone, so whatever floats your boat and works for your family.

The entire process was really simple, we would use a double boiler for most of the veggies (the butternut squash and sweet potato we baked), putting water in the bottom pot and the veggies in the top pot. After a few minutes we would check to see if the vegetables were steamed all the way through and were easy to pierce with a fork. If they were ready, we would pop them into the baby bullet and puree them to smithereens. Most of the veggies pureed thin enough on their own, but the peas, carrots, and green beans I had to add a little bit of water to get them to the right consistency. Once the veggies cooled down, I poured them into ice cube trays to freeze. Then after they were frozen, I popped them out and placed them in freezer bags with the date they were made. Each night I would place the amount of ice cubes for her serving in a bowl with a lid to thaw for lunch/dinner the next day.

We started Ellie off with vegetables and began with peas, then zucchini, butternut squash, yellow squash, carrots, sweet potato, and green beans. She has absolutely loved everything so far and thankfully, we haven’t had any bad experiences either with tummy aches or rashes. This weekend we moved onto fruits starting with pears and apples. Unfortunately, there’s not a large variety of fruit in season at this time so I’ve also picked up Gerber Organic Peaches in the meantime so Ellie can try a variety of foods. I’ve also started to mix some of the veggies together to create new flavors for her.

She’s so funny, because you can’t feed her fast enough. If you wait to give her another bite, she fusses and gets mad. I love it! We also give her Gerber Puffs and Baby Mum-Mums (which she loves) and have started to give her water with her dinner as well. Before officially starting on fruits, we have given Ellie a banana in a mesh eater and a sliced apple to gnaw on, both of which she did not care for whatsoever. They were both new textures and are much sweeter than the veggies we’ve been giving her so I’m not surprised at her reaction. We will just keep trying new things to get her used to a variety of flavors and textures. Our experience so far has been really good and fortunately, Ellie has been a great eater. She's loved everything we've actually fed to her and has been a great eater. I hope she stays this way and I look forward to the time when I can just give her smaller portions of what Matt and I eat.

Right now she still drinks the same amount of milk as before, that has not weaned yet. She sometimes has rice cereal in the mornings, and sometimes not. Just depends on how our mornings go and how long of a nursing she gets when she wakes up. She eats lunch at daycare and 3-4 bottles, then Matt and I feed her dinner while the other one is cooking. After she eats her dinner, she gets some puffs, mums, and a bottle of water while we eat. We've tried giving her sippy cups at dinner, but she hasn't got the hang of how they work yet so for the meantime we're just giving her a bottle with water for now.

Here are some of my favorite food items so far:

Gerber Graduates BPA Free Bunch-A-Bowls with Lids

Munchkin Soft-Tip Infant Spoons

Pullover Towel Bibs

Gerber Graduates Puffs 

Baby Mum-Mums

Earth's Best Organic Rice Cereal

Baby Bullet Complete Baby Care System 

Be sure to check out Mama and Mou today, I have a guest post up about my baby blue experience! I'm so honored to be featured. If you have a little one, be sure to link up every Tuesday!

Baby Must Haves: 6 Months

Hello! I'm so far behind on posting my must-haves, I thought to combine them, but it would end up such a long post I'll just post 7 months next week.

Ellie started saying "mama" and it absolutely melts my heart. She started saying it the week of Thanksgiving and said it all day long and into the night. Nothing makes those 3am wake up calls easier than listening to her call out my name for comfort. Now, she only says mama when she needs me, but for those first two weeks, she said it all the time and it was joyous!

We also started solid foods, which I made myself by steaming/baking her veggies and using the Baby Bullet to puree them. It's been really easy and Ellie loves everything she's tried so far which include; peas, zucchini (her favorite so far), yellow squash, butternut squash, and sweet potato. My sweet sister-in-law helped me and between her help and Kristin of Mama and Mou's post, I followed them both pretty closely. I may do my own post about the experience, but Kristin covered it pretty well so shoot over there if you're interested in making your own food as well.

Munchkin Baby Bath Ball: We love this ball at bathtime. I bought it a few months ago, but Ellie just started taking an interest in it recently. She loves to feel the water come out the holes and chewing on the soft plastic. There's not many bath toys available for young babies and this has been the best so far. What are your favorite bath time toys?

Baby Bullet Food System: We have a food processor already, but it's such a hassle to clean and I was gifted this at my baby shower and love it. It's so quick to puree her food, it's easy to clean, and I store everything together in the box in a spare closet when it's not in use. I would definitely recommend having one if you don't already have a food processor to use.

Baby Einstein Baby Neptune Ocean Orchestra Musical Toy: This toy is so much fun, it lights up and plays a variety of tunes. It also slides easily across carpet and Ellie really enjoys playing with it and is memorized by the lights.

Bright Starts Pretty In Pink My First Cookbook: These soft books have that plastic page(s) that make noise and it keeps Ellie busy forever. It's such a simple toy and she's used it for a few months and still enjoys the noise it makes, the plastic "cookie" to chew, and the tags at the bottom. We take ours everywhere.

Taggies Tag 'n Go Cart Cover: Now that Ellie can sit up on her own, putting her in a shopping cart is a total game changer. She loves to look around and see what's around her. It has made running errands a million times easier. Before I would either wear her at the store or put her entire car seat inside the cart, which didn't leave much room for what we were buying. These covers are awesome to put over the cart (and even high chairs) to keep their toys together, let them put their mouths on the fabric, and keep germs at bay. Plus, you can just throw it in the wash as needed.

Baby Must Haves: 5 Months

Ellie has grown so much this past month! I’ve been looking at her newborn pictures and seeing how much she has changed is incredible. She has so much more hair, she’s so much bigger (especially longer!), and has so much personality! Her sense of humor is really apparent, she has fully belly laughs, and reacts when you make silly faces or noises. She’s sitting up unassisted and reaches for you when she wants you to hold her or pick her up. It melts my heart each day when I get home to see her big toothless grin and her chubby arms reaching for her mama. I wasn’t kidding in my previous monthly must-have posts that each month is more fun than the last! They just grow and change so much that each day is something new and it’s an amazing experience.

Baby Einstein Musical Motion 2-in-1 Stationary Jumper & Entertainer 
 I got this saucer and some other products (that we gave Matt’s parents to have at their home since it would be double for us) from a moms Facebook group I’m in and Ellie absolutely loves it! It’s so nice to put her in it while I’m doing stuff around the house. She loves exploring the different activities on each side and can completely turn herself to each side on her own. Her feet don’t quite touch the ground yet so I’ve put a blanket underneath her for now. The moment she realized how to push the buttons herself was so fun! She had been trying to figure out how to make the music and lights go off and she finally figured out how to push the button, I was so proud of her. It’s the little things in life.

Dish Drying Mats
We have a bottle rack for all of her bottles and my pump parts, but sometimes there’s just not enough room. I didn’t want to buy a 2nd drying rack for bottles and when we were at Costco a few weeks ago they had a two pack drying mat for $7.99! They’re awesome! Super absorbent, can be put in the wash, and folds up nicely to fit in a cabinet for storage when not in use. The picture and the link aren't the ones we bought, but similar to what we found.

Fleece Pajamas
It’s still pretty warm here during the day, but it dips down pretty cold during the night. I thought Ellie’s pjs alone would be fine, but one night she kept waking up and I noticed that her ears were cold and so were her feet (even though her feet are covered) so I picked up some fleece pajamas for her and I’ve noticed she’s slept better and longer in them now that she’s warmer.

Palmolive Pure and Clear Dish Soap
Since I was pregnant, we started switching over all of our products to safer ones. We started with our laundry detergent and then to this dish soap and I love this soap! It smells great and we use it for all our dishes and her Ellie's bottles and my pump items.

Bright Starts Grab and Stack Blocks
I think these are Ellie's favorite toy right now (the activity balls are a close second!). Two of the blocks jingle and the other two have that plastic scratch stuff and she loves all the details on each side and knocking them over after I stack them for her.

Baby Einstein Roller-Pillar Activity Balls
These balls are great for her motor skills and each one offers a different stimulation. When they roll away from her she reaches to far to get it, it will be so much fun when she starts crawling and gets after them.

Munchkin Fun Ice® Chewy Teether
This are such a blessing. When I can tell Ellie's gums are bothering her, I just hand her one of these teethers and she is so relieved to be chewing on them. They're cold and easy for her to hold herself and gnaw for a few minutes.