Mommy Essentials

As soon as you become a mom, you start wishing that there could be a drive through everywhere you go to avoid the whole car seat and stroller drama. Trust me, I avoided a lot of shopping trips, especially when my son was under one. Online shopping has undoubtedly been a lifesaver for me and I am proud to say that I am an amazon mom. From my baby registry to everyday shopping, amazon makes mom life so much easier. Some may label online shopping and drive through moms as lazy , but I’m really not moved by those labels as my sanity is more important than mom judgement. Whatever makes my daily routine simpler and effectively gets the job done is a winner in my books.

I’m a sucker for a good sale and there are so many deals this time of year. From Black Friday to Cyber Monday and now until the new year there’ll be some pretty awesome amazon deals to save your pocket and save your sanity in 2020. My little guy just switched to his new big boy evenflow carseat , very affordable and easy to carry. I appreciate that it’s lightweight and not very bulky especially for traveling. You may need to add one of these really awesome travel pillows to say bye bye to the wobble head though, then all will be well with the world.

Talking about travel, I also got little Mr. sweet face one of the cutest backpack leash , comfortable , functional and convenient for our upcoming Christmas trip. Don’t take this lightly, children don’t understand danger mostly under the age of 4, so it is our responsibility as parents to ensure they are safe. Especially when travelling with more than one family member , it may be taken for granted that your toddler is with someone else in the family, when in fact they can be lost. Home alone is more than just a funny TV show, don’t take that chance, leash up mama.

Another item in my sale weekend splurge is a handy dandy mommy fanny pack. During last years Christmas travels, my dad misplaced his passport on his return flight and only noticed when he was making travel arrangements a few months later. We searched for days, to no avail so his next move was to file a police report in order to apply for a replacement. After doing all this , guess what? He found the passport, neatly nestled in one of his jacket pockets. To avoid this inconvenience and the agony of the frantic search, I will be prepared. This savvy belt bag is absolutely necessary for my family of four to make the travel process easier and I will be comfortable knowing that all our passports are together.

Check out these clipped prices before they’re all gone and share some of your Sale splurges.

Thank you for reading !!! XO

After your sweet baby arrives, the real chaos begins to unfold and as a new mom, anything that gives even the smallest semblance of making life easier seems purchase worthy. Round one for me did not come with too many options, round two on the other hand, thirteen years later, it’s raining mommy and baby products. From a choice between Phillips Avent and Dr Browns to needing a baby bottle buying guide to help our decision .

For me, trying new products, services and discovering innovative gadgets is intriguing. The question I continuously ask myself is ” Do I need all these new stuff?” and usually the answer is “NO.” Honestly, if you can’t find more than one process an item will help, do not buy it. If you do, you will easily end up with tons of ottomon, baskets and storage boxes filled with useless stuff.

Been there, done that… So here are a few of my favorite things

Disclosure : This post contains affiliate links and these are my reviews of the items and brands that I used.

The Robe was ultimately my most used item of clothing over the past eighteen months. How I calculated 18 months is what you may be asking? Well, baby boy is currently 15 months and from my final trimester to now (3 + 15) , this awesome lightweight cotton robe has been my fabric first choice. Many days, especially in the final wobble stage, clingy clothes were a NO, so I would shower and wear my robe unless I were leaving the house. This robe also made it into my hospital bag essentials as it was what I wore when I got out of that hospital gown the day after delivering my prince. Also, as a new breastfeeding mommy , there will be those times when baby awakes screaming for dinner while you’re in the shower, and the warm water and steam causes your milk to start dripping. That robe will save your life as you scurry out of the shower to your baby’s rescue and to ensure that valuable boobie juice doesn’t go to waste.

Another one of our specialties as moms happens to be multi tasking and this ability is put to the test when baby begins eating solids. Let’s face it, the only time you’re absolutely sure of what you are consuming is when you prepare it yourself and as convenient as those baby food pouches are, they’re also pretty expensive. To be 100% sure of what you’re putting in your child’s body, you are now faced with the task of preparing separate meals for baby as he/she cannot eat what the rest of the family is eating just yet. The QOOC baby food maker made life really simple for me. I chose one day each week (usually Sunday) where I cut up baby food combinations, evenly distributed them in zip-lock bags and refrigerated them. Everyday all that was required was to toss the contents of the zip-lock into the blender and allow it to steam and blend for a healthy fresh meal for baby.

As a cost cutting measure, I used the combinations from the food pouches and made baby food for the week. The Infantino Squeeze Station was actually one of my favorite gifts. It’s super convenient, speeds up the process for packing and the pouches are much easier to store than bowls in your refrigerator. This item is very durable, can also be reused and passed on for a very long time.

Then there is my all time favorite, aesthetically pleasing and convenient Baby Brezza Bottle Sterilizer . Initially, I simply loved how this item flowed with the aesthetics of my kitchen. Then I noticed all the other awesome time saving attributes, such as its ability to automatically sterilize and dry bottles, the 4 in 1 separate functionality and the storage capacity. When my son turned 1, I stopped sterilizing as often as I usually did, so I would wash and use the dryer setting only.

These items are also great gift ideas for moms to be and can be added to your baby registry as I did. Check them out and thanks for reading !!!

XO

First things first… PRAY

If I were given a dollar with every piece of advice I received while pregnant, I would be a millionaire. If I were given a dollar for every piece of pregnancy advice I received that did not apply to me , I would also be a millionaire.

There are so many pregnancy, delivery and parenting stories and honestly, I refrained from exposing myself to too many of them as some of them can totally mess with your mind. Seriously, I believe in transparency, but some stories should not be told to a person while pregnant… So, to start, Pray…

Pray that God will send the right persons your way, to encourage you through this journey, to sow positive seed.

Pray that God will direct you to what’s right for you and your baby, because the barrage of opinions and information can be confusing and overwhelming.

Pray for discernment, to know what to accept and what to reject, because you’ll need alot of it during this journey of becoming a parent.

I’m about to share with you some of my favorite things. The items that helped me out to start my journey. Hope there’s something valuable to you too…

• The Pregnancy App – Yes, millennial moms use apps and there are many available, however I chose Ovia. I loved that it was very accurate and user friendly, packed with relevant information on each stage of pregnancy for mommy and baby.
• Nausea kit – Some women are blessed with a nausea free first trimester. I was not one of them and needed a few essentials to ease my discomfort. My diet for the first twelve to fourteen weeks of pregnancy consisted of Crispy toasted bread, ginger tea and ginger ale, pommegranate and Tums. These items resided in my handbag and everywhere I went until we successfully passed this phase.
• Wardrobe essentials – As soon as you get over the nausea stage, your belly starts growing and finding flattering fashion for your body changes can be a chore. For me, maternity leggings and jeggings were a must. Shirt dresses and jersey dresses were life savers, cute flats , lipgloss and sunglasses. Wireless maternity bras are also a comfy choice, I still wear them one year later. A robe ( we’ll get into the many reasons you need a robe, pre and post pregnancy in another post).

Minimal is key to surviving this journey. The changes come fast and furious and chaos is inevitable, so to simplify the process, make a list of what suits you and stick to it.

More to come.

Thank you for reading!

XO / Novelmom

The stages of pregnancy for most mommys-to-be are :

First discovering you’re pregnant, excitement, anxiety and mixed feelings pervade your thoughts.

Followed by that stage of disbelief and actually processing that you’re pregnant , which flows right into the “I don’t feel very much like myself stage.” Food aversions, tiredness, dizzy spells and morning sickness to name a few.

This is followed by “I’m finally starting to feel like myself again.” “Oh hey, my tiny little human is growing so I can’t find clothes that fit.” Your newly regained energy is now spent planning ways to dress the bump.

Then there’s nesting, you start seeing everything in the house that needs to go before baby arrives.

Then you realize that 5 months have gone and there’s 4 more to go. Anxiety steps in as the baby industry is booming and the information age has bombarded us with all these new options, baby brands and trends so you go back and forth about which brand of products you should use, to what baby furniture is necessary.

When you’ve finally settled on all these things (which is not guaranteed to happen before baby arrives) and you finally complete your baby registry, you start thinking about the labour process and the rest of your time is spent praying for minimal pain and a healthy and smooth delivery experience.

Time is now upon you and you’ve totally forgotten that YOU need to deliver this tiny human and you’ll need some essentials to do it. What Next ?

Join me along this journey as I curate content for moms and moms-to-be , sharing real stories , mom life hacks and ways to co ordinate the chaos that is mom life with lots of love …

XO

Deneille / Novel Mom

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton