Our Second Baby Checklist

I've already found that preparing for the second baby is so different than preparing for the first! We had extras of everything for Bird, and then some. Toys upon toys before she was even born, a change table that ended up as extra clothes storage, seven different slings and at least 8 pairs of newborn baby shoes -- which although very cute, pretty useless! Now that we're having our second and expanding our family without expanding our home, we're having to decide what is absolutely necessary for numero two (not that it stops me from having way too many adorable baby clothes!) These are my absolute necessities for our new baby, mostly things we used with our first and can't live without, but a couple of new things too! Here we go..

1. A baby carrier. 
Being hands free with just one is already such an important part of our life, I can't imagine not having a sling when number two joins us! In my list is my ever favorite Sakura Bloom linen ring sling, which we already own and love.

2. Diaper bag.
I'm terribly unorganized and throwing a bunch of things into a purse and having to dig through it to find what the toddler wants when she wants it is a nightmare. Having a diaper bag with tons of pockets and a place for everything to go has always been a big wish of mine! I've chosen the Skip Hop Duo Signature Edition diaper bag for number two. Not only is it huge with tons of storage, but it also wipes clean and looks great -- stylish and fun!

3. A toy leash.
After almost two years of mommyhood, I'm well accustomed to the "I'm going to throw my drink/toy/whatever else is in my hands no matter what it is over the side of the stroller/carseat/carrier and delight in the fact you have to fetch it for me" game. So this time around, one of these are a necessity.

4. A sound machine. 
This Graco Sweet Slumber Sound Machine is the cream of the crop. We received one as a gift for Birdy, and not only does it play tons of different ambient noises (including whales, crickets, birds, and womb noises), lullabies, and it has a MP3 hookup. There's a shut off timer, a nightlight, and it can be used with batteries or plugged up. Birdy still uses her noise machine every night so we'll be looking into buying another machine soon and I think out of the ones on the market we'll go with the one we know and love.

5. Moses basket. 
We received our moses basket and stand as a gift before Birdy was born and I'm so glad I kept them. We used it tons when she was little, bringing her to different rooms with us in her basket even when she was sleeping and I imagine with two babes we'll need to do it even more! A moses basket is light and easy to clean. I plan on getting a thicker pad for the bottom of the bassinet this time as it will be colder when our boy joins us, but otherwise I wouldn't change anything about it!

6. A natural bonding doll. 
We got this same PEPPA Bonding Rabbit for Birdy when she was two months old and will pass it down to her brother. It's an all natural toy who's head is filled with sheep's wool, which absorbs scents and makes the doll a comforting reminder of home on trips out of the house. Bird has since moved on to kitties and puppies but Peppa was her favorite toy for many months while she was younger, whether it was for gnawing on or just cuddling. We've put Peppa in baby boy's bassinet and talk about sharing Peppa with him when he arrives.

7. Receiving blankets.
Lots and lots of them. And then more on top of that. We probably had 10 to 15 receiving blankets when Birdy was little and I remember running out of them frequently, so this time we're having extra.. lots of extras.. on hand.

8. Snuggle the Baby book.
Okay, so this is more so for the resident toddler, but the Snuggle the Baby book is perfect for siblings-to-be. The book is a sort of "how to" guide when it comes to babies and lets you feed, snuggle, tickle, rock and change the baby on different interactive pages. This book is great even for those toddlers not expecting a new addition to the family, as it teaches empathy and how to care for other children's needs!


I'm probably forgetting a few things we "can't live without" but this is our main list for our upcoming arrival! Is anyone else expecting number two right now? If so what's some of your must haves? And what about the experienced mamas out there?? What did you purchase for baby number two that you couldn't have lived without?

Our Journey into Essential Oils

Or more appropriately named, our field trip into essential oils!

If you're anything like me, you've heard your mom, your neighbor and your neighbor's four year old all talk about essential oils. How good they smell, how amazing they are for absolutely everything, and how they'll pretty much change your life. It all sounded good enough, but I'm one of those "I'll look into it more when I have time", and then when that minute of time comes up I usually spend it either hiding in the bathroom eating cake or sleeping. Priorities, am I right? As time went on, more and more people were talking about it, until friends were hosting classes on oils and setting up playdates to teach other mamas what EO are all about. 'I should really get in on that,' I thought while shoveling cake into my mouth in the sanctuary of my locked bathroom. But when DoTerra representative Barbara contacted me telling me she wanted to send me some essential oil samples, I knew it was time to do my research! We live a very healthy and natural lifestyle (besides said cake) and Barbara assured me that EO's would get me on an even healthier path. I excitedly started looking into how to use essential oils.

.. And can I just say here that you can use them for pretty much anything?! Barbara sent me an amazing list before her package arrived, 101 uses for DoTerra essential oils, and it kind of blew me away. I knew EOs were great for cleaning and had some healing properties but I didn't know much beyond that. Some of the uses that immediately caught my eyes were lemon oil to naturally remove gum from hair, as an energy booster and as a non-toxic furniture polish, lavender to help calm allergies and as a natural stress reliever, and peppermint as a natural way to relieve an upset stomach and a way to repel spiders. If you can relate as a mom, woman, or anyone who has a ridiculous fear of spiders, then like me you probably just said "yep I need all of that."

I was so stoked when our essential oils got here and they couldn't have arrived at a better time. Our entire household was sick and not sleeping well -- I couldn't even lay down without coughing! We immediately put the oils to use. We all got a bit of lavender on our pillows, and I applied peppermint oil directly to dad's chest. The next morning when we woke up, we'd not only slept well but felt like we could function! Even better, Emmy slept through the night without a peep (okay scratch that, we did hear her say "choo choo" in her sleep just once). It took us a few days but with the help of our new essential oils we were able to stay comfortable as we fought off our sickness without antibiotics or cold medicine, which has always been important to me but even more so now that I'm a mother.

Since then I'm pretty much a firm believer and have been using our oils in everything around the house. We've been making our own cleaning products for a few months and a few drops of lemon or lavender EO actually make cleaning enjoyable! One of my favorite things is being able to have an amazing smelling house without upsetting dad's allergies and the EOs do that for us and then some -- our neighbors popped by the other day with cookies and immediately asked us what kind of candle we were using. They were so surprised to find out that it was just a drop of peppermint oil when I had mopped the floors earlier! Being the mom of a toddler there's always those eternal messes you can never seem to get rid of, and although I'm seemingly always cleaning up it makes me proud that my home smells welcoming and lovely.

I still have a few uses left of our essential oils and I'm torn for what to use them for while my next order is on it's way to me in the mail! I'd love to know what you use EO's for during your and your little's days or if you have any magical ways to use these babies that I missed out on. Leave a comment and let me know, and don't forget to check out the awesome Barbara Ward's doTerra page at http://www.mydoterra.com/barbaraward1/. Thank you for the EO's Barbara, this obsession couldn't have been started without you! 

Sakura Bloom 'Classic' Ring Sling Review

It's always pretty exciting when a brand you love and trust comes out with something new (or new-ish by now, since I did originally start this post less than weeks after they came out!). As beautiful as the new Fall color releases from Sakura Bloom are, I was even more excited when the announced that they were changing from Irish linen to a stronger Belgian linen that was supposed to be even more supportive than their former slings. I absolutely love my single layer Pure slings from Sakura Bloom so I wanted to see what these new Classic slings were all about. Being pregnant with a growing toddler, my Pure sling just hasn't been cutting it for long time use lately and although a silk sling was on the way, we babywear so much in our daily lives that even a few days without some proper support was a pain (mostly in the back, but some in the hips too!). So I was super excited to get my hands on a Classic sling for a few days while my silk made it's way here to us. 

Coming Soon!

We have some exciting things around the corner -- some beautiful Honest Motherhood stories shared by some amazing mothers that will inspire you, some new Kingston Babywearing Project posts, a thrifting guide, our silk and luxe Sakura Bloom reviews, as well as some news that's going to blow your mind!

Thank you for reading, and stay tuned!

Sakura Bloom Linen Ring Sling Review: An Update!

It's been over ten months since our Sakura Bloom purchase, and Emmy has grown just a liiiittle bit (like, you know, 15 pounds) since then! I figured it may be about time to update my review on our ring sling. While my first Sakura Bloom review is still completely true, it was written just days after our first purchase. Now that we've moved into toddlerwearing, I feel like I have so much more experience about what works and what doesn't, especially if you're looking for a carrier that you'll continue reaching for time and time again. 

(Pssst! Did you know that Sakura Bloom has changed the kind of fabric they use now?? Check out my review on their new Classic slings here!)

Sakura Bloom Linen Ring Sling Review

Baby wearing selfies are not easy. Keep reading for my review on our new Sakura Bloom ring sling!