Our Favorite Things: Baby Registry

I've been meaning to post some of our favorite things through Cruz's different stages for quite some time now. If not for my own recollection when we have baby #2, also for some of our friends who are becoming new mamas soon. Hope these are useful!

Baby Registry Faves.

• Fisher Price Papasan - we used this from the first day we brought little man home and basically daily until just before he turned one. Being able to prop him up and safely strap him in to the vibrations and music - it really was one of the items we used most often, sometimes even opting to allow him to sleep overnight in it when he was really congested. And for us with having such a sick baby early on, it was great to give him his breathing treatments from and use during steam sessions in the bathroom. I didn't love the colors necessarily (as you can see they didn't really match the color palette), but the thing worked so we that I didn't really mind.
• Bordeaux's Butt Paste - this is by far the best diaper rash cream that we have found. At first we started off with using baby Vaseline, but quickly realized it didn't do the trick like this stuff does.  And, hello, it's called Butt Paste. How cute is that?
• The First Year's Bottle Drying Rack - nothing fancy about this guy, but it has worked the best for us. I purchased the Boon Grass at first because I love their products and it's so darn cute, but I personally didn't like it and ended up returning it. TFY's drying rack has worked well and i love that it has two levels, is pretty compact and you can't complain about the basic white color.
• Chicco Keyfit 30 Car Seat - this is a purchase that I did TONS of research on - between online and other mamas - and time after time I read and heard that this is one of, if not the, best. The base was a bit tough to figure out at first, but after we decided to get one for each vehicle they pretty much remained there so we didn't have to worry. Other than that, the seat itself was easy to maneuver and it was simple getting him in and out of it. And weight-wise it was one of the lightest and even my weak self could transport him distances without getting tired.
• Hospital Aspirator - I wish I had a website to list here where you can purchase these (and if you do, hook a sista up), but the aspirator we received from hospital was far and above better than any others we tried. (Remember to keep yours!) But wash that bad boy out periodically, cuz it will start to stink if you don't.
• Chicco Playard - we love this pack n' play and pre-baby decided to save a few bucks and use it as the bassinet in our room for the first couple months. We have no regrets. Since, we've used it when traveling and its super easy to set up and little man sleeps perfectly in it. The only complaint? If you haven't used it in a while, it can be tough to close back up when you are packing it away, but that could be user error.
• Boon Flair High Chair - by far one of our top and favorite purchases! We didn't have a high chair on the registry to start out, because I was stuck on this one but the hubs wasn't sold that we needed to spend the money. After bringing home a Chicco seat that was supposed to be easy to clean up (a must!) and easy to store, we immediately packed it back up and brought it back to Babies R' Us and I quickly ordered the Boon. This chair is phenomenal. It is SO easy to clean and if you have witnessed a kid eat a meal, you are bound to have a huge mess on your hands after. And remember there are three meals a day, so ease to clean is a must! This guy is plastic and easily comes apart for cleaning. It adjust to different heights and moves easily around the kitchen. I would give this my best rating.
• Carter's 5-pk Onesies - like diapers, you can never have enough onesies - just hoping you aren't going through onesies as you will diapers because that would be expensive. (Though, I've opted to cut off quite a few in my day because they were nasty.) I've tried all the brands and Carter's are by far my favorite. They wear well after multiple washes and fit well, plus they are made of a thicker material that keeps them in shape. Just make sure you are spot treating them before washing because formula (and other gross stuff) stains and will quickly yellow these guys out.
• Baby Jogger City Select - this is actually my number one, absolute favorite item (and we were lucky enough to receive it as a gift from a really good friend).  This stroller rocks - easy to fold up/store, tons of storage (great for all you shopping-loving mamas like moi), adapts to your car seat (must purchase adapter), fits two kiddos, the seat changes from back facing to front facing easily and lays back in many different levels. Plus, I use it as my running stroller! It's a bit more expensive, but the reason we justified it was that we would be able to use it for kiddo #2 and it covered all of our needs. 
• Offi My Pet Lamp - I loved this lamp as a key piece of our nursery decor, but it also proved to be extremely useful as well! The light is muted enough that it was perfect to provide a bit of light during middle of the night feedings while not being too bright to keep him awake. And its still useful now as the light when we are reading our "before bedtime" books and again in the morning when he just wakes up and needs the morning diaper change. And I still cannot get over how stinkin' cute it is! Plus, they have tons of different animal shapes and colors to choose from. 
• Baby Bjorn - I realize I'm saying I love every item so far, but I suppose that's why they have all made our favorites registry list. The Baby B is no exception. We didn't receive it out of the gate, but looking back this is an essential registry purchase. At first we started with the Moby Wrap - I can see how this would be nice, but it just didn't work for us - I was too scared I wouldn't wrap it just right and the baby would just slip out. No thank you. I was sure to mess up enough on my own, I didn't need a baby wrap to be another way. The Baby Bjorn, however, was amazing! We used this all the time. Around the house doing chores, at the zoo, on walks, at the mall to change it up from stroller time, everywhere! Plus, Nick loved using it as well. I loved being able to use it during different stages - early on when his head/neck control wasn't the best all we had to do was stick him in it facing us and put the neck protector up. When he got big enough to hold his head up, we were able to turn him forward and roll down the neck protector so he could check out the sights.
• Graco No Touch Diaper Pail (no longer available & not pictured) - what a jerk item to talk about on here. Not available? Why even post? The reason I'm posting this is because we loved this diaper pail and for the first full year it worked perfectly. Held a good amount of diapers, didn't smell and was hand-activated. Then, it started smelling when we opened it and when I started looking for replacement vents I found that it was no longer available. Not just the vents, the entire system. Now it sits in our garage, but it still works pretty well. Just get a good diaper pail, it will be one of your most used items and you want to make sure it's good!

I hope you all enjoyed looking through this as I did putting it together and remembering what products we loved the most from our registry. If you are in the process of registering...have fun!