My dear friend Kristin (she of the recent baby shower) recently asked for my thoughts on our five must-have baby registry items, as well as five items we wish we hadn’t registered for. I’ve written several posts about our baby favorites (six weeks, five months, eight months, one year, fifteen months), but it was a fun challenge to narrow things down to the absolute essentials! Since Kristin is having twins, I’m sure it feels like extra pressure to choose the right things (times two!), so I was happy to offer a few opinions. Here they are, and I’d love to hear what you think, too!

Five must-have baby registry items:

1. An Ergo. From her fifth day of life to about a year old, June rode in our Ergo 360 several times a week, if not every day. It was our baby wearing apparatus of choice by far – comfortable for both John and I to wear and satisfactory to June. She even rode in it at several photo shoots!

2. A Rock and Play. The Rock and Play has been called baby crack, and I don’t disagree. June slept in this for almost all naps and overnight from birth to about five months, and I credit it with forming solid sleep skills from the start. I was worried that the slight incline and vibration would spoil her for crib sleeping, but when it was time to transition, she did so with nary a peep.

3. Water Wipes. My sisters-in-law recommended these super gentle wipes as being perfect for the first few weeks, but we’ve been using them for 17+ months and are still going strong! I love that they are literally just water and some fruit extracts, and they never pill or tear.

4. Swaddle Me swaddles. After we stopped swaddling June in the hospital blankets, we moved on to the Swaddle Me. I’m not convinced it’s the best option out there, but it’s the best one we found and I’d definitely recommend them! We did have to buy a new one each month because the velcro wore out and she was able to bust free, but they’re priced reasonably enough and work well enough that we were willing to do it.

5. The Ikea high chair. To me, this high chair is pretty much the apex of form, function, and price. It is sleek, not overwhelming in a space, super easy to clean, and $20 (!!!!!). Winner on all fronts. There are lots of cute stores on Etsy (like this one) that sell cushion covers and tray place mats if you want to jazz it up a little, too.

Honorable mentions: Our stroller (we LOVE it, but I think strollers really need to fit your lifestyle and so I wouldn’t necessarily recommend ours to everyone), the Lotus travel crib and bassinet conversion kit (again, LOVE it, but maybe only worth the investment if you travel a lot!), and these cloths (love them, but, well, they’re just cloths :))

Five items we wish we hadn’t registered for:

1. Cold weather gear. We registered for (and received) a fleece bundler, several hats, several mittens, and a fleece car seat cover. We live in North Carolina, for goodness sake! While we did use the hats and mittens, we never needed the bundler or car seat cover even though June was born in the winter. I think they were purchased because they were so darn cute, but I kind of wish I’d prioritized registering for items that we would have used more often.

2. Wubba nub. June never seemed to need a pacifier, so the cute Wubba Nub we registered for and received is still in its packaging. I know tons of folks love these guys, but we clearly could have waited to see if it was necessary instead of registering for one.

3. A kind-of-ugly activity gym. We got this one, which is fine and June liked it, but there are much prettier ones out there! If I had a do-over, I’d definitely go for this Land of Nod one.

4. Velvet hangers. We fold almost all of June’s clothes, so we very rarely use hangers — and when we do, I prefer plastic or wooden, because everything gets stuck on the velvet ones (which I know is the point, but turns out it’s annoying in practice!). Lesson learned: try to decide how you’ll set up the nursery before you register.

5. Diaper pail. When we didn’t receive the pail we’d registered for, we decided to forgo one altogether. All diapers go in our kitchen step trash can, which has worked perfectly for us!

Kristin and I would love to hear your baby must-haves, if you’re a mama!

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One reason I love to write these monthly goal posts is because they are the best to look back on! (Much like blogging in general, actually!) I love marking where I was at a certain point in time, and being able to see how much has – or has not – changed. With a few years of monthly goals under my belt, I can now even look back to see how a particular month has changed over time. So neat!

I feel good right now. I feel good about June. It’s my last extra-busy month at work before a string of really fun personal travel in July, August, and September, so it feels a bit like there’s light at the end of the tunnel. I’m ready to dig in and get some things done! (Like our loft – ahem.)

What I read in May:
— The Little Way of Ruthie Leming (His writing was not my favorite, but I found the story very engaging.)
— Grace, Not Perfection (I breezed through this in a day and a half after hearing so many good things. I don’t think it’s the message I need most right now (I probably err on the side of giving myself too much grace, haha!), but if you love Emily, you will love this book!)
— Books I’m reading throughout the year: The Power of a Praying Wife and The Lifegiving Home

Revisiting my goals for May:
Add to my gratitude list every day this month (I batted about 50% on this, and it made a difference!)
Go camping with the Rays (postponed to June!)
Take the first step in a birthday project I am working on for John
Try a new workout video at least three times (didn’t get to this, but see below!)
Purposefully plan for Memorial Day, since we’ll be staying local (it was very low-key, but fun!)
Try Bill Hybels’ prayer journaling practice from Too Busy Not to Pray
Finish a complete organization sweep and purge of our loft (not finished, but progress was made)
Print our summer fun list and post it on the fridge
Buy new patio furniture for our backyard
String up lights in our backyard

June goals:
— Try Heather’s 15-minute Mom + Baby workout at least four times (thanks to Victoria for the recommendation!)
— Go camping with the Rays!
— Finish a complete organization sweep and purge of our loft
— Film June in June, Volume Two
— Clear out my backlog of gifts and cards to send (Between graduations, weddings, and showers, May had me underwater!)

Keeping it simple this month so that we can focus on our summer fun list! As a reminder, here are my 2017 guideposts. If you’ve posted your goals somewhere, I’d love to see – or just drop them in the comments!