Being a mother is a bit of an odd thing sometimes. It seems like motherhood and raising a child is a constant rollercoaster and one minute you’ll feel like you’re in your groove and totally killin’ the mom game and the next minute you feel like you’re failing at everything and not doing one thing well. It’s a rollercoaster I’ve been riding for a little more than two-and-a-half years now and one I absolutely adore more than anything in the world.
And now my motherhood journey is about to get even more intense when we welcome our newest addition this summer. I am so beyond ready for another baby and every part of my heart is ready to snuggle a newborn and add another family member to the Fagan crew, but I also know things are about to change… BIG TIME.
Chase will be almost three when we have our second child and right now we’re admittedly in a bit of a sweet spot. Of course there are challenges that arise with a toddler every day, but right now they don’t really seem to compare to waking up every two hours to nurse, functioning on as little sleep as possible, navigating unpredictable naps and trying to figure out what a baby who cannot communicate beyond cries and smiles wants from you at 3 a.m.
The other day, as I was tackling yet another mini cleaning project, I stumbled upon the breastfeeding log I kept when Chase was a newborn and Ryan and I laughed out loud together when I began reading the feeding times I tracked during the first two months of his life. 1:15 a.m., 3 a.m., 5:10 a.m. and so on… Somehow we blacked a lot of that out of our minds but this little discovery served as a mini reality check and reiterated in my mind just how much things are about to change in the next two months. Couple that with juggling a three-year-old and a newborn and it’s hard not to feel a little nervous about the transition even through all of the joy and excitement.
As Ryan and I began to talk about what our lives will look like beginning in June, we started to think about a mini bucket list of things we want to do before our baby arrives. Many of them are fun things but some of them are household to-dos and I’m grateful to be partnering with American Express today to share a little bit abut their new Amex EveryDay Credit Card and how we’re planning to use our new card to check some of these items off our list!
Ryan and I recently became Amex EveryDay Credit Card Members and, if I’m being completely honest, I’m an extremely cautious person when it comes to finances, so I researched the heck out of this Card when the company approached me. I did the same thing the last time Ryan and I signed up for a new credit card, and it’s not something I commit to lightly… But the more and more I read about the Card, the more excited about it I became and the more the Card seemed like a good fit and a good decision for our family for a myriad of reasons:
- There is no annual fee**
- A 0% intro APR** on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months, then a variable rate of 14.49-25.49%
- A $0 balance transfer fee** on transfers made within the first 60 days of account opening
- A welcome bonus of 10,000 Membership Rewards points* after you make $1,000 in purchases on the Card in your first 3 months (Heck yes!)
- Card Members who use their card 20+ times in a billing period receive 20% more points* on those purchases (less returns and credits)
- Card Members receive 2x points at US supermarkets* on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then it drops to 1x) and receive 1x points on other purchases*
(*Read about the offer and benefit terms / **Note that rates and fees may apply)
Also, this is kind of random, but do any of my fellow Friends fans out there remember the lottery episode where the cast is talking about what they’d do if they won the lottery? Joey says something like “I’d buy the Knicks” while Ross says, “If I win I’m gonna put it all into a very low-yield bond.” I laughed out loud because I’m the wet blanket who totally agreed with Ross. Ha! Well, I’m also the person who is continually jealous of the membership rewards points people receive that allow them to travel for free and do other awesome things simply because they used their credit cards.
The main card Ryan and I have been using for years accumulates monetary rewards which are absolutely wonderful but we typically transfer them to savings (again, wonderful!) but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love the idea of another card with real membership rewards that would actually encourage us to have a little more fun with our rewards here and there and help us pay for flights to see friends and family (especially now that we need THREE tickets).
And that brings me to our Before Baby Number Two Bucket List!
Before Baby Number Two Bucket List
Here’s a little glimpse at a few of the things we’re hoping to check off our list before our little one arrives in June:
- Plan a getaway for just me and Ryan – We’re checking this one off our list RIGHT NOW with a couple of days away in South Carolina
- Replace the roof on our house – Ugh… Not looking forward to this one but it’s necessary and I want to get it done before our baby arrives
- Plan a mini-vacation for our whole family – Whether it be a visit to see our families in Florida or a trip to Atlanta to take Chase to the Georgia Aquarium, we want to get away with Chase before he is no longer an only child
- Potty train Chase – A priority because the summer camps at our preschool require it and I’d love for him to be able to participate
- Figure out Chase and the new baby’s bedrooms – I have ZERO thoughts about what we’re going to do when it comes to bedrooms for our baby and Chase and it’s clearly something we need to figure out
- Stock up on new baby necessities – I feel so clueless about what we might need now that we’ll have two kids… a second stroller? A double monitor? Help!
- Plan a few more date nights – We’re in a good spot with leaving Chase with a babysitter but I know myself and, without family in the area, I’m a little more nervous about leaving a tiny baby with a babysitter so I want to plan some fun date nights in the coming months
- Go on a few weekend day trips with Chase – Some spots on our radar: Tweetsie Railroad, the North Carolina Zoo, nearby state parks
I’ll be sure to share more with you guys as we chip away at our Before Baby Number Two Bucket List and will link back to this post in the future as I’ll be continually updating it with more information about our Amex EveryDay Credit Card experience!
May 2018 UPDATE:
Now that we are several months into our experience as Amex EveryDay Card Members, two of the most beneficial rewards for our family have proven to be earning 2x points as US supermarkets, up to $6,000 a year*, and receiving 20% more points on our purchases once we’ve hit 20 purchases with our Amex Everyday Card in a single month*.
Since our Amex EveryDay Card quickly took over as our primary credit card, hitting 20 purchases a month wasn’t too challenging, and as someone who does a lot of grocery shopping, I love knowing that I’m accumulating double the rewards points for our family every time I shop at a US supermarket.
In addition to the exciting welcome offers mentioned below, here are a couple benefits Card Members can enjoy:
- 1x points for every eligible dollar you spend*
- You can get double Membership Rewards® points on every dollar of eligible travel purchases—such as prepaid hotel stays, vacation packages and cruises—when you use your Card to book your trip through AmexTravel.com*
June 2018 UPDATE:
Our baby is due in less than a month! Time is flyin’! We’re making a pretty decent dent in our “Before Baby Number Two” checklist and have made great headway on potty training, enjoying a few dates nights, and we took Chase to the zoo for an awesome day-trip adventure!
The item on our to-do list that we were most dreading was replacing the roof on our house which, incidentally, led us to fixing some wood rot issues around the windows of our house as well. And you know home repairs don’t come cheap! Ooph. Thankfully using our Amex EveryDay Card has allowed us to earn some major points on these big-time expenses, which definitely helps soften the blow a bit.
Though we’re hoping to use points toward travel when we’re past pregnancy/newborn days and in a more travel-friendly time on our life, right now, we’re using points toward new baby necessities, which is a wonderful benefit for our family! (You guys know I’m borderline addicted to Amazon Prime, and I love that my Membership Rewards points can be used toward Amazon purchases with no added fees.) Oh, and you better believe we’re still loving the 20% bonus points we accumulate on our Card once we hit 20 purchases in a single billing period*. Can’t beat that!
Questions of the Day
What are some must-have items we need now that we’ll have two kids in our family?
What are some of the most memorable things you’ve received or experienced thanks to past membership rewards points from your credit cards?
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where is that bed from?! I love it! and the comforter!
congrats on the future new addition!!
thank you!! the bed was actually my grandmother’s. 🙂 and i bought the comforter off ruelala.com a few years ago!
I have a two and a half year old and 6 month old. Other than the basics, we bought a double jogging stroller (the BOB is wonderful), crib, and a monitor. That’s about it because we reused all of the stuff we already had. We use the stroller ever everyday for walks/runs. We only used the monitors for the first five months when Baby was sleeping with us and we would put her down for bed before we went to sleep. For that reason, we bought a cheaper one. For the last few weeks, my girls have been sleeping in the same room and we use our better monitor which rotates so we can see both of them. Enjoy your baby moon!
Yes! I feel like there’s not really THAT much stuff we need for baby #2 which is why we basically have nothing yet! Do you feel like the double BOB is too wide? I’ve heard awesome things about it but I’m a little torn on a double like the BOB or one with one kid in front of the other.
Are you into baby wearing?? You could always baby wear temporarily and decide on the double stroller at a later date? Excited for you!
The double Bob fits through standard doors at stores, restaurants, museums, etc. we love ours and use it multiple times a day. We still use our single as well, so don’t get rid of that!
We have a double City Mini side by side. I tested out both front/back and side by side and decided that side by side was the only way to go for us! My boys are 3.5 and 6 and we still use the stroller when we go on vacation (especially at Disney!) I liked side by side for a few reasons.
1. Way easier to maneuver one handed in my opinion. The weight with front/back is tough and turning was no joke.
2. Both sides lay completely completely flat…still use this for napping on trips.
3. Both boys can jump in and out on their own and no one is in the way, they can both see where we are going or stopped to look at.
Good luck! 🙂
I absolutely LOVED my city select double stroller! Get the glider too! Chase would love to ride on the back of that eventually:)
Question about the glider! Do you think a 18 month old is too small to use the glider?
I think it would be fine. It really just depends on how confident they are.
The only credit card I have with points is a card I got to help boost my credit. It’s not the best one available, but it’s kind of fun to see the cash back build. In a few months I’d like to get one with better points available because, like you, I’m jealous of people who can use points for trips, too.
My kids are 2.5 years apart and in middle school now. I don’t remember the brand and it’s probably all different now, but one item we used a lot was a double stroller that had part up front for the baby and in back was a place the toddler could stand (and maybe even sit?). Even though my oldest was old enough to walk, lots of times she wanted to ride and having a stroller that could accommodate a baby and a toddler was a life saver.
My kiddos are 3.5 and 1.5 now (approximately 22 months apart), and we have used this stroller so much since my 2nd was born. It is bulky and heavy to lift at times, but it is so necessary! It has two seats and they can go either direction, but you can also take one seat out and there is another built in seat with a seatbelt so my oldest can get out more easily to walk around. She can stand too on a platform. This works out great for things like the zoo or Disneyland when the older one can get on and off easily.
http://www.gracobaby.com/en-US/modes%3Csup%3E-trade%3B%3C-sup%3E-duo-stroller
Two kids sometimes means double the stuff, but not always. We definitively invested in a brand new BOB Revolution FLEX Duallie Jogging Stroller, which is fantastic for indoor and outdoor excursions. Still handy even as the kids get older (2 and 4.5). We already had a dual camera monitor, so we just moved one camera in with new baby and other camera with our older daughter. With the scan feature, we can keep an eye on both. If you don’t have a dual camera, get another one. We will be using it for years to come. We didn’t double anything else because our daughter was moving into a big girl bed, into a booster seat, etc so we had the highchair and crib for the baby. The stroller was the one mega necessity — we take walks and hikes almost daily so we needed durability and quality. So excited for you and your family.
Thank you for sharing this! The BOB seems like a great way to go! Do you feel like it was a pain to load/unload from your car because of its size? It just seems SO big but I’m not sure if this is because we’re so used to a single stroller at this point.
My kids are 2.5 and 8 months and we went with the BOB duallie flex as well. I use it for running and outdoor excursions and it’s AWESOME (so smooth), but i personally find it too cumbersome to load up in the car (and we have a suburu). That said, when we’re doing indoor stuff, I typically wear the littlest and have our umbrella stroller for the toddler (since it’s lightweight and he usually wants to walk some and ride some).
The BOB is BIG, yes. But worth it. I have yet to find a petite double stroller, especially one as durable. All that weight needs quality structure and support, especially for my big babies. 🙂 It does fold nicely but it is big. I’ve seen the doubles with one child in front of the other, but for jogging/hiking/walking, this one fit the bill. Happy to help!
I got a city select which is a front and back double that can be used as a double or a single depending on who I have with me. I liked this option in case I only have one of the kids with me for whatever reason I can just pop on one seat and not two. I can’t imagine taking a double bob into a mall or store as it would never fit through the doorways and rows. If you are looking for a double that is side by side that will fit through doorways they have the mountain buggy and the zoe double stroller which will both fit inside doorways but have the kids side by side.
I have the BOB and it is huge. It’s great for running and we use it as our main stroller for whatever but it’s definitely tough to get through doorways and crowded areas for just general use. But it’s a super smooth ride and has plenty of storage. My kids are 3.5 and almost 2. It is heavy but I’m 32 weeks pregnant and can still load/unload it from the car by myself. We have another double that is one in front of the other vs. side by side that we got used and has the standing platform. I’m hoping to use that with my older son when the new baby arrives! We just got another camera for our monitor and it flips between them on a ten second loop and that works well. Other than that I’ve only gotten little things – new bottle nipples, pacifiers, nipple pads, things like that.
My kids are almost 3 and 7 months and we just pulled the trigger on the double stroller (didn’t really need one before bc of IL winter’s). For our son we had the uppababy Vista which we still own and live, it just wasn’t going to work for us as a double since my son is so big for his age. We got the Bob duallie and we love it. I thought it was going to be super wide, but we can fit in doorways just fine. I think the salesperson said it’s the same width as a wheelchair. As long as you can get an adapter for your infant car seat, I think it would work well for your family!!
I research financial stuff like that as well, it’s important stuff. When my second was really small I loved having her in a wrap or carrier so she was close to me and I had my hands free to play with her brother. As she got bigger we used a double stroller a lot. There are lots of cute books about becoming a big brother too, if you are interested in those for Chase.
Right there with you!! For awhile I was so ready to buy the double BOB (I have the single) but….my daughter will still be going to daycare regularly, do I don’t know how often I’d run with both kids….so I may just get something cheaper for when we go on trips (zoo, etc.)
I just got a dual camera monitor (the Levana Willow) and just from turning it on once, and looking at the screen, I love it! I knew I needed a monitor with the split screen feature and it’s so hard picking one because reviews are all over the place with every monitor! I hope I like this one. I have a Summer Infant one currently.
That’s about all so far…since we found out (without wanting to!) that we are having another girl, and they are born about the same time of year, August and now June, we should have all the clothes etc. we need! 🙂
Good luck with the potty training// We’ve been working on it for awhile now. Unfortunately, I am not able to take a week off from work and just “get it done” but my daughter does use her potty quite well (as long as she isn’t wearing any bottoms. we still haven’t had much success with underwear lol)
Hi Julie! Congratulations! We just welcomed our second child 2.5 months ago, and our two are about the same ages as your little ones (almost 3 and 2.5 months). The biggest thing I needed for the second child was more places to sit the baby down (ie – bouncers and chairs). If you have multiple levels in your house it is so much easier to put a bouncer on each level so you can help the toddler out and keep and eye on baby. Also, we potty trained our older child before the second arrived and I was SO thankful we did. There is always a bit of a regression with major changes, so it was helpful to have a little bit of time under our belts prior to baby’s arrival. Good Luck!
Is your stay on this little vacation being comped?
I’m sure it’s comped.
Julie only stays in nice hotels when the vacations are comped. Wonder if its comped by amex or the hotel itself. I guess we will find out soon
Hi Kim! We’re very grateful that our hotel on Kiawah Island offered us a complimentary room but we are paying for everything else (activities, food, etc.) on our own and will be using our Amex EveryDay card. Truthfully, it’s the primary card I’ve been using every day anyway since we became card holders at the beginning of the year.
My kids are 20 months apart and we use our double stroller every day when it’s nice out! We mostly go for walks, so I didn’t need a jogging stroller, but also wanted something I could use outside AND for shopping! We have the City Select GT! I like side by side double strollers because I want both kids to be able to see. The stroller fits through all standard door frames, so we take it with us shopping (even though the older one walks most of the time, it’s still nice to have when she’s tired of walking), lifetime warranty on the tires and an overall great stroller! If you end up going with a jogging stroller, but want something smaller and lightweight for traveling and shopping, summer infant has a great double stroller! We also just have one monitor but two cameras. Aside from those two things and babywearing, we didn’t really ‘need’ anything else! We did get another rock n play, but that was for convenience purposes only since we split our time upstairs and downstairs and I’m too lazy to move it a hundred times a day!
i think you mean you have the city mini double GT (not the city select). I have that same stroller and it’s awesome!
Instead of a second stroller, I love the buggy board. It’s great for tired little legs and takes way less room!
I have a very active 2.5 year old boy and a 2 month old baby boy. I have found that my older guy no longer wants to ride in the stroller. Instead he wants to walk and explore or hold my husband’s hand. We didn’t buy the double stroller and instead got the attachment that clips on to the back of the stroller that my toddler can ride on (much more cost effective). I am not sure what type of monitor you have but our monitor has the capability to show 4 cameras at once so my husband and I just bought an additional camera for my toddlers room. Also, we moved my toddler out of the nursery a few months before the baby came. We included him in the decorating process. He picked out his sheets (he sleeps in a twin bed with a safety rail) and we had his favorite books and toys moved to hid big boy room so the transition was pretty easy. I’m still working on potty training 🙂 The biggest challenge that I am finding is keeping a toddler busy while breastfeeding!
We just had our second and bit the bullet and got a double running stroller. Even though our 2 1/2 year old insists on walking everywhere, she never makes it through an entire outing without needing to sit down at least once….usually to snack!
The monitor we had for her had the capability to link multiple cameras to one handset. We had 2 cameras as we had bought an extra one for travel. However, we quickly realized that until the baby is older and sleeping through the night, we really needed them on separate monitors. The screen flipped between the kids every 5 seconds or so, but with the baby, I wanted to be able to hear her all the time. Also, it was hard in my sleep deprived state to remember to switch from scanning between the 2 to putting it just on our 2 1/2 year old when I went in to feed the baby. Instead, we have them on separate monitors, the 2 1/2 year olds stays on my husband’s nightstand and the newborn on mine.
You HAVE to take Chase to Tweetsie Railroad! That is a favorite childhood memory of mine!
Hope you’re enjoying your trip 🙂 And congratulations again!
I love my Amex..my husband and I both have one and love getting all the points at the end of the year!
Our favorite reward credit card is our chase sapphire. It came with a very large mile sign on bonus and we saved miles so that my husband, teen daughter and I were able to fly from Chicago to Rome and then travel to Venice and Paris and fly home from Paris on miles last June. Best reward ever – saved us thousands of dollars on airfare. Our flight to Rome was nonstop and 30,000 miles each and our flight home from Paris had one quick stop and was 30,000 miles each. To get seats on flights to Europe for just 30,000 miles each way you do have to book very early. We booked our flights 9 months prior to our trip and had fun with all the planning leading up to our 13 day adventure.
I love my Chase Sapphire card and also got a Capital One Venture card for travel points before heading to Australia. It helped me build miles while I was traveling so that my flight home was covered by points.
This is a great idea! And this credit card sounds awesome. My husband and I actually took a trip to Louisville, Kentucky a few summers ago and stayed in this gorgeous historical Marriott property for 3 nights for free all from credit card points! It made us feel so much more comfortable splurging on a few nice dinners out and buying some extra fun items we wouldn’t have typically if we would have already been spending so much on a hotel. 🙂
Expecting #2 early fall, my first will be almost 3 as well and so far I have no plans on buying a double stroller. I guess it depends on your lifestyle but personally I already never use the single stroller so it doesn’t make sense to me (my son rides his bike when we go on longer walks). As for our bedroom situation I plan on keeping the nursery as is for baby (toddler still in crib right now) and moving my son to a big boy room a couple months before baby arrives so he gets used to the new bed situation. I refuse to buy another crib when he’s probably going to change beds soon anyway and I’d rather deal with the “training” right now.
Hi Julie
I have a 3 year-old boy and a 6 months old boy. What I found helped a lot at the beginning was a baby ktan wrap for the baby. He would sleep in itthe for hours while I was free to take care of a busy toddler. And for the night feeds I don’t think I could have done it without a cosleeper, it’s a baby cot that attaches to the side of your bed so that you don’t have to get upa at night and baby is safe in his own bed. Hope this helps.
My eldest was 2 when my youngest was born. I’d say pass on the double stroller at first. I much preferred to put the baby in a carrier and have my hands free to run after the toddler. Once baby was closer to 5 months I got a double stroller but felt better about the purchase then as I knew exactly what type I wanted. I used my single stroller up that point.
I used 2 monitors. We got a cheap audio one for baby. Didn’t feel I needed video at that point. And by the time I wanted video for the baby, my eldest was good with just an audio one.
Also, make a basket of fun toys/ activities that only comes out when you breastfeed to keep the eldest entertained!
Seriously Julie you need to visit ExtraPackOfPeanuts.com They have a podcast too that I’m totally in love with. Check it out!
Love this post so much!! I hope you complete your bucket list before baby #2 comes, I can’t wait to read all about your adventures as you check things off the list! 🙂 I hope you’re having a great week! Xoxo
The BOB double is so awesome. It’s a little big and can be a pain to get in and out of the car, but in terms of comfort and ease it’s really nice. I trained for a half marathon pushing the kids in a BOB and was so pleased (bought it used off craigslist). Also, for what it’s worth, I found going from 1-2 kids about a million times easier than going from none to 1. I don’t know if it was a personality thing with my girls or just resting in the knowledge that the really tough moments don’t last, but it all just felt easier the second time around!
I DEFINITELY would avoid potty-training chase this close to a new baby arriving, if you haven’t done it already. you would be setting yourself up for major, major regressions and disasters, because his whole world is going to be turned upside-down. If you haven’t done it yet, WAIT until the baby is 3-4 months old and your life has calmed down. the last thing you want to be doing is dealing with toddler accidents while caring for a newborn.
I’m actually having great luck potty training my daughter (21 months old) and I’m due in 6 weeks! We are about 2 weeks in. Every child is different I guess. I think having a committed and positive attitude helps, just accepting that time (and accidents) are part of the process. I know lots of moms wait for this magic moment that will allow their child to be “trained” in a weekend but for most of us, that’s probably setting us up to be disappointed.
I suggest Oh Crap! Potty Training guide. She makes the great point that we wouldn’t ever delay any other learning milestones for our older child based on the addition of a new sibling, so why delay potty training if they are ready?
Just have a relaxed mindset and enjoy watching Chase learn!!
Definitely two monitor cameras, and get a double stroller. I have both front and back and side by side (which was given to me from a fellow runner!). I like the front and back for regular outings and it is a sit and stand, but the side by side is better for walks and such because it’s a jogging one. However, if you get a side by side, just make sure it has snack trays! mine doesn’t and I really miss it when I need the kids to eat on the go, lol. Also, I didn’t do this and wish I did- try to make some secret boxes or toys or something for when you’re nursing. There are tons on pinterest but I really struggled with the guilt of feeding my son when my daughter needed me. She was only 19 months though and she needed me more than a 3 year old who may be more independent and play by himself. Does that make sense?
I’ve never heard of “secret boxes” but that is such a cute idea!! <3
I was almost 2 years old when my little sister was born. My mom said that whenever my little sister cried because she was hungry, I would run and grab a book and tell my mom “it’s time for US to feed my little sister.” While she was breastfeeding my little sister she would read a book to me on the couch and I would turn the pages for her. Just a suggestion/way to include Chase in some of the instances when the baby will require extra attention. Apparently I loved when my little sister was hungry because it meant I got attention as well.
Best of luck 🙂
I’m really enjoying watching you go through this transition, you’re being so realistic and I love your attitude!
A really good carrier so you can be hands free! I pretty much wore my 3rd baby everyday… I had a side by side double stroller and I felt like it was a lot to handle and navigate :/ I love our Graco “stadium” seat one and it was really easy to maneuver, I got it second hand so I’m not sure of the exact name. Heres a link to a very similar one! https://www.amazon.com/Graco-DuoGlider-Connect-Stroller-Glacier I hope this helps!!
Thank you for this recommendation, Heather!!
I don’t have any recommendations on what to need for a second baby, I’m expecting my 1st at the end of May!!
We have the southwest credit card and my husband and I use the same card for every purchase. I also travel for work a few times a month and I’m able to use my southwest card on hotels and rental cars which are 2x the points. We were able to get companion pass last year and we are on track to get it again this year. While Southwest doesn’t fly international beyond the Caribbean, it is great to use to fly across the US and flying back to our hometown (STL) for family visits.
We just had our second a little over a month before our daughter turned three and I love our Double BOB stroller. We actually created a private Amazon registry to earn the 15% completion discount for the BOB and another monitor camera. I also found the Britax car seat adapter and tray on a Buy, Sell, Trade group for $15 instead of $80. Best wishes for knocking those items off your bucket list. Adding a second is SO much fun and your heart will just melt when you see your two babies together!
Mine are 2y7m apart (and now almost 12 and 9) but I completely wish I had gotten a double jogger. We tried the sit and stand and it just didn’t work. I work so it’s not like I needed a double every day so we didn’t invest in a double jogger because they seemed so big. Big regret.
I was always too nervous to baby wear so I regret that as well.
We didn’t get another monitor mainly because we weren’t still using one for her when he was born. They also shared a room for 3 1/2 years (well I guess 3 because he slept in our room for 6 months – 4 months longer than we expected!)
I hope you guys get a lot of your bucket list done! 2 is definitely more than twice 1, but so worth it!!!
Our kiddos are 2 years apart and the only things we bought were:
*Double Stroller
*New Nipples
*Additional Pump (covered by insurance and great to have one on each floor)
*New WubbaNub (different animal than #1)
*Better Nursing/Carseat cover (Milk Snob)
*Exersaucer/extra Rock & Play – great safe place to put #2 when you’re helping #1 run to the potty (borrowed from friend)
Good luck and enjoy the cuddles in between sleep deprivation – you will be surprised how much love you have to give to a second kiddo:)
The welcome bonus of 10,000 Membership Rewards points got my attention! Thank you for sharing, Julie!
– Kiki
That newborn photo of Chase…so adorable and so teeny!! I’m looking forward to reading about how potty training goes for you. I’m sort of waiting until the summer to start with my daughter but we did just buy her a potty so there’s a step! 🙂
Hi Julie! I just ran across your blog for the first time a couple of weeks ago and this is my first time commenting, but I’ve really enjoyed reading because my son is just a month younger than Chase and we are expecting our second in July. We experienced a miscarriage before this pregnancy and I feel like our stories and timelines are really similar.
Anyway, I don’t have advice on gear for two, but we just bought our first baby monitor, an InfantOptics video monitor, and I LOVE it. Our home is small enough that I don’t need a sound monitor, but it’s been so helpful to see if my son is standing up refusing to nap or laying down when I hear him playing in his crib. The tip with this monitor is that if you register it with them online, they will tell you that if you leave a positive review on Amazon you get an extra video monitor! Kind of scummy… yet I love that I now have a second monitor for the baby’s room. They always say it’s a limited time offer but I have had two friends do the same thing at different times over the last year and a half. So, if you end up deciding to get a video monitor and choose this one, make sure you register it!
I don’t had this stroller, but I’ve heard good things about the Zoe. It’s lighteright and have side by side and tandem options. And they are headquartered in Charlotte! Might be worth checking out.
http://www.zoestrollers.com/c/double-strollers?imt=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7KP0lurI2gIVAWSGCh3bKAZZEAAYASAEEgLHEfD_BwE&utm_campaign=Branded&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=ZOE+Branded&utm_term=%2Bzoe+%2Bstroller
We have the Medallion AMEX SkyMiles card and LOVE IT. We live in Atlanta so a big Delta hub and travel internationally fairly often. My husband also uses his card for business expenses so we rack up points like crazy. I pay for my solo international trips and we save our points for our couple international trips (since friend trips are WAY cheaper when we split costs). We just booked 2 tickets to Tokyo for $105! We get a free domestic flight every year and my husband gets upgraded on his flights if there is first class available, and he can choose the premiere seats or whatever (like, the aisle seats- you know they upcharge EVERYTHANG now) with no charge. So it totally works out and we use the heck out of our airline points. You can do SkyMiles dining too and earn up to 5x the amount of points at participating restaurants. This totally sounds like a promo, haha. But totally not. We just love our card.
I see that you’ve already engaged with a couple of other commenters about BOB vs. front-to-back double stroller, but I just wanted to chime in because I ended up getting a front-to-back (Uppababy Vista) for my double because I was afraid the BOB was too much of a monster and now I actually regret it. Since Chase is nearly 3, I imagine he would rather walk most of the time when you do errands, etc. (my 2 are 26 months apart and this was true for me even though my daughter was only 2 when my son was born). The BOB is humongous but is only really a problem if you are, say, going in and out of stores somewhere with narrow doorways. I have found, however, that most of the time in those types of situations my older one (who is now 3) is happy to walk, and a lot of times I just bring our single BOB and if she really wants to sit she rides on the front part (like where feet go), and then my son rides in the seat. But what I use the double stroller for almost daily is walking my dog, and it is REALLY hard to maneuver the Vista while also holding onto my dog’s leash. It is pretty much impossible to control it with one hand at all, unlike with the BOB. It is also very difficult to pop it up onto curbs, etc. So now I really wish I would have just gone with the double BOB, even though I’m really not a stroller runner. The Vista is, in general, a great stroller, but just doesn’t really match up with the situations in which I am most likely to need to use a double. Just wanted to include my cautionary tale! 🙂
Enjoy your projects Julie! And don’t worry if they don’t get all done in time- it usually all works out eventually!
I found this good reminder today: https://zenhabits.net/reset/
Have a great baby moon!
Omg yes replace your roof before the baby comes! We got ours done a few months ago – it was so loud and we could feel the house shake at times. I had to take the baby and toddler to my parents to nap – luckily they are only right across the street.