Gear

Raines and I visited my parents in Gulf Shores last month. The first day we spent on the beach, I made sure my cell phone was safely zippered into an inside pocket of my bag. Upon unpacking that night, I opened up the zippered pocket to find that *someone* had carefully unzipped the pocket, filled it with sand, and then zipped it back up. I can't imagine who.

Because we were relying on swaddling as a method to keep our sanity in those early days, we wasted a ton of money trying every swaddling blanket under the sun. We tried various sleep sacks (too roomy - he'd wake too early), "miracle" swaddling blankets (too thick, too hot) and an assortment of others (most were the wrong size and he would wiggle out, or they would cover his face). Then we discovered Aden + Anais.

Everyone has one -- and I'm not talking about the super stylish and cool MacLaren version for $100 and up. I'm talking about the $20 Target special. The one that is given away as a free gift with purchase at Babies R 'Us. The one that, despite spending $800+ on a Bugaboo, you find yourself pulling out of the trunk when you are too tired to deal with your "real" stroller. Yes, I'm talking about the Umbrella stroller. It's cheap, it's boring, it's very, very practical. So let's pimp it. Here are my picks for ways to liven up your stroll with some fabulous and useful umbrella stroller accessories!

It’s scary getting ready for baby number two. Strangely, a second child seems so much more committed than baby number one—like we were just dabbling in parenthood until now. Now, we’re going to be a full-on family of four and as such, we need to trade up for a (GULP!) double stroller—a potentially big hit to my mom fashion sensibilities. In this post I review the Micralite Toro and the Phil & Teds Vibe strollers.

However, nothing sabotages my inner rock-star faster than carrying around a bunch of cutesy baby crap. Blankets with puppies, kittens or bunnies are nice, but you just can't get no satisfaction from a cutsey-woosty baby blanket draped across your stroller. Enter Oshie Vintage - a line of rock-star worthy baby blankets that are perfect for adding a little R-O-C-K to your afternoon walk in the park.