Noah’s Baby Shower

On June 23rd, we threw the cutest baby shower at the clubroom in my dad’s building. My mom catered Doris’, so we had the most delicious Italian food of course! And, the theme, Peter Rabbit, was perfect to celebrate our baby boy, Noah. I created a backdrop with supplies all sourced from Amazon. It was easier than it looks, and the arches will definitely be used again later…maybe for a first birthday. The florals were all stuck into pool noodles, with a cut on one side to easily fit onto the arches. I pre-made these before the day, so assembly day of was a breeze! All supplies are linked below.

1. Arches and covers
2. Pool noodles (to stick the florals into!), italian ruscus vines, ficus branches, italian ruscus filler pieces, purple roses, blue hydrangeas, blue roses, white flowers
3. Carrots and fishing wire to safety pin over the back to hang.
4. Baby boy sign and Noah sign found on Etsy.

The morning of the shower, Kyle and I headed to Trader Joe’s and grabbed a ton of flowers and fillers to create floral centerpieces. I’ve done this before for my bridal shower and rehearsal dinner, and loved the way it came out. Putting these together definitely saves some $$$, however, I do regret not hiring out the decor so I could just focus on getting ready that morning. We also played a ton of fun games that were sourced from Etsy. You can find tons of digital themed game packs for print baby showers, wedding showers, and more.

Now for the registry…this was months in the making and truly the hardest part of planning. As a first time mom, it’s hard to know what we need, what we want, and what we ACTUALLY need. I say need twice because there’s so many opinions out there from family and friends telling you what works and what doesn’t. At the end of the day every family is different, and every baby is different, so while it helped to scour the internet for information and hear the recommendations of others, I felt the stress of information overload and decided to take opinions with a grain of salt. Still, I found myself googling “Best Strollers of 2024” or “Best Bassinets” or “Which diapers are the most non-toxic”, etc. I also read a lot of “This vs. That” articles and reviews on reddit. I’m the type of person that likes to take all the information in, and then decide for myself. All this to say, I did appreciate reading the blogs of content creators I trusted to tell me their top favorite items, or things they thought they’d use, but really don’t, so I’ve created my own list for you here. Take it or leave it…it’s truly up to you and your family’s needs and wants.

Now that Noah is almost 8 weeks old, here are my current top 10 most used items.

Comotomo bottles – I put a couple bottle types on my registry and these are the clear winner for Noah. While I do breastfeed, giving a bottle was important for Dad to feed. We feed Noah bottles at night to ensure he gets nice and full for long (as long as possible), restful sleep. We combo feed breast milk and Bobbie formula, and so far this has worked really well for us.

Coterie diapers – I put these on my registry and you should too. Admittedly, Noah didn’t have any issues with the Huggies some people bought us and what we brought home from the hospital, but I was determined to try this cult favorite so I bought them prior to delivery and we love them. They absorb so much which I think has helped prolong sleep overnight.

Newton Baby Crib Mattress – We LOVE this mattress because 1. The breathability gives us peace of mind and 2. Because Noah just loves it. Noah does not enjoy sleeping in his bassinet (which is the Newton Bassinet by the way). I like the bassinet because it gives us the co-sleeping feel without actually co-sleeping, but baby boy does not love sleeping there. He does, however, enjoy sleeping in his crib (that is, when he lets us put him down). It is a pricier item, but in my opinion worth the peace of mind in case he rolls over onto his face. Definitely put it on your registry and designate it as a must-have or group gift…we were fortunate enough to be gifted the mattress from my amazing work team.

Sassy Reversible Soft Sensory Activity Panels – I don’t know what sorcery is in these. Noah loves them and will stare at them for 10 minutes (which is a long time for him). Shout out to these high contrast squares as well!

Nanit Pro Smart Baby Monitor – We truly love the Nanit monitor. The sound and picture are clear day and night. The app is easy to use, and we haven’t even upgraded to the premium subscription. We also like that it tells us the room temperature and humidity since we live in Florida and it can get warm on our second floor. We mounted it to our wall, and had I known there was a stand you can purchase beforehand, I would have put it on the stand instead of into our wallpaper. You can also grab the travel kit to use when traveling, which I wish we put on our registry, but I did purchase as well.

PurelySoft by Carter’s Pajamas – We are obsessed with these footie pajamas. They’re just as the name suggests, so soft, and great quality while being thin enough to avoid overheating. We’ll continue to buy these for every size as our little guy grows.

Hatch Rest Baby Sound Machine – A sound machine is a must-have for a newborn and we love the Hatch for it’s customizable settings, from sounds to colors, you can create schedules for whatever ambiance you need at different times of the day. It’s also helpful to have this on the go option to keep in the diaper bag. We were gifted two so we also keep one in our room by the bassinet).

SwaddleMe Original Organic Swaddle – I’m not sure why swaddling with the hospital baby blanket is a breeze while still in the hospital, but so much harder when you get home. I think it has something to do with how sleepy our newborn was the first few days at home. These swaddles were on our registry and Noah has slept so well in them.

Braun Nasal Aspirtator – I have to be honest. Snot sucking is my least favorite baby task, and I’d much rather change a poop diaper. I leave this job to Kyle, and this nasal aspirator does the job. I can’t say Noah loves it, but it does what it needs to do. We also use a saline drops to loosen everything up first.

Burt’s Bees Burp Cloths – We have so many burp clothes and run through these fast, so it’s great to have a lot on hand. These are soft and big, and I have them all over the house.

I would love to hear some of your baby registry items that turned into must-haves!