Favorite Things of 2010

After reading my friend Meredith's post, I started thinking about what my "top 10 list" for 2010 would be. These are not in order, but these are all items that made my year much better/smoother--especially with the addition of a new baby! (I made sure that all of the items were not baby related!) Sorry there isn't a picture for every item, but frankly it takes too long to upload pictures, and none of these are obscure items!

1. Itzbeen Timer-from the first days in the hospital after having Emily, until she was was about 5 1/2 months old, I used this thing EVERY single day to keep track of how long it had been since I last fed Emily, changed her diaper, or when she last went down for a nap. It was also helpful if Matt was going to take over her care-he easily knew when feed or change her, and I didn't have to write out instructions. I would say this is MUST have with a new baby!

2. Baby Jogger Citi Mini Stroller (with car seat attachment)-the lightweight design and easy fold of this stroller is what intially drew me to this stroller, and I have not been disappointed. It fits SO easily into my small trunk, and it is easy to maneuver and is very smooth. The car seat attachment was purchased separately for our specific car seat, and is very convenient.

3. Boppy pillow (with slip cover)-I use this pillow every time I feed Emily. So it has gotten TONS of use, and will be used for quite a while longer. Now that Emily is sitting up, we put the pillow around her, so if she does tip backwards, she has a nice soft cushion to fall onto.

4. Diaper Champ-though this hasn't been as "necessary" as the first three items, it has worked great to contain diaper odors, and is very easy to use. I love that I don't have to buy any special trash bags for it, but I can just use regular kitchen trash bags.

5. Denver Mattress Doctor's Choice Pillowtop King-Matt and I decided to purchase a king sized mattress on January 1st, and we are both so happy with it! It was great during the last few months of pregnancy (when it was starting to get hot outside) that I could toss and turn to my heart's content (and get up to use the bathroom countless times), and I didn't have to worry about disturbing Matt. He doesn't wake up now when I get up to feed Emily in the middle of the night. It's super comfy, and we both love the extra space!

6. Blackberry-though I've had my phone for 2 years, I didn't really use the extra features until after I had Emily. In the first few lonely months of adjusting to a new baby and being a stay-at-home-mom, I was able to e-mail/text/Facebook/look things up on Google with one hand, while holding/nursing Emily, and I felt much more connected to the outside world.

7. Old Navy "The Dreamer" bootcut jeans-These jeans are comfortable, very reasonably priced and fit like they were made for me. I usually have a pretty difficult time finding jeans that fit well, and after having a baby, I was NOT looking forward to jeans shopping. I was SO happy to find these. I just got a 2nd pair of a darker wash for Christmas.

8. Loreal Go Clean 360 facewash-I am not very loyal when it comes to face/body/hair products. I buy what is on sale or what catches my attention in a commercial. However, after I bought this facewash the first time, I think I'll stick with it for a while. It doesn't dry my skin out and has kept my skin clear for the past year. I don't use the little scrubby thing every day, but I use it a few times a week for exfoliation, and my skin always feels smooth, soft and clean!

9. Folger's 1/2 Caffeine coffee-I discovered this when I was pregnant and have kept drinking it since I'm nursing. It's nice to be able to drink a cup (or two) of coffee in the mornings and not have to stress about drinking too much caffeine. It tastes great, and I can still get a little pick me up in the mornings without passing on coffee jitters to Emily!

10. Panasonic HDC-TM60 Video Camera -Matt bought this a few days after the birth of Emily, and I'm SO glad we had it from her early days. It's very easy to use, and I've tried to record little clips of Emily fairly frequently. It's already pretty amazing to compare what she looked and sounded like when she was one week old vs. 6 months old! Plus, it's fun to post videos to Facebook so friends and family who live far away can see what she's up to.

So what are your favorite things from this past year?