Stroller MUST have!

Okay so really you know your a mom when you fall in love with the perfect stroller! While I was pregnant with Evie we registered for lots of things. A stroller is a must have. So I wanted a multi-purpose stroller. You need to think of these things before you get a stroller so you don't end up with 10 strollers. I knew I wanted 2. A larger one for walking/jogging and then a small one to get around small area places like all my antique shops! :)

Our stroller we registered for was from Target. My best girlfriends got us this. We were thrilled and we LOVE it. We've gotten so many compliments on it. This is what is awesome about it:

1. It's affordable
2. Great reviews
3. Safe- locking wheels
4. It has the infant car seat attachment
5. You then can use it after the baby is out of the car seat
6. The seat lays all the way down. Which is amazing especially if you need to do a diaper change. BOOYAH!
7. Folds for storage
8. Has a large basket underneath to hold items
9. Easy to clean
10. The color is neutral for Boys & Girls
11. Only requires one hand to fold up. Which you don't really think about until you have a screaming child that you are holding in the other arm.
12. It has a canopy for shade

Here it is: We love this stroller. It really was a life saver when Evie was tiny tiny. I took this to all my dance camps with me!

Okay the only bad things about this stroller is that it is rather large. It folds up great but takes up most of my trunk space in my jeep. The next one is that there was no place for keys, water bottle, or your wallet. So we had a to buy a little thing which was an additional $15. Yuck.

On to our other new stroller. This stroller I am just thrilled about. I take Evie antiquing with me all the time and usually just put her in my moby wrap since the stroller above is soo large it just makes sense to not take it. Well now that Evie is older we wanted to invest in a tiny little stroller as well to take with us places. My sister in law suggested an umbrella stroller. So I did my research. I refused to pay tons of money. I was convinced I could find a great one for a great price. I searched Amazon and found this puppy.

The first years Jet Stroller:

I am pretty much in love with this stroller. I love the color. It does come in bright colors but I wanted to go with neutral so gray it was. This was easy to assemble just put the wheels on. It has a basket underneath, it has a canopy up top, it comes with 4 compartment that you can sit your drinks in, it has a zipper compartment and 4 small mesh pockets, adjustable straps for Evie, easy to fold, weighs 11lbs, AND AND AND AND The price was unbelievable for all of these things. It was on sale at Amazon for $36.00. Oh yeah and the grand total with shipping was $40.00. I say I found a gem. We have already used it and we love it! Sooo all my mommy to be friends out there if you are in the market for a stroller with multi-purpose qualities check these out! They are must haves!!

Click below to check these strollers out:
Gracco Trekko-3 Wheel Stroller
The First Years Jet Stroller

Evie Pearl Shields

Hey all! It's been 3 months since I've posted! Best 3 months of our lives!

Here is our birth story of our newest addition! We went in to the hospital May 1st at 6:45. Brian and I went to a yummie dinner before we headed in. It was our last meal as a family of 2. It really is mind boggling how quick life changes, I mean really in the blink of an eye. At dinner we couldn't stop smiling thinking about what life was about to be like. Brian had a few celebration drinks with dinner and I was a little jealous. We then headed to the hospital and I started to be induced at 8pm. I already forgot the name of medicine they inserted. Hmmm mommy brain? I think so. Anyways I started feeling contractions right away. I didn't realize I had been having contractions already prior to coming to the hospital. Brian and I tried to get sleep that night but we didn't. I was used to not getting much sleep at this point. However Brian wasn't haha. He was really annoyed with all the machines that were hooked up to me. They kept going off and nurses would come in all night. My labor and contractions really started around 4am. At this point I was feeling great. At 7am the nurses came in and gave me breakfast which was just muffins and juice. I remember slapping Brian's hand because he wanted to eat part of the muffin. Ummm hello I need this muffin for energy to birth your child!! Contractions started to really get strong around 7am. I quickly realized I was having back labor on my lower left side! Holy smokes! So much more painful than regular labor! Yikes. I tried to shower and could barely stand up I was in so much pain. I originally wanted to labor in the tub but at this point in my pregnancy I developed this horrible rash from hormones and being pregnant for too long is what my doctor told me! Ha sweet! So any warm water made my rash spread and itch like crazy. So the tub option was out the window! At this point it is around 11am and I was progressing quite well I was a 5 and still having back labor. The doctor wanted to give me a little pitocin to keep labor going. I didn't want that stuff. But they assured me it was a tiny bit. Contractions were getting awful at this point. I will admit there was one time I yelled at Brian. He asked me how far apart my contractions were. I answered or you could say raised my voice and said I Bleeping don't know, why don't you bleeping count them since your just sitting there, I'm busy! Or something kinda like that. I'm sure Brian could tell you my exact wording! Ha! Right after that I wanted the meds! I didn't want to be like this the rest of the way. So meds it was! Ahhhhh what a huge difference! I could actually talk now and rest. I wanted to really enjoy this special time together and we sure did. As soon as they gave me the epidural I spiked a fever. I swear it's from the epidural because it literally happened within seconds of getting it. I got the chills so bad and couldn't stay warm. I had 10warm blankets on me and still was shaking. They were able to give me Tylenol for my fever and that got rid of it. At this point they were worried about the baby. Her heart rate increased. So they closely monitored her. Every hour they checked me and I was progressing great. It was around 3pm that I was almost dilated to a 10. Woohoo!!! This is when it got crazy! Oh yes everyone on the labor floor decided to go into labor at the same time! My nurse was off delivering another baby and wasn't able to be with us. Soooooooo I held off pushing for what seemed like eternity! Finally I looked at Brian and said either get a nurse or deliver this baby yourself! Brian was FULLY prepared to glove up and deliver this baby! Since he has had plenty of experience in this area being a firefighter/emt! Finally the charge nurse comes in! She literally is answering the phone as I am pushing! I will spare you all the crazy details. But I was just suppose to do practice pushes and that turned into Brian yelling "You better get the doctor in here". Shortly after my dr came in to check on me. She then threw her scrubs on like a mad woman and caught my baby! Ha!

It was then they put sweet Evie on my chest. I was crying and laughing all at the same time. This was the moment I've been dreaming about since I was a little girl. Most little girls dream of being a princess or about being a pretty bride in a ridiculous white gaudy dress. But.... Growing up I dreamed about being a mom! All I ever wanted was an amazing husband and for us to have children! This was my dream come true! I kept laughing and crying I couldn't even speak, I was in shocked and madly in love with our daughter. This was it WE have a daughter! I love saying this and it will never get old. I am so proud! After awhile all I remember saying was, "oh my gosh she's perfect!" Over and over! How can it be that this beautiful little creature that we made came out into this world soooo perfect? The answer to that is God..... How can one birth a child and not believe in the Lord? It is a true miracle of God! Not only did Brian and I pray daily over this little girl but so many family and friends did as well. We are so blessed. God is good. God is powerful. God amazes me every day!

Evie weighed in at 8.0 pounds and 20 inches. Not as big as I thought she would be for being SO late which I'm still a little bitter about! Okay I'm VERY bitter still! Lol!

Most of you know that Evie caught whatever infection I had and she also had some fluid in her lungs. We had to stay at the hospital for over 10days. She was only in the nursery for 2days. I practically wouldn't leave her side. Call me crazy but I just didn't want to miss time with her! Brian was right there with us too! Then after those 2days Evie was able to come with us in our room! The power of prayer amazes us and she's a little fighter! I do believe the Lord gives you what you can handle and we certainly handled being in the hospital almost 2 weeks with ease! It didn't even phase us that we had to stay that long because we knew she was getting amazing attention from the doctors and nurses at OMC! We were able to come home the night before Mothers Day! Talk about the best gift in the world to be home as a family on such a special day! Truly a day I will never forget.

Here are her birth announcements.