Favorite Baby Items: 4 Months Old

And just like that, our little man is 5 months old! 

Here are some of our favorite items from 
this past month (in no particular order):



Fisher Price 4-in-1 Step 'n Play Piano - This has been Bennett's favorite this past month. Now that he's sitting up (not quite on his own yet - but amazing head control) - he loves sitting in this piano and playing while interacting with all of the lights, music and different pieces that he can move around. The videos that we have of him in this, he's sporting the biggest smile on his face. The thing that first drew me to this piano was the fact that it can be used in 4 different stages, while Bennett is growing. Stage 1: The removable soft keyboard mat is great for tummy time. Bennett loved looking at the bright colors. (When the mat is on the bottom of the piano, it plays music when Bennett steps on each key). Stage 2: The baby is able to spin 360 degrees while in the middle section to access all sides of the entertainment system. Stage 3: The sliding seat encourages first steps as baby walks back and forth between the two main sections of the piano. Stage 4: Once your child is standing and walking on their own, you can remove the seat and they'll be able to move freely while playing!

Infantino Flip Advanced 4-in-1 Carrier - This carrier was actually recommended to me by a friend that had used it with her babies! This too has 4 different ways to use the carrier for different stages. 1)Facing-in narrow seat for newborns, 2)Facing-in wide seat for older babies, 3)Facing-out narrow seat for babies with head control, 4)Back carry wide seat for older babies & toddlers. I was a little skeptical because it was much cheaper than other carriers that we were looking at - but I would without-a-doubt make this purchase again! Now that Bennett has great head and core control, it's so easy to wear him (at this stage, I prefer wearing him in the front, with him facing out) when running into a store, and he loves watching everything! We too used this often when he was a newborn and in his first few months while taking Tucker for walks. Overall, a great buy! :)



Elephant Baby Teether - This wasn't the exact brand that we have, but it looks exactly like this elephant. I found these on the discount site, www.jane.com for $2.99 each while I was pregnant. I love that they're so easy for Bennett to hold, and they're safe for him to chew on. Another plus - his little soft elephant that he loves to play with (previously mentioned here) has a built-in pacifier strap and these elephants attach so well through the little heart hole. We have one in teal, baby blue and mint! 

Sophie the Giraffe - We received these as gifts for shower presents and the hype is true - these giraffes are great! For some reason, babies are obsessed! Bennett has been teething for a couple of months now, and we recently just introduced him to these. He loves that he can fit the whole smaller Sophie in his mouth and can easily hold on to her, and he also loves that he can hold the larger Sophie and nibble on her when he wants to. The larger one is also easier to find and grab while he's in the car seat, which is extremely helpful!


If you missed our first few months of favorite items - 
be sure to look back at previous posts - so many great items!! :)

Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs

Hard Boiled Eggs - Seems like something that would be so simple, right? There are millions of different instructions out there on how to make the perfect hard boiled egg, and when you find the right one - you stick with it and swear by it! Besides, no one likes a mediocre hard boiled egg - right? :)

I not only want to share this one with you (because it works and is my favorite thus far) but another reason I post so  many recipes on my blog (besides the obvious reason to share them with all of you) is to keep an electronic cook book of my own, so that I can easily come back to my blog, use the search function and easily find a recipe that I've already posted about, to quickly make again. Side note - for this recipe/set of instructions especially, Eric will thank me for finally writing it down somewhere so that I don't have to ask him for it each time I want to make hard boiled eggs. Eric - you're welcome, ha!

So - here goes the instructions for the perfect hard boiled egg :)

Instructions:

1 - Place 10-12 eggs in the bottom of a pot, so that they're all sitting on the bottom and not on top of eachother.

2 - Cover the eggs with water so that the water line is approximately a half inch over the tops of the eggs.

3 - On your stovetop, bring your water to a boil. Once your water starts boiling and bubbling, remove the pot from it's current burner and move to another burner.

4 - Place a lid on your pot and set your new burner on it's lowest heat setting for 20 minutes.

5 - After 20 minutes, remove the eggs from the pot and place in a strainer - run under cold water for a minute or so to cool them off.

That's it! :) I love using hard boiled eggs for salads, and Eric likes having them on hand for a quick and easy snack. Another tip to make your life easier when it's time to actually enjoy your eggs, is to remove the shell of the egg once you're done cooking them, so that you don't have to spend time doing that later. I like getting that part out of the way from the get-go :)

Also - for those of you that love hard boiled eggs, my Dad makes the BEST deviled eggs - I'll have to see if I can squeeze the recipe out of him for a future post :)