We had SO much fun taking a mini trip to Hawaii this January. It was super spontaneous (we booked it two weeks before) and was a trip to rest and spend time together just as a family. 

But it honestly was one of our most favorite places we've EVER been. We're already talking about when we can go back. And if you know me, you know I am a heat and humidity girl through and through. So I was in HEAVEN.

                        If you’re here for my FREE Oahu Hawaii Guide, click here.

Flying with Amelia was pretty good on the way there. She is getting to the active stage, so lots of toys and snacks helped!

When we landed, we immediately picked up our Turo rental jeep. We love Turo, because it's basically Airbnb for cars and the owners generally just meet you right outside the terminal and hand you the keys. We cruised into Honolulu and then right up over to the north side of the island, where we stayed on the North Shore. 

We stayed in a little studio apartment RIGHT on the ocean. It was so dreamy, full of windows all around and a big bed with a romantic white canopy. And the bathroom and shampoos and conditioner were AMAZING. Obv, that ranks very high on my list. (To find the Airbnb we used, check out my Hawaii Travel Guide here)

I immediately went down to the beach, because I have been itching to swim so bad! It was a little windy that day, but my goodness the beach was beautiful. 

The next day, we decided to wander around the town of Haleiwa and get acai bowls. It was a little rainy...island life....we are very familiar with this kind of weather. So un-discouraged, we grabbed our suits and drove around the island, looking for a place where the clouds parted. We finally found it on this dreamy beach with lagoon water. 

We enjoyed a WHOLE lot more acai bowls, smoothie bowls, and fruit. I am pretty sure my tastebuds are burned off from all the pineapple I ate, but hey, it was worth it.

One of our most FAVORITE stops was at Ka'ena Point, where we hiked around for a bit. It had the most EPIC views, some pretty legit mud that swallowed up my tennies, and a cameo from some the sets on the show Lost. It was a fairly easy hike with Amelia, but if it has rained, bring waterproof shoes!

​After the North Shore, we headed over to the other side of the island to stay in Kaneohe. We love getting to see a variance of places, so we always stay in as many spots as we can! We stayed in this adorable little resort with views of the bay area and yummy breakfast in the morning. 

Highlights of this area were the cool botanical gardens, hiking around where Jurassic Park was filmed, and attending church on Sunday and meeting some instagram followers!

In the middle part of our trip, we were so blessed to have our friend Lindsey Roman let us stay with her. She is THE COOLEST. Her house was so rad and we posed for a mentorship session she was doing while there. (Check out a couple of her amazing photos below and go follow her!)

​And we ended the trip in Waikiki. Of course! We had to try it out in all its tourist glory.
We did a lot of fun stuff here....visited the most amazing donut shop, tried to hike a waterfall, and went to Diamond Head. (More details in my travel guide)

It was crazy and busy and a fun way to end the last day and night. Watching the sun go down with a hundred thousand people felt very community oriented (and also very weird). lol.

I would go back in A HEARTBEAT. But I'd love to visit Kauai too. How about you? Do you have any suggestions on where in Hawaii we should visit next?

We are legitimately almost one YEAR into this whole having a baby thing. Like what??!!

It was such an amazing year, full of SO many firsts. There were many memorable moments, little joys, lots of tears, and so much learning. I wouldn't change a second of it.

Now that I'm a year in, I definitely feel like I can see which products I used long term. There's products for the first few months that don't last the full year. And then there's products that have come in handy now that Amelia is closer to the one year mark. 

Overall, we're minimalists and it's been hard having more 'stuff' than we are used to, so I wanted to write this blog post to remind myself (especially with baby number 2 coming along) of what was NEEDED. (and also to remind myself that the other stuff can be purged. Marie Kondo, anyone?)

All babies are different, so if your baby loves a certain product at a different age benchmark, leave it in the comments. I'd love to pick your brain for baby number 2!

Here goes!

BABY WALKER & ACTIVITY CENTER 
This thing rocks! Amelia hates her crib, so on the unlucky day I NEED a shower (which is often. lol), this is a great place to put her so I can ensure she isn't going to eat crazy things or crash into something dangerous. She can also walk around in it.
I wish I had put this on my baby registry!

HARD BOOKS with TEXTURE
Amelia is obsessed with books. Her favorite thing is ripping pages out of my Bible and Nancy Drew books. (Sorry, Nanc). Hard textured books are fun for her to bite and play with, and I don't have to worry about the paper cuts she always gets from soft books. (Here's one of her faves)
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​TEETHERS & RUBBER TOYS (LIKE SOPHIE THE GIRAFFE)
Aww, Sophie. The favorite of so many. But there's lots of little toys like this. Kiki the elephant. Sophie the Giraffe. We even have a fox. (I don't know her name, but we named her Henrietta). We tend to wet them, freeze them, and they get just hard enough to help with those teeth.

WATER SIPPY CUPS:
Amelia is literally the most thirsty baby on the planet. I still nurse her 5 times a day (at least), but she is a guzzler. She can put back 3-4 of these a day and then pee up a storm. I like these ones because they are cheap and at Target, and easy to hold. We'll transition to regular cups soon, but since we don't do juice right now, I'm not concerned.

​PLAYPEN OR PLAY FENCE
Amelia eats everything, pushes everything, takes everything apart, and destroys all that she comes into contact with her. I love it. And though I do correct dangerous behavior (like fingers in light sockets), I praise her adventurous spirit. Playpens and fences just help keep the adventure to a safe zone. We opted for a little fence over the playpen (she wants ROOM to roam). But this is like 100% necessary when your kiddo starts to crawl or you will never stop tracking them down and rescuing them from precarious situations.

SNACKS
I am confused on why my child eats so much (maybe it's every child?), but she easily has like 6 meals a day (and is somehow on the small side). I sorely underestimated how much of my time would be taken up by preparing meals and feeding her snacks.

These are by far my FAVORITE little snacks for her in between nutritious meals. They make her sore teething gums feel good... and have veggies and jasmine rice in them. Babes should be sitting up and supervised while eating them, but Amelia started around 7 months and has never choked with them. 

WILDBIRD SLINGS
I love these slings, and I always will. I have three and I'll keep using them as long as I can. Good thing I have gender neutral ones, just in case baby #2 is a boy! Sparrow is my favorite sling.

A GOOD TRAVEL STROLLER
We've used this super cheap one this year and LOVED it. We're getting ready to upgrade to a two baby stroller (EEK!) and it has to break down easy for the plane rides we go on. If you have suggestions, leave em in my comments!

CAR SEAT TRAVEL COVER
If you travel with your car seat, this is awesome because it completely guards the seat so it doesn't become nasty with under plane junk.

​TOYS WITH MUSIC
I wish I got some of these earlier, but Amelia LOVES music she can initiate on her own. So though we limit the electronic toys we have, the exception is toys that have music integrated OR musical instruments (which are so fun!). I love these ones.

Dockatot
Okay, this was GREAT for the first month. After that, Amelia was too wiggly and wanted out! It was awesome, but expensive for such a short time use.

Bassinet/crib
If you follow me, you already know we co-sleep and love it, so I will probably skip this again with baby #2. We will start the transition to a crib or bed when Amelia is a bit older.

​Baby Rockers (laying down swings essentially)
This is the same space as the dockatot. It was great, but Amelia soon got wiggly and was really annoyed she couldn't see any of us.

Baby bathtubs
I still use mine very occasionally, but from 1 month on, I just started taking tubs with her and now we just pop her in the shower with us. We'll play on the floor with her toys and have the water indirectly on her.

​Super gadgety toys
I just don't love electronics in general and don't want to condition for TV or ipads, so though I think it's a personal choice, we only have one electronic toy (because it sings).