The Best Things We Bought In July

 July was a good month for the Gregorys. We found out the gender of Baby G#2, we celebrated three years of marriage, and we took a very memorable and relaxing vacation to the Adriondacks. In the meantime, we also continued to add pieces to our home and started planning several projects we'd like to get done before Baby arrives in November.In the midst of all of this, we bought some stuff to prep Finn for a long road trip. We also bought some things that we've been wanting to have, but never had the space in our tiny apartment. Having a house is truly the best!Rug for living room - I had my eye on this rug for months and knew it would go perfectly with our couch and other decor in the living room area. When it went on sale on Prime Day, I snagged it. (I also got a duplicate of our carseat cause I was tired of switching back and forth. Long overdue!! Thanks, Prime Day!) Even the full price is stellar for the quality of rug. I highly recommend if you are looking for an area rug! Plus you can't beat two-day shipping.Instant pot - Can you believe David and I still had a gift card leftover from our engagement?! Apparently it took us three and a half years to decide what to do with it, and I couldn't be happier to have added an Instant Pot to our kitchen. I have a really bad habit of forgetting to defrost any meat and when dinner time comes around, we are constantly having to come up with alternative plans. Not anymore! This thing is the bomb. I haven't even gotten creative yet - literally just using it to cook our chicken for the week - and I'm not sure what I ever did without it.Toddler air mattress - We bought Finn this air mattress for our trip to the Adirondacks. He slept on the floor of the hotel and in our cabin with us, and had zero issue. The bumpers on the side made it so he wouldn't roll off, and the size is perfect for small spaces and small people. We will totally be getting our monies worth out of this.Blackstone griddle and accessories - Perhaps the best purchase from July, our Blackstone Griddle. My parents wanted to get us a grill for the house for our anniversary present, but after my dad bought a griddle for himself, he convinced David a griddle was the way to go. I've got to say, I'm totally sold. A grill is a wonderful tool, but you can literally cook everything on this griddle. I'm talking eggs, bacon, pancakes, veggies, burgers, chicken, we've even done a low country boil. I highly, highly recommend if you are in the market for a grill. We purchased a cover for it as well.Amazon Fire for Kids - Gahh, I hate to admit it, but I totally caved and got Finn a tablet. We bought it with every intention of using it only for long roadtrips, and we've stuck to that so far. He hasn't even asked for it since we've been home. I knew that 9 hours in the car would be totally unfair for Finn, and we would all need a break from each other. So when he started getting crabby, I would pull out the tablet and it would keep him occupied. Heads up - I totally failed and forgot to download anything onto the tablet prior to actually leaving for the trip, so I had to have it connected to my phone as a hotspot the entire time, but it wasn't the end of the world. Next time, I'll have more experience!Blow up swan pool toy- We bought this swan blow up toy for the pool on a whim, but it was such a hit on vacation! I just thought it was fun and for $15 you can't really beat it. Sadly, we left it behind, but hopefully whoever rented after us found as much joy in it as we did :)