decisions...

Jeff and I have been making some big decisions in the past few weeks.

The first decision was which travel system to get.  For those who aren't familiar with the terminology (times have changed!), a travel system is a stroller/car seat combo that includes a car seat base.  I'm a big fan of making purchases that will grow with my kids, instead of buying one thing at this stage, another at the next stage, yet another at the next stage.  A travel system gives me the infant car seat/carrier until they're 40-50 lbs and it fits inside the stroller until they're old enough to be able to sit in the stroller by themselves.  A twofer.  I like it.  :)

With that being said, I have to be honest here: I look at pattern/colors over anything else first.  Of course, the safety of my child is a close second, followed by how easy the thing is to  use/maneuver.  I have always wanted a turquoise/lime green/brown color combo for my boy.  Do you know how hard turquoise is to find on baby gear??  Pretty tough.  So I had to settle a little bit on the travel system, but we found one that we both like and perhaps, with a little "girly glitz", we can use it for the next one, even if she happens to be a pretty little girl.  :)

It's a Graco Passage Travel System in Lowery (the pattern) and this is what it looks like:

After making this decision, we found a matching pack 'n' play:

This is what Deacon will be sleeping in for awhile, in our bedroom, until he makes the big move to the nursery.  It comes with a changing station and a little napper.  Not sure how much we'll use that but it's there.  This is another twofer because he can sleep in it before he moves to the crib and then we have it for him to play in, nap in or just when we need to corral him for a little while.  :)

Another big decision (HUGE decision for ME) was the crib bedding/decor for the nursery.  Oh, my word -- I thought I would be looking at crib bedding until Jesus came back!  Remember how I said turquoise is just NOT a color they choose to use in baby gear?  Well, that was the case in trying to find crib bedding, etc.  I thought I was going to have to settle there, too, but then I found THIS:

Isn't it cute??!  It's called Paisley Splash in Lime by My Baby Sam.  It has my turquoise, my lime green and my brown in it and I think it will be perfect.  I had a list of about 5 different ones, this one being my top pick.  Jeff put the list in order of his preferences, and this one was #2 for him so he let me go with this one, bless his sweet heart.  :)  It makes me so very happy to have this decision made.

Now, as I said, these are decisions we've made -- we don't have any of this yet.  At our shower in IL last week, we received enough money for the travel system so I ordered that Friday.  It's not here yet but we do have it coming.  The pack 'n' play will go on our registry, I'm sure.  I'm still searching all over to find the best price on the bedding, etc. and I think my family may be planning to help with that.

It's such an exciting thing to be making these decisions and seeing plans fulfilled.  The best part is knowing it's all for our baby boy.  :)

One last decision we made was to have a doula attend our birth.  We have a precious friend, Kelley, who is about as passionate as one person can be about "all things baby".  And she's a doula.  Which makes for a great combination when you're having a baby.  :)  We met with her last week just to find out what her being our doula would mean for us, and with all the knowledge she has and how comfortable she is with the whole thing, we were sold almost immediately.  It will be wonderful to have someone there who has a great rapport with the doctors/nurses at the hospital where we'll give birth (we have several friends who've had Kelley with them) and who just knows what she's doing.  That's the bottom line.  She has 4 kids of her own and she's witnessed/worked tons of births since then.  The girl knows what she's doing.  I think we'll feel more comfortable & confident having her with us.