shower #3 (mini-shower)...

I have been remiss!  I should've posted this before now...

When we were in Lexington last (about 3 weeks ago), my mom and dad gave us a little mini-shower of sorts.  My mom has been stockpiling stuff since she found out we were pregnant, even more so once she found out it was a boy.  :)  So she had some "stuff" she wanted to just go ahead and give us.

It was fun -- a bag for each of us.  Jeff went first and then I opened mine...

Jeff got his own diaper bag!

...with denim diapers...

...and a cute little onesie!

I think he's ready, don't you?  :)

I got a bath-theme filled basket full of stuff (among other things).  :)

[26 weeks pregnant]

[photo credit goes to my Momma, with some editing by me]

We had a ball opening, unzipping and sifting through stuff to find our goodies.  Thanks, Momma & Daddy!  We love you both bunches and appreciate the goodies!

do we HAVE everything?

I got an article in my inbox today entitled "Diaper-Bag Essentials" (from whattoexpect.com) and I thought it had some pretty good information in it.

That cute diaper bag you got at your baby shower (or bought yourself!) probably wasn’t meant to be stuffed until bursting at the seams. Well, the good news is that there’s no need to overpack and lug around a bag that weighs a ton. The following items are pretty much all you need when you’re out and about with your baby. Just be sure to restock when you get home, so you’re never without these diaper-bag essentials.

Diapers. Obvious, yes, but how many you pack depends on how long you’re going to be out, how old your baby is, and how he’s feeling. (if you’re heading to the doctor because your baby has diarrhea, for instance, pack several so you’re prepared for a maximum number of changes.) And don’t forget to follow the plus-one rule: Always pack one more diaper than you think you’ll need.

Wipes. Tuck them in a reclosable plastic bag or case to use during diaper changes. But don’t just relegate them to tushy cleanup. Wipes are handy for cleaning your own hands before and after diaper duty and can be used to remove spit-up and baby-food stains from clothes and furniture.

Diaper cream or ointment. It’s a good idea to carry around a tube of ointment or cream to use as a layer of protection to help prevent a diaper rash from developing — or to soothe your baby’s bottom in case one develops.

Changing pad. Most diaper bags come with a pad, so don’t leave home without it — especially if you’re going somewhere that doesn’t have a changing table (like Grandma’s house). If your bag doesn’t come with a pad, add your own, but choose one with a washable or wipe-off cover. In a pinch, you can always use a towel or cloth diaper, but be careful — they aren’t waterproof and won’t be able to adequately protect carpets or furniture.

Extras. Depending on how long you’re planning to be out, be sure to pack a bib, burping cloth, a ziplock bag for dirty diapers, and a bottle of formula if you’re not breastfeeding. Consider packing a replacement outfit for your baby if he’s prone to spitting up or tends to produce diaper blowouts (lucky you!). And don’t forget a bottle of water and snack for you. (And if the diaper bag’s doing double-duty as your purse, toss in a small bag where you can stash your cash, keys, and cell — that way you won’t be rooting around for your essentials when you need ’em.)

I do actually already have my diaper bag.  I registered for one at Babies R Us when we were there but wasn't "gung-ho" on it -- it was just there and I liked it the best of all that I saw in the store.  I knew I needed one so I zapped had Jeff zap it with the gun.

Since registering for that one at BRU, I was in a Walmart when we last visited my family and they had one that was PERFECT.  It was cute, not too big and most importantly, was the right color scheme.  :)  

Some of you know how I like to coordinate.

Due to that personality flaw trait, I snatched that bag right up (and removed the one from the BRU registry -- before anyone could buy it)!  This is what it looks like:

And if you will recall this post and this one, you will totally see why THAT is the perfect color scheme.

Ready to start filling it with all the stuff they said I need!

baby registry: day 2

We are officially "registered at Target and Babies R Us".  This is kinda funny to me because this is always what I read on the baby shower invitations that we get in the mail, but this time it's for us!  I just think it's still a little surreal...

We went Saturday to Target to register for some more stuff and I gotta tell you -- it was an eye opening experience for me.  More so than trying to act like I knew what I was doing at Babies R Us Thursday night.  Here's the reason:  Target has always been my preferred store of choice when purchasing items for any baby shower I'm attending (which are VERY numerous).  I think their registry is a lot easier to read and the items are easier to find, and also because the Wilmington BRU is PAH-thetic.  It's not even a real store -- it's just a tiny baby section inside a gigantic Toys R Us (hence the reason we went to Jacksonville to register at BRU -- they have their own store).

However, after going to Target to actually register, I was SO disappointed!  I guess I never noticed before that you really only get about 3 aisles of stuff, a few endcaps and then CLOTHES (good gracious, the clothes!).  **Note: we decided not to register for outfits -- we do have onesies & socks, etc. on the registry -- because we figured people will buy those anyway.  :) **

So, wow.  That didn't take long, except that I kept walking up and down those 3 aisles thinking, "Did we miss something?  This cannot be it!  Where is...?  We didn't see..."  The other thing about Target is that all the baby care stuff, like soap, lotion, diapers, wipes, etc. is all over on the OTHER side of the store.  Oh, yeah.  We got what we could find and I'm sure I'll be back online "tweaking" here and there but you can only do so much with so little, you know?

We ran back over to BRU for a brief minute since 1) we were right across the street, 2) we closed the store down on Thursday with not.very.much. on the list, and 3) I felt a wee bit more comfortable when looking at their stuff again.  We scanned a few more things, but again, with my OCD organized personality, I'm sure I'll be tweaking that one a little bit more, too.

Jeff keeps saying, "We're done!"  Um, yeah.  You're done, sweetie.  But IT is far from done.  :)  He really was a good sport through the whole thing (it was tough on both of us) and I can't say how much I appreciate him being willing to go with me to register.  I know a lot of fellas don't participate in that part, and I'm glad mine did.  At least for 2 days.  :)

baby registry: day 1

So we went to register last night.  Finally.  I'm sure folks are much more on the ball about this than we have been, but honestly...it's been hard to just find a night that we could both go to either Wilmington or Jacksonville to get this done.

We decided to go to Jacksonville because they have a true Babies R Us, not just a small section inside a Toys R Us.  They also have a Target in Jax, which is the other place we want to register, so we figured we'd just knock out in one place, in one night.

Wrong.

Because Jax is roughly 45 min to an hour (depending on where you need to go) from our house, we obviously didn't get started as early as we would've since we both worked.  So we already had that against us.  Not to mention the fact that we've never done this before and we felt COMPLETELY out of our element.  It just doesn't matter what kind of prep you put into figuring out what to get ahead of time -- nothing can prepare you for all.the.options.  I mean, I've bought countless baby shower gifts for other folks from both BRU and Target so you would think I would be somewhat familiar with what's in the baby section.  Well, I guess I've never looked at all of this stuff through THESE eyes.

The eyes of a future mom.

So we checked in at the registry desk at BRU and got our scan gun and checklist.  **Note: earlier on Facebook, Jeff had posted a poll question asking folks to list one thing they absolutely would register for, so I had that (very extensive) list, too.  And it was helpful -- thanks to everyone who chimed in!**  And then it seems like we just wandered aimlessly through the store.

I think we did make some pretty good choices last night but there are still so many things we didn't register for yet for various reasons -- need to think about it some more, can't remember what "so-n-so" said about that, have NO CLUE which one to get...

(excuse the quality -- it was taken with Jeff's iPhone)

We pretty much closed the place down and didn't even MAKE it over to Target.  By the time we left, I think we both had headaches and our feet were killing us!  But Jeff was such a good sport.  I think he did enjoy being there, but he was like me -- there was just SO MUCH to look at and think about.  And I'm such an organized person by nature, it was hard for me to make a decision on something without knowing how Target compared, or seeing if there were any more like that in the store, etc.  I kinda drove myself crazy.  And really, we were all over the store about 3 times.

I did get online today and "tweak" a couple of things so I feel better about that, but like I said, we have a long way to go before I feel like the registry will be complete.

Jeff said he "needs a break" tonight (which means he'll probably be out in the shop; not a true "break", just a break from registering :), so we may try to tackle Target on Saturday sometime.  I also feel like I need to make another trip to BRU after we go to Target.  I may feel more comfortable by then and maybe it won't take as long.

Maybe.  :)

slight change of plans...

Okay, so we've made a slight change in our plans for the nursery decor.

In this post, I mentioned that I had picked out the crib bedding/nursery decor -- Paisley Splash.  Well, that has actually changed and there's a story behind it (I'll try to keep it short & simple :).

Early on, before we even knew we were having a boy, I found a set/collection that I absolutely fell in love with called Spa Baby.  It was not exactly my colors but close -- as close as I thought I'd get to my colors.  Plus, Jeff really, really liked it, too.

Well, then we saw the price tag.  OUCH.  My goal is to have the crib bedding plus 2 window valances (since we have 2 windows in that room) and a diaper stacker to tie everything in the room together.  Well, the crib bedding alone was WAY out of our price range, even with help from family or whatever.  Without even LOOKING at the valances and diaper stacker.  So.  My dream of having this particular collection for our baby's nursery pretty much died right there.  So I moved on and kept looking.  And found the Paisley Splash.  And kinda felt like I was "settling" but not really, because the more I looked at it the more I liked it.  And then loved it.  And was totally fine with it for our baby's nursery.

Fast forward to last Sunday, when I get a text from my sweet friend, Steph, and she's attached a photo of the bedding she had for her youngest son, with a message saying that she heard we were looking for bedding.  She said she remembered me saying how much I liked this bedding when I saw it at her house and wanted to offer it to us if we wanted it.

Well, guess what bedding it was??

I couldn't believe that she was willing to give.it.to.us. (FOR FREE, peeps!).  She had everything for the crib, including a couple of pillows and the mobile (which I NEVER envisioned being able to have), except the sheet.  And she had the diaper stacker.  So I would still need to get my valances and a sheet but that's it!

It was kind of a no-brainer.  And still I struggled.  You know how you get your heart set on something, even if it's not what you originally wanted?  Well, I had resigned myself to thinking we'd have that Paisley Splash bedding and it was hard for me to switch gears.  But switch I did!  I mean, really?  I would be a REEE-tard not to accept this HUGE blessing that Stephanie was offering.

And I'm SO GLAD I did!  We picked the stuff up from them the other night and it is sooo pretty!  And so soft!  And just perfect.  Jeff said, "This will look awesome in my crib."  Love that man.  :)

Here's what it looks like (factory photo -- NOT what our crib/nursery will look like):

One thing about this decor, too, is that you wouldn't BELIEVE how well it matches our travel system*!  I mean, until we got it home and in the same room, I had no idea.  They're almost the exact same colors and both have the circles.  I'm just increasingly more and more glad that we made this decision to change.  It has been a God-send and we are so thankful to the Moshers for their kindness and huge generosity!

*Yes, we have our travel system now.  It arrived at the office last Friday and we put it all together when we got home from my mom & dad's Saturday night.  It was pretty easy and kind of a milestone, for me anyway, to have this first piece of our baby gear in hand.

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.