Baby Projects

We are almost done with the baby projects. I didn't realize that babies needed so much stuff. We have bought a pack and play which, in my opinion, is not up for much packing. I think it weighs 100 lbs! This was my first baby purchase and when looking at all the options, I went with the Eddie Bauer branding, thinking it was the best one. After unpacking the monstrosity and trying to put it together, I realized this may not be the case. First baby lesson - search the internet first for ratings! I finally got it together but I don't see how I will get it apart, let alone, pack it up and put it back together somewhere else. I will have to let Kevin play pack mule on that one! My original thought on the pack and play was to have it in our room so that the baby could sleep there until he slept long enough to go in the crib. Well the "rocking bassinet" portion is a bit scary and it doesn't really secure enough to ever stop rocking. As a pack and play it will do fine, as a bassinet, not so much. I found this co-sleeper that connects to the bed and can be stand-alone. I think that this will work much better.

Our second major purchase was finding a car seat and stroller. If you have every seen a "travel system", it is a thing of wonder. There are so many buttons, gadgets, layers, drawers and accessories, it might as well have been a new car. I never would have thought that it would take days to be able to pick one out. I didn't want a mini cooper for a car seat, I just wanted a car seat that was light. After Kevin's frustration of trying to get each travel system to fold and un-fold, we decided that there had to be a better, simpler way. We decided on the car seat frame. It is a wonderful invention by Graco, where you buy a compatible car seat and it locks into a stroller frame. No gadget, gizmos, cup holders or wipe warmers. Just a stroller. Being in Dallas, it was amazing that we were able to find something like this. Most stores probably would not carry this option for fear of offending the Plano Princesses with it lack of options. The beauty of the system is that online I found the matching swing frame. I love it!

We decided that since we have very limited space for furniture, we would reuse what we have and try and make it as space efficient as possible. We have a baby's room that double as Alicia's room and the guest bedroom. That makes Ikea a wonderful place. We bought a bed that is has a dresser as the base. It is fantastic. Although we filled half of it with closet stuff to make room for baby stuff, it still has enough room for Alicia's clothes and toys. We also needed a dresser for Ethan, so Kevin had a brilliant idea to refinish to dresser he had that I think is 100 years old. It was a fabulous shade of mustard yellow. I wasn't aware that there was ever a stain invented that was that color. After days and days of sanding, staining and varnishing, it looks beautiful. The only downside is that we picked a stain that was between walnut and cherry. While it looks fabulous, matching a crib is not so easy.

Our last purchase was the crib last weekend. I think I have seen every style of crib that has ever been made. I don't think I put as much effort into my own bed, ever. First, we were going to try and match the crib to the dresser. Impossible. Then we decided to ditch the color and go for black. But then there are all the options (sound familiar). Do you want to he crib to just be a crib, should the sides go up and down, should it convert to a toddler bed, day bed, love seat, full size bed???? How many different ways can a person use one piece of furniture. The kicker is that you have no way of knowing what you kid will want. So they con you into buying all these accessories - just in case. We decided to leave to accessories for the other suckers and just buy a crib. Just black, goes up and down, converts to a day bed. However, my dissapointment came when we went to purchase it and it was on backorder. I don't know about you, but I love the instant gratification of purchasing something new. I want to get it home and see how it fits. Especially after all the work that went into picking one out. Now I have to wait 2 weeks to see the crib in the room so I can, yet again, rearrainge all the furniture. I guess waiting the 2 weeks isn't nearly as long as I have been waiting for this little guy.

Last project - ceiling fan. The babies room started out being the guest bedroom/NY Yankees memorabilia room. All of Kevin's Yankees pictures are there and, being Kevin it took a very long time to get them all in EXACTLY the right place with the perfect spacing and alignment :)
When we first found out we were going to have a baby, I wanted a jungle themed room with baby animals. However, given that we found out we are having a boy, I am going to lazy route. Why take all the Yankees stuff down when you can just add to it? I am not sure how Alicia is going to feel in the yankees room but we will have to cross that bridge when we get to it. We had replaced all the light fixtures in the kitchen and living room and ended up with a stock brass and white fan. Instead of throw it away and buy one for the baby's room, Kevin again had a great idea. He wanted me to paint a Yankee's themed fan. If you haven't noticed the theme, he is the idea guy and I do the implementation. That day, I went out and bought spray paint and the next day, we had our Blue and Gray fan up. It really does complete the room and a good idea to save money.

All we have left to buy is the mattress. We are waiting for the crib to arrive so we can go pick it up. Kevin has found the one he wants so thankfully we don't have to go out and look at all of them.

For now, that is everything. Now we are just waiting for our little Ethan to come play. We can't wait!