And So It Begins

We are now officially in "prepare for baby" mode at our house and we've made some big strides this week!

First, I have finally come to a car seat conclusion. After weeks of reading consumer reports, NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) ratings and countless parent reviews I found I was often more confused than before I started the process! In this age of instant information I think there is definitely such a thing as information overload! At any rate, Drew accompanied me to Target earlier this week where the 2 car seats I had narrowed it down to were both displayed. Sorry Graco Snugride, while there were features I preferred about your seat, the final straw for us was the ease (or I should say, lack thereof) in strap adjustment. Not only do you have to reach behind the seat to tighten the shoulder harness (annoying), you have to completely re thread the straps as the baby grows (also annoying). The Baby Trend Flex Loc was our winner. So check that decision off the list!

Then, yesterday I stumbled upon a bit of dumb luck. Since finding out we were having a boy I've been considering how I want to decorate the nursery. I had a pretty good idea already and had it narrowed down to a handful of bedding sets. During my lunch hour yesterday I ran to TJ Maxx for another errand and of course wandered through the baby section. I've never seen baby bedding sets in TJ Maxx so I was shocked to find a complete set of one of the patterns I had been admiring online. They not only had the bedding set, they had the matching lamp. Just one left of each of them. And the price tag...a whopping $59 for the bedding and $12 for the lamp. I knew this was too good to be true so I snapped them both up and brought them home. It wasn't my #1 choice, but considering that was nearly $200 and here was one of my top 5 for only $59 I decided I could live with top 5. Here's a picture of the set. And just like that I can check another decision off the list! (I should also note that I couldn't leave TJ Maxx without splurging a little on some Calvin Klein onesies that were too cute to be true. Drew doesn't always let me dress him as I'd like to, but he can't stop me from having a GQ baby! And so I made my second ever purchase for my son.)

Finally, Nebraska Furniture Mart was just at the house delivering our nursery furniture. It arrived 4 weeks early and we are nowhere near ready for it, but since it's all boxed up it's no big deal to store in the house until it's time for Drew to start assembling. Here's a link to the furniture. We bought the 4-in-1 convertible crib and the 3-drawer combo changer in cherry wood. And now I can check the furniture purchase/delivery off my list!

Quite a productive week if I do say so myself! And so begins the transformation from what my cousin Meredith coined a DINK household (Dual Income No Kids) to a family of three.