Baby Overload!

Just how long can two reasonable people spend in Babies-R-Us with a scanner and not go insane? About 2 hours. Give or take.

Yes, we went to Babies-R-Us today, and I think we did a pretty good job. We registered for the stuff we needed (or thought we'd need), and we tried to be somewhat practical. We know that the baby won't be eating any solid food for awhile--so no need for dishes quite yet. We aren't sure if we want to give cloth diapers a try (HappyHeineys has some pretty cute covers & special inserts that seem to be appealing--but apparently available only on-line, though there is a place in Smyrna that Janet says sells them), so we didn't register for diapers (we'll probably pick up some newborns just before the Bean arrives just to be safe, too). We also know that people are going to be giving us TONS of little t-shirts, onesies, cute clothes, etc., so we didn't register for any of that stuff, either. Yes, we did register for some cute baby things--a couple rattles (Rachel, one is on there just for you...you'll know which one it is. And not for you, as in, the rattle would be yours...well, you know what I mean.)

We also didn't feel like we got enough "baby" at Babies-R-Us, so we went to Target, too....not as much stuff on the Target registry, but some stuff.

If you want to see the registries, we're under "Chauntelle & Patrick Hardin" at the Babies-R-Us site (I think this link will work: http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/babyregistry/102-1786128-2325706 ), and put in last name "Hardin" and my first name, with "South Carolina" and I should pop up. Or, you can put in our registry #: 52278598.

At the Target registry, we're under "Chauntelle & Daniel Hardin" (http://www.target.com/gp/registry/babyreg.html/601-8507520-4544962?ref=nav_t_spc_3_13/601-8507520-4544962 is their not-very-cut&paste-friendly website address), and on the left of the screen you'll see "Find a Gift Registry"--they just ask for the 1st two letters of the first name, last name & state, and we should pop up. Now, Target makes a suggestion that "Parents who registered for the items in your Gift Registry also registered for..." and this makes it seem like we also registered for all this Classic Pooh bedding, lamps, etc. Well--not that I have anything against Classic Pooh, but we've not signed up for any of that stuff. We don't have a "theme"--keep in mind, we have a small (700 sq. ft.) apartment, and we don't have a nursery, much less space for a whole lot of "stuff."

We did not register for a crib--we're hoping that the Graco Pack-n-Play will serve as a bassinet & changer for a few months. All the reviews we read on it were favorable, and to be honest, we just did not see a bassinet that we liked (and no room for a dresser/changer in the apartment. Yes, I know we won't be in the apartment forever, but I don't want to assume we'll be out by the time the baby comes, and then have all this furniture that we're having to climb over to get into the kitchen). We looked at all the bassinets Babies-R-Us had (Target didn't have any...we were a bit disappointed in that), and we even took them down off the shelves, took them apart, and just weren't happy with them. And, I think that Target.com will even ship the Pack-n-Play directly to us, which is a bonus! Also, if we travel, we can take that with us, and that may help a little if the Bean has a familiar sleeping place go with him/her.

In fact, just about everything we registered for, if we could take it down & play with it, we did. I think the stroller guy thought we were crazy, but we didn't care. We drove the stroller around, folded it up & down, attached the car seat to it (which we didn't think was a possibility--we decided against a "Travel System" and instead opted for a car seat & stroller that Consumer Reports liked as separate entities, and were pleasantly surprised to learn that the ones we picked out worked together)...in fact, if they'd had "tester babies" that we could have popped in to see how the baby would fit into the car seat & stroller, we'd have done that!

We opted against registering for bottles & breast pumps (sorry, Dad...know that it's probably not something you want to think about...). I've got a breastfeeding class given by the hospital coming up in the next couple of months, and figured I'd have a better idea of what I'd want after that. Plus, I don't know if you've been in a Babies-R-Us lately, but there are so many kinds of this stuff...and really, you can't really "try it out" in the store (lordy, I hope you can't....). So I figure I need to get more info & come back to those types of things.

The diaper bag that we saw & liked is at Lands' End--it's the "Do It All" Diaper bag, in black, and here's the link for anyone who wants to take a look: http://www.landsend.com/cd/fp/prod/0,,1_2_678_66249_109422_87869_5:view=-1,00.html?CM_MERCH=PAGE_66249&sid=2452195690127167850

(again, we're very practical, we know--no fuzzy ducks on the outside, no sparklies or sequins. Hey, Patrick is going to have to carry this thing, too, you know!)

And, we figure that there are plenty of moms out there that will see our registry & think, "Oh, they forgot such & such" and so will pick that up for us, and for those types of things, we'd be eternally grateful (since we really don't know what we're doing...we were just having fun with the little electronic scanner thingy.).

Anyway, peruse the registries and be amused at our complete lack of understanding of what babies need....

We're looking at March 18 to visit the folks in Knoxville for our "family trip" (again, the official baby shower will take place in Greenville....I'm sure once it gets closer, Mom will step in with details--right now, my head is swimming with baby acoutrements and the eternal question: "Did we buy the right stuff?"), and we're looking forward to seeing everyone in K'ville!

(And just to remind everyone--whatever is purchased, we're going to have to load it in our car, along with the stuff we brought for the weekend trip, and then unload it, so please keep that in mind. Or, kindly provide a sherpa.)