Baby Overloads 'R' Us

Okay, housekeeping issues first: I officially require a pillow pyramid to sleep comfortably at night and even then I can't say the process is exactly dreamy. Secondly, lots of baby movement. But man, is she fickle - one minute she's moving a ton and loving it, the next minute, she's refusing to do anything. It's like I already need cheerios or something to sweeten the deal. "Dance, monkey, dance!"

Now on to our top story --- The Baby Registry! Well, we did it. We spent about 5 hours yesterday polishing up our baby registry. Luckily, I have good friends who have all taken this leap prior to me so I enlisted their help and best consumer reports. This made for more advised decision-making while in the throws of RandomBabiethingsRUs. However, that said, this was by far the most overwhelming experience of the entire baby having process. I had no idea that we would spend an hour in one aisle of the store examining latex nipples. Who knew?? A year ago if someone said "latex nipple" to me, I would have had horrible, inappropriate images. Now, they're the bane of my existence.

Another spot we spent a significant amount of time was the one housing the little mini baby bathtubs. None of these looked comfortable! Would I want to be bathed in one of those? What about the one with massaging jets? Necessary? What kind of stress could this child possibly need to have "melted away" by the "soothing jet action"? We actually ended up going with a tub that has a separate sprayer nozzle thing. You see, my only experience with bathing a living entity involves something of the canine persuasion. Typically an old Big Gulp glass has proven sufficient for circulating the water over their mangy locks. I'm assuming this is grounds for dismissal from the Mother of the Year club, so we went with the sprayer nozzle thus sparing the child from the ritualistic baptism with the recycled soapy water.

And finally, we (after leaving to fuel up on a much needed and very late lunch and ultimately regaining consciousness) got to the "gear" section. This section afforded us the opportunity to browse the many ways to transport your cargo. We had high chairs (ick), car seats, strollers, "travel systems", play yards (the contraption formerly known as "Play Pins"), swings, entertainment centers (huh?), exercisers, bouncers AND jumpers! Like the nipples weren't enough! Now I'm bombarded with a section that should be entitled "places to sit your kid". Because that's precisely what this area entailed. Yeesh. Oh, and apparently an exerciser is key to good parenting. I had no idea. I had really planned on going with the baby elliptical trainer, but apparently this little saucer contraption is paramount in burning that troublesome baby fat.

Ultimately, we finished our registry and made all of these life-altering decisions with no disagreements or emotional meltdowns. I thanked Josh for enduring this retail torture because I really would have crumbled without him. He was not only a nice, calm voice of reason, but he was also immeasurable comic relief. Had it not been for him, I would have been one of the many whaling cries echoing throughout the aisles of the store. (That place is crawling with children - now I realize the name is "babies r us" but after I give birth I can't imagine going there at will!) It was a taxing day and for now, we can rest easily (pillows and all!) knowing we have all of these critical decisions made for our little bundle. Hopefully she can fully appreciate the textured, water resistant changing pad we chose for her...... it's really nice.

:)
Week 20. Happy 4th of July!
http://www.babiesrus.com
We're registry #98922357