Monday, June 7, 2010

It's A Baby.....




To both of us it didn't matter what we were having, but we are excited to welcome a baby girl into our family! We both were sure that it was a boy and for some reason I was shocked to find out that is was a girl! Like I said it did not matter if it was a boy or girl and now the planning begins! I am overwhelmed right now with all the decisions that I have to make now. I have to design a nursery, find furniture, find bedding, pick out what I am going to register for and so much more!!!! I have been looking at bedding but can't seem to find anything I like. Then there are the decisions on what car seat and stroller do I want? I need help!!!! This past weekend my mom helped me clean out and rearrange some furniture in our house, but we have so much more to do!!! Marcus has been very busy the past few months working on the exterior of the house and I know he will be happy to be finished with that, but it seems like the list of things to do keep growing!

I need some expert opinions:
1. Where is a good place to look for bedding? I have looked online and everything for a girl nursery is too girly for me! I am leaning towards turquoise!
2. I think we are going to Houston to look at some stuff...where are some places that we should go look?
3. What car seat and stroller do you like or what do you have and not like?
4. If I buy a regular dresser that is not baby furniture, will the contoured changing pad work on top of it?

Can you tell that I have too many thoughts going through my head to sort all of this out! I am overwhelmed and need help! I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about all of this stuff! You would think that I had plenty of time to look and think about this but when you are going through infertility it is hard to plan for something that you thought you might never get! So if you have experience please share your knowledge with me! I want the best for this little girl!

10 comments:

Jennifer Douga said...

We have a Britax stroller and car seat. Shane picked it out and we really love it. Also, we bought our nursery furniture from USA Baby in Houston. They have a great selection of furniture, bedding and other cute items. I'm so excited for y'all. The fun has only just begun.

Anonymous said...

I'm a retired OB nurse... don't buy pink yet! *lol* Too many pictures have been interpreted wrong. Just wait a bit... and congratulations, on which ever you may have... boy or girl. :-)

Hollie said...

We really liked our Graco travel system car seat and stroller. If you can find one on albeebaby.com you may be able to save some money. And you may not want to buy pink carseat in case your next child is a boy... You wouldn't want to buy everything all over. Or you might... Just my thoughts.

And we bought our crib at Texas Kid Company. We have a lovely $600 crib... that has never been used. And a lovely bedding set from Babies R Us that has also never been used. I SWORE I would never let a kid sleep in my bed... Ha! I wish we would have not gotten all of that stuff. The playpen is good enough to sleep in for a long time IMHO, just keeping it real. A few playpen sheets, a couple of receiving blankets, and that would be enough.

If you do go the full crib route, Texas Kid Company is very nice. They have super cute bedding also, a little pricey, but really cute.

If you buy a regular dresser, you should be able to fit a changing pad on it. We used an antique buffet that was just perfect.

I will be glad to answer any questions.

Michael Paine said...

I understand how you feel about not finding anything you like for bedding. I made my own. If you get to the end of searching and you would like bedding made for you I can certainly try. I have done it twice now. You would just have to find the fabric and call or text me 527-1160. That way it can be exactly what you want... :-)


Oh yeah and the conture changing pad will work on a regular dresser you just have to find out how to secure it to the dresser top. Safety first!

Jenn said...

I like my Graco stuff. All my stuff matches (stroller, car seat, pack and play, swing, high chair). Whatever you pick out make sure it is gender neutral...you never know what you may have the next time!! Anyway, I like my Graco stuff, but I love Jenn Douga's Britax car seat. Looks bigger than mine and like it may last a little longer...of course my stuff is over 4 yrs old..lol.

As for my furniture...I got it from Babies R Us in Houston. My dresser is made for the contoured changing pad and when you take it off as the baby is older it can be used for decorating space or whatever. I used it for Cade right up until Ayden was born. Very nice quality. My crib was easy to assemble and disassemble then re-assemble..lol...still good quality...no warping or anything from being in the attic.

As for where else to buy furniture...TX Kid company or USA Baby are probably the best if you want a bunch of pieces to match, but they will prob be pretty pricey.

Jenn said...

BTW...you are more than welcome to come by and look at my stuff if you want to..lol...just to get an idea of what you want. Mine is all set up and being used every day.

Chrystal (Hebert) Lundy said...

First, Lindsey, CONGRATULATIONS! I'm so excited for you, and would be no matter what sex the baby was! :)
Secondly, I'm apparently going to be the only "cheapo" in the group of commenters (lol), but my cousin gave me her carseat/stroller combo and it's a evenflo set. It worked really well, even though we hardly used the stroller all that much. Now I've moved Aythen to a bigger forward facing carseat, also made by evenflo and I LOVE IT.
As far as his bedding went, I had a hard time finding something I liked, but finally picked out something at nurserydepot.com. It was affordable and cute, and not too boyish/babyish. For this baby due in 5 weeks, I couldnt' find another set that I liked as much, so we'll be attempting to make it ourselves.
Furniture, we also went inexpensive and bought the Graco (lauren series in espresso)bed and changing table from walmart.com. I love it so much, we're getting the same bed for this baby too (as aythen is still in his). Not getting another changing table, but will try to find a dresser to use as one this go around. We use everything though; he's slept in his own bed since day one, and we change him every time on the changer. So, we've gotten good use out of everything, and it's still holding up very well. I have no complaints!
Hope that helps a little. Sometimes, it's not worth it to spend big money. I've found the quality of everything we bought, inexpensive or not, to be great. :)
Enjoy the fun of the shop/hunt!! So glad for you!

Anonymous said...

Well, everyone has an opinion on what is best, but I'll tell you what we like!
I have a chicco keyfit 30 carseat and I love it- it is so easy to use and has a very high safety rating. I didn't want a travel system because those strollers are just too bulky and I would never lug them in and out of my car...I also wanted something that would work for a long time. So...we got a Peg Perego Si stoller and I LOVE IT. It has an attachment system for the chicco and graco car seats- so I can use it as an infant stoller, but it will also serve as a lightweight stroller as he gets older. It is wonderful.
As for bedding, I spent a lot of time at babysupermall.com and ended up with the habitat bedding (but the rest of our nursery is not themey and I got a lot of storage, art and rugs from The Land of Nod). Our furniture is Munire and I could not be more pleased with its look and quality.
Anyway, this is the fun part- so enjoy it! Congrats on your baby girl!

Mom2Mcube said...

You can put a contoured pad on just about any surface that is a comfortable height for you. I actually used a potter's bench as a changing table. I saw the idea in a kid's room design book. I painted it apple green, used round finials on the legs and it was adorable. Not to mention VERY practical for a changing station, with the shelves on top and underneath.

Jessica said...

Just a few thoughts from my experiences...
-Don't register for alot of blankets, maybe just a couple that you reallllllyy like. You will probably end up getting a ton of blankets at your shower, regarless of what you register for. haha
Mrs Billie's blankets are the best! Still using ones that I've had since Luke(plus new ones she made for K). They are perfect for swaddling(most receiving blankets are too small for swaddling). I use my Billie-blankets for everything.

-I would go gender neutral for the carseat, stroller, pack n play...
Two reasons for this,
1. you will be getting TONS of pink and frilly stuff since you're having a girl. All that is awesome and fun, but it will be nice to have a few things for the baby that AREN'T PINK. haha
2. The next baby may be a boy... :)

-Like Glenna said, contoured changing pad and go anywhere. I think that a regular dresser is a great and practical idea

I'll let you know when I think of any more of my motherly wisdom. hee hee
SOOOO EXCITED for you guys! Congratulations!