Registry rationale

Putting together a baby registry is HARD WORK.

After talking to a few girlfriends who have recently had babies, I feel better that I am not alone in thinking this.  It's funny how smart gals with common sense can be overwhelmed by putting together something as seemingly simple as a baby registry.  

There are so many silly and unnecessary products out there and it's hard to cut through the noise to figure out what you really need and when.  

I have spent hours reading baby product books and researching, comparing features, and reading product reviews until I've narrowed down the items I think we'll like best.  I've kept by my side the sample registry list I found in a magazine and slowly - very slowly - I have either checked an item off as "registered for" or scratched it off as "not necessary."  

Some items have been saved after being written off as not worth it once I consulted with others who have kids.  Like the Boppy pillow, for example.  It seems like a gimmick to make you spend money on yet another baby "supply."  Why can't you just use a pillow if you need support?  One friend did just that, but she was outnumbered by four others who absolutely insisted that the Boppy was a lifesaver.  One girlfriend told me last week they have three, I believe - one for each floor of their house.  My youngest sister went so far as to just buy me one out of fear, I think, that I wouldn't register for it.  So, the initially silly Boppy was saved and arrived last night on our front porch.  

I find I have to really think through even little things like sleep sacks.  Little Kittel will be a winter baby, so she'll obviously need something on the warmer side.  Ok...a fleece sack it is.  In fact, two fleece sacks in case an accident in the middle of the night warrants a change.  But which size?  How long are babies, particularly newborns, in those sizes?  What if she's like another girlfriend's baby who, I just learned, runs hot.  On to the list went a cotton one, which then required another round of deciding on colors.   

And so it has gone for the last month.  Read, review, compare, list.  

I am happy to say the list is almost done!  Just a few more items to decide on and the registry will be good to go!  Now which stroller system should we use...?  

Questionable investment?

At 22 weeks pregnant most couples invest their money in baby things.  Dropping big bucks on nursery furniture and baby necessities is likely where a lot of their cash is going.

Not us!

We bought ourselves an airless paint sprayer!

It's all in the name of baby though.  You see, we still don't have a master bedroom...an upstairs main bathroom...or a nursery that's even on the road to being ready for Little Kittel.  And almost every one of these projects requires a LOT of painting.  Todd putting together the new (amazing) tool.  Yes, that concrete jungle is our backyard.  One day, there will be many posts on it as we rip it out and start over with awesome landscaping.  Anyway...painting...

Lulu just has to check everything out.  Kind of looks like she's about to do karaoke, doesn't it?

Never mind, she probably thought it was the hose, which she loves to drink from...

Here comes Rigby!  A duet...

Back to the important stuff...This new sprayer is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!  Over the weekend I primed and painted 1/4 round for the dining room by hand.  It took awhile.  Todd had an old sprayer, nothing like this one, that we tried using to paint the wainscoting for the bathroom, but it went caput (hence the new sprayer).  With all the clogging of the nozzle, the small amount of paint it held, etc., we covered the backs of about four boards in an hour.

The NEW sprayer??  We covered one side of six boards almost all at once in under a minute!  Talk about production improvement!  We blew through all the boards of wainscoting!  They are now sitting patiently waiting for their quick coats of paint and then...voila!...on the wall they go!

If the new sprayer means we have a completed upstairs by the time we a) have a baby shower here, and b) actually have a baby, then I think this was an excellent investment indeed!

Big, life-changing news

If you didn't already know, or you missed the "public" announcement on facebook...

We're expecting!

And we're expecting a baby girl!  Todd and I found out last Tuesday at our first ultrasound that the little bun in the oven is indeed a girl; and from the ultrasound photos below you'll see there is very little question.

Being pregnant hasn't been too much of a secret, especially since at 22 weeks you can tell just by looking at me (or if you follow me on pinterest you've probably noticed a lot of baby-centric pins).  But I hesitated making any big announcements until after we were assured everything was A-ok from the ultrasound and previous blood tests.

We actually found out there was a Little Kittel on the way right after Easter.  At that point I was about eight weeks and had no idea until I started calculating time tables while making Easter dinner.  I told Todd my thoughts and decided to take a test the next morning.

I read the directions a few times, then did as instructed.  When I came back to check, there it was, a faint + staring back at me.

Though we had decided to start rolling the dice I don't think I was truly prepared for the reality looking me in the face.  I was excited, happy, scared, and rather in disbelief.  Being my first baby, I had absolutely no idea what to expect, so, I immediately ran to the local bookstore to pick up that famous book that answers that question.

And so we've boarded the baby train!

Check out our Little Kittel on the way...

If you look carefully at the top right photo you'll see the word "girl" typed between her legs.  The doctor described that photo as, "it's like the baby is sitting on a glass table and you are underneath looking up," to which I replied, "She better not be behaving like that!"  The doctor then came up with another analogy about sitting on a Xerox machine.  It didn't exactly right the image in our heads...  :)

A few more snapshots of her...

And my favorite...the very clear profile of our baby...

It's crazy to think that's INSIDE me...that I'm PREGNANT...and I'm going to be a MAMA!  A lot of times it still doesn't seem real.  But then I look at this photo and think of how this is just the beginning.