Few Topics...I know you hate that so I bolded titles

Ridiculous??

Apparently Kim had a reunion in Saskatchewan this weekend (family or school, I don't know) and Tyrone "needed" to play poker this weekend, so Mary drove from Edmonton to Calgary to baby sit for them. Does anyone else think its ridiculous that she will drive 3 hours to be a free babysitter for them? She watched both Tehya & Kira and bragged about how Tehya slept from 9pm to 4:30am so she only had to get up to feed her then. Isn't that Dad's job?? When other people go to their "jobs" they usually have a sitter of some sort so why shouldn't these two? And Kim is suppose to be breastfeeding so how can see leave Tehya for the whole weekend? I'm sure she pumped or something, but she's only like 2 1/2 months. Not that I don't think it's healthy for a person to leave their baby and get out, but I'm not sure if I could do it for a whole weekend at that point. I think I would have been inclined to take my baby with me and then find a sitter for portions of the weekend if need there in Saskatchewan.

Bumbo Chair Update: After seemingly ignoring me for like a week, my brother finally responded with "hey Crystal what's their number so I can send the stuff tomorrow" yesterday. He apparently has been busy sleeping and working, let's hope that is true LOL I told him I hoped it was more working than sleeping. So in theory, the chair will be on it's way to Kim today on the bus. However, I will not feel confident about that until its official.

Daddy Felt Baby’s First Movement

It was actually really late Thursday night when Tyler first felt the baby move. I’ve been feeling it very strongly for a few weeks now and I saw my belly move shortly before Tyler’s birthday so I thought he should be able to feel the movement from the outside soon. From that point it was just a matter of timing since Tyler has been working away in Fort Saskatchewan during the week.

I think I was more excited than he was, or at least what he showed. Since I’ve been feeling it for a while I really wanted to share that experience with him. It makes everything seem more real.

Baby Room/Nursery Decisions

Vanessa has decided that she is most likely coming down around July 1st and for a few days that follow. Quite a few months ago I told her she could paint baby’s room for me as she is much more anal with detail than I and Tyler doesn’t have a lot of time at home (nor does he want to paint the room again). With an actual deadline to work with for when painting colors need to be decided I was getting anxious to make some decisions, specifically the bedding as I think that is the starting point for the room. While I am anxious, I am also trying to savor the experience as I love shopping & decorating so I don’t want to rush the decisions. For the last few months I have been looking at bedding mainly in the blue/chocolate schemes as I like that color combination. Well this week Tyler announces that he isn’t really a fan of that scheme as it’s “boring”. He’s completely entitled to an opinion (as the baby is half his contribution), however that would have been nice to know months ago when I started the bedding quest!

Luckily, one of the sets I found while looking at blue/chocolate stuff is a bit more exciting (think more turquoise, green, brown and animal print) and he liked that one. Today we are going to “Babies R Us” (as they have it in stock), so we can feel it (very important in textiles) and see it in person to know if it’s the right one. Every time I think I like a set, I’ve put it on my blackberry background so that I see it quite a few times a day. With the first two sets I did that with, I started liking them less and less. With this set, I like it more and more and am actually getting very excited about it. It’s a nice balance for me of gender-neutral, funky yet timeless. Most likely, if/when we have baby #2, I would use this set again so it’s another reason to go gender neutral. I’ve decided I can go crazy on the boy/girl specific stuff when doing a toddler room! Then you have a little bit better idea of what they are into at that point. INSERT: We bought it! Got to use a coupon because we “started our registry” (why not) so we saved $21 which is better than no dollars. The set was almost twice what I wanted to pay for a bedding set but I know I liked it cuz I didn’t care (and Tyler seemed to have accepted it as well).

In addition to the bedding, we’ve decided on the furniture: crib and change table/dresser pieces. When I started looking at cribs I really wanted chocolate furniture, however the crib that I like the shape and style of best only comes in white. It’s a combo crib that turns into a bed down the road so I think style is more important than color in this instance. Especially as all crib colors are essentially neutral. Not to mention that the change table/dresser we love is from the same set and only comes in white also. I want to get a good crib but I also don’t want to spend a ridiculous amount of money (again – balance) so of all the ones I’ve seen, I really enjoy this set the most.

My mom had told us she wanted to buy “furniture” for the baby room as soon as we told her we were expecting. I recently asked her about the budget and what exactly she wanted to buy. She said “$1000”. Well the crib I have picked out is $299.99 so that’s way under budget. She then told me I can pretty much spend the entire $1000 getting what we need for baby’s room. I may love to spend money but Tyler has also taught me to shop for deals. The crib & change table I like are from Sears, but I was at “E-children” in Edmonton and they have the exact same one marked down $40 less than Sears. Score! I don’t even really have to factor in gas, etc into the cost as Tyler is working in Fort Sask near Edmonton and can pick it up anyway. So I put a deposit on it at E-children (so it doesn’t get sold on me), which is my first official baby purchase. Pretty impressive if you know me well LOL Well I guess I technically bought a monkey puppet in Dallas so it’s purchase #2, but Major Purchase #1.

Pictured below, crib (picture from sears.ca) & change table/dresser (took picture in store). And no I am not getting any of the pink accessories right now, try to picture it with the bali bedding set from above.

So far here is my shopping list for my Mom’s moola (Including taxes but not shipping costs):

Major Pieces:
Crib from Sears…………………………………. $314.99
Crib Mattress from Sears…………………………$73.49
Change Table/Dresser Combo Piece……………..$199.45 (saved $42+)
Change Table Pad from Sears…………………….$31.49
Chocolate Glider with Ottoman…………………..$FREE (inheriting from Mom who got it with my brother Cody)
Subtotal = $619.42
That leaves me with $380.58 to contribute to other nursery factors, with the major components covered. Sweet suite!

Desired Set Pieces for Bali Bedding Set:

Bedding 4pc from Babies R Us………………………$294 (saved $21 used a coupon)

These are the pieces I'd like to get to go with the bedding:

Valance from Babies R Us .………………….………..$41.99
Changing Pad Cover from Babies R Us ……….....$36.74
Artwork 3pc at Baby Pops.……………………………$66.14 (or $73.49 from Babies R Us)
Extra Fitted Sheet at Baby Pops...........................$47.24)
Subtotal = $192.11
Rug………………………………………………………………$104.99 is the price from Toys/Babies R Us, but I think I am going to look around for something that will go but is cheaper.

Megan, my hair stylist friend who is also an amazing artist (who has also volunteered to take prego photos for me) has ALSO offered to come do some mural or other type painting for the room for us. I found this animal paintings online and thought they were cute, so they may be the inspiration for us, but I'm not 100% committed yet. I think they're adorable though.