We called 911!!!!!!!!!!!! (Part Two)

Yesterday we shared about phase two of our baby registry adventure. Read on to find out SOME of the funny moments, educational insights, and the big shocker!

Funny Moments
- We related everything back to our dogs. For example, we saw the same shampoo brand at Babies 'R Us that we use for our dogs! It's a healthy, all-natural shampoo that our pet store highly recommended we use. Apparently that company makes baby shampoo, too! We also saw many bath toys. I said, "Oh! Philos and Chara would love those!" Baby gates: already have those for the dogs. Check! :) Bag refills for portable dirty diaper bag holder: we use those for the dogs! We actually bought some bag refills while we there because we needed more for Chara and Philos! :)
- We had questions for almost everything: "What does that do?" "What would we need that for?" "Really? We need one of those?"
- Eric's face and reaction when Laura said that many doctors ask for rectal temperatures when little babies are sick!!! Ha! Ha!
- Eric's quick "No!" response when Laura asked us if we would use cloth diapers! I had actually thought about the idea, but Eric HATES gross things. Guess who cleans up most of the dog poop and throw-up in our house? Me! Eric will have lots of fun with a little baby! :)
- Just watching us be so clueless must have been quite comical!

Educational Insights
- Boppy pillows are not just for nursing - they are also good for resting the baby on when he/she is taking a bottle or for support for the baby. I would have never registered for one of those!
- Bottle nipples come in different flows (slow, medium, fast).
- There are pacifiers that glow in the dark so you can find them at night!
- Little pacifier cases are sold now so pacifiers can be easily found in diaper bags.
- Realizing how many little things are needed. Thank goodness for baby showers! I'll try and purchase registry items now for future showers I attend instead of something else.
- There are so many different types of bottles, pacifiers, bibs, spoons, diapers, blankets, burp cloths, baby carriers, etc. For a good bit of items, baby preference comes in to play.
- You can trade formula coupons with other people through the mail.
- Having 2-3 changing pad covers is wise.

Things We Wouldn't Have Registered for on Our Own but Did
- boppy pillow
- extra inserts for the car seat (head supports)
- extra car seat base for our 2nd vehicle
- baby wipe warmer - really?!?!
- gas relief drops and gripe water
- boogie wipes
- baby cotton swabs (the cotton part is larger - didn't know that)
- freezer storage containers for homemade baby food (I would like to try making my own baby food)

The Shocker
- Prices! Formula! Wow! That stuff is expensive!

By the end of our registry, our list went from 6 pages to 11 pages!!! Does that mean we are officially registered now? Yes and No. We have the items we want listed on our registry, but we also still have items on our registry that we don't want. For example, we couldn't narrow down which pack-in-play we wanted, so we just scanned several of them. Other items we scanned but we need to go back and make some decisions about those items. For example, we're not sure if we scanned the correct car seat base. If you would like to humor yourself, feel free to check out the crazy things we registered for prior to Laura coming to our rescue! Hopefully sometime soon we will be able to go back and clean up our registry so that it will be ready to share with others.

Overall, this second trip was much less overwhelming since we had someone to give us explanations, direction, and advice. We really had fun picking out baby items with a special friend. We feel much more confident now in our baby knowledge. Thanks, Laura, for answering our 911 call!

We Called 911!!!!!!!!!!!! (Part One)

Even though we have no indication yet as to when our time for a placement will come, we still decided to go ahead and work on our baby registry so we can have it finished and ready when it's needed. In an earlier post, we shared that we began our registry in November. We did not finish it then because we were overwhelmed by everything in Babies 'R Us and had NO idea what to scan in the last section of the store (the bottles/pacifier/meds/bath section). When we got back in our car that day with our registry left unfinished, we called 911!

The 911 call was made to one of our dear friends, Laura. We needed some MAJOR help, so we called her. Laura and her husband John have been a HUGE blessing to us in our college ministry leadership team at church. They are two of the most selfless and giving people we know. They were so willing to help us out and pour into us when "our girls" were here, and they have done the same during this adoption process. John and Laura have three young children, with the youngest under a year old. Laura certainly knows her baby stuff, so we were excited she could help us out.

If you could have been an onlooker of us Friday night, you probably would have been rolling on the floor of Babies 'R Us, doubled over in hysterical laughter! Eric and I have worked with children of all ages for years and even have little nieces and a nephew, but there is still SO much for us to learn. Thankfully, Laura was SO patient to explain everything we needed to know. She had even looked at our registry ahead of time to know what crazy things we had already registered for or didn't register for. Laura was helpful in minimizing the overwhelming feelings of seeing SO many items to choose from.

CHECK BACK TOMORROW TO READ ABOUT OUR FUNNY REGISTRY MOMENTS, REGISTRY EDUCATIONAL INSIGHTS, AND THE BIG REGISTRY SHOCKER!

Baby Registry Begins

On the eve of our 9th wedding anniversary in November, we began our baby registry!

This is a great picture! Do you realize what is on Eric's head?! I'm pretty sure that is NOT a hat, but it made for some good laughs at the time. :)

Eric had fun using the scanning gun! He did let me scan one or two items, but I had fun watching him have fun. We thought we could just go in Babies R' Us and scan quickly. Ha! What a joke! We had NO idea what we were doing. We scanned all kinds of things we probably don't need and didn't scan things we probably will need. In fact, we didn't even finish our registry. We'll have to go back later to clean up and finish up. When we left the store, we immediately contacted a good friend with a desperate plea for "HELP!" She will accompany us when we go to finish our registry. I must say, it is different scanning items for a baby registry when your tummy has no baby bump and you have no clue when you will even be meeting your baby! That was an overwhelming trip in many ways. Eric and I used to dread going in to baby stores or baby sections of stores. It hurt (especially when shopping for baby shower gifts). This time we were going there to register for our baby! Although we don't know the "due date" for our little one, it was really exciting to finally be picking out baby items . . . even if we didn't register for the right ones. :)