Well, Baby Elise should be arriving in 25 days. We've already had the baby showers and we're at the point of doing the final preparations of getting her room and all the needed supplies before she comes home. I had a great time seeing my family and friends despite the fact that I am not always comfortable being the center of attention.
The showers were the fun part, registering however when you're not around babies all the time can be a stressful experience. Did I register for all the things I need, did I register for enough or too many big ticket items (keep this in mind for people who go in on group gifts), will everything I register for be available by the time the shower rolls around? I decided to register at Babies R Us and Amazon.com. I have had nothing but wonderful experiences with Amazon, plus we have Amazon Prime, so free two day shipping is always handy. I waffled between registering at BuyBuy Baby & Target, but settled on Babies R Us because there was no BuyBuy Baby close to my out-of-state relatives. Thinking back on things, I wish I had registered anywhere besides Babies R Us.
I did most of my registering online for Babies R Us. I know that some of my older relatives are not computer savvy and would feel more comfortable shopping in a store rather than either buy us clothes or have their children or grandchildren help them out shopping online. It seemed like daily the amount of items that were available from Babies R Us shrank to the point that only three or four items were available at the store. I immediately started adding things and subtracting things so that my family would find items they could buy. It was too late though and although it's awesome that I probably won't have to buy Elise any clothes for the first 2.5 years of her life, it would have been better to have the extra car seat base or the cloth diapers that we're planning on using.
To top off my Babies R Us experience, one of my gifts was a copy of a book that I received two of. I attempted to return it with my copy of the registry and all I got was flack from the associate that I didn't have a gift receipt for it. If it wasn't for the fact we were planning on using our completion coupon on the crib we registered for I would have erased my registry then and there. The store near my house never looks all that tidy and I have only met a few employees there that were helpful. Honestly I wish BuyBuy Baby was closer than 35 miles away although it is located near an Ikea so I can coordinate shopping trips so it's not a huge suck on fuel to get out there.
I will say that for price and value, Amazon.com gets my vote. Most items range from $20-$100 cheaper than the competition. I am planning on using my completion coupon from there to buy the Britax B-Ready Stroller and the Keekaroo Right Height Highchair. Britax will be offering their Ride Free Event again starting in September. I wanted to participate in this event when it was going on earlier this year but had some other things come up so I delayed buying the stroller which I had planned on selecting the car seat as my free item. I received the car seat as a shower gift and because of that and the fact we are planning on attempting to have baby #2 in the coming year, I am going to opt for the second seat for the free item. Amazon has the best price for the B-Ready around plus I like the fact the stroller is an inline duo stroller instead of a double-wide.
As for diapers, I'm going to make a trip to The Little Seedling in the next week or so and get a starter selection of BumGenius 4.0 diapers. Many of my friends who did cloth diapering on their kids loved them and the ladies at The Little Seedling are extremely knowledgeable and friendly. It's nice know that they are local and helpful just in case I need help, which I know I'm going to have lots of cloth diapering questions.
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