This year we forewent our usual night out at one of Birmingham's many nice restaurants for a Valentine's Day date at Buy Buy Baby. (For those of you who haven't heard of this store (it's new to Birmingham), it's a Bed Bath and Beyond partner store dedicated solely to baby stuff. Think of it as Babies R Us' larger, big brother - on crack.)
Though we didn't really plan it, this turned out to be a pretty wise move on our part. Do you know how many less crazy, stressed, deer-in-the-headlights because "holy crap do I really need all this stuff????" parents-to-be are in this mega baby store on a Monday night, let alone the Monday night that happens to be Valentine's Day? About as many as you can count on one hand.
We practically had the store to ourselves. Which was great because it honestly takes a very long time to wade through all the options for strollers, travel systems, pack n plays, swings, bouncers, etc., etc., ....EVEN when you have an amazing husband who has already done all the research online and has his Consumer Reports app pulled up on his iphone anyway so you can compare the ratings for the Graco, Chicco, and Peg Perego infants carseats side by side -- while you literally try to lift each one after the other to figure out which is lightest. It doesn't really matter because apparently you put an 8 to 35 lb baby in them anyway and then the light factor goes straight out the window.
Case in point of how overwhelming this store can be: the photo at the beginning of this post. That's just the stroller and carseat section. But wait, there's not just one type of stroller - there's umbrella strollers, jogging strollers, and your travel system that's the special stroller that also holds your carseat. Then there's the carseat itself. You can opt for an infant carrier that will be outgrown in a year or a carseat that can grow with your child. Plus, there's at least eight different brands for all these options. It's a little overwhelming to say the least. Not to even mention the whole WALL of pacifiers (PACIFIERS!) they have on display!
But, we survived. And managed to put together a decent registry for Baby Boy Adams, primarily because my sweet friends are throwing me a baby shower on March 13 which is less than a month away, thus the need to get those registries in place.
It is much easier to register when you have great friends who are experienced moms that are willing to share their wisdom and guide you to the stuff you really need, the "can't live withouts," versus the "nice-to-haves" or "completely useless," "total waste of money," and "just takes up space" items.
Case in point: we registered for two ultimate crib sheets. Not just one. Great moms swear by them. We also decided against a travel system and instead opted for the Chicco infant carseat with the baby trend light and easy to collapse stroller base. Too many parents had told us they never use their travel system because it's just too bulky and heavy and nine times out of ten the mom can't carry it and put it in her truck by herself anyway, which renders it a pain at best and an expensive useless baby item at worse. (Some of you out there may love your travel systems. That's awesome. I honestly couldn't figure out how to collapse most of them, so this girl's got to go with what works for her.)
The surprise of the evening? How much fun we had registering - selecting the best items for us, being confident in our research, and in what seemed a very real way preparing for Baby Boy Adams, who is going to be here before we know it.
And it all somehow happened to be romantic too. Nothing will make you more thankful for your dear husband than seeing all the time and effort he puts into preparing to welcome his baby boy and ensuring he is well taken care of - all while calming his hyperventilating wife who is realizing for the first time she can't shop on her feet for more than two hours without having back and feet pain from the eight extra pounds that have amazed in her midsection.
So even if we didn't get that night out a Highlands, or have a gourmet home-cooked meal on our fine china, or even get to swing by Chick-fil-a for Robert's favorite chocolate milk shake like I had planned because we closed out the store and, well, by then even Chick-fil-a was closed for the evening....we still enjoyed a very special Valentine's Day as parents - who get even more excited about the coming arrival of their little man.
