The joys of registering

If you walked by me now, you'd probably laugh at how bleary-eyed I am - at least one guy did when he said "good night!" and it took a good 30 seconds to respond. That's because I'm still working on registering for baby at Babies "R" Us, and I couldn't possibly be more overwhelmed!

Actually, that's not true, because I was on Sunday when Jason and I went to register. When we arrived, we were one of maybe 4 or 5 couples in the process of filling out our forms and getting the info needed, but we were taken care of pretty quickly by the very knowledgeable and friendly registrar - were up and about in 10 minutes or so. Checkout took much, much longer, though, with many customers complaining that the one, less friendly and competent registrar, was taking too long. It was at least 20-30 minutes once we sat down, and if you know New Yorkers, particularly pregnant, hormonal New Yorkers stuck in a crowded and overheated store, they don't take that kind of thing quietly (we were probably the most patient, though I was on the verge of tears a few times). Otherwise we spent 2 hours walking around the more-crowded-than-last-time store (though we knew it would be a long and painful process), trying to at least figure out our bigger items. Sadly, as a child of the Internet age, I wanted to read the reviews on many things (breast pumps, toys, etc), before scanning. Some things I scanned though I wasn't sure I loved, and later deleted. And really, we only got through maybe 1/6th of the list before I almost had a meltdown and was too lightheaded and nauseous to continue, and my wonderful husband told me we just needed to go because I was too overwhelmed and nearly crying (of course this was followed by the long checkout).

We think we have most of our major purchases picked out. The only question being the bedding set. We'd had one that was pale green and brown and retro that I loved, but found another that is pale green and brown that is organic with bunnies that I love a tiny bit more. Unfortunately, neither set is currently available online, so pretty much whichever makes it first will probably be the one we go for. The crib we chose is tall and inexpensive, but converts into a toddler bed later on. And the stroller we chose is definitely the most expensive item, but will in essence be our "car" for baby. It's a Maclaren, which I was told is the only stroller to consider in NYC as it's lightweight with a strap (I have about a 3-story walk up to the subway where we live), and though we could've gone with the cheaper version, this is the only one approved from birth to 55 lbs. (the others were all 3 mos. plus, and I don't want to have to rely only on a sling and backpack during that time whenever we go out, particularly with my back and neck problems), and comes with 3 different reversible pads, as well as a foot muff (much needed as I'm due in January), and rain cover. We also went with the least expensive, yet highest reviewed car seat. It almost seems a waste since the only time we'll need a car seat really is when we leave the hospital (it's illegal to leave without one), and Jason suggested borrowing one from someone. But I'm just thinking it will be better in case of emergency to have our own - for instance if we have to run to the hospital or back and need the seat.

So the rest of this week I'll spend "finalizing" (I have to put that in quotes because obviously it's going to change over and over until baby actually arrives) the registry; I've just spent the last 5 hours or so between work figuring out various apparel and safety products, and definitely still have a ways to go. I know some people are frustrated that we don't know the sex but it's really not that hard. Lots of natural colors, meaning whites, creams, browns, greens, yellows, and blues. I am avoiding pink, though, as I just can't do that to a little boy (and I'm still 60+% sure that it actually is a boy).

Honestly we're not expecting anything to actually be purchased for us (although I am doing a secret stork, that is, secret Santa, with the women on one of my pregnancy message boards). Anything we get would be a blessing, but I can't honestly tell if we'll have a shower or not (one of the single men in our church community group got all excited about it, and thinks they should have one for us; he asked if they could bring beer, which I think is hilarious, though!), being that most of my family and several of my closest friends are in Seattle, California, or the Chicagoland area. The registry will be a great guide for us, though, and we'll somehow figure it out.

When it comes down to it, though, we'll probably go with Jason's rule of thumb: "if it wasn't around when we were babies, then we don't need it, because I think we turned out OK!"