The Nursery is Finished!

It's finally finished! It's been a long progression, but here it is:


Before we painted -- it was still the Man Cave.








Once we painted and had some of the stuff in the room. We thought it was finished, but no, there was much more to come.





The final product!

A view of the entire room.









The crib -- it's all about the Monkeys!









The reading nook, an essential for a member of our family.








And my hospital bags..... If only I could use them..... Just 9 days left!!!

Rolling in style

Over the weekend, we went up to Lancaster to see Gretchen's cousins, aunt and grandmother, since they couldn't make it to the shower. They gave the monkey a lot of great gifts, including what has to be the Maserati of strollers if not the Rolls-Royce. This thing has more style then I could hope for in a month of creative pants choices, opens itself, and even has a bug net. Plus, the wheels are big enough that I could put the bug net to good use and take it on safari, and we have some blankets that match the overall look. All in a package that's greener then my hybrid Camry.

Just the ride:

Getting ready for the safari:

First Baby Purchase

Since Ted is creating the anti-registry (see below), I have been giving serious thought to the real registry. Yes, we have purchased and/or received a few little things for the baby (including a fantastic Dogfish Head Brewery onesie), we have yet to purchase anything of real value or use. One of the foremost concerns and major purchases is the stroller.

As parents to be, the stroller purchase has become more important than a major car purchase. And since my car is about the size of a large golf cart, we are very limited by space concerns.

So of course, being the snobs that we are, we find the single most expensive stroller on the market and promptly fall in love with it. Yes, the Maclaren, the Lexus of strollers, favorite of celebrities and yuppies everywhere, known for durability, small size, and style. And of course, the accompanying price take that can singlehandedly give you preeclampsia.

But there is a cheaper option! For a fraction of the cost of the big daddy strollers you can get just the base that you snap the car seat into (a "Snap and Go"), and voila! You have a stroller! The downside is that once the kid turns three to four months, you have to get a bigger stroller, but the non-infant ones are significantly cheaper.

And here is the best part -- normally the Maclaren version of this stroller runs around $90. Ted and I were in Babies 'r' Us (NEVER go here unless you have to or want to have an incentive to take extra birth control), testing out all the strollers. And yes, we were discussing turning radius, shock absorbers, upholstery, available upgrade packages-- it really is like buying a car! And then my brilliant husband saw it -- the floor model of the Maclaren version of the Snap and Go (the "Easy Traveller" -- nothing is easy when you have a baby). And here is the best part....

IT WAS ON SALE!!!!

So we grabbed that bad boy and wheeled it right out to the car (with a quick pit stop to pay for it, of course!).

Next logical step -- to see if we can put the cat in it and take him for a walk.