The baby registry is COMPLETE!

A few weeks ago, we started our baby registry.  And by started, I mean - went to Babies R Us, received a lot of help from a few friendly store associates, got overwhelmed and hungry half-way through, and finished our afternoon with lunch from Five Guys Burgers and Fries.  Lunch was delicious, by the way. I have never eaten there before - but would highly recommend it!  As a sidenote, I never was a cheeseburger lover until I got pregnant - and then for 10 weeks I absolutely hated anything poultry or fish and loved everything with ground beef.  I still enjoy the occasional cheeseburger - but feel like they got me through the first trimester! 

Back to the baby registry.  The list that the store gives you is FULL of everything you could ever possibly need. Since we have never actually raised a child, I'm not exactly sure if we will need everything on the list.  Instead of registering for 150+ things, I decided to register for the ones that seem to be essential after reading blogs from other moms.

The beauty of the baby registry process?  It can be done online!  I spent my afternoon auditing the things that are already on our list, identifying the things that we have not added yet, and registering for anything that I thought we still needed.  I did not register for everything.  Some things we have or will purchase on our own (crib, bedding, dresser, breastpump).  Other things I've heard mixed reviews - like the diaper genie.  Some people love it - but it does not seem necessary for us.  The baby's room is close enough to our garage that we can just carry diapers to the garage trash.  Plus, the idea of a container that's sole purpose is to store dirty diapers kind of grosses me out. 

If you remember about a week ago - I blogged about our initial baby registry experience, including a few additional recommendations. 
A summary of everything that I learned:

• Prepare beforehand!  I was so glad that I had done some research on Consumer Reports before we went to the stores.  It really helped us narrow down choices for car seats, strollers, monitors, and the playyard. 
• Do not expect to finish it in one day.  I made that mistake - and was completely wrong!
• Take advantage of the store associates. They were extremely helpful during our experience.
• Try things out in the store! Especially the big items!  It is easy to register online, but I still enjoyed the opportunity to test out durabilty of products before scanning them.
• Go after the big items first - that way you'll have the major things done if you need to take a break or come back later.  You can also do what we did - register for the big things at the store and finish up the rest online!
• Eat before you go! :)

One more thing checked off my To-Do list!

Milestones

I consider life to be full of small milestones.   For example, today was the end of a small milestone for me.  The Corporate MBA program that I am in includes 6 weeks of class, three weekend classes held every other weekend.  Today wraps up one class – with an almost three week break until the next class begins.  This “break” is never truly a break – because it usually entails wrapping up a final for the previous class and preparing for the next class.  Regardless, it is still 2 weekends free of class!

Each class finished is one class closer to the ultimate prize – the MBA degree!  And until June, for me, each class finished is one class closer to the birth of my daughter.  To be exact, I have two classes left to finish before her due date.  The second class actually finishes nine days prior to my due date…which is slightly frightening but I’m remaining hopeful that I won’t deliver prior to this!

The classes actually go by remarkably fast, and the time spent in class on the weekends keeps my mind busy from thinking about everything related to childbirth.  While this process is exciting, I can imagine it would be easy to get overwhelmed thinking about all of the possibilities and everything that can go wrong!

We also have taken a few mini-vacations in the last six months – each one was right before a big doctor appointment (our first 8 week appointment and our 20 week sonogram!).  Looking forward to the vacay helped keep my mind from solely anticipating the appointment!

So, what are the milestones that have kept your mind busy during pregnancy?  Or raising your children?

Guilt Free Week for Moms!

Babycenter is hosting Guilt Free Parenting Week from February 25 – March 4. Okay, I’m clearly not officially a parent yet – so I can’t entire relate to parenting guilt.  But I can imagine that I will feel guilty at times – given the fact that I will be working full-time, attending class every other weekend until July 2012 for my MBA program, and trying to raise a child! 

I don’t like to feel guilty.  My philosophy on being a mother includes taking time for yourself, to be a better person and better parent.  I know that I will have to rely on my support system to make this happen (my hubby, mother, mother-in-law, sisters who live nearby and can’t wait to babysit, etc.). 

Regardless, I’m sure I will still experience guilt.  I found a great blog post that lists 7 guilt free (and economical!) splurges for moms. 

I’d like to add a few more guilt-free splurges that I hope to take advantage of when I need some “me time” in the future:

1. Treat yourself to a sweet (or two!).  I appreciate the suggestion of taking time for a cup of coffee, but I don’t like coffee!  I do, however, love sweets!  I especially love the mini frosted chocolate chip cookies from Mrs. Fields – small, cheap, and guilt-free!  So take some time to enjoy a sweet snack, either at a local bakery or courtesy of a food day at work!
2. Window shop! I love shopping – and shopping does not always mean spending a lot of money!  An hour or two of quiet shopping time re-energizes me, regardless of how busy my week at work has been!
3. Take advantage of a babysitter and go on a date-night!  The hubby and I currently have a lot of date nights.  I know this will change post-baby, but I hope to have at least one date night every month or two.  This will be a great time to reconnect!
4. Take a hot bath!  Who doesn’t love some time alone in the bathtub with a glass of wine and nothing but empty thoughts?  The key to being guilt-free here is letting yourself take some time away from thinking about everything that needs to be done at home!

I know being a first-time mom won’t come without guilt, but I hope to use some of these techniques to not feel guilty all the time!

Will I ever feel fully prepared to bring my baby home?

I still have about 15 weeks left of pregnancy (if she decides she wants to bake for a full 40 weeks)...but I am already trying to prepare myself for the first few days after she is born.

More specifically, I am trying to mentally prepare myself for actually giving birth.  I am pretty sure that until it is experienced, it cannot be described.  Regardless, I still am innundating myself with information from blogs, resource sites and books. 

So - my first question:  is a child birthing class necessary, optional, or pointless?  I've posed this to my Facebook friends and am looking forward to getting feedback.  I can't decide.  Surprisingly, the class itself is fairly inexpensive - $60-$75 seems reasonable for a weekend full of information. 

The description of a local childbirth class:
"Enjoy a fun, relaxing, yet educational weekend learning about childbirth. This program includes most of the same information as the 4-week series. A tour is included. Content includes methods of relaxation, breathing and pushing techniques, available pain medication and preparing for the unexpected cesarean birth."

Really? Do the words fun and relaxing go together with a class about the undeniably painful process of childbirth?!?  I think not, but apparently the hospital wants it to sound as appealing as possible!

Due to my and the hubby's schedule, we will have to take a class on the weekend.  Which means we'll spend 6 1/2 hours on a Saturday and 4 1/2 on a Sunday for the class.  I spend every other weekend in class for my MBA program, so the weekends that I do not have class are precious time to spend preparing for the baby (or relaxing!).  I am really trying to decide if the childbirth class will be worthwhile for our situation. 

In the meantime, one of my best friends is a Labor & Delivery nurse...so she'll be giving us advice and information along the way regardless if we take the class. 

What are your thoughts?  I know most people take the class the first time around - but was it really helpful?  I mean, ultimately the baby is going to be born one way or another, right?!? 

Before I get some much needed rest - I found a checklist that I found helpful.  It is a list of essentials that parents should prepare for bringing their baby home (courtesy of whattoexpect.com). 

In case you're wondering how I spend my time online...

Between working full-time, studying for my MBA program, and trying to plan for our unborn daughter - I do not spend as much time online as I used to.  I definitely do not watch as much TV as I used to! 

Needless to say, I still have a few favorite blogs and websites.  Some that  I visit regularly (blogs) and others that I occasionally visit depending on what I'm thinking about.  Recently, my mind has been consumed by crib bedding and cribs.

Which, BTW, someone should have told me that it takes up to 14 weeks to get a crib after you order it.  I mean, seriously I never would have guessed that! We waited until 20 weeks to really start thinking about nursery decor, furniture, registering, etc.  I wanted to know gender of our baby before I really started planning everything out.  It probably would not have impacted my decision about a crib...but regardless,that is my excuse for procrastination!

I really believe that OB-GYNs should notify you of this at your 8 week appointment.  The conversation could go something like this..."Look at the ultrasound screen, there is your baby that you can hardly tell is an actual baby but it is definitely there.  Come back and visit us in four weeks...and oh, by the way, you need to buy a crib ASAP.  Those things can take some time to come in!"

Back to the actual reason for this post.  In the spirit of my website, I have compiled a few of my favorite sites to share. 

Please feel free to send me any and all sites that you love!  I love finding new websites to browse or a new blog to follow!

In no particular order:

• This isn't a website - but an article that I found to be funny.  I have not experienced actually being a mom yet, but I like people who do not take themselves too seriously.  
• Another funny comparison of parenting the first vs. second time around.   
• I have found the What To Expect website to be helpful and informative.  I do not regularly follow their blog, but found this post interesting (and helpful!). 
• I stumbled across this blog about a year and a half ago.  "Blair" is funny, honest, and does not censor or sugarcoat anything.  I appreciate her approach to blogging and am a regular follower. 
• A friend shared Zulily with me.  I haven't officially bought anything yet - but I browse often!
• Custom crib bedding! I have an idea in my head for our nursery, and just ordered our crib bedding from Polka Tot Designs today.  They were so helpful and are making exactly what I want! I'll share the final product here when I receive it!
• Baby Center is another good resource, and has a listing of a variety of blogs related to motherhood.
• BABY LEG WARMERS! I repeat, baby leg warmers! I have already ordered four pairs!
• I ordered our crib and dresser today! I won't be visiting this website often, but I like to remind myself of what will be delievered in 6 weeks! Kelly's Korner is another blog I follow.  Kelly is expecting baby girl # 2 soon, and I find her spirit and fait to be contagious.  I would love to meet her in real life!
• I like the week by week pregnancy information from What To Expect better than any other website.  It's concise yet usually very accurate.  Also fun to learn about how much she grows each week!

 I hope you'll browse some of my faves - and send me some of yours!

The name game

We found out that we are expecting a little girl about a month ago.  Like many first time parents (or I suppose all expecting parents, regardless of how many children you already have) - we have spent a lot of time debating on names.  In the first few weeks, before we had told anyone that we were expecting, we spent a lot of time talking about names.  Most of that time was spent ruling out names. 

If our little one had turned out to be a boy, we had the middle name picked out (Alan, after both of our father's middle names).  We could not agree on a first name though (small problem that we would have worked out!).  We do have a girl name picked out, sans middle name.  And now we are in a constant debate over middle names...and still have not landed on one.

Meanwhile, I really do not want to "officially" name our daughter until she is born.  I have this strong belief that there are many people in the world who do not "look" like their name...probably because they were named before they were born!  Instead, I want to have a primary name picked out - but also want to be equipped with a back-up (or two).

One place that we have looked (but are trying to avoid all names on the list) is the top 100 list of baby names.  I specifically have tried to avoid the list of top 10.  When I was growing up, there were multiple Jessicas and Ashleys in my class.  I do not want our daugther to be "so-and-so H".  I want her name to be unique, spelled phoenetically, and also able to travel with her into adulthood. 

But you may be wondering - what were the top 10 names of 2010? 

For girls:

1. Sophia
2. Isabella
3. Olivia
4. Emma
5. Chloe
6. Ava
7. Lily
8. Madison
9. Addison
10. Abigail

For boys:

1. Aiden
2. Jacob
3. Jackson
4. Ethan
5. Jayden
6. Noah
7. Logan
8. Caden
9. Lucas
10. Liam

Small, random fact:  Jacob was the #1 baby name for 10 years running until 2010.  I learned that while watching a game show on TV!

Note: The entire top 100 can be found at many places online, I found this list on BabyCenter.com. 

Is anyone else out there struggling to find the perfect baby name?  If we could determine a middle name, I would be thrilled.  I also am still searching for the perfect "back-up" name.  I will probably never find it - because if it were perfect it would be our first choice name! 

In the meantime, Madeline is the current second-runner.  I do not love it, but it will work for now.  I'm not sharing our first choice name with many people until it is a full name (first and middle).  And, I'll continue to send the hubby at least 1-2 text messages a day with potential names.  He has begun to ignore me unless he likes it.  :)

Good luck to any other expectant parents who are debating names too! 

Things that increase my sanity

Let me start by saying this - we have a small zoo.  To be exact, we have two cats and a dog.  All three have long hair.  All three shed regularly.  Except they do not shed on the same schedule. 

A typical evening - these two are best friends. 

The constant stream of cat/dog hair drives me insane at times.  Especially considering our other cat is white...so we have white hair on our dark things, black hair on our light colored things, and so on. 

I wish I could vacuum every day.  Wait, I wish someone else would vacuum for me every day.  Since neither of those things are feasible, I have found sanity elsewhere.  Two of my favorite household electronics - I could not live without either of them. 

First, our Dyson vacuum.  And, no, I am not getting paid to write this. 

Dyson D14, obtained from Amazon.com

We received our Dyson as a wedding gift over three years ago.  It works as efficiently today as it did when we first got it.  I have not had it serviced yet (although I probably should soon).  I love that it is bagless, easy to use, can be used on carpet and bare floors, and picks up everything.  And I do mean everything.  We had a bagless vacuum made for houses with pets prior to the Dyson.  I cannot even recall the brand, but it was a decent vacuum.  It did the job well (or I thought it did).  And then, I used our Dyson for the first time.  Our carpet literally changed color after the first use.  It is somewhat disgusting the amount of animal hair that is is in the canister when I'm done vacuuming - but it is also a good feeling to know that our carpet is truly clean (at least for a little while!)

I am 100% positive that I will buy another Dyson when ours no longer works.  The version with the ball was not released when we got ours, but I love that concept and love that Dyson is obviously a leader in technology for keeping a house clean!  The only downfall is the price - but I personally think it is worth every penny (especially since I did not actually buy the one that is in my closet!).  In all seriousness, I like the saying "You get what you pay for" and truly feel that a Dyson is worth the price. 

You can find your own Dyson here:

I just purchased another little "piece of sanity" about a month ago.  Since our pets shed daily, it is hard to maintain a clean house without vacuuming on a daily basis.  Pulling out the full vacuum daily is not practical for our lifestyle, so a small handheld vac is perfect for use in between weekly cleaning sessions. 

I had a different handheld, which lasted for about a year and has now lost some suction power.  When I went to purchase a new one - I stumbled across this little beauty:

Electrolux Ergorapido, found on Amazon.com

Even though I have only used it for a few weeks - I'm already in love.  It has a docking station that keeps it constantly charged, there is a handheld component that is built in and easy to pull out and use separately, it works well on both carpet and bare floors, it is extremely light, and easy clean out.  Oh, and it is surprisingly quiet.  I think I'll even be able to use it after Baby H is born - without waking her up from a nap!

My only complaint?  It occasionally drags across our carpet when pulled backwards - I think because of the carpet height.  It is not a major inconvenience - but it is noticeable at least once during each use. 

It is a little pricier than similar models by other brands (about $100 msrp - I bought mine for $80 after a 20% off coupon from Bed, Bath and Beyond).  It has been worth the price so far.  The test of time will tell if it is truly worth it - if it works efficiently for more than a year it will be worth it!  I'm under the assumption that it will, it seems to be good quality. 

You can find your own Ergorapido here:

 I am all about sharing things that I love with others - and these are two things that I love.  I am very conscious of animal hair in our house - and will only continue to get worse about it once the baby gets here.  These two wonderful electronics allow me to keep our house "fur free" without taking up a ton of my time. 

Who knew a baby NEEDS so many things?

What was the perfect Valentines Day gift for me this year?  A day of preparation for the baby…courtesy of my sweet husband.  Or, maybe that should say – courtesy of my husband who kindly obliged because I’m pregnant and occasionally hormonal ;)

I felt fairly prepared for this adventure.  I have read a few baby books, researched top brands for cribs, strollers, car seats, play yards, etc.  I even utilized Consumer Reports to research reviews on safety.  And guess what, I was still overwhelmed.  Overwhelmed may not even fully describe our experience. 

Babies R Us and Target are the two best options for our geographic location – we (and most of our family) are too far away from Pottery Barn or other larger stores to make registering at those stores practical.  I preferred Babies R Us, as they had all of the top rated items that I wanted (stroller, car seat, high chair, play yard).  The entire store is color coded and they send you through the store with a color coded list of everything you could potentially need.  And this is the part that becomes overwhelming…It is easy to identify the big things you need, it is the things they tell you that you must have for everyday use that made this process overwhelming for us.  We never guessed that you would need 25 different items to feed and bathe the baby. 

Overall, it was an interesting experience.  And it did not help that we arrived right before lunch (without eating anything prior). 

The overall lessons that I learned:

• Someone could make a lot of money (at least from me) to consult with first time parents on what is actually needed for their child
• Stores are motivated to encourage new parents to register for everything…the more items on the list, the more likely they will make money on the registry
• The baby probably does not need everything that is on the list.  I could be wrong, but I have a feeling that we will be able to successfully raise our child – even if we do not have 15 receiving blankets and 8 different accessories for our stroller.

If you have not completed your registry yet, hop on over to my website for a full "how-to" guide to creating a baby registry.  This walks you through step-by-step information on ways to make the registry process as simple as it possibly can be. 

Good luck!  

Baby Showers!

I need a lesson in baby shower etiquette. Okay, maybe not fully, but as I’m preparing a list for each of the upcoming baby showers I am struggling with who to invite.

There are the obvious people: close family, close friends, co-workers….people that I see, talk to, or keep in touch with on a regular basis.  That is the easy part. 

It’s all of the “others” that I struggle to know where to stop.  Friends of my mom that I never see, yet she insists on inviting.  Great Aunts and fifth cousins that I only see at funerals, yet my Grandma would have her feelings hurt if we don’t invite all of them.  Friends that invited me to their baby shower eight years ago, yet I haven’t seen them for over six – and now they are popping back up on Facebook to congratulate me. 

My concern?  I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.

·    I don’t love showers.  Don’t get me wrong, I love going to them for close friends and family – and love the idea of “showering” someone with gifts.  I don’t love the ones where I don’t know anyone and they last for hours and I have to play stupid games.  We’ve all been to those.

·    So to follow that point, not everyone wants to be invited to a baby shower.   

·    Showers = gifts.  And I feel bad inviting people that I’m really not that connected to, because that makes them feel obligated to buy a gift. 

·    The more people invited, the more cost for the hostesses.  And while they would never complain and are gracious enough to host a shower for me – I still don’t want to obnoxiously invite too many people!

·    The more people there that I hardly know – the more awkward belly patting involved.  Because let’s be real, only people who hardly know you and are over the age of 65 really feel compelled to rub your baby bump.  Can you say: awkward?

Moral of the story – I have three showers scheduled (including a shower hosted by my co-workers) – and I am trying to keep the guest list for each at an absolute minimum.  That said, I still have to be sure to please everyone with requests (Mom, MIL, Grandmas, etc.).  And I’ll feel a little guilty when I invite some people that I hope do not feel obligated to come or send a gift...but I’m hopeful that I’m following all etiquette appropriately!

A great blog to follow for first-time moms!

Are you an expectant first-time mom?  Are you overwhelmed with all of the information available online?  Do you wish there was a resource that provided good information without trying to sell you something? 

Welcome to my blog!  I am going through the same adventure that you are, and am due in June 2011.  I live a very busy lifestyle (work full-time, completing an MBA program full-time, and trying to balance my personal life!  Oh, and exhausted most of the time thanks to the pregnancy!)

My blog, found at http://www.firsttimeworkingmom.blogspot.com/, is a place where I will share information that I find helpful. I will also talk honestly and openly about my experience as a pregnant and expecting parent.

The blog will discuss:

• Experiences, such as completing the baby registry (which we plan to do in a few weeks)
• A list of products that I love
• Recommendations on books to read
• A list of my favorite online sites
• And much more!

Visit the blog, visit my website, and follow both!  I also welcome all input from others that are going through this experience - so please share your stories with me! 

Enjoy!!