Gotta New Crib (and Chest, and Dresser)

Well, the first major purchase is behind us--the kid has furniture. I sure hope he/she likes it, because he/she is gonna be looking at it for awhile. : )

We starting glancing through the furniture a couple of months ago, just to get a feel for the styles that we like, colors (white, natural, cherry, etc), costs, order policies (all up front, 50% down, etc), and any cute salespeople. Wait, forget the last one. After getting past the initial sticker shock (what, you mean you can't get all 5 pieces for $200?!?!), we found a set that we liked at Babies R Us. It was a tea-stain color by Bassett Baby, and had a nice, classic look to it but didn't feel too formal. Then we stumbled across a set that we thought we liked better over at Kids Furniture in Cordova. We thought we were set on that one, but still kept an open mind and continued to explore all options. This particular set is by Angel Line, and comes in your choice of the above-referenced colors/wood finishes. After going to Babies R Us one more time (as if Leah needed an excuse) to make sure that we hadn't missed any new products, or changed our minds, it was back to Kids Furniture to spend a whole lotta dough on the little peanut.

For those who may not be familiar with baby furniture these days, the "convertible" crib has become quite popular. That is, it can be converted to a toddler bed and even a full size standard bed. Some come with all the necessary stuff, others make you buy a "conversion" kit. But the options are still there. Then you have the options such as dressers, chests, changing tables, etc. But some dressers are designed to double as changing tables. I know, it made my head hurt, too.

Some might say that we're doing this too early. Well, as anyone who has ever bought oak or hardwood furniture can attest, rarely do you leave the register and pull around back to load it up. You have to wait "4-6 weeks." What if it comes in damaged? Well, that'll be another 4-6 weeks, but they might get to rush that order since it'd be a do-over. In other words, it isn't really advisable to go out a month before your baby is born and decide on furniture--you might just be having to put the baby in the bathroom sink for awhile if you did.

Of course, now the hard part is waiting on it to get here. Yes, we bought furniture, but we can't show it off. Heck, even if we took you to the store, all you'd see is the crib (and not the other pieces). Yes, we still have to paint the nursery, and do a bit of cleanup, but I can hardly wait to get that furniture in the house--it will start making the transformation from "spare bedroom" to "nursery" seem a lot more realistic. Now all that's left after we get it in....buying a mattress (you want springs or foam?) and deciding on a pattern for the bedding (gender-specific or neutral?) which will get the paint selection and decorating into high gear.

Suddenly, it doesn't seem like we accomplished that much at all. But alas, we're halfway there, and things are starting to roll. We're come a long way since January, tears, and a fertility meds prescription.