Yesterday Jamie and I decided to take a quick trip to the baby store (and felt a bit unprepared) to look at a crib we found online, and thus the questions began. Lifestyle crib, or crib that converts to a toddler bed only? Drop sides or fixed sides? Modern or Traditional? And the list could go on and on and on. These questions only gave way to other questions....such as what to buy before we go (nursery furniture excluded)? What type of stroller - travel system or not? If not, what kind of car seat? Do we buy a travel tent (found at Land of Nod) for the little guy to use in Kaz? Do we get a highchair now or wait? Play gym? Clothes? Bath stuff? Etc., etc., etc.
So many questions have entered my mind in the last 24 hours that I think I need to make a list:) If anyone has any advice on the above, on what we really need before we travel, while we travel, etc., or would like to share a short list with us, that would be fantastic!!
Here are the three things we did buy which I believe are sound investments: a diaper bag (very cool one btw that Jamie can use), an inflatable tub, and stacking toys to play with in the bath. Beyond that...well, we need help from the more experienced:)
We hope everyone has a fabulous New Year!! Here is to bringing home Baby Michel in 2008!! Whoo hoo!!!!
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7 comments:
Wow can we relate to that one! I recently spent 3 hours in Target one day just staring at the pacifiers and formula and diapers, etc. as I had no idea what to get! And I was only getting stuff for the trip over! In any case, we decided on the convertible figuring that a 12 month old may be able to climb out of a regular crib in a year. But they are much larger than the regular cribs so may need to get a smaller one as we plan to co-sleep in our room for the first 3-6 months or so.
By the way, if I didn't introduce ourselves before our paperwork has been in country since 15 Nov. so we are anxiously awaiting a region assignment. We are also originally from Chicago and big Cubbie fans. Our blog is http://climbingcradlemtn.blogspot.com but we are soon going private so you'll have to send your email address if you want in invite.
I read Kelly & Snes blog too!
We're not sure whether we're getting one or two children (probably 1). We got a convertable crib. Someone gifted us the stroller. We registered for a carseat. However, the local hospital has a free carseat program and you may want to check there if they have it too. Why pay for one more thing, right?
We got nooks and formula, toys, books, rocking chair... bath toys. Good luck on the shopping - its kind of fun! And get those sales!
By the way I like your blog! How'd you get that picture up there? Looks great.
I can't wait to have these problems at the Baby store! Just one more thing to drive my husband crazy with. I think it's very hard for us adopting parents because we really don't have any idea how old or big our babies will be until we leave the country and meet them. I think hand me downs are great but I can't wait to start making the fun purchases like the baby bag and clothing.
Great new picture. We have a crib that changes to a toddler bed, wait on the highchair and clothes. The travel system stroller depends on how much Michel will weigh. Noah used the bucket seat for about 2 months after we came home but he was TINY at 17 months. Now it is sitting in our garage and has been for 2 years, Josh was too big for it. My favorite stroller is the Peg Perego. We have a Pack N Play that works great for traveling but we have never used it as a play gym. I would suggest the Baby Einstein ExerSaucer or Jumper for when you are in the shower.
Happy New Year,
Kim
LOL!! Oh boy do I remember that! Talk about overwhelming!
First of all, I love the picture at the top. Beautiful!
We chose the 3-in-1 crib (as opposed to the lifestyle) simply because we wanted to do the bunk bed thing when she was old enough. We both loved bunk beds and forts and stuff, and kinda hope she does too. By the time she's old enough to move to a bigger bed, we figured she'll want to help choose the style anyway.
We have the BOB Stroller and LOVE it. Totally love it. Brand name aside, I recommend having two strollers- the real one and the "cheap" one. The cheap one is the umbrella stroller. It's meant for quick in and out, and going into small spaces (i.e. a quick grocery run). The "real" one is the one we use in malls, at the fair, on the streets, on the trails, etc. I recommend getting a stroller with large, rubber wheels. Listening to hard plastic on pavement and gravel gets annoying very quickly, and small wheels mean more effort on your part.
The whole car seat/travel system was defintely a tough decision because we had no idea how big she was going to be when we brought her home. Most of the kids from Kaz, by the time we bring them home, are too big for the whole travel system so that's what helped us to decide against the travel system. I love Britax for the car seats. We ended up buying two- 1 for each car. They have inserts for infants and can handle 5-60 lbs. Perfect! Just in case she was tiny, we'd have it covered. They're also the number 1 in safety per the websites I was looking at.
As for everything else, It's so much a guess. Even if you know the child you're traveling for, it's still a guess. High chair vs. booster seat with a tray? Both have pluses and minuses, but either will work.
If we were to travel for infant #2, I wouldn't do the tent/travel system for Kaz, but that's my personal preference. The next time we go, we are taking as absolute little as possible. Big suitcases work awesome as cribs if there isn't one available. That's my preference on that though.
Toys- get a few, but buy the rest after you figure out his personality and likes and dislikes. Some kids love blinky toys that make sounds. Some kids like silent stuffed animals.
Ok, ok, this is getting to be a huge ramble. Sorry!! I hope some of it helps a little.
Hi Kim and Jamie,
Not sure which site that I got your blog from but we are AArk alums also. We brought our 3 year old home in April. Our blog is on the Kazapalooza site under NICK!
My advice is to borrow, borrow, borrow for anything in the beginning, then once you are home, you have plenty of time to make decisions based on size and personality. We were travelling blind like most. We had applied for 2 siblings but were pretty sure we were only going to get one so we assumed it would be a baby. Nope, an adorable 3 year old that did not want to sleep in a baby bed nor could he use any of the baby items that we brought....although he liked playing with the little thing that holds pacifiers to baby clothing??
We ended up donating almost everything baby that we took over there. You can buy plenty of clothes based on the size over there (the bigger cities are more expensive) but we outfitted Nick with 3 outfits, winter gear, shoes and underwear for about $80.00.
We took a few toys and books but don't take too many. We also bought toys there and then just left them with our translator.
As far as bedding and carseats. We had a babybed borrowed from my sister and Nick used an extra mattress on the floor until we knew how he was going to do with sleeping. Just be flexible. Don't feel like you have to have it all figured out. They have been in an orphanage and don't need much. We did the Britax up to 60lb carseats also. Stroller was an umbrella for the trip. They can sleep almost anywhere in the apartment so don't try taking a bed. We had to carry all of our luggage onto our plane on the last leg into our smaller town....the less the better.
I am rambling too so if you have any questions, feel free to email at hensleykhensley@aim.com.
Your mantra should be less is better. AND, don't take extra toilet paper....just lots of kleenex packets for when you go potty outside your place...rarely is there TP in public toilets! ;)
Karen Kitzman (proud but surprised mom of Nicholas, 3 yr old from Zhezkazgan, Kaz)
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