Pediatrician - check.

I met with our prospective pediatrician today and couldn't have been happier - I think she's perfect for us! We are on the same page with respect to vaccinations, antibiotics, nutrition and healthcare in general. She gave me a copy of their clinic's baby care binder which contained all kinds of information and said that we'd add to it as Nora grows. This is great - I'm so relieved!!

I also asked her if there were any books that she'd recommend that I read before Nora comes home and she suggested two: Parenting From the Inside Out by Daniel Siegel and Mary Hartzell and Caring for Your Baby and Young Child, Revised Edition: Birth to Age 5 by American Academy Of Pediatrics

The second book we already have (we got it free from State Farm!), but the first one is new to me. It is apparently about examining how our parenting is shaped by the way we were raised. I think it's about not repeating your parents' mistakes. All I can say is that if I'm half the mother my mom is, Nora will turn out great.

Totally unrelated to my visit with the pediatrician, Nora got a beautiful present today - my friend Z was in San Francisco on business last week and he bought Nora the prettiest outfit in Chinatown. He even got shoes (I think we have Z's wife J to thank for that!). Isn't it so cute?!

New choice for retail therapy!

Be still my heart - a new concept store from Gymboree.

www.crazy8.com

Worth the wait

Old Navy has a website where you can order stuff now - I'm pretty sure that before it was just a homepage with maybe a store finder. Anyway, I saw a link this morning and decided to check it out. Look at this onesie -- $7.99 and the sentiment couldn't be any more perfect.

The power of suggestion

Rob and I went to a waiting families gathering hosted by our home study agency on Monday night. Beth, our social worker, was talking about a book she had read called The Baby Boat (This is not an endorsement; I haven't read the book yet, although I do now have it on reserve at the library). Anyway, one of her discussion questions was about nesting. Rob was quick to point out all the stuff - toys, clothes, books, etc. - accumulating in Nora's room. Thankfully, one of the other women had bought MUCH more than I have (three snowsuits! We only have one that I bought on clearance last winter). Anyway, on the way home I asked Rob if he thought I'd bought too much for Nora. He said no, that as long as I bought stuff on sale it was fine with him.


Well....today at lunch.... SALE AT GYMBOREE!!!!
I really love that all of these mix and match with each other. And did you see the sunglasses??? SO cute. Now baby needs some shoes! (I'm kidding, honey).

Get thee to Target!

It started off innocently enough, just a quick after-work trip to the local Target store... but of course I had to walk by the baby section (looking for a changing mat for the August China packing list challenge task). I didn't find a changing mat that I liked, but I did find some incredible bargains on cute baby clothes. Look at this - the cap was only $0.98 and a couple of the onsies $2.78. The most expensive thing was the skort and even that was less than $5. Pretty incredible.The logic behind the gray t-shirt was that I thought it would look good with the little velour track suit that I bought on clearance at BabyStyle last Spring. I know, it's very pink... but doesn't it look comfy?While I'm thinking about this -- does anyone know if we can donate clothing to our child's orphanage while in China? There's no reason why I couldn't snap up a bunch of this stuff while it's on sale and take it over to China with us. It wouldn't take up much room - and it would be a nice placeholder in the luggage (give it away when we get there and fill up its space with souvenirs).

Gearing up

While I've bought some toys and books and a couple of little outfits, I really haven't purchased any of the baby gear that I know we'll need. No high chair, no car seat, no stroller... I know that we have plenty of time before Nora comes home, but I'd like to spread the expense if I can and avoid the big cash outlay right at the time when we'll be paying for a trip to China. So what I've decided to do is watch the sale sections on all my favorite websites and start snapping up some of these necessities.

This morning I found a Combi Urban Sling diaper bag for $24.99 at BabyStyle. That's an awesome price for a diaper bag and it's stylish and neutral enough (we got the black) that I think either Rob or I could carry it without embarrassment. I'll let you know what we think of it once it gets here.

By the way, the downside of frequenting all these websites is that I find a gazillion other things that I'm not shopping for but can't resist. So, in the box with the diaper bag, there will also be a 12-18 month velour track suit.

... pink knitted booties topped off with bling, these are a few of my favorite things

Wendy from the Dec DTC group has an Etsy store called The HeiWen Way where she and her friend sell all kinds of neat soaps and stationery and stuff. My favorite item was these baby booties -- I just had to order them for Nora! They are so cute with the "bling" at the top. They must look suspiciously like a dog toy, though; Maddie is fascinated (or maybe she just likes the bling?). I hope that she doesn't try to steal them off Nora's feet!

It's never to early to start the brainwashing

This week I had the opportunity to go on a recruiting trip to our alma mater, the University of Illinois. Traveling there is sort of crummy -- it involves two flights, one on a prop plane -- but it was great to visit for a little while. I also got Nora her very first Illini-wear, in two sizes so that she is never without some Illini orange!

Pandamonium!

I had the day off today (which meant that I worked a half day from home) and decided to do a little shopping in the afternoon. I found some things I wanted - gifts for my Secret Pal, actually - and was standing in line to pay. The woman in front of me had a huge basket of stuff that she was buying, so I was standing there waiting for quite a while. I was just kind of looking around, up higher than where I normally look and I saw IT - a stuffed panda on a shelf labeled "Clearance"! He's 17" tall and was marked down to $5! He came home with us. He doesn't have a stain on his belly, by the way, that's just some weird shadow that showed up in the photo. He is perfect :)

I ran the bear up to Nora's room when I got home and on my way downstairs I noticed a box on the porch -- it was the first gift from our new Jan DTC secret pal. She sent Nora a t-shirt and socks from the San Diego zoo (home of the PandaCam), a bunny stroller toy and two packages of Halloween tissues.
Thank you very much, Secret Pal! I think you told me something about yourself with this gift. I've narrowed your identity down to someone who (1) lives in SanDeigo (2) has visited SanDiego (3) knows someone in SanDiego. Let's see, who can I cross of the list of possible Secret Pals... uhm, no one. Bummer. Well, maybe next month.

January DTC Secret Pal Revealed!!

It was one of those happy, box-on-the-porch kind of days at our house! It was the October gift/reveal from our January DTC Secret Pal -- Cindy P! And what an incredible gift it was -- a jack-o-lantern cap, Halloween bib, Thanksgiving bib, soap leaves, stroller hooks and the cutest flower onesie (with pretty flutter sleeves that unfortunately don't show in the photo) and khaki skirt with a "Cutie" applique.

Thank you so much Cindy for being such a wonderful secret pal! I hope we have a chance to meet in China!

Even better than a free lunch!

They say there's no such thing as a free lunch, but there is, apparently, such a thing as FREE ROBEEZ!! Really. Look!! Somehow I signed up for USA Baby's eMom Rewards (which I think is just an email notification list) and wound up with a coupon for a free pair of Robeez in my email. Today I trekked over to USA Baby - which is sort of a long haul for me - and sure enough, free Robeez! They even had one of my two favorite styles (Red Wildflowers) in the size I wanted (12-18 months, because I want to be absolutely certain that Nora will get to wear them).

I'm off to get my Powerball ticket now, because I think this must be my lucky day!

January DTC Cybershower

Tonight was the first cybershower for the January DTC group. Kathy was our cyber-shopper and she sent the most amazing, generous gift - two outfits, a snuggly pink velour blanket, a butterfly dish, a stuffed bear in a ladybug suit, a package of outlet covers (much needed - we have many more outlets than any normal house and not a single outlet cover!) and an "I Love My Mommy" bib. I think that I'm going to need to go get some "I Love My Daddy" stuff for Rob's Father's Day gift! :)

Be sure to take a close look at the green gingham dress on the left - it has ladybug appliques and BLOOMERS! It's just precious!

Thank you again, Kathy! You're such a sweetheart. And Maddie wants me to thank you for the tasty tissue paper.