Friday, June 27, 2008

Preparations

I have now added quite a bit to our collection of baby stuff. There is so much stuff to get, and we can't leave it all until later. If we end up adopting from a hospital referral (which is where the hospital calls our agency and says someone with no previous contact with the agency just gave birth and wants to place the baby, and the agency matches us with that baby), I really don't want to make a last minute run to the Wal-marts for diapers and bottles and such. Since we don't want any baby showers, we're planning on buying most things ourselves. If that ends up not being the case, it will be a bonus.

People. I'm tired of gender neutral. I don't LIKE yellow, and for some reason, green seems to be somewhat limited. Earlier in the week I had a dream that we adopted a 6-day old baby girl. She was beautiful. We named her Madelyn (don't ask me where that name came from, because I have NO idea) and I cried and cried and cried out of happiness. Then I freaked because I had no idea what to do with her. *giggle* I've never had a dream about adopting before that, so it was sweet. But since then, I can't get my mind off of pink and purple. And instead, I'm stuck in a vortex of yellow. *gag*

When I tell people that we're going to try cloth diapering, the responses are always either very positive or looks of pity, like we've gone insane. To be honest, I think I have gone insane. Two years ago, this germaphobe would have laughed at you if you would have told me that I would be spending a small fortune on things that will catch poo and then be washed out only to catch more poo. And more. And more again. Cloth diapers are for those weird crunchy granola vegetarian tree-hugger people. Oh wait. I guess I am one. (Minus the tree hugging. Trees are cool I guess, but sorry, I don't hug them. I just don't.) How else can you explain the glass bottles and the strange new obsession with re-usable poo catchers? These things are not normal, people. They're just not normal. And yet, here I am, the proud new owner of a nice little collection of said re-usable poo catchers.

On the baby stuff front, so far we have accumulated...

10 chinese pre-folds
8 glass bottles
5 3-6mo onesies
4 one size pocket cloth dipes
3 newborn onesies
3 diaper covers
2 contour diapers
2 diaper snappi dealies
2 orthodontic pacifiers (made in England, not China, thankyouverymuch)
1 healthy baby pack thing (with thermometer, nail clippers, medicine feeder, and a nose booger sucker)
1 pack of flushable diaper liners (cause I'm not THAT crunchy)
1 crib, sans mattress
1 swaddler blanket

and a partridge in a pear tree.

Bring on the poo.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Awww I'm so excited for you! I hope everything works out well!

The Rock Chick said...

Quite a collection!!! Other than the crib mattress and a car seat, it certainly looks as though you have pretty much everything you need to bring a baby home. Personally, I'd steer clear of buying any more "gender neutral" things other than what you have. I did that before my first because I didn't know the sex of any of my kids ahead of time and I just didn't want to use them once I knew I could get all the pinks and/or blues (depending on the baby, of course!)

And the reusable diaper thing? I'm sure diapers are filling landfills everywhere, but I couldn't do it. Some of those poops look like hazmat situations and I was always afraid of contaminating everything we owned by trying to clean them. LOL

I'm really excited for you guys!!!!!!

SandraRee said...

Thanks for visiting my blog, Crystal. I'm so glad you did! I'm adding you to my blog roll. I'm excited for you after reading this post, good luck!!

Stacy said...

I don't think you're crazy to be getting things ahead of time, especially since you know it will likely be short notice. I'm not even expecting and we have a stash of baby clothes and 2 garbage bags of cloth diapers that I picked up cheap from craigslist!
I DID think you were one of those people who swore never to do cloth diapers, but anything can change, right? :)

heidi @ ggip said...

White, cream and orange are gender neutral also, but I have to agree with the rock chick that you might not want to buy tons of clothes or blankets. Even if you don't have a baby shower, people will buy you tons of clothes and baby blankets when the baby comes (people can't not buy baby gifts).

My mom used cloth diapers with one of my brothers, but my other brother was allergic to them (imagine that!) so then she used pampers. *I* am too lazy for them.

How fun to shop for baby!

Shannon said...

Yay!!! I'm so excited for you.

I hate yellow too. I love green though. Don't forget about orange; orange dipes are fun! And I wouldn't hesitate to put a dark purple dipe on a boy (or at least that's what I told myself before we knew we were having a girl) :)

Amber said...

I can't believe CRYSTAL has decided to do cloth diapers. Wow. LOL. :-)
I hate, hate gender neutral...if I were you, I'd just buy clothes for both genders. :-p Hey, maybe you'll get twins...one of each.
I'm sooooooo excited for you btw!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bethany said...

LOL @ "nose-booger-sucker"!! Hahaha!

I've changed/folded countless cloth dipes in my time, and I don't even have a baby yet. I was 9 when my bro was born and we couldn't afford expensive disposables. I've heard that cloth poo-catcher products have improved dramatically since 1982, and for your sake, I hope so!!! :-)

Jessica Morris said...

I love the orange idea! And red. Red could be cool. Your baby's butt covering collection could be the colors of the rainbow :)

Have you ever heard of the magazine "MOTHERING" ? My doula gave me two (from different months) and it's pretty cool. It's expensive - I think like $6 or $7 an issue. But it is the most intelligent magazine I have read to date on parenting stuff - and it covers lots of natural stuff too.
I'll make sure she doesn't want them back and then send them to you if you'd like to look at them.
Just let me know!

Anonymous said...

Cloth dipes are the bee's knees I tell ya what. They are great! You can get all kinds of 'gender neutral' colors besides green and yellow. Orange like Shannon said, or red like Jess said. You could also get patterns...I have some bumkins covers that have the cutest bug pattern on them. Patterns are great for being both boy/girl.
That being said...I'm so stoked for you and Dustin. I think this is so wonderful and I can't wait to see how God uses and blesses you!

Anonymous said...

1. The baby might actually LOOK GOO in yellow. I tell you what, Crys, once baby arrives you will be inundated with clothing gifts either light blue or pink...and you will be HAPPY that you have some other colors to put on the kid. (Trust me on this one.)

2. I understand the ease of disposable diapers but plastic over wet pants next to skin? THAT just doesn't seem "normal" to me. (spoken by a cloth diaper mama...)

Go head. Roll your eyes. ayla and g.g would be proud.

3. Oh, and I hear cobalt blue is a safe choice for baby, too. Or navy. ;o)

Anonymous said...

DUH...LOOK GOOD -- not LOOK GOO in yellow. (I'm using my husband's tiny laptop he uses for work....impossible to type and be normal on this.)

Or maybe the baby WILL look GOO in yellow. (If so, blame it on your husband's side of the family - that's what I'd do.)

Anonymous said...

One more comment and then I won't comment anymore tonight here:

Tell Dana she needs to come over here and leave a comment. I don't care if she's got a glass of sweet tea in her hand, or if Raine is dumping all the Tupperware on the floor -- tell her to get the Swannie over here and leave a message.

Erin said...

How exciting...getting baby stuff! I love the fact you got cloth diapers...I remember the "never gonna use cloth diapers" Crystal of the past! Haha
I was one who thought I'd start getting all gender neutral stuff, I wasnt going to buy blue (or pink if needed) but boy, when I found out boy, suddenly everything is blue!
Klay's theory on buying stuff, that I like and thought I'd pass on..."get what you have to order ahead and is hard to find, and hold off on the things you can always 'run to walmart (or target if you live where walmart doesnt control the planet) and get' even if you replace it later, in a worst case scenario you can obtain it in just a few minutes" Everytime I read a post about your adoption journey I get SO excited, I've prayed for you to be a mommy for so long. It makes me giddy to see you buying baby stuff!

Studio9.etsy.com said...

I don't know your circumstance but wish the best for you both you and your husband.

Bethany said...

Thanks for visiting my blog... And what a morbid post to visit on. You'll have to come back when things are more cheery :)

Oh and congratulations on your up and coming baby!! You must be so anxious, knowing that a baby could be dropped in your lap basically any day. Awesome. I think I'd like to try cloth diapers next time... I'll have to see how you like them once you're in the thick of "things".