Paisley's Food Storage

Now we're just working on stockpiling the breast milk. We may need a larger freezer.

Blue Light Special

This is a public service announcement. Over the weekend, Tim's sister was kind enough to share with us a link to a page full of Target coupons. Normally, a kind gesture. But the point of her email was to draw our attention to a specific deal. $1 off when you purchase 2 Gerber food products. Apparently, unless you've got a little one that qualifies for spaghetti and meatballs disguised as apple sauce, it's difficult to appreciate how good of a deal this is. Brandi took the challenge, printed 20 coupons, and went to investigate. She came home with 40 different meals. The grand total for all of this? Well, at a price of 52 cents each, the trip set us back 80 cents. Granted, not all of the food is as cheap as 52 cents, some of the products were 77 cents, and the really high brow stuff hits 99 cents. That was Monday, on Wednesday she printed off 200 more coupons. This was going to be fun.

That night we ended up at a different Target. Someone must have been tipped off to our mission since when we pulled our cart up to the baby food isle, there was another empty cart already waiting for us. And even though we decided to cut it short at 200 items, we stilled filled both carts. The check out alone took 14 apologies and 30 minutes but we saved over $100. Now we just hope that Paisley likes the stuff. Prunes, pears, chicken soup, vanilla custard, turkey and gravy. Paisley is months away from graduating from breast milk, but no worries, some of this stuff doesn't expire until 2009. So even if we were faced with some natural disaster like 4 more years with a Republican in office, we've got our food storage started. After seeing some of the survival foods on the market, we think we'll stick with the blended peas. Until then, we just need to find a place for it.

So here is the link. Just scroll down until you see the Gerber coupon about 1/2 way down (it expires August 15th). If you do take the challenge, send us your stories, it'd be nice to know that we weren't the only crazies out there.

Pink-ish Envy

At first glance, it may appear that being on the male end of things during pregnancy is the best place to be. You don't have to watch your stomach grow over a period of nine months (although Tim insists that his is expanding too), the jungle juice mix of hormones, and all the other undeniably horrible components that lead up to the ultimate undeniably horrible event and all that mess. We mean that beautiful event.

There is no argument that women pay a price that men will never come close to being able to reimburse. But sometimes, somewhere in all that drama, when the birthing seems far away, a little jealousy creeps into the male mentality. For Tim, these moments seem to be directly connected to the sound of the cash register and the bagging up of some new outfit. Remember the post about the benefits of being impregnated by a metrosexual? This definitely counts as one of the disadvantages. Of course, a disadvantage that could easily be solved by more money in the wallet, so hopefully Tim can kick his penny slot addiction soon. Kidding. The blame falls directly on the shoulders of responsibility and budgeting. Luckily, the jealousy doesn't last long for two reasons: the new baby outfits are unbelievably cute, and the realization that even with the huge advances made in maternity wear in the last 7 1/2 years, it's still maternity wear.

Everyone knows that parenthood offers countless opportunities for sacrifice, what is less obvious is that sacrifice occurs long before sleepless nights and diaper changes. Brandi is either getting more sensitive to the growing jealousy or Tim is throwing more tantrums; either way, on Saturday EVERYONE got new pjs!

Rockabye Baby!

We've been reading several different pieces trying to prepare ourselves for the pregnancy and the next 18 years. According to the literature, babies like classical music AND it's even supposed to make them smarter. (Tim really supports this concept, but mostly to defend himself when Brandi makes fun of him for being in the high school band. Which is apparently different than being in a band during high school.) We've searched high and low for some Mozart, Brahms and Beethoven without much luck. Which is not to say that we didn't find anything else. We came across these gems and have made many purchases. What's cooler than laying your baby down to a little Radiohead? Everything in its Right Place gives baby the security she needs, even though it's missing Thom Yorke's voice. I guess the lack of lyrics is a good thing for Zeppelin's Baby I'm Gonna Leave You. Milk before meat.

It's almost enough to justify this:

Pimp My Snug Ride?

As Xzibit says, "You've officially been pimped." Even though the result isn't as exciting as a plasma screen on the gas pedal or a new set of chrome rims worth more than the car, earlier this week we brought home the latest and greatest upgrade on the market. The Graco Easy Ride Travel System. Or something "catchy" like that to try and distract you from the fact that your vehicle will never be the same. Unlike the show, the baby induced "pimping" comes in phases. First the car seat and stroller. Then eventually the baby, i.e., the new stereo system, and finally once the stereo has graduated to solids, the new upholstery of Cheerios and fruit snacks.

Just the latest reminder of the fun we get to look forward to. We just heard Paisley say, "Thanks Grandma Ricks."

MTV Cribs

Preparing for the baby requires a lot of hardware. With such a convenient excuse to go shopping, Tim would have considered fatherhood earlier.

The crib in this picture will soon be making its debut into the new nursery. It's actually been there for a few weeks, it just hasn't made its way out of the box yet. It gets all fancy and converts to a toddler bed and then some day, a big girl bed. We'd like to thank Grandma Sherry for the generous gift. Let the spoiling begin! She's a lucky girl/fetus.

The crib was only step one. The hard choices were reserved for the art of bedding. And directly related, financing. Who ever thought that little people linens could cost so much? The nice thing about being with child immediately after getting married, there are a few Pottery Barn gift card leftovers to help absorb the cost. This picture is what we ended up going with. You have to admit, this stuff is REALLY cute.