I didn't need my head in one piece anyway!

It's been one of those weeks, and it's only 8:45 Tuesday morning. I can't wait to see what the rest of the week brings me.

Wes's dad and kids are coming down on Friday because Wes gets back next week. Wes's dad and Victor are going to drive down to Florida, meet Wes's ship and ride back on it. It's called a Tiger cruise (Allison is too young and Wes's ship is small, so there is no female berthing). Originally, the ship was going to rent a bus for all the people going down to Florida. Well, that got cancelled, so now we're stuck trying to find a rental car. Wes wanted me to go with a particular company because they have a location on base in Florida, so then a taxi wouldn't be needed. Turns out that company doesn't do one-way rentals, only local. Fine, whatever, I'll find another company. Then Wes wanted to find the closest location to the base for the car drop off. The closest is not the airport, however, all non-airport locations close 4:00pm and unless they leave at 5:00am at the latest, they won't make it. (And I happen to know there is construction in at least 2 of the states they have to drive through.) So I just shot Wes an e-mail and I'll call his dad today to find out what they want to do. In addition, the economy car we're renting, the cheapest one I could find, is $122 for one day. We were planning on renting a mini-van for Christmas, but now I'm starting to wonder if we can afford it.

I had another ultra-sound yesterday. I will never understand this, but every time I have one, the nurse wipes my belly clean after she looks, and then goes and gets the doctor, who wants to have a look himself, so they have to goop my belly up all over again. It's still a girl!!!! And she is using my bladder as a pillow. She weighs approximately 5.7lbs. I told her she could gain 2 more lbs and that was it! Then the doctor decides he wants to do a vaginal ultrasound to make sure there aren't any blood vessels from my extra placenta over my cervix. Good times! (My ultra-conservative mom had never heard of a vaginal ultrasound so I explained it. "They take this dildo, put a condom on it and lube it up and stick it up there to get a picture." My mom: "I bet Wes was jealous when he heard that!") So the doctor's appointment wasn't bad. She's healthy, so that's all good.

But then I came home and started the saga of the missing birthday present. As you may recall, Victor has not taken his parents' divorce very well, and his mom lying about stuff hasn't helped. And he really isn't happy about the new baby (who knows what she's said about that). His birthday is in Oct. and he loves Heroscape by Hasbro. So, on Sep. 8th, 2008, I ordered the Heroscape Master set (the original) off of the Hasbro official web-site. I received an e-mail confirming the order. I paid for standard shipping, which is 8 to 10 days. I received an e-mail on Sep. 10th telling me it had shipped. Well, I realized last week that I still had not received it. I called Hasbro on Friday, Sep. 26th to ask about my order (yes, I have my order #, and at that point, it had been 13 business days since it had shipped). I talked to some guy who looked at my account and basically said, "I have no idea what this means, can I have a supervisor call you back?" Um, well, how often does a person actually try to pass you off on the supervisor? So, yes, please, have them call me back. He said I would probably receive the call on Monday. Ok, fine.

Yesterday, I get home from my doctor's appointment and I have a message from Hasbro. I call back and get a regular person. Well, it looks like something happened to your order and we're going to have to re-send it today. Ok, you're sending it priority right? No, you paid for standard. Yes, I did pay for standard, over 3 weeks ago. Let me speak to your supervisor.

Floor supervisor. Well, it looks like the game was sent back to us. From who and why? I don't know. But our web-site says that in cases like that, it can take up to 21 business days. No, the web-site says 8 to 10 business days. Yes, it does say 8 to 10 business days, unless it's sent back. I didn't send it back. You use Fed-ex, can't you call them and find out where the game is. No, we can't, but I can give that number to you. The game was re-shipped on Friday the 26th (notice the first guy told me it was going to be re-shipped, but hadn't yet). She gives me the Fed-ex tracking number and then tries to get me off the phone. Ok then, if you need anything else after talking to Fed-ex, call us back. Oh, I'm not hanging up. I go to the Fed-ex site and plug in the number, they don't have that number in their system. Do you really think this is good customer service, I ask her? Well, there is a chance that the first package might still be delivered to you. Wait, now I'm really confused, you just told me it had been returned. Now you're telling me that you don't actually know where it is? Let me speak to your supervisor.

I get Brian. He is very nice and polite and obviously doesn't have his head stuck up his ass like some other people who think I'm stupid. I explain the situation to him, including that my husband's been deployed and it's his son's birthday, yadda, yadda, yadda. But I also point out that since this is clearly an error on their part, it would be good customer service to expedite the shipping of the game. Also, since they obviously have my e-mail address, when were they going to let me know what was going on? He is very nice and asks if he can do some research and call me back. I had to pee by this point, so I say yes, not expecting to hear from him again.

He called back in less than a half hour! He didn't know anything. He said they have 9 distribution centers, so he would try to find out where it was going out from and call them to have them send it priority. He also said he would try to find out what happened to the first game, as it might be quicker to get that one to me. He said he would call me back today to let me know what he had found out. I asked him if the call center worked for Hasbro directly, or if they were out-sourced (and not out of country: they were clearly in this country). They are indeed outsourced.

Ok, I get an e-mail this morning telling me my game has shipped. Let's see if Brian calls me back and what happens. As it stands, if they send it standard again, we probably wouldn't get it until 2 days before the kids leave. Wes wants me to contact Hasbro directly if this is not resolved. However, I think I will probably have to order another game from Amazon.com instead, pay extra for the speedy delivery and then deal with Hasbro, trying to get them to reimburse us for all this mess.

Wes had one last thing to say about it: don't stress out about this. It'll be ok. But make sure the game gets there in time.

*****Update*****
I just received a call from Brian's supervisor, named Ramey(?). First, if you're going to call a customer, read all the notes before you get on the phone with them. Second, once on the phone, don't ask the customer if they have been contacted yet about the situation (see above about reading the notes). Third, why are you calling me just to tell me that Brian still doesn't know what's going on, but will contact me later? I'll just wait for his call, thank you.

Well, what do you know?

I got a phone call from IQ on Thursday. She began, "it has nothing to do with what you said, but I cleaned the house, because my m-i-l is coming, not because of what you said." First, who knows how clean it really is, but I'll take what I can get. Second, I don't care why you cleaned it, I'm just happy you did. I think I'm going to have Wes talk to Mr. IQ about his fathering skills. Mr. IQ refuses to play WOW with one hand, and thus, ignores the baby if he is playing WOW. He has never even given the baby a bath (the baby is 5 months old!). Wes is horrified. Although you would have never guessed from Wes's high school actions (ok, I guess he was technically practicing to make lots of babies), Wes is a great dad. He is excited to be a dad. The thought of dirty diapers doesn't phase him. Crying baby. Not a problem. Stressed out wife. We'll get through this. When I point out all the stuff he needs to do when he gets home to get the nursery ready, he's excited because he feels left out. He's the type of dad who does stuff because he wants to, not because it's his responsibility as a dad. I really couldn't ask for a better husband.

Baby stuff is starting to trickle in!!! I know I promised pictures of the stuff I already had, and I will get to that (just not now). But this week, Camille got me a beautiful Moses basket (so now the baby has a place to sleep), the cutest receiving blankets ever, a bouncer (which I'm going to wait to put together when Wes is here), a mirror for the car and the health kit thing from Red Cross. And my Sunday School class is also going to give me a baby shower, which I think is super nice. I also decided I should probably order diapers within the next week. Does anyone know anything about cloth diapers? I've found some, but now the prospect of washing them at home (there's no diaper service in this area) is starting to freak me out. I just want to do what's best for the baby and the environment.

According to the calendar, I have 6 weeks left. It is going to fly by (at least the next 4 weeks, since next week I have 2 doctor's appointments, the week after that Wes comes home, his kids and dad will be with us for a week, then we have a doctor's appointment, a wedding and the baby shower and the week after that the birthing class). At the same time, I really can't believe how uncomfortable I am. I can only stay in one position for about 15 minutes before I have to move. How do working women do it??? How do women in third world countries, who sleep on the ground do it??? How do women carrying more than one baby do it??? (Kudos to you Sandi!) I feel like I'm constantly playing musical chairs. But I will miss the baby movements. Those are kind of cool. And she's had the hiccups every day for the last 5 days (a couple of days, twice). And right now I'm chasing a foot around my tummy. I can't wait to eat that foot!

Mother of the year

I've mentioned before that IQ is a WOW player (world of warcraft). Well, one day, a while back, she was commenting on how her sister is not a good mom because all she does is try to meet guys on the computer, ignoring her two children. IQ stated she understood that IQ Jr. comes first, and that's why when he's fussy, she'll take care of him, even though it's difficult to play WOW with one hand!

I don't play WOW and never have, but IQ and her husband have made me HATE WOW. Now, Mr. IQ is not learning diabilitied (IQ explanation for why she is how she is), but actually has a college degree, in engineering. But, when he comes home from work, he plays WOW and when he plays WOW he ignores IQ Jr., leaving IQ to play WOW with only one hand. This is an area of contention for them. But the point is, he should know better. About everything. Like the state of their apartment. His mom is coming into town this week, and IQ kept saying she should clean the house. I was there today. First, I can't believe she wouldn't let ANYONE into her house, with it looking like that. Second, I can't believe he would let his mom into the house, with it looking like that. Third, I can't believe they live in a house that looks like that.

I told her that once IQ Jr. is mobile (and he's getting there) and CPS were called, he would be removed from the home. I saw on the floor, in addition to just plain out trash, a Swiss army knife, a bottle opener, a cork from a wine bottle, 5 pens and pencils, a bag of chips, cat food, cat feces, and clumps of cat hair. And that's just what I could see. IQ was very upset that I had said that (remember, she grew up in foster care and claimed she would do EVERYTHING possible to keep IQ Jr.) and claimed she was "doing the best I can. But it's hard for me to take care of IQ Jr. and do ANYTHING." See, that's the problem. Not that she isn't capable but that when it comes to doing anything BESIDES WOW, she just can't do it with IQ Jr. around. She can't clean because of IQ Jr. She can't study for her driver's licence because of IQ Jr. She can't eat properly because of IQ Jr. She can't exercise because of IQ Jr. But she can spend at least 8 hours a day playing WOW. And Mr. IQ lets her get away with that. Well, that's fine and dandy, but I would rather get a frantic phone call from IQ screaming at me because CPS is taking away IQ Jr (which would get Mr. IQ kicked out of the navy), than a frantic phone call from IQ because IQ Jr. is choking to death on something.

But I'm glad she's willing to play WOW with only one hand because that makes her the freaking mother of the year.

She couldn't afford a clue

I was talking to IQ on the phone the other day, and mentioned that Wes will be home soon. She hadn't realized he would be home that soon and said that she bet he was really excited to be getting home. Oh yes, he is excited. She continued, "I bet I know someone who he will be the most excited about seeing, someone he probably can't wait to see. . . .IQ Jr.!!!!"

Yes, yes you are right. He has an extremely pregnant wife, two kids and a dad, but he doesn't care about any of that. He just wants to see your kid and bask in the miracle that you haven't managed to kill him yet.

I think it has more than two

So the title refers to the baby's feet, knees, legs, arms, hands and elbows. She either has more than two of each, or she has learned how to move ALL of them at the same time. She has also decided my large and round stomach is not big enough and she has taken up residence in my lungs. Now, I don't know about you, but I used to use my lungs to breathe. Not having use of them anymore makes it very difficult to travel up and down the stairs at my house. Even though I am not ready for her yet, I am sure starting to get there, if only so I can breathe again.



I had a great time with my parents. We were able to go to the beach, where mom convinced dad to rent one of those bicycle things. I actually sat in between them, so I didn't have to pedal. They then proceeded to moan and groan about the extra 150 extra lbs they had to move around. Hey, I offered to pedal and maybe we shouldn't have gone to the Pizza Hut buffet for lunch right before we rented the bike! It was fun, even though my dad sweat on me the whole time.

This is so much easier without Stacia and that big belly of hers!

But it wasn't all fun and games. No, I put them to work too. Remember what my garage used to look like. Yeah, I try to block it out too. But the office/nursery needs to be moved into the garage and so my parents kindly helped me organize the garage so the move would be easier. Ok, I pointed, they organized. And here is the result!

Wow! I think I see the garage floor!

And of course, mom took me shopping. I really had to convince her that I still had 8 weeks until my due date so it wasn't necessary for her to buy me everything on my registry just yet. There is still time! Now, when they come back in Nov. and I still don't have stuff, then they can get it for us! But we did buy these cute little outfits and she did buy me a couple of nursing bras (not pictured, because they're really not that exciting without the boobs in them).

In addition to frog feet, it also has a giant frog on the butt!

I love cute little frogs!

Overall, I had a great weekend with my parents and my mom suggested that I keep a list of what I have so I don't panic all the time. At least until I pull out the list and realize how much stuff I still need. So I'm going to do a spreadsheet! Because I'm dorky like that and have the time and it doesn't require too much breathing.

And, I also received a great gift from Tanya (tbooty). I loved the fact that she put it into a gift bag to mail it! This little outfit is too cute! I love the little pants (or whatever those things are called).

Are the little booties home-made? They're so cute!

Sandi, (fighting maturity) also sent me a Target gift card and I'm going to wait until Wes gets home to use that because he feels like he's missing all the fun stuff. So thank you, both of you. (Also, Wes's dad finally passed on the web baby shower information to that side of the family.)

I guess that's about it here. I'm just worn out and counting the days until 1) Wes gets home, 2) the baby is born.

Thank you for listening

Thank you for listening to my rant. I feel better. Kind of. It's mostly Wes's family that's pulling the "we want to get you stuff" game, and really it's his dad, because I don't know how to get a hold of the rest of the family because he refuses to give me phone #'s and e-mails because he is lazy (that really is the truth) and I doubt he has forwarded any of the e-mails and information I have sent him and requested him to forward, again, because he is lazy. Yet, he tells me every time we talk that they all want to help. So, I sent Wes an e-mail and told him he could deal with it, it's his family. Now, I refuse to worry about it. I'm going to do what I need to do.

Yesterday I got my First Aid/CPR certification! YAY!!!! I know I should have done it anyway, but my sister almost died of SIDS when she was born, so I thought it was extra important to get it done.

Today, my parents are coming to visit!!!! They will help calm me down. My dad is going to help me clean/organize the garage (and by help, I mean I will point and he will move stuff) and my mom is going to take me shopping!!! It will be fun for everyone, except maybe my dad. The poor guy LOVES the beach and he likes to golf while he's here and it's predicted to rain ALL WEEKEND. I'm really hoping it'll let up long enough for us to go to the beach, because that would be fun.

I have also discovered a new, very fun game. I used to just watch my belly and the movement. Now, I chase body parts!!!! It's called, how often will Navy Bean move that leg when I touch it. Turns out, until I quit touching it. The poor thing is probably wondering what this giant outside force is trying to do and why won't it just leave her alone! I don't play too often though, I know she'll be able to exact revenge soon.

Well, I should get ready. I'm going to wash my sheets because I can't actually put them on the bed by myself so since my mom's going to be here, she can't do it!!! And again, thank you!

UPDATE******
My husband is wonderful. I just got off the phone with him, and he hadn't gotten my e-mail yet, but I told him everything and he completely agrees with me. He knows his dad and he understands my frustration. He's pretty sure he must have at least one family members' phone# or e-mail address, so he's going to find that and contact them about the situation. And then he'll just talk to his dad when he sees him. So I feel much better. Not to mention that my husband will be home soon.

baby panic rant

I don't even know where to begin. I feel so stressed out and it's not over just one thing, it's over several. Let's start with Christmas and family, because hey, who stresses you out more than your own family.

I have a never married, childless aunt. I should start by saying she is wonderful, because she is. She makes a lot of her own Christmas presents, she's very generous, and she's fun. She's also stressful. She's the person who usually finishes her Christmas shopping in mid-Feb. and finishes all the homemade stuff by July and no, I am not exaggerating. Christmas is her holiday. She doesn't live close to any of us, so it's the one time of the year that she gets to see us. However, she has been bugging me, pretty much since I told her I was pregnant, about Christmas. Because she needs to know where to ship all the stuff and make flight reservations. Also, my cousin (and his wife and baby) moved to Austin, a couple of hours away from Dallas (ok, I guess about 4 hours) and so this year, his parents (who live in Maryland) and his brother, his girlfriend, sister and her boyfriend will also be in Texas for Christmas. In addition to my parents, my brother, his son, my sister, her husband, my Grandmere, my aunt and her husband, who all live in the Dallas area. Just in case you lost track, that's 19 people, not counting me, Wes, Navy Bean, Victor and Allison. So, my aunt has been trying to figure out how to coordinate all of this, even though in every e-mail she mentions that it's not her responsibility. She even sent an e-mail out with the dates we were "for-sure" going to be in TX, based on an e-mail from me that started, "we haven't cleared this with the x yet." My problem with all of this: 1) I want to spend time with my immediate family. I love my extended family, but the branch from Maryland, I usually only see once every 3 to 5 years. 2) Navy Bean will only be 5 to 6 weeks old. That means she will only do three things, sleep, eat and poop. Those who expect a more interesting show will be disappointed. 3) Victor and Allison are very shy and with that many people around, in addition to a new baby, they may not be that friendly. 4) My husband is in the navy and (they should know this since their dad was in the navy) we may not know what days Wes has off until the week before. 5) if there are complications, we're not coming. 6) We still need to decide how much money we're willing to spend to get there (we're planning on renting a vehicle). 7) that just sounds really stressful (24 hour drive with three kids, one of them an infant). I've just decided to let her plan whatever and then take her wrath when stuff doesn't turn out the way she wants them to (and then never do).

Add to this, Wes's family (woohoo!!!) who celebrate Christmas before Christmas. But we won't be there and so far, they don't really seem that anxious to do any re-arranging, even though they're all retired. Ok, let me rephrase that. When I told Wes's dad when we were thinking about coming, he said, "We'll have already celebrated" and it didn't seem to dawn on him that they could move the celebration. When I suggested it, you would have thought I suggested that Jesus was born in July and not Dec. Yet, they all want to see the baby and the kids too. Then work with us people!!!! We're driving half way across the country with three kids, one who will be less than 2 months old. Good grief. It's enough to make me want to stay here (which is actually what I wanted to do anyway, but my husband already told everyone we were coming).

Add to that: when I first gave dates and Christmas plans to the x, she responded (this is a paraphrase), I don't know if you can handle the kids and the baby so we'll decide closer to Christmas. Who'll decide? You??? Because that's not your choice!!!! Now, she wants to know for sure dates (again, she was with Wes for 8 years, she knows we don't have for sure dates yet).

Ok, so that's the first rant. Are we having fun yet????

Second stress point, slightly related to the first, in that it has to do with family. Most notably, aunts, uncles, grandparents, NOT FRIENDS. I don't want anybody to read this and think I'm talking about them, because I'm not. This specifically has to do with family. Family who call and say, "oh, I know you don't have anything so we want to get you something" and then disappear. Then I'm left wondering, especially after they have implied that they'd like to buy the crib, or something big and/or specific, "what do I do now?" Do I just buy the item and then deal with the "I wanted to get you that," or do I wait and then run out in a panic the day before the baby is born? I also hate those who say, "we'll just wait and see what you need." I don't have anything. I NEED EVERYTHING!!!! I am not going to wake up tomorrow and the baby gift fairy will have magically turned the office into a nursery with only 2 or 3 items still needed. The only way I will get anything is if either you buy it, or I buy it. See how that works??? I'm not worried about clothes. I have enough friends that the baby will be clothed, but I have a large family, one who likes to imply they are close, but yet, um, only my parents and my sister have gotten me anything (I love my brother, but he's a guy, so I'll probably not get anything there). I know I still have 9 weeks to my due date, but at the same time, I don't want to have to go to Target the week before the baby is due to get a ton of stuff I really need. With Christmas so close after the due date, I'm waiting for the "oh, we just thought we'd wait until Christmas to see what you still needed" excuse. Am I supposed to wrap her in a sheet and throw her in a box until then? If it's a need, and not a want, like really cute clothing, we're going to buy it before/soon after she is born. What sucks even more is that my family knows Wes is deployed right now, and I feel like I'm getting support from very few of them. Other than the stress of trying to figure out when we'll be home for Christmas.

Third rant, well, actually more of a fear. The baby is due in Nov. and I know my mom is flying out to help us. YAY!!! Then Wes's dad wants to come out too, after my mom is gone, only he'll view it as more of a visit then helping. And we'll have Wes's kids for Thanksgiving (which is good, I'm not saying that's bad). I'm hoping Wes's dad will come for Thanksgiving too then. Then, of course, is Christmas (which we've already discussed) and then Jan. This is what's freaking me out. Wes will be gone for Jan. and Feb. He'll be home on the weekends, but he'll be gone during the week. When are we going to be able to bond as a family? Just the three of us? (Yes, I know he has kids too, but they don't live here so it is different). Not to mention, since I've struggled with depression for so long, I have that fear, especially since things will be so hectic at first and then it'll just be me and her. I know that'll probably be when she starts smiling, as opposed to having gas bubbles, and she'll start to be awake more and have a personality and all of that, but it's still going to be a huge change, and it scares me a little bit.

Finally, I have this one friend who is driving me crazy. She recently moved out of state and is having a hard time getting a job. So she has a lot of time on her hands. But she calls me EVERY DAMN DAY. If I don't answer, she'll just call back until I do. First, the f word is every other word for her. And I don't really use that word that often. Only when I really need to make a point. Second, she's not working and I stay at home. We have boring conversations. Except, she feels I need to know every damn detail (and see, I don't really use foul language that much at all, and she's driven me to it), like, I met this guy and he had green eyes, and a blond flat-top and huge arms and 3 tattoos (then she will describe all three of them in detail) and he was like, hey, what are you doing? and I was like, oh, not much and on and on and on. Now, I love Camille more than all my friends, but do I talk to her everyday. No!!!! Do I want to talk to her more than I do? HELL YES!!!! Do I want to talk to her everyday? HELL NO!!!! You know why? Because we are both dignified, self-respecting people who realize that for the most part, our lives are boring. We have enough decency, when asked "what did you do today" when we did the same thing we did every other day, to answer, "the usual" and leave it at that. Now, when something other than the usual occurs, then great, I will take the blow by blow account, but really, I don't need to know about all the little crap. So this girl is driving me crazy. And now, she's talking about moving back here!!!! I can't even imagine what it would be like then. When she lived her before, she called me every day. I thought that maybe that would stop once she moved and made new friends. I really don't know what to do about the whole situation.

And now I feel all ranted out. My parents are coming this week, so hopefully that will make me feel better. I'm taking an 8 1/2 hour first aid/CPR course tomorrow, and I'm a little stressed out about that. I have contractions after sitting in church for a couple of hours, how am I going to handle all day? I'll just drink plenty of water I guess. Thank you for listening. I feel much better (or at least tired enough to finally be able to sleep without thinking about it).

That was weak

IQ called me yesterday freaking out because of Hanna. The navy takes all the ships out for tropical storms/hurricanes, so her husband was leaving. She said she had never been in a tropical storm before. Um, we had one last summer, but the guys were already gone, so she probably didn't even know we had one. She was very concerned about how IQ Jr. would act. I pointed out that he wouldn't know it was a tropical storm and would only freak out if she did, so she might want to keep it under control. They live on the second floor, so at least they didn't have to worry about flooding. I asked if she had plenty of water and food. Yes, she had plenty of water and had gotten lots of soup in case the electricity went out and she couldn't use the microwave. Um, do I really need to point out that she has an electric stove? Instead of pointing that out to her, I asked if she had bread. She did. Good, then there should be no problems.

But, Hanna is turning out to be pretty weak. The navy didn't take the ships out, although I doubt IQs husband is home yet. They probably kept them on the ships over night, just in case. And at 4:00am when I was eating yogurt and watching Comedy Central, it still hadn't started raining. It's rained a little bit this morning, and it has been VERY windy, but it actually looks like it's starting to clear up and might even be sunny soon. I was supposed to take CPR today, but it was cancelled and rescheduled for Wed. So I've just been cleaning. I think we're all going to be ok.

Too cute!

This is the fun part, the part where really cute stuff starts trickling in. I just got these from my sister. The one on the left is cute (that last word is daddy, just in case you can't see it), but I love the one on the right!!! My own little navy bean. I find myself rubbing my belly and wondering what bumps are: is that a foot, a little fist, perhaps a knee. And then I start to tear up. According to my due date, I have almost 9 weeks left. That's not very long until I can hold her and kiss her and hug her and eat her toes (because that's what baby toes are for!). Occasionally I panic, ok, I panic a lot. What if I'm not a good mom? What if she just has a bad temperment (which would be Wes's fault, of course)? What if I can't figure out what I'm supposed to do? But then I feel better, because I know that I have lots of people who love me and can offer me advise. So, thank you to everyone who has been so supportive and I can't wait to start this next journey together.

And Beth, I will post pictures of my bargains. Got another one today, just don't have a picture of it yet!

Smell the burning

I am cheap. This is not a surprise to anyone who knows me. I hate spending money (except on boots, boots are worth lots of money). I especially hate spending money on things that um, to put it nicely, I think are a waste of money. For example, weddings, nails, name brand clothing or furniture and especially, baby stuff. First, babies don't know or care how much money you paid for that crib/car seat/high-chair/nursery set/toys, you get the picture. Second, babies don't really need half the stuff we claim they need. If you think they do, travel to any other country in the world and see what they give their kids and how many of them survive. Third, babies don't know if anyone else has spit-up or pooped in their baby stuff. Therefore, I am trying to spend as little as possible and only on necessary items. The only thing I have purchased new is the travel system (stroller/car seat) because safety does come first. And my parents actually bought it for me. And I got it at the NEX, so it was about $50 less than it would have been anywhere else (I'm not supposed to discuss how much money we can save at the NEX, but just remember, my husband is gone ALL THE TIME, so I deserve cheaper stuff). My next door neighbor gave me a high chair (I tried to pay her for it, but she wouldn't have it) and I troll the local consignment store about once a week. I've managed to snag a $80 swing for $35 and a $18 bathtub for $5. I check up on Craig's list every couple of hours, and there, I have managed to get a breast pump ($40 less than the store and still in the box), a bumbo seat and a play-mat (total of $30 off of store prices). Um, that is actually all I have at this point. But I'm working on it.

The point is, I don't work and I have the time to try to save money. I've talked to other moms and I'm trying to figure out what I really need. And, I've talked to IQ about all of this. I've taken her to the consignment store and when I've picked up stuff off of Craig's list. But does she listen? Noooooooooo!!! Before IQ Jr. was born, they went and bought a bassinet (more than $100) and a stroller (they thought it came with the car seat. It didn't). They didn't do any research and they didn't go to the NEX. After IQ Jr. was born (who is adorable, by the way, I babysat the other night and his smile will just make you melt), they went to the store and bought a swing. At full price. The expensive swing. And they've only put IQ Jr. in it once. It's not that he didn't like it, they just choose never to use it. I told IQ that we weren't getting a bassinet because we wanted to get a pack n' play with a bassinet on it (we travel a lot, this made more sense). Thus, the next time we went to Target, she decided she needed a pack n' play. No, I don't know why. I even told her that could find one on Craig's list for half the price. She didn't care. At least they actually use it. So, IQ Jr. is getting bigger (he's 4 months) so they needed a crib. I told her that both the consignment place and Craig's list had great cribs for pretty cheap. Did they do that? No. Did they buy a full price crib at Target or go to the NEX? No. They went to the place in the strip mall next to their apartment where they paid (are you sitting down?) $550 for a new crib. Yes, you read that right. They paid Five Hundred and Fifty dollars for a new crib, and the place won't even deliver it, they have to pick it up, and I'm willing to bet it doesn't include a mattress. I just checked Target and Babies r Us and they both have a HUGE number of cribs for between $150 and $300. And they deliver.

As I mentioned before, I'm having a hard time suffering fools. I actually told them that they got ripped off and it was stupid to not only pay that much for a crib, but to pay full price. IQ responded, Well, this is a three-in-one crib and this way if we have another kid, they can use it. Yes, because if I buy a cheaper or used crib, I can't reuse it!!! The sad part: they take such bad care of their stuff that the crib will be trashed before they can even think of having another kid (which I pray to God they never do). I guess it's their money and they can do with it what they want, but good grief. I hope you can use that three-in-one crib until the kids turns 18.