Hey, I'm Having a Baby!

While I was school supply shopping with the kids yesterday, I had an opportunity to peruse the baby section of the store. I was kinda blown away by all the unneccessary "equipment and supplies" that I saw. I was able to select the perfect crib (a 4 in one convertable that included a changing/table shelves and drawers combo) to fit in our room. But apart from that, I was slightly disturbed by all the stuff I saw. Jarred baby food (I stopped using that four babies ago), powdered formula (I can't believe someone would, by choice, give their baby that over their own good breastmilk), racks and racks of clothes (they only wear them for a minute and then outgrow them), swings, baby seats, and walkers (those things are huge), but only 1 type of baby wearer (not a good kind either).
I remember reading an article a couple of years ago about how the country of Kenya was rejecting the use of the stroller. Kenyan parents were horrified that their babies should be kept so far from them. (Of course you need the infrastructure of paved sidewalks to make strollers practical, so they were an option only for city parents.) They said in the article "this is not the Kenyan way," and thus the imported strollers did not catch on. It made me think of how us Americans handle our babies. Always passing them off into some contraption, not even the arms of another person. We simply pass them from one contraption to another, from the crib to the bouncy seat, from the bouncy seat to the high chair, from the high chair to the car seat from the car seat to the swing. I bet you could track a baby's entire day by what mother substitute they were placed in throughout the day. What a let down that must be for a baby after being cuddled for nine months in mama's womb.
I selected my oak crib for future purchase and bought a set of three Winnie-the-Pooh baskets that will go on the changing table shelves. I decided on a Winne-the-Pooh theme since, 1) we don't know the gender, and 2) the pale yellow color of that theme matches our yellow and lavendar bedroom. One of the ladies in my women's investment group got me some Winne-the-Pooh items at the shower and I loved the look of them. I went online and found that that pattern came in crib sets as well. I'll have to go get registered soon. I'm getting paranoid that I'll get a bunch of stuff I don't want or need or won't use. I'd hate to waste folks time and money that way (and my time taking it all back!) But on the other hand, it sure is sweet thinking about the baby coming. This is really the beginning of allowing myself to think about an actual baby. Before I've been caught up in some many other issues. I think I've finally realized that not only am I pregnant, but I'm going to have a baby.