Adventures in Baby Gear Land

I survived creating a basic registry for the girls yesterday. That allowed me to check off one thing (among many, many things) on the "Here Come The Girls Master Plan Checklist". We really only put the basics on this list as a lot of what we want/need isn't at Babies-R-Us. Thanks to my sweet friend Sheryl who helped me take on this major project. She has a set of twins that are the age of our youngest and an older child the age of our oldest. She was a perfect guide for this adventure. An experienced mom is an invaluable resource when your "soon-to-be-adoptive-mom-I-know-nothing-about-kids-gear" head is spinning trying to decide which of the six million sippy cup options will be best for your child (the sippy cup aisle was by far the most difficult!). It was also interesting to see how much gear is related to the first year of life. Babies take a lot of gear!!! I was happy that we were able to bypass entire aisles because of the ages of our girls. There is something to be said about having one of your children coming to you potty trained. Sounds good to me! That (along with other general benefits like no stretch marks) is adoptive mom perk for some of us adopting older kiddos. The whole process was actually quite fun. I had to laugh though when I walked up to the counter (where lots of very preggo moms were sitting with their respective men) and asked if I could start a registry. The lady behind the counter looked at me, paused and then gave me the paperwork and a zapper (what are those called?). I kept wondering what she was thinking. It didn't seem like adoption crossed her mind. Was she thinking (since I don't look pregnant at all) that I was just getting a REALLY early start on the whole process? Was she wondering about my lifestyle choices given that I was there with another woman who was also not pregnant? I laughed inside at that one.

I also didn't leave yesterday empty-handed. I picked up some sweet matching PJ's for the little ladies. One set has electric guitars on them. They were from the boy section but way too cute to pass up for our little rockstars (Sheryl agreed on this). I also scored two very cool Cabbage Patch dolls that might be fun to take with us when we pick the girls up. On the box, there is an "adoption agreement" about caring for you doll (remember that from when we had CP dolls in the 80's?). I know the girls won't be able to read that now but it was still a fun connection. Last night I finished off my adventures in Baby Gear Land by spending several hours on the Internet researching the rest of "the biggies" (strollers, car seats, slings, high chairs, etc.). As I did this, I crossreferenced several killer "must have" lists put together for me by other experienced mamas (thanks to Leah, Laura, Jenna and Stephanie for these goldmines). When all was said and done, I had my final "biggie" list all ready to go. It was 12:30 by the time we got to bed but the day had been productive indeed. As the superheroes always say, all in a day's work!

IF YOU HAVEN'T RESPONDED TO MY LAST POST ABOUT ADOPTION DISCRIMINATION, would you please please do that for me? I'd love to hear your advice and stories as I put together my battle plan.