Our Crib Saga

I had no idea that getting a crib for Alex would be such an ordeal.

Wilda, who goes to our church, has a daughter who has 3 daughters. (ok that was kind of confusing) Wilda's daughter is getting ready to move, and didn't need her crib anymore. She told us that if we came and got it, we could have it. How could we turn that down? Free is the best price ever!

We got it home. It was still in good condition - not quite what I would have picked out - but remember - FREE. It sat in the basement for about a month. A couple of weeks ago I thought it might be a good idea if we tried to put it together to make sure that all of the parts were there and we could figure it out. Unfortunately, we (ok Jay) couldn't get it put together. Some of the screws were stripped and other stuff like that.

We resigned ourselves to the fact that we were going to have to buy a new crib. I hadn't budgeted or planned for this, so for those of you who know me, it took me a couple days to work a new crib into my "plan." We looked at cribs at Babies R Us. (Jay and I there - looking at cribs and trying to register was an interesting task!) It was very overwhelming.

This past Saturday I had the bright idea to drive 90 miles to Seymour, Indiana to go to the Childcraft outlet store. Jay asked me if they were open, and I said, "of course." (for those of you who remember anything from their English class - this is called foreshadowing) We got in my car (because it has more room to hold the new crib we were going to buy) but my car needs it's airconditioning fix/recharged/kicked. It was HOT - high 90's 70ish% humidity. It wasn't quite India hot, but it was hot. (India has put lots of things into perspective for me). We get there, and realize that the lights didn't seem to be on in the store. There was a note on the door that said that there had been a death and that they were closed, and didn't know when they would reopen.

Oops!! We did some shopping at the other stores. (although if you've ever been to this outlet mall, it pretty much sucks) I bought a couple more onesies for Alex at the Gap, We bought Alex some toys at the KB Toys outlet, and Jay bought some new shirts, I got a purse, and we got some new luggage at the Bass outlet. Then it was back in the hot car for the 90 minute drive back. (did I mention that it was hot?)

On Monday afternoon (while the guys were setting up our internet access - have I mentioned lately how happy I am???) Jay started messing with the crib again. He told me that he wasn't going to let the crib beat him, and he was going to figure out a way to fix it. Sure enough, a trip to Lowes and some new screws, and the crib is in great shape. All I have to do now is give it a good cleaning. YEAH!!