Saturday, November 29, 2008

Stressful day of shopping and registering.

Today we went shopping in OKC with my parents. Mark's squadron Christmas party is this coming friday, and it's formal attire. Mark doesn't have a suit, except for his military mess dress and service dress, so we figured it was time he got one. We looked at Kohl's first because they usually have good sales, and they did. However, they didn't have his size anywhere. We looked at every single jacket in that store, and there were no 40L's. Anywhere. We were pretty discouraged, but luckily, later we went to a mall and had more luck finding his size. We started out in Dillards. That was a mistake. They had all their suits 50% off, but the cheapest one was at least $500, so they were still $250 just for the pants and jacket. Yikes! After making a few stops, we finally found a very nice suit at JC Penney's, along with 2 shirts and 2 ties for $220. We're both pretty excited about it. The next challenge was finding me something to wear to a formal party.... It seems like this weekend I all of a sudden look pregnant. And no, I didn't eat a lot during Thanksgiving. I'm definitely showing now so it made finding a decent outfit more difficult. I saw this really pretty, navy blue, long, halter top dress at Dillard's that would have been perfect, but it was $198. So yeah.. After looking at all the major department stores, we finally went to Motherhood. It was our first time there, so that was exciting. I had wanted to get a dress, but I found a pair of black pants that fit really well, despite my belly, and a nice white shirt, along with another shirt that I liked. I'm a little worried I won't be as dressed up as everyone else, but I'm not going to spend a bunch of money on a dress that I won't be able to wear a lot. At least with Mark's suit, he'll be able to wear that for many years.

Before the clothes shopping escapade, we went to Babies R Us for the first time. Needless to say, we were both completely overwhelmed. We wanted to look at the car seats and strollers primarily, and furniture, and other big stuff. I've had friends recommend getting the car seat of our choice, and then get the little strollers that are made for the car seats to fit into (they're basically just a frame of a stroller) and then get an upgraded umbrella stroller for when they're a little older. My only problem is, I don't like any of the cheaper upgraded umbrella strollers. I like Peg Perego's, but they're like $150, so that's really not saving us any money. I want the stroller to have the tray that goes in front of the child, to put food and drinks on, bc I've read that that is very useful, and none of the "cheap" umbrella strollers have that. We finally gave up and decided to look into it more and then update our registry online. We only registered for a few things, and most of them were expensive, so I'm going to try to update the Babies R Us registry soon and also start one at Target. We were kind of freaked out by the high prices too. I would LOVE to get a glider, but the ones at Babies R Us were like $500. YIKES! We're not going to have $2000 to buy furniture and strollers and car seats and pack and plays and high chairs and everything else you need for a baby. I knew babies were expensive, but it's still overwhelming. Maybe our 2nd trip there will be less stressful.

5 comments:

Elsbit said...

Might I suggest registering at Amazon.com. We did that. You can get some good deals and most of the stuff ships free- which is great for out of towners!

I ended up choosing Target too, but they have a HORRIBLE return policy. Keep that in mind (people sometimes double buy or you end up not needing something). :)

I had to get a dress at the same stage in my pregnancy. I ended up getting a stretchy prom dress, on clearance. hee hee.

Elsbit said...

oh and if people buy from target online, they still charge you tax! Which I think is bs. LOL.

Anonymous said...

Have you looked at the "Baby Depot" at Burlington Coat Factory? They have really cute bedroom stuff for babies...and I think it is more affordable. We have a store here...but I don't know if OKC has one or not? If not, you can buy directly from the website. JcPennys also has some nice things on their website...especially if you catch a good sale!

Anonymous said...

...Oh, and I just looked at JcPenney's website and they have a sale going on right now. They have some really cute gliders for under $200!! That is way better than the $500 ones at Babies R Us!

Em said...

Deep breath, Monica.

We registered at Target and amazon.com. I don't know why I'm "anti" Babies R Us ... I think it's because EVERYONE goes there, so it seems like there is no choice in baby gear. Anyway, weird quirk. Like Liz said, Target has a shitty return policy, and amazon only works if you have online shoppers in your midst.

Oh, and babies don't really NEED all the things we think they need. Sure, it's nice to have all that stuff, but don't freak out if you haven't checked everything off your list before Blueberry gets here.