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So tonight, I am sitting on a different couch in a different house, but the same sweet husband who made homemade pizza. Oh, and a sleeping baby :) Its a little reminiscent of those chilly, quiet, winter evenings a year ago and I'm still tired. But, it's good. As I was thinking back to those days I thought I would share some of the things that I remember about the process.

1. Seek wisdom from mothers & borrow their stuff
especially newer mothers, because they will know the scoop on all the new, modern products out there! Don't even try to start without getting some advice from others. The stores and registry sites will encourage you to add every little thing to your registry. It's good to hear what worked and what didn't work from family and friends.
As soon as we told our family we were pregnant my sister-in-law had a whole list of things that they could pass down to us. 

2. Get 'stuff' for at least the first 3 months.. or even longer! 
I am so glad that I planned as adequately as I could for the first few months. Those newborn months are so sweet, but so, so, so hard. Do your future self a favor and think of everything that you may need and get amazon prime for everything that you may forget. ;)
In fact I wish I would have even thought about life with a 5 month old. I followed a lot of suggestions of mamas who suggested to only worry about the beginning months, but this mama at 5 months postpartum did not have the energy to research the best (functional/ aestheticallypleasing/ inmypricerange) high chair, jumper, toys, etc.! I wish I would have come to the conclusion that an aesthetically pleasing jumper does not exist a year ago. 

3. Don't sacrifice your aesthetic for 'baby' things
I've come to the realization that I really don't like things that look 'baby'. Who says that I have to get everything in pastel pink and obnoxious designs? Just say no. (Unless you like that kind of thing, and then just disregard this) Take time to look for things that fit your style. Except for a jumper (see above.)

4. Know yourself & consider your lifestyle
Jordan and I say it so many times, but we're so glad we have a stroller with nice wheels, because we live in a city that has THE WORST sidewalks and we like to take walks and want to enjoy it, not be held back by a stroller. Some things that work for others may not work for you. It's fun to look forward and think about what your family will be like. I imagined us getting out of the house quite a bit, so a nice stroller and baby carrier were definitely on our list.

5. Start with the big items
Make sure you have those big ticket items that a baby actually needs and add on the fun stuff as you go. A baby doesn't really need much other than you and a few items. While I still had the energy I made sure to really think through the big and important items, like a carseat and stroller. I dragged my husband to Buy Buy Baby to try out all of the strollers I was debating.

Bonus Tip: You don't have to register at just one store. I used Babylist and loved being able to add items from different places. Amazon's Baby Registry is also another good option.

I hope that this is helpful, and there are so many other things that go into building your registry, but these are things that are sticking out in this momentI loved building a registry for our little Ruby, and felt that it help me to prepare (as much as you can prepare) for motherhood. As you pick out the items for your nursery and put them away, you can start to imagine what life with a little one will be like.



What are your tips on building a baby registry?