It seems like we would do anything for our little miracles that we are about to bring into this world. Baby paraphernalia that people used to do fine without (and still do in most of the world) is now considered to be a necessity. Hats off to the baby industry marketers!  They know exactly how to get into the wallets of the emotional, hormone-filled expectant mothers and the nervous and excited fathers-to-be.  New parents can easily blow thousands of dollars on baby items, anything from designer bibs and cute little socks to dressers, cribs and changing tables.

When it comes down to the core of it all, do babies really care whether they are wearing a new Disney onsie or the one that was worn by their older cousins? Do they care whether the crib they are sleeping in, cost you an arm and a leg at Babies’r'Us, or if you bought it at a garage sale for a fraction of the cost. You know the answer, babies don’t care! As long as the baby industry has you convinced that you “need”, “can’t live without” everything that they are so successfully pushing on you, they will stay very successful.

I guess the difference between me and many other parents is that I draw a more defined line between “want” and “need”, “necessary” and “optional”. So anyways, here is the story of how I decorated my nursery.

Furniture

The baby was definitely on the way and I needed to get going on this whole nursery deal.  We decided to convert our guest room into the nursery. Our small guest room’s furniture consisted of a full-size bed, an old oak dresser, an office chair (don’t ask), a fake wood shelf and a bedside table. We packed up the bed and moved it into the garage. The chair and the bedside table we sold at the garage sale. We decided to leave the dresser in the baby’s room. My husband remembers having it in his room when he was a boy, so even though the dresser is old, it has plenty of character and history! I used furniture polishing oil to freshen it up. I chose to go with a new crib that matches the dresser (some things have to be new for the sake of baby showers). The match is not perfect, but it is hard to tell. We kept the fake wood shelf in the room to hold toys, books, diapers and other baby paraphenalia. My neighbor was getting rid of a rocker chair, so I decided to take advantage of the hand-me-down. I can see why she didn’t want it, it made a very annoying squeaking noise every time someone sat in it.  I decided to give it another shot by spraying some WD-40 around the joints and it helped with the squeaking. I decided not to get a changing table, since it already came with the new playpen.

Wall Decor

What about the wall décor? Why would I spend $20 on a little cloth wall hanging that half of America proudly displays in their nurseries? Too pricey and unoriginal for my taste.  I happened to find an old drawing that my husband did when he was five. It was so cute and free, a perfect decoration! Above the crib I hung my baby’s hand print along with her portrait from the hospital and some of the pictures from the baby shower. I decorated portrait’s frame with some scrap-booking materials that happened to be in a dollar pile at Target. I love these personal trinkets, each one of them carries a special meaning to us.

Bedding

After checking out pricey bedding sets for cribs, I decided not to get a set and settled for separates.  I could not believe that someone could get away with charging $100 or more for a blanket, bed skirt and a tiny sheet?  That seemed a little ridiculous to me.  I also wanted it to be more personal, special.  So I decided to make the blanket myself and I did.  Every time I look at it, it brings back the memories.  As I was sewing the blanket, I was imagining what it would be like to see my baby for the first time, to hold her, to cuddle her.  I would not trade this memory for anything!

Sounds cheesy, but I love to cook from my little red Betty Crocker’s Cookbook.  Promise, they’re not paying me.  I like it because most meals are easy to cook and the preparation time is usually under 20 minutes.  Most stuff I made turned out really well.  Keeps my hubby happy.

Tonight I made french onion soup.  The recipie calls for condensed beef broth from the can, but I decided to substitute it with the fresh stuff.  I hate reading the ingredients for the canned broth.  It is stuffed with phosphates, some other -ates and tons of sodium.  Eeek.  I made the broth according to the book’s directions and used it in my soup.  Yuuummm.  I’m sure I’ll make it again!

Every week I am faced with the same ordeal — grocery shopping.  Over the last couple of months the grocery prices have noticeably gone up.   I have been a loyal customer to Publix, our local supermarket chain, for as long as I lived here, which is over 16 years.  These stores are practically everywhere in Florida, they have their own line of organic foods and the bagger will even help bring and load groceries into the car…  Despite all these wonderful services, our escalating food bill made me look for alternatives.

So for the past couple of weeks I have been doing my grocery shopping at Wal-Mart.  I did notice a smaller grocery bill, but I haven’t been able to really compare apples to apples to find out the actual difference.  So on October 27 I decided to do just that.  I did my regular grocery shopping at Wal-Mart and since I had to go to Publix to pick up couple of other things, I checked out their prices for the same groceries I bought at Wal-Mart.
Some of the pluses of shopping at Wal-Mart are obviously the prices and the convenience of not having to make a trip to a different store for house-cleaning supplies, baby clothes, photo frames, etc.  I can get everything I need in one place.  Some of the minuses are that they have big and bulky shopping carts that are not as easily maneuverable as the ones at the grocery stores.  They also don’t stock organic items we’re used to buying at Publix, like the juices or breads.  They started to carry some organic vegetables at the fresh produce area, but the prices are still high.  Publix though, does have its own organic line that offers a variety of things, like juices, cereals, milk, meats.  As of now, Publix’s organic selection definitely beats Wal-Mart’s.  Besides that I am really impressed with Wal-Mart’s food selection.

So far I decided that I will be doing majority of my grocery shopping at Wal-Mart, but still make a separate trip to Publix to stock up on some organic foods that Wal-Mart doesn’t carry.

Check out my comparison sheet: