#36

Austin and I went to Target yesterday to register for William. When we went wedding-registering I quickly learned that Austin has more opinions than he generally lets on, and he DEFINITELY likes to point scanners at bar codes and pull the trigger, so to speak. The 2 revelations I had while wedding registering were only heightened as we registered for baby.

Austin had a revelation of his own while we registered: We were meant to have a son right now. Clearly we were - if you believe in God, destiny, fate or any sort of life-plan like that then you believe that things happen for a reason. We are pregnant and we are having a son, so obviously we were meant to - we believe that was God's plan for us. But this revelation occurred to Austin in the infant clothing department at Target.

When Austin was in high school he played football and basketball, and his number was 36. It seems that this season, or maybe its every season and I just don't know it, baby clothing manufacturers got together and decided that the best jersey number to use on their sporting clothes would be 36. After our ultrasound at 12 weeks, where Missy told me she was "strongly suspicious" it was a boy we were at babies r us and saw a little baseball outfit with the number 36 on it. It was a full body outfit, long sleeved and long pants, which is good for the time of year William will be born, and #36 - so we had to get it. Then I believe I blogged a few weeks ago about the precious outfit that I found that said "little line backer" for next football season - it didn't have a number on it, but it did have linebacker, which was Austin's position. Yesterday at Target, however, there was not one baby sporting outfit that had a number other than 36. There was a 3 piece outfit with fleece pants, a fleece hoodie, and a long sleeved onesie - the pants and hoodie were blue and the hoodie has a patch on it that says something related to football. We couldn't really see the onesie at first, but it looked like it had footballs and helmets on it - all the 3 piece suits were on sale for really cheap, so we decided we'd buy one. There were a few boy designs and a few girl designs, but we didn't like any of the other boy options so we actually picked football by default (which is odd for Austin...and possibly for me...) It wasn't until a few minutes later that I looked closer and saw all the little #36's on the onesie and on the inside of the hood of the jacket. I showed Austin and his face was beaming. What was once a buy by default became a must-have pretty quickly, and even if it weren't on sale and were overpriced I believe it would have found a home in our shopping cart. (the shopping cart we ONLY got to hold our coats...yeah...right...)

We continued looking through the clothes and I found a onesie on sale for $2 that says "Daddy's #1 Draft Pick" It didn't have a #36, but it was $2...and how can you pass up any baby item for $2? Tough to do, let me tell you. Couldn't buy the onesie though without the pants...and the matching jacket was so cute so why not...so a $2 onesie turned into a $10 outfit. Definitely necessary.

The pile in the cart was slowly getting higher when we get to the baby accessory section. Let me stop here and briefly touch on my concern with baby shoes. I believe babies need them. I realize that their feet never hit the ground, and I realize that the shoes get kicked off 9 times out of 10 and they grow out of them rapidly. I get that. But when I was about...6?...Maizeanne was a baby and Jan would bring her to church with no shoes on. WHAT A TRAVESTY. I just couldn't fathom a little person with bare feet. I gave Jan grief about it on a weekly basis and vowed (at age 6...have I mentioned I was born to be a mom?) to never have a child without shoes. As I grew up I realized that this vow would most certainly be broken and I would eat my own words, but right now I'm still of the belief that William's feet need shoes. At least socks...but when at all possible, shoes too. However, most other baby accessories seem useless to me and I smirk at people that insist on having them. I know this is a bit hypocritical, as I just expressed an urgent need for shoes for someone who will never touch the floor, but I just can't help it. So as Austin is perusing through the accessory area I am daydreaming, not at all paying attention, when BAM - a pair of infant sunglasses appear 2 inches from my face. The sunglasses are blue and look to have no special quality to them until Austin tilts them at a different angle and I see the TINY #36 imprinted on the side. As I become aware of the connection but am not yet aware of the need for infant sunglasses, they are quickly scanned onto William's registry. Sunglasses you ask? Yes. I may have registered for an overabundance of socks, but sunglasses???

Right next to the sunglasses were 2 pair of newborn shoes that Austin was drawn to - both related to football. While I do see the need in shoes, I am always weary of the size labeled "newborn". I know that the average baby born in the US is less than 8 pounds, so I know that newborn clothes do fit most babies when they are born, but for how long? I also know that I barely fit into 0-3 month clothes on my birthday, and Austin wasn't itty bitty himself - so in my opinion, the chance of William being 8 pounds or less is pretty slim. But, Austin NEEDED these 2 newborn shoes...so, on the registry they went.

This is how most of the day went. I pointed out things like bottles, assorted sizes of bottle nipples, high chairs, bibs, etc...some were scanned, some didn't quite make the cut. However, if you go to Target or to www.target.com and look at our registry you will find that not many toys that Austin liked were overlooked. Good thing he's planning to build a toy chest, cause we don't have a spot for all the things he felt William needed. I am remembering the first Christmas I had Reagan...how I bought him all sorts of toys that he was only briefly interested in but how much he loved the empty boxes and wrapping paper...assuming babies are similar and that we won't NEED all those toys. But, as you now know, they are on the registry and on Austin's mind for his hopes and dreams for William's infanthood.

I did manage to squeeze some books on there, though Austin kept sneaking away to the movies while I was looking at the books. I didn't realize, then, that he was actually scanning movies. I think he put a Disney Christmas movie on there - which is somewhat practical - but I think he also put the Jetsons. The Jetsons. He is a big fan of "old school" cartoons and doesn't like these "new age weird kid shows" so I know he intends to brainwash our children into only liking the "classics" I assume the jetsons falls into this category, as I wouldn't know because I didn't really get into cartoons that weren't made by Disney, and that this is his attempt to replace Dora the Explorer with something he thinks is better.

Moral of the story, if you see anything with the number 36 on it, Austin would be incredibly touched if you bought it. I think we've pretty well covered the sports concept and have done our best to instill a desire to play football within William, but I guess overkill can't hurt? That's the theory Austin is going with anyway. We're also good on the color blue, if you ask me. By our own fault, I assure you, and by the fault of baby designers who believe there are only 2 colors in the baby-rainbow (pink or blue) Its not that I have a problem with blue - I just don't think it ALL needs to be blue...but the cutest clothes seem to be, and that's where I've gravitated so far.

This weekend's William-work is to install shelves in his closet. This might be my favorite part of his room, and I might have had it made up in my mind before you even knew I was pregnant. I've designed it at Container Store and they are having their shelving sale that ends this Sunday, so the time has come. Plus, the clothes will be WAY more fun to look at when they're hanging up rather than stacked in his drawers where I can only see what is on top. I'm sure there will be lots of fun closet pictures to come :)

My day has wandered away from me - its 4:30 somehow and I still have so much to do. I apologize for being a bit spacey and maybe less dedicated in my blogs recently - my brain is overloaded and my body is worn out, this work thing is REALLY starting to get in the way of life. But - I'll save all of that for another day. Until then............