With that being said, i have a couple pointers for my next baby (in several YEARS)
1. DO NOT BUY ANYTHING before baby is born.
About a week before baby Auna was born, i started getting antsy. We didn't have a crib. We didn't have clothes. We didn't have bottles. Things that we would actually need, we didn't have. With no family living close and no friends in our new neighborhood... I finally gave in and went yard selling.
Fast FFW a few weeks. About two weeks after baby, and our neighbors were calling regularly with hand me down clothes, diapers their baby outgrew, formula their baby was too sensitive for.... everything all the time (they know you have new baby, they watched you carry her in the house) We started receiving gift boxes with clothes everywhere from NB to 24 months. There was more than once that people would tell us what they were shopping for only for us to tell them we already had it or bought us something only for us to return it because we already had one.
The ONLY thing you HAVE to have before baby is born is a car seat.
Auna was never in clothes. The hospital sent us home with a weeks worth of diapers. and really, for a night or so, it doesn't hurt to make a "crib" if you don't already have one.
I read this everywhere, i didn't listen... DO NOT BUY ANYTHING.
I can give you a million and five things to put on your registry or to get after everything has settled down, but WAIT. Don't buy anything yet.
2. Take pictures, keep a list.
As the gifts came in, i kept a list of everyone i'd sent thank you cards to. What i didn't do, is remember who gave me what clothes. There were clothes coming from every corner of the earth and as she grew into the bigger sizes, people wanted to see her in the clothes they got her... hopefully they couldn't remember exactly what they got her, because i certainly couldn't. It was a pink onesie set (that describes every outfit she got) I still have no idea if i've been sending the right pictures to the right people... hopefully they don't remember either.
Next time, i'm going to take pictures of each box as it comes in or wright the givers name on the tags... that way, when i put her in a new outfit, i know who to send the picture to : ).
I'm also going to keep their address with the list of thank you cards sent... Once we had birth announcements made, i had to get an all new list of addresses. If i'd just kept the addresses when i sent thank you cards, it would have saved me some time later. .. as well as for holidays and birthdays.. and everything in between : ) lol.
Now, there are a million more lessons that i've already learned and have yet to learn. These are just the two to remember as far as the gifts go [so far].
-Brittany
