Lil Ariza Monster

A shower was thrown in honor of our forthcoming baby this past weekend. Although I was entertaining the guys it sounds like it was a complete success. When I helped unload the car with all the gifts I was in awe of everyone’s generosity. Thank you to everyone who came bearing gifts. My favorites were definitely the blanket with the embroidered monster and the Lil Ariza Monster Doll. But really everything we received will be put to good use. I don’t know all the details of the shower but I can tell you the guys had fun dodging rain drops, shooting pool, eating junk food and talking about how no one will probably hang out with me anymore after I am a father. If you want Kaci to post something about the shower then you should definitely send her nagging emails.

If there is one thing I know for sure about the arrival of my son… It’s that he needs to be rocking these vans slip-ons. How else will he beat up all the kids with Crocs on?

I’m at a loss when it comes to buying a stroller. I don’t know what’s good and what’s good for a good price. I’ve heard great things about Graco but am not thrilled with their designs. I know, I know, get over the design and worry about quality. But sometimes I just can’t get past it. I like good design. I’m really liking the Peg Perego stroller that my friend Kristin recommended, but it is a little pricey. Runs on sale at Amazon.com for $340.

I guess I am just going to have to suck it up and go to Babys R Us again. I also hear that USA Baby is a good place. I may just have to check it out.

In my quest to create the ultimate nursery I’ve come across some obstacles.

Crib bedding sets are ridiculously expensive (like Daniel said). Luckily I have been reading some blogs that have really helped me find some great buys. First I found out about Walmart’s new nursery furniture lines called Babymod! We ended up getting the Parklane crib, 3-drawer changer and dresser. We were so excited to find some modern nursery furniture that wasn’t thousands of dollars.

Next I had the fun task of finding crib bedding for my awesome new crib. We had such a difficult time. Everything we liked was hundreds of dollars and I’m gonna love this little boy but he’s going to puke all over everything. Luckily I once again turned to Walmart.com and found a great crib bedding that was only $60 (on sale). No it wasn’t exactly what we wanted but it works out great. So we have decided the colors of the room will be light green, orange and red.

Our wonderful friend Ricky is going to help paint the nursery with our lil monster theme. I’m super excited. We will be posting pictures of the nursery in progress.

Here is a picture of the bedding that we picked. Minus the teddy bear and mobile.

I’m probably more involved in decorating the nursery, for our new arrival, than most guys. As so it can be frustrating. It’s like I’m either dissatisfied with things in our price range or envious of things we can’t afford.

For instance why does crib bedding for boys either have to feature baseballs or racecars. Neither of which is really viable career for their future. I love the bedding in the following image. But let’s be honest paying $350 for something he will definitely vomit on is probably not the best way to manage our money.