Brendan is my cutest accessory!

The cute travel system I went psycho over

Ok, I pretty much kicked and screamed to get the travel system I wanted. I even ventured out on Black Friday and sacrificed  sleep while extremely pregnant in hopes that the thing would be on sale. The travel system I wanted was the ONLY one that did not go on sale the entire holiday season! I think God was trying to tell me something.

We finally did get it, taking a trip up to Orlando when I was 37 weeks pregnant and I was so excited. I admired how pretty it is. I still look and think how cute it looks... Only I hardly ever use the stroller and Brendan hates- and I mean "scream at the top of my lungs until I bust blood vessels in my eyes" HATES the car seat. My bad!

The stroller is pretty much my diaper bag wagon. It also it useful for holding shopping bags and toys Kevin and Jay have decided they no longer want to hold, or trash until we can get to a trash can. We hardly ever use the stroller to actually house the baby. If he's in the stroller, I'm all paranoid about his breathing and stop every 2 minutes to make sure he's positioned properly. I also hate how strangers find that my kid is free petting property- as if he were my pet puppy in the park or something. Worse. People usually ask if they can pet your dog, but will come up and just pat your newborn on the head.

When I was pregnant I knew I would need a sling, but figured if I had to get it after Brendan's birth I would be OK. I was soooo wrong. I dragged on trying unsucessfully to get my old sling back without a new plan. I was so worried about his room getting done and getting all this STUFF and missed the knowledge that newborns have been carried for 9 (10, really) months and will not be happy little people laying in any "container," as one article (Strollers, Baby Carriers, and Infant Stress) referred to places where most people keep a baby other than arms (car seat, bouncy, play yard, etc).

If I could decide again, with hormones more in balance, I'd get a convertible car seat (this one's good only until 22 lbs/29 in- Brendan's about 13 lbs and over 23 in already, at nearly 2 months. Oops, again!) and maybe a jogging stroller. My main emphasis would be on a sling. It should have been this time. How could I forget? Kevin lived in his sling for several months, until he started to become mobile and preferred otherwise.



My SIL being silly modeling my sling

 My mother-in-law is graciously making me both a ring sling and a mei tai, and I can't wait! I'm super excited. My frriend Beth, from my LLL group lent me some carriers to get me by, and I can't thank her enough. I wear Brendan all the time. Stroller? Not so much.

I get comments and questions on the sling all the time. The culture has changed quite a bit from when I wore Jay back in the day. I love wearing my babies!