da' crib

Baby furniture can be either really cheap, really expensive, or really reasonably priced. These days, you can Craigslist your way to a nursery for just a hundred bucks or so. A  good cleaning and a fresh coat of paint can breath new life into a secondhand piece and give you a one-of-a-kind nursery. 

When it came time to choose a changing table, we realized just how tall we are. The majority of changing tables available today stand about 32-back breaking inches tall. They were all just short enough that both of us were going to end up hunched over like hobbits after a week of diaper changing. Everything available online and in stores was just too short and we were starting to fret. Our problem was solved by a trip to Fletcher's in Eugene. We not only found a changing table that was tall enough (34"), but also managed to find pretty much everything else we could even imagine needing in the months to come. The changing table we settled on is the Baby's Dream Generation Next model. We chose the cinnamon stain and opted out of the hutch, mainly because it looked heavy and we knew we were going to be moving. Plus, not having the hutch makes the changing table a more flexible piece of furniture. We knew our money was well spent when the changing table arrived already assembled. All we had to do was put the knobs on the drawers and load it up with baby stuff. 

When it came time to buy the big girl crib, we went back to Fletcher's. We planned on getting the Generation Next crib, but ended up with the Serenity model, instead. Again in the cinnamon stain, we chose the Serenity because it didn't have any moving parts that could break. The crib turns into a toddler bed and then into a bed frame for a full-size bed. It was about $300 (the changing table was around $500), but it will last as long as she does and it is as solid as can be. 

I don't remember the name of the mattress company, but we did get a good deal on it. When you buy your crib, ask if there's a discount available for buying the mattress at the same time. I want to say we got at least 25% off the mattress. The ease of getting everything in one place and not having to go from store to store for each piece was so heavenly. Even if we had paid full price, it still would have been worth the convenience. You should be able to get a discount, though. If they want your business...

Now, if you'll excuse me, someone has just wet their pants and seems to be hollering about it quite a bit.