Memories by McMillan: Kylie's Room & house photos

This week I hit a milestone in getting Kylie's room ready. The furniture I picked out arrived and Jamie spent part of Saturday afternoon getting it all put together. I am so excited about the way it looks in the room and that I decided to go with the darker wood finish instead of the white. It goes well with the wall color and adds a nice balance to the room. This past week I was also able to find some curtains to put over the shelving unit. They match well with the bedding set that we bought, but they are just a little bit lighter than I would have liked. It's so weird walking into the room and seeing everything set up. I'm so ready for her to be here, but I know as soon as that day comes I'll wish I had another few days (or weeks) to prepare!

In the past few weeks we've started to purchase the items we need to be ready for her arrival and are a bit overwhelmed with all of the stuff we still have left to buy. We've got the big items out of the way (like the crib, stroller, changing table, car seat) but we haven't even started on the small stuff like bath items, grooming supplies, thermometers, bottles, etc. Until I started writing this I had totally forgotten about a diaper bag! I didn't realize how difficult shopping for this stuff on my own would be! I've learned through this experience that one of the great things about baby showers (aside from getting to hang out with all of your girlfriends) is that if you forget something it never fails that someone else will remember it! I've never been to a shower where someone didn't say "I didn't even think of this". We did have a small, intimate shower with family and close friends of the family over the holdays, but we didn't register anywhere since we were flying back to Australia and knew it would be difficult to bring most items back.

Since we are in Perth and haven't really had the chance to meet anyone yet, we won't be having the "traditional" baby shower where you register somewhere over here either. Since I didn't do a registry I've never really walked through a store and thought about all of the little stuff I needed. I did make a random list of items at home, but after deciding that I needed to look at a check list I realized how much I had forgotten about! I just know the first month of having her home is going bring countless trips to the stores because I've forgotten something!

Baby items here in Perth are not cheap either! Part of the reason we've bought as much as we have already is because the Toys R Us here has had a huge baby sale for the past two weeks. I was able to get a lot of the big items we needed for really good prices. Well, really good prices for here anyway. Since I've been doing lots of baby shopping and price comparisons lately, I thought I'd post my "how much it cost here" list for you guys at home. These prices are the converted prices, so this is what it would be in US dollars just to give you an idea of what I'm dealing with.

Infant travel system - $552 (Target & Big W) - $919 (Toys R Us)

Bassinet - $183 and up

Sleigh Crib - $827 (This is regular price for the one I purchased from Toys R Us, you can see in the photos below that it is nothing fancy, just a nice, regular crib)

Matching changing table - $367

Glider Chair with ottoman - $642

Fisher Price swing - $256

Bright Starts Pretty in Pink Bouncer Chair - $118

Bright Starts Pretty in Pink activity mat - $118

Diaper Pail (equivalent to a diaper genie) - $74

Diaper Pail refills - $64.00 (Pack of 3)

Avent pacifiers - $10.00 (Pack of 2 infant soothers)

Dr. Browns bottles - $36.00 (Pack of 3 8 oz bottles)

Dr. Browns microwave sterilizer - $73.00

Onesies - $22.00 (Pack of 5 from Target - Bonds a local brand)

Baby Bjorn infant carrier (the original) - $155

The prices listed are the cheapest, regular prices I have seen. Like I said before, some of these items were on sale the past two weeks so I was able to get some good deals. For instance the crib and changing table were 50% off. I found a car seat on sale for $120 and a stroller on sale for $238. Hopefully there will be more sales before she arrives so I can finish out my list. If not, we'll just have to suck it up and be happy that we only have one on the way and not multiples!!

Here are some photos of her room and a few photos of the house (since we haven't posted any since we moved in). Next week we have another appointment, so I'm hoping that the stars are in our favor and we get some photos/videos of her to post.

The proud "Daddy to be"