A Category 5 of Consumer Advice

"See honey, I told you buying the Hummer was worth it. Look how easily we cut through these floods! And the banana yellow color only adds to the safety. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to refill the tank so we can get to the end of this block. Give me all the cash you have in your purse, plus your wedding ring,..."

As you no doubt saw over and over on the news, Hurricane Ike did a number on the Texas Gulf Coast this weekend. Sergio's people were among those "hunkered down" for the weekend and as it turns out they all weathered the storm fine: Houston has had some power outages and flooding while Corpus Christi ended up pretty much out of the danger zone. The worst reports we've heard include Sergio's sister Narda's family in Katy waking up to find their house battered and his cousin Monica's house in the Heights was slapped around as well. The worst of it, of course, is closer to the coast. We're sure lots of folks we haven't had a chance to connect with are busy with mop buckets this week--good luck Texans. We wish we could send a full tank of gas your way!

We don't drive much anyway.

It is strictly strollers around here. And speaking of, we're proud to report that Ivan has started using his big boy set of wheels --- the snappy umbrella stroller his grandparents sent him. He seems to be quite excited about the new view!

Yuppie Infant Vehicle, Vol.2

Fall is here in Mexico, and has been for a while. It was almost chilly enough today to warrant wearing a cap this morning --- we decided to go for it and Ivan wore his dino-hat in honor of our friends Margie and John. We're thinking of them lately as they are getting ready to welcome their first baby, Gilbert, early next month.


Yes, everyone we know is having a baby.

On that note, Sasha's had a few requests for her veteran-mom (three months makes her an expert, right?) recommendations on the most useful baby gear. Our space is pretty tight so we have definitely worked on honing this list. Here's Ivan's top ten beyond the crib and car seat:

• Swaddling blankets -- Miracle Blanket and Kiddopotamus are the best straight-jacket type swaddlers and Swaddledesigns is the best traditional blanket we've found---it is also our favorite receiving blanket. Which you really can't have enough of...
• Bouncy chair -- Baby Bjorn is my pick but that's because I got really hung up on the aesthetics of these. I suspect Ivan would like all of them!
• Baby carrier -- Baby Bjorn, again, but we hear lots of love for the Ergo as well
• Nursing pillow -- We've got a Boppy, but if you can handle buying something called My Brest Friend (seriously) those are supposed to be really nice too.
• Pack N Play -- Everyone has one of these. You will too, future parent. Graco has a lock on the market. It is a portable crib/bassinet/playpen type thing.
• Endless cloth diapers for cleaning up
• Onesies and Footed pajamas -- remember, socks are for suckers!
• Traveling changing pad -- ours folds up like a wallet and is handy for outings; those ladies' rooms stations can be pretty rank
  
• A stroller -- I suppose you could wait on this purchase and use the baby carrier exclusively for the first few months, but those carriers can really cook in warm weather. And I really do think Ivan has appreciated being able to see more than my t-shirt on his walks. At any rate, we had the most fun stroller shopping and ended up choosing a big outdoorsy one with air tires and a bassinet option as well as a lighter umbrella one for shopping, traveling etc. We test-drove a ton of strollers and ended up with the Mountain Buggy and a Maclaren. We really got into this, but maybe that's because we've never bought a new car?
  
• A rocking chair -- the one bit of baby furniture that we didn't necessarily need, but that I'm so happy to have. I love using it for feeding and reading.
  

Not safe.

I have to give a big thank you to my very level-headed friends Ellen and Megan for talking me out of going nesting-crazy and taking that Baby Bargains book as gospel. I hope to pass along their good advice that sometimes more is not more, but rather just a bunch of plastic stuff that you will trip on in the night.

Of course, once you do enough research (i.e. read enough magazines/blogs) on this topic you'll find that there's already a blueprint for the well-dressed nursery out there. Here's where I start pouring the Haterade (though honestly I am totally ordering a Flensted mobile any minute now and what's not to like about Eames?? ).

But really you should know that every published picture of a baby nursery nowadays seems to include:

-A sheepskin rug

-An Eames rocker

Ivan rocks the nightgown. Bethanne, Greg and The Gap: thanks!

-Tree decals on the walls and likely some artwork (from Etsy, natch!) featuring woodland fauna like birds, deer, etc.

-Some IKEA shelves (expedit! expedit!)

-Danish mobile

-Those Ugly Dolls stuffed animals

And finally,from what I can tell, a baby's room can never have enough blue, brown and orange. Never ever.