Some Assembly Required

Changing table in the works

The words in the title to this blog are known to all moms and dads, we soon to be parents are just getting started.  I believe there should actually be a book somewhere about having a baby that should also have this title.  We will never be through putting things together for our kids.  Whether it be furniture as in the most pictures on this blog post, or if it is trying to put together a life on the right road for our young ones.  There will be times when we mend broken hearts, or pick up broken spirits, just as our parents did before us.

Again with the changing table

Enough sentimental stuff, lets get to the meat of this blog.  Tools and little use of directions, which
came back to bite me only a few times.  We ordered all of our son's furniture off the Internet, from JcPenny, which worked out great.  We got a credit account which helped save us money, we also got free delivery... just not free assembly.  Oh no, nothing free about that, just you, your tools, and a wonderful wife there to tell you when you're doing it wrong, and to take pictures of the process, too!  Actually, Melissa didn't nag, which is true to her character, she really helped out, even while being seven and a half months pregnant. 


I decided to start with the changing table, you see there's a method to picking out which piece of furniture you should start with, especially if you plan on assembling all of it in one day.  I figured I'd start with the second most aggravating piece, followed by the most aggravating, then finish up with the easiest/ least aggravating.  According to my level of aggravation, I messed up the order.  We got everything completed all the same.

The finished changing table.

You've got to make sure you tighten everything
 down as best as you can, your child is depending on you!

We took a break after the assembly process was complete, we went to get something to eat and, I believe, we did a little shopping at Babies R Us. We purchased a Serta mattress for the crib, which was second on the list of assembly.  My sister, Joanna, stopped by and helped out with this process, which made it a little less frustrating.  Notice the glider and ottoman in the background, we didn't get any pictures, but we did have to assemble those as well, which wasn't difficult at all.  Except for buttoning the cushions on, that was a pain. 

Joanna was helping, Molly and Louie were not.
They were more interested in spending time with Aunt Joanna.

Finished product.

With blanket, which we learned in birthing class, we shouldn't
put in with Ethan, it can be dangerous.

Now for my coup de grace, the chest of drawers, I'm not even sure why I thought this would be an easy construction, but apparently at the time I did, boy, was I wrong. 

Getting the pieces organized with Louie's help.

Maybe it was the fact that I had been assembling all day, or because the first two pieces went so well, I thought I didn't need the directions this time, whatever the reason was, I know that this was a pain!

Molly and I having a moment.

Who is that handsome, handy man?

The drawers were pretty simple, so simple I could talk on the phone
at the same time!

Finished product, looks simple enough, but don't let it fool you.
I think the third drawer sticks a bit too, tried to loosen everything
and resolve problem, but, alas, I could not figure it out.

The aftermath

During my crazy month of December, I put together a few other items.

We purchased a Baby's 1st stroller/car seat.  Not much assembly required,
just attached the wheels.

The biggest dynamic going into the stroller/car seat
was learning how to operate everything.  Which
we found wasn't terribly hard.  Then again,
we didn't have a screaming baby with us at the time.

We also bought a Graco swing set.  Not at all fun to put together, but not
incredibly hard. I was finished in about 45 minutes.

It has different settings for swinging, slow or fast, it also
has different songs on it, two of which were in our wedding.
There are nature sounds and the mobile, which
isn't battery operated, it moves as the swing
goes back and forth.

We're pleased with all the items we've received so far, and I have even more to blog about later.  We've had three baby showers since the middle of November, with lots of pictures!

Pee Pee Teepee

I've been shopping a couple of times with my expecting wife at Maternity Motherhood.
This place has nothing to do with dads, or does it?  I think you fellas will dig this.  Upon the final decision on what wonderful styles of clothes to purchase, my wife proceeds to nudge me out of my iPhone induced zone(the usual, checking sports scores, words with friends, and facebook).  We head to the register, where, again, she nudges me.  I'm not angry about this, just a little put off, I mean I know she can handle the clerk and transaction by herself, she's a pro at shopping.  I get the nudge all the same.  Then she points toward the impulse buy rack right next to the register, you know the rack, at most places it's filled with candy and gift cards and things of that ilk, but here at Maternity Motherhood they have nice little books about moms and daughters and dads and sons.  Then I realized what she wanted me to see: The pee pee teepee (I know it's spelled tepee, that's what the package reads)

We've got little rockers!

That's right, a mini teepee to cover your boys wangdoodle(that's another one, wangdoodle wigwam) to protect from the errant stream of pee that I've heard so many stories about.  These little cone-shaped pieces of felt (I'm guessing) are used during diaper changes.  We've all seen the diaper commercial where dad goes in and lays his son down on the pad on the bed and removes his diaper only to find his son is still fully loaded and blasting all over the walls.  It's a little over the top and shows that diaper is supposed to absorb so much more than it's competitors, I'm not even sure which company it is, I might need to look into that.  Knowing that it was over the top, and that, even though as fathers, we dream our sons could display such ferocious abilities(we would proudly beam, and say he gets it from me) I'm sure we're talking about a lot less power.  Which would make theses teepees very practical.  They come in all colors and designs:

Animals are always fun! Especially monkeys!

There are tons more, google them, or click here.

Now I realize that many of you might have already heard of these brilliant and practical doodads.  Yeah, I just called 'em doodads. But, for myself this was brand new.  I must say I had a healthy chuckle about them, and I also I have to say I was intrigued.  I've not been around a lot of baby boys, but this just seems like something that would create more buzz.  If you haven't checked out the link above, then you don't know how big the market is for these tallywhacker tents(I'm having fun coming up with different things to call them as well).  If this is your first encounter with pee pee teepees, then I'm glad I could show you something that I think all of us could appreciate and smile at. 

I just got a new design idea sitting here. You could make them look like little socks(which would probably work just as well) and put RHCP on them.  For those that don't know that's short for Red Hot Chili Peppers, a band that was known in their early days to perform on stage wearing only gym socks on their baby makers. 

I hope this has been informative and helpful.  I'll be sure to purchase some before Ethan makes his arrival so we can test and grade them.