It's amazing any of our kids are still alive.
In the last two months, we've had both boys' old cribs recalled for unsafe slats. Apparently, they break easily and a child can get caught between them. Since the white crib is the one in Allie's room, we need this for her. So we took the bolts and mattress supports and label off the natural wood one already disassembled in the boys' closet and sent it all back to the Jardine company for a Babies R Us voucher. Luckily, Allie wasn't sleeping in the crib in her room yet, so no biggie. She's in her bedside bassinet in our room. Our plan was to get a new crib with one voucher before we do the same voucher business for the white one. We'll probably just sell the other voucher since we don't need a second crib.
Then yesterday, we saw on the news that some bedside bassinets have been recalled. Go online and, wouldn't you know it. Allie's bassinet that she sleeps in every night is being recalled for strangulation hazards. We read up and find out that, unlike the Jardine recall, this company has been bought out and the new parent company will NOT honor the recall. So the site lists about 6 companies that are honoring the recall at their stores. Since I'm pretty sure this was on our registry from when Robbie was born, we take it to Babies R Us. Nope. They don't carry this particular model number. So I figure it must be Target since that's where our other baby registry was. After the nice 800-number Target lady tells me they should take it back, we lug that big thing (with all 3 kids in tow) to Target only to have them tell us that they don't have this model either, so they won't take it back. While that whole Target fiasco was taking about 35 mins at dinnertime with cranky kids, I got on my cell phone and called the Wal-Mart 800 number. The lady there tells me that all Wal-Marts are accepting the bassinets back regardless of model number and to take it in. So off we go. At first the customer service rep says she can't help us without a receipt or a box, but we finally cajole her into getting a manager. Turns out, that at 7:45pm last night, Wal-Mart finally took it back and gave us a gift card for store credit. Relieved, we go into the baby section only to discover that this Wal-Mart doesn't sell a single bassinet in the whole store.
So we get home, set up the pack-n-play in our room as if we're on vacation and Allie happily sleeps in it. For EIGHT-AND-A-HALF HOURS straight!!! We may use that Wally World gift card for something else now!
Then, today, we decide to go to Babies R Us and pick up Allie's new crib so that it's ready when she's ready to move to her room. The guy tells us we'll probably need to special order it, so we wait while he looks it up on the computer. We wait, and wait, only to be told that they are out of stock in their store and their warehouse, as well as 4 surrounding stores and 4 surrounding warehouses with no idea of when they'll be back in. So we look around and find another white convertible wooden crib. Go through the same process and get the same results. We find one more that's low enough to fit in the knee wall of her room (angled ceilings in the cape cod upstairs) and sure enough, not in stock nor in the warehouse. Getting frustrated, we offer to buy the floor model of our first choice, but nope. Can't do that either. So apparently, Babies R Us can't get us ANY of the white, wooden, convertible cribs on their showroom floor at ANY time in the near future. Discouraged, we leave and plan to go back on Tuesday when the regular manager is in the store to see what the problem is.
So now we have a pack-n-play as the only safe place for our baby to sleep in the entire house, despite the fact that we used to have 2 full size cribs, a bedside bassinet and the pack-n-play. Like I said, it's amazing any of our children are still alive! Geeesh!!!
We're trying to enjoy what's left of summer by spending as much time outside as possible. The boys play in the backyard while I get dinner ready since I can see most of the yard from the back door. When I peeked out and didn't see them the other day, I had to walk around to the side of the house. There they were, sitting at the top of the steps that go down to the driveway. The very outer edge of where they know they're allowed to go when no adult is with them. So I snuck up on them and snapped a few pictures with the zoom on. They were just so cute off by themselves, deep in conversation, obviously enjoying each other's company. I love what great friends they are to each other.
Allie has also found a brand new friend. The rearview mirror we have in the minivan is an Elmo mirror. Now that she has found her voice, we hear her "talking" to Elmo all the time in the car. So the boys grabbed one of their Elmo slippers and put it next to Allie. Now we get to hear her talking, cooing and squealing to Elmo all the time! She's just such a happy baby!
