26 week update and baby furniture!

This past weekend, October 20-21, 2012, was wonderful, in part, because it was the first weekend since school started that Elliot and I did not have any major plans or places we had to be since school started!  Yes, over 2 months of pregnancy classes, Bible Bowl, Elliot or I have some school or church event we needed to do or something else baby related that had to get done that weekend.

Our baby furniture, 2 cribs, a changing table/dresser, and chair, arrived approximately two weeks ago to the store, but since was sitting in Greenville, SC over an hour away and it was several pieces, we needed to have it delivered. Once we knew it was here, Elliot tried for over a week to get in contact, calling and emailing, with the delivery company the store uses. By Thursday, the 18th, in frustration, Elliot calls the store and tells them that he can't get in contact with the delivery company and we want our furniture.  The store asks one of their employees who delivers on the side, if he would be willing to drive to Asheville to make a delivery.  He agreed and he and Elliot settled on a price that I think may have been cheaper that what a professional delivery company would have charged.  The delivery guy has to work on Saturday, but he says that he can deliver it Saturday night around 8pm, if it doesn't rain.

Saturday dawns bright and sunny with no rain in the forecast! Saturday evening he calls and says that he is on his way and will be here early, around 7pm. Yea! He and the furniture get here safe and sound. That's where the good news stopped. He and Elliot bring the chair, the changing table/dresser, and the crib boxes upstairs.  The chair and dresser are fine and beautiful, but upon assembling the cribs, the delivery guy realizes that one of the cribs has screws that are too long. These are identical cribs and the boxes were opened at the same time! If he had tried to assemble the crib with too long screws I would have lost it.  So he assembles the one crib. Elliot and the delivery guy then realize that the we only have 1 set of the 2 sets of rails needed to change the cribs into adult beds.  I then ask where are the mattresses for the cribs.  I  know we "bought" cribs because I wanted to get all the furniture at once, have it delievered all at once and make sure we were ready to go. The delivery man has a copy of our sales receipt and I find ours and realize the mattresses we picked out are not on the receipt!  I was now stressing out and told Elliot I needed to go to the bedroom by myself and calm down and he's better handle all this.

After several calls to the store staff, and this is after hours on a Saturday so they aren't exactly thrilled to be hearing from us, the problems get solved. So it's decided that the delivery guy will return at 12:30 on Sunday with the missing rails, correct screws and 2 mattresses. To make up for this debacle, the store ended up giving us the mattresses for free. Not that it would have been a huge expense for us, but they should have made sure it was paid for and on the receipt. It's their job, not mine. The delivery guy arrives on time and with all the missing parts. Found out that he did have the correct screws all along. Although the two cribs are exactly the same when you look at them, one is from 2011 and the other was made in 2012. If you look closely on the side, one of the rails was made a little different, thus it needed slightly longer screws. You cannot see the difference unless you are really looking for it.

So I guess the ultimate conclusion to all this is... the baby furniture is here!

 Before: an empty space awaiting cribs

After: Elliot and the cribs

Elliot in the swivel and reclining rocker.  The handle for the recliner is on the inside, along Elliot's right side, so it will be easy to raise up while holding a baby.  Of course, Ginger and Gypsy had to check out the new furniture. You can see part of Gypsy's head at the bottom.

Amy and the changing table. This picture does not really capture the huge size of this thing. I had forgotten how big it was until it was delivered. You can see the mattresses leaning up against the wall to my left side. The wireless router is sitting on top of the changing table; another item that will need a new location somewhere else in our home.

Momma by the cribs....and Ginger! This pic shows exactly why the door to the baby room is kept shut for now and once the cribs are assembled with the bedding, the room will be cat proofed.

Momma at 26 weeks...possibly only 10 weeks to go...or less. Twins come early you know!