Weekend from H-E-Double Hockey Sticks!

Let me start out by saying that my hubby is a saint. Spending time with him this weekend was the highlight of these last few days and he is a very take-charge person when things go wrong. Because of this, problems are resolved quickly and usually do not have to be worried about again at a later date. Thank Goodness for him! Aside from that, the weekend was very frustrating and unpredictable, mainly due to incompetent vendors.

Saturday, Michael decided that we would kick off my birthday by shopping for baby furniture at IKEA in Phoenix. We left home around 9am and drove up there. I took meds, but still had nausea and muscle fatigue off-and-on all weekend long. Michael said I was a trooper though. We found some items we liked at IKEA, but not any furniture that totally suited our fancies. We decided to check out the Phoenix Babies R' Us, Target, and USA Baby. Babies R Us furniture was expensive, compared to IKEA and other online prices we had researched, and their local USA Baby had closed down!!! Ahhh! So we drove around Phoenix, in 110+ degree, monsoon-season, weather for nothing. Did I mention I am pregnant and hot and nauseous all the time? *sigh* We went back to IKEA and decided that maybe we should pick the crib & changing table combo that we liked earlier- but we just didn't LOVE the choice (on second look, Michael felt the wood was too dark for our nursery room). After spending 7 hours in Phoenix, looking for elusive baby furniture, we decided to call it a day and grab some food. We ate at Ra Japanese Restaurant (very good food and service, but a little pricey, btw) and drove the 1.5 hours home, sans furniture. Our bodies were aching and bruised from walking around Phoenix all day so a bath was in order before bed.

Sunday, Michael researched some more local baby stores and decided to try the Babies R Us on the other side of town and a locally owned store call "Aldrich Baby News." We found some great nursery items at Babies R Us, but still no furniture that appealed to us. Then we went to Baby News. They had some great looking furniture! We were so psyched. We ended up picking out 3 pieces we adored (a crib, a changing table/dress combo, and the hutch that sits on top of the changing table/dresser combo). We couldn't believe our luck! The price was higher than IKEA's assembly-required furniture, but lower than Babies R Us furniture, so we decided to purchase the items. Since the pieces were very heavy and bulky, we had to contact my brother Adam and beg him to help Michael move the furniture to our house b/c 1) Adam is a non-pregnant dude and 2) Adam has a truck. After much finagling, Michael and Adam were able to get the furniture in our house. As soon as we unwrapped the box with the changing table/dresser combo, I noticed a problem with the drawers. After inspection, Michael and Adam noticed the drawers had cracks in the wood and would not close properly due to the defect! This was right out of the package! After closer inspection, Adam and Michael noticed the top of the dresser was warped (probably due to being stored in a non-AC warehouse for months). The rest of our furniture appeared to be in good shape. Bree called the Baby News place and left a message on their voice mail (they were closed for the day) and explained the problem- they should get back to us soon. This was unacceptable, and the item will need to be replaced- by THEM coming to our house and replacing it. If the replacement is also damaged, we will need our money back for all the furniture b/c they were all bought to match each other, of course. *grunt*

We still had to go to Target to register, so at 7pm we drove over to Target (which closes at 9pm). We registered for our items until closing time and headed out. Sounds simple, right? Upon returning home, we accessed our registry as a guest. Our guests (friends and family) can access our registry just fine, but we can't! We tried to manage our registry (change any items or add items) and our password was not working! *anger* Not only that, we saw online that we were supposed to receive a gift bag when we did our baby registry at Target, and we did not. Bree printed out the page and decided to call Target's customer service (which she did and they took care of the password issue- yay Target!). Today, Bree will also be heading back to Target to get the gift bag we were meant to get. The good news for all of you who have been asking: we are officially registered at Target under either Bree Martin or Michael Martin from Arizona ( I would recommend putting in my name in the registry- much easier to find our registry list since my name is less common). You can order registry items online at www.target.com or go to Target itself and print out the registry and shop at the store. Remember: when you buy something, please remember to take it off the registry (if you find the same item cheaper at a different store, that is great- just remember to take it off the registry). We will also be registering at Babies R Us soon.

To top off the weekend, right before we went to sleep, the AC started making this loud, high-pitched whistling noise! What the heck!? Could this weekend have been any more complicated!? *crying* We decided to put in ear plugs and deal with it later. Sleep is the only thing that will wash away the pain.