Welcome to the club

Becoming a parent is like being initiated into a secret club that has been all around you your whole life but you never took the time to notice. All the sudden you have something important in common with people who you barely know or have been out of touch with for years. And even those who are close to you become even closer when you have the common bond of parenting.

This post is not meant to be a glowing warm fuzzy review of the wonderful common bond of parenthood though. Even though it is pretty cool. This is more of a thank you to everyone who has helped me along the way so far. For everyone who felt compelled to help a new parent out because they know just how tough being a new parent can be. In these first almost 11 months of being a mom, Tony and I have received an outpouring of love and support from so many people. For this we are truly grateful. It has been such a blessing. The months leading up to and after Liam was born, I was newly out of grad school. Tony was in school. I did not have a real full time job yet. I was substitute teaching mostly full time and making a glorious $900/month. We were living with my parents.

Preparing for a baby costs some money. When we went to register for my baby shower, I really began to realize how much everything would cost. And this was just to get set up. I was quickly beginning to feel overwhelmed.

Then we had my baby shower. I felt much better afterwards. Liam had a wonderful start to his library, enough diapers to last for at least a month or so, at least enough clothes to get by with, a bath and we are still to this day barely beginning to make a dent in all the baby shampoo and lotion we received. Chances are we have enough to make it though at least another year (with both babies) before we need more.

My mother bought us a beautiful bedroom set that Liam could potentially use until he moves out of our house. Or we could pass down as we have new babies. With the new crib safety standards buying a used crib right now is hard and new ones are so expensive. The help was very appreciated.

My cousin, who is a mother of two little boys, gave me several giant diaper boxes full of clothing her sons had outgrown. We are still using clothing that she gave us, and because of her we have had to buy very little clothing for our son.

Tony's parents bought me a breast pump and Liam a crib mattress.

By this point I had realized that I am a lucky girl. Help always seemed to be there when we needed. Any time I have begun to worry about something that we needed or something that I really wanted for Liam, something has always worked out to get what we needed for an affordable price. Or for no price at all. Below (and above) are some of the many kind gestures Tony and I have been shown. I guess what I am trying to say is thank you to you all. Thank you if I did not include you here. Also, thank you to everyone who has given me good advice, words or encouragement or just been there to listen.

A wonderful woman from church took some baby pictures of Liam for free! I was so grateful for these beautiful pictures that I will always treasure. We could not afford a full, professional newborn session and I think she knew this when she made her kind offer. She even came to our house to take the pictures.

One of the beautiful baby pictures. Liam was about three weeks old.

My mother and best friend Jessica always bring something new, either to wear or play with (and sometimes both), when they come to visit.

A onsie from auntie Jessica.

My friend Michael took the family pictures I uploaded in a previous post for us right before we left Tennessee to move to DC.

Family picture fail. 

When I had to begin formula feeding we had recently moved to the DC area. It is expensive here. Our rent costs more than half of what I make each month. Add diapers, food, gas, insurance and bills on top of this, and formula seemed like another heavy burden. Tony has a friend from high school who is also in the DC area now. We had been spending some time with them. When she sound out we were formula feeding, she offered to give me all the formula she had in her house. She had received samples and cans as baby gifts that she never used since she exclusively breastfed her daughter. She happily gave us every single can she had been given. It was enough to last us for several months. She also sold us her bumpo seat with a tray for $20 (and I think she only took the money because we wouldn't take the seat for free) because our bumpo did not have a tray. It was also purple. We also could not afford a high chair yet.

Liam in his yellow bumpo enjoying one of his baby shower gifts.

Another wonderful girl from work has two children. Her youngest daughter is 4, and a lot of her baby items were still around the house. We eat lunch together most days and often talk about our children. I mentioned something about Liam not having a high chair one day, and she offered to sell me her daughter's old high chair. It is an awesome high chair and has made our life around here much easier. She would not even take the amount I tried to pay her for it and gave me part of the money back. The same girl has also offered to sell me her daughter's second (the non-girly one) convertable carseat when she outgrows it since her and Liam are both close to outgrowing their current carseats. Just yesterday, my friend sent me home with a bag of books her daughter had decided she was too old for.

The high chair I got for cheap! And Liam enjoying brownies.

This book was adorable:

Another friend from work, when he found out I was expecting another baby, connected me with one of his former bosses who was giving away her old double stroller. She, like many of the others mentioned above, would not take a dime for this stroller. I did some research, and the original asking price for a stroller similar to the one she gave me is somewhere between $350 - $600.

This model is similar to the one I was given. Ours has different fabric.

I am so thankful. I am so blessed. Thank you all for making parenthood a little easier for Tony and I. I hope I can return the favor some day!