Never have I felt so confused gift-shopping as I did tonight while shopping for my brother & sister-in-law's baby shower gift. Not only was it overwhelming trying to decide what to get, it was overwhelming trying to understand what everything was! SJ and I were seriously scratching our heads over items, spending minutes upon minutes comparing them. What I had thought to be a 15-20 minute shopping spree turned into an hour and a half. The store closed at 9pm, but we left at 9:30.. heehee :) In any case, I'm proud of how the gift turned out and will post more specifics about it after the baby shower, so as not to spoil the surprise for the happy parents-to-be (my brother is among the elite handful of people who actually visit my blog).

Exploring the infant section of the store made me think about how much money the "baby industry" rakes in. I'm sure there are exceptions, but my assumption is that maybe 95% of parents are willing to pull out all the stops for their baby especially if it's their first child. Why wouldn't you want the very best for your baby? The debate isn't just about breastfeeding vs. the bottle. Now they include topics such as silicone vs. latex pacifiers/nipples. Apparently studies have shown that babies develop latex allergies, something I didn't know until today. I'm sure there's an even hotter debate about flannel vs. cotton receiving blankets. I do have to say though, baby clothes and socks are adorable, especially anything with a Classic Pooh theme :)


**Update: baby shower has now passed, so here are the much-anticipated photos of my gift!