Christmas 2009

The Crib - A True Story By Sara

After a few months of slaving over the boys new beds, I decided they were as good as they were gonna get, and that it was time to set the boys room up. What I didn't realize was that meant taking down the crib. The crib that has been with us for going on 10 years. So as I was taking it apart I thought of all its travels and decided I must write them down, because I know I will forget.

We bought the crib in the Spring of 2000. The actual tag on the crib says manufactured Dec 7, 1999. It is a very plain common maple crib, the "jenny lind" model sold by lots of stores. We bought it for $65-70 at the PX (during their "Baby Sale") when we were stationed at Ft Riley, KS. At the time you couldn't find them for under $100 so we thought we were really getting a steal. I don't think we realized at the time what a bargain we really were getting! And since it was the PX, NO TAX!!!

The first time it was assembled, it was by me. Pregnant with Joe out of town I believe. Somehow I managed to fit it in the spare bedroom of the tiny Georgetown apartment, something like 900 sq ft. In that room was another full size bed, a full size refrigerator, and a full size desk, so perhaps the apt wasn't as small as I remember! I figured out the first time, that trying to put together a crib is very hard by yourself, especially when you have a watermelon in your tummy. 

About a month later, the crib was taken apart (and was yet to be slept in!), and was loaded onto the moving truck and moved about 15 miles from Manhattan, Kansas to our new on post house at Ft Riley. About 2 weeks after we moved in, Luke made his appearance (10 days late). I know we used the crib a few times for naps, but it was sometime when Joe was gone to CA that I started putting him to sleep at night in the crib (so around 2-5 weeks old). 

Not even a year later the crib was taken apart to move to our rental house in San Antonio. Joe pulled the actual nuts and bolts aside and decided to hand carry them to the new house. The movers had a fit and insisted that they take them because they would never ever lose something like that!

We couldn't assemble the crib right away because guess what??? THE MOVERS LOST THE HARDWARE!. Thank goodness the instructions went in a pocket on the springs of the bed, so we were off to home depot to get some new hardware. They had it all, and back home we went to put it together. 

Once again, a year later, it was time to move the crib again. Luke was still sleeping in it, although Grant was a few months old (he was stuck in a bassinet and pack n play). The crib moved another 15 mins away to on post at Ft Sam Houston. Up to the big room with nice old hardwood floors it went. Luke enjoyed it for a few more months, and then it was passed on to Grant. It was during this move that we found the original hardware, in the plastic baggy at the bottom of a plastic hamper we never used after moving to Texas. Because that was the safest place the movers could think of putting it!

We spent 2 full years at the house on Ft Sam, and we didn't move until June 2004, when Joe retired. Once again the crib was packed up with all of our belongings for the trip to Monmouth, Oregon. The crib stayed in the garage on Gwinn St as Grant was now in his first (and current) big boy bed. We even contemplated donating it, selling it, etc. Less than a year later, it was back in action in the 3rd bedroom of the Gwinn St House, with Sammy joining the family. Sammy was not quite one when we found out Karsten was on his way, so there were no plans to take the crib down anytime soon. We did however, move it into our closet for one whole week while my parents came to visit. The extra wide handicapped accessible doorways were awesome, and it rolled right through! Funny to think our closet was so big it could fit a crib comfortably!

The crib made its final journey across the US when we moved from Oregon to Texas. We set it up in the front bedroom (now my sewing studio) and Sammy used it for a few months. When Karsten was big enough for it, we took it apart once more and moved it to the back bedroom which is bigger, so S&K could share. Its been in that room for 2 years now. Its been assembled 7 times, and really looks almost as good as the day we brought it home. The boys never chewed on it, and they were never really rough with it. 

So now it is leaning against the wall. After we took it apart, we realized we should have taken a picture of all 4 boys standing in it. I'm sure Joe is ready to get rid of it, and I'm sure that is the smart sensible thing to do. 

Now I finally understand why if you visit my parents house, you will find the crib that my brother, sister and I slept in, in their attic.

Oh, and its a "Jenny Lind" crib too!

Sam and Karsten