Guess what guys? Today I found out that I am going to finally be an auntie! I thought this day would never come. My sister is 37 for goodness gracious!?! Her chimes were sounding off louder than Big Ben

My sister knows a lot. I often ask her opinions about things. But this time she needs my help. You see… even though I am the little sister… out of the two of us, I happen to be parenting aficionado. I’ve been doing this parenting thing for fourteen years now. And I’m not too coy to crown myself a parenting expert… (however self professed it may be.) I learned from the best… my mother. Now I can finally pass down (or pass up in this case) what I know to my sis.

Honestly, I am really excited! Even though I have my own children… but there is something gratifying about spoiling other people’s children… then sending them back home!

The baby will be here in 7 and a half months, so me and sissie girl has got lots to do.

As my gift to her, I decided I would give her what I consider to be the top ten “new bundle of joy (and cries… at 1 in the morning… 3 in the morning… 5 in the morning - oh boy sissie better get her rest now)” necessities.

I thought it would be nice to divide the top ten new baby necessities into three groups. So here is the list developed just by me… the parenting extraordinaire:

Bare essentials (the-food-water-basic-survival kinda stuff)

1. Formula - baby gotta eat, right?

2. Diapers - with eating comes tee-tee’ing and BM’ing

3. Blankets - keep the kiddie’s fingers and toes warm

4. Bottles - cause the bitty can’t feed itself

5. Clothing - jr. gotta get outta that birthday suit eventually

Safety essentials (the-prevent-dangerous-situations-before-they-happen kinda stuff)

6. Car seat - #1 important tool for when transporting the little cutie from point A to point B

7. Monitor - so sissie can hear what’s going on … for example… the cries… at 1 in the morning… 3 in the morning… 5 in the morning

8. Bathtub - to safely de-germ the precious darling

Developmental essentials (the-stimulate-and-cultivate-baby-brain kinda stuff)

9. Bouncer - soothing to baby while simultaneously rousing his mind

10. Activity gym - its never too early to instill the importance of physical activity and encourage environmental exploration

So these are the gifts I will give sissie.

Now I take off my Queen of Parenting crown… and put on my Queen of Steals and Deals crown.

Luckily for me… I can save myself the $4.50 per gallon of gas by NOT running all over town to find these necessities. They can all be found in one spot… the everything for baby super center which is known by most as Babies R Us. Better yet, I don’t even have to drive 10 miles the local Babies R Us… I can shop online and they’ll leave everything sissie’s needs right at her front door. And… Babies R Us is offering free shipping on many of their clearance items and select Graco products. For a limited time, I can also take advantage of this free shipping offer.

Going through Ebates, I can save 2% on all of my Babies R Us purchases, plus they’ll throw in an extra 5 bucks to boot.

I can use my Chase Babies R Us MasterCard to earn 4 points for every dollar I spend at Babies R Us… and because I already know that I’ll be the type of auntie that spoils her niece (I’m hoping for a girl) … these points will add up quick.

If I really wanted to get into the Babies R Us savings fun, I could apply to be a part time associate… Who doesn’t like Employee Discounts?

Although I missed out on this deal, I signed up for the online newsletter so I can get a heads up the next time a special comes around.

I’ll also keep a look out at these forums which are dedicated to letting penny-pinchers like me know when Babies R Us has a current promotion or coupon:

• Clever Moms
• Daily Deals
• Kalyaansman
• Coupon Heaven
• Current Codes

Oh and because Babies R Us accepts manufacturer coupons and also issues their own in-store coupons… I can stack these for extra savings.

There is also another secret trick that us coupon-savvy consumers know… if you promise not to say it was me who revealed the secret, I’ll let you in…

Great, I knew I could trust ya’ll…

Ok… get close, ‘cause I gotta whisper for this one…

Most brick-and-mortar stores, including Babies R Us, will accept expired manufacturer coupons as well as their own expired coupons. As long as it scans, they’ll take it. So don’t throw those expired coupons away.

That’s all for now PFA. If you need me, I’ll be at my new favorite store… Babies R Us!