Hello Baby means Happy Grandma and Aunt!

My mother told me that she already completed her baby shopping by the time she was in her 4th month of pregnancy. My first reaction was, "Excited much?". She probably couldn't help it since I was the firstborn and it's more fun to shop for girl clothes anyway!

When I found out that N's baby is going to be a girl, I knew that my monthly expenses will involve baby stuff since I have a feeling that I'm going to spoil the little munchkin. I do not want to like, get ahead of myself and buy baby stuff without the suggestion or asking the parents-to-be what they thought would be cute and good for their child so I didn't buy any for the baby. My mother and I bought two bibs from Carter's back in December, thinking the parents-to-be would be "inspired" to buy baby stuff, but no, by the time N was in her 7th month of pregnancy, they haven't even bought a pair of booties!

My father also cut 30% off the usual monthly salary that he has been sending to my mother in January, N's parents also had to come over from the province and the air fare was shouldered by N, my brother just got hired and still haven't saved up, and I haven't been performing well in my job (sup, procrastination!) so there were definitely financial issues that we did not expect.

We were able to get through the "financial crisis" and yesterday, me and my mother hailed a cab and went to this little shop at Bel-Air, Makati that sells baby clothes for a super cheap price.  It carries brands from Carter's, Baby Starter's, Okie Dokie, and even Football Fanatics baby apparel! With the recent conclusion of the Super Bowl XLVII, I was not surprised to see loads of Ravens baby apparel. Hehe. Anyway, this little shop is called Hello Baby Garments and is a factory outlet of the said brands. There are many brands that the shop carries, but when we got there yesterday, only Okie Dokie, R&B, Baby Starter's, Disney, and Football Fanatics were available.

From research, I found out that Hello Baby is also frequented by local celebrities and that they don't have an online shop. It was through word of mouth that the shop became popular with moms-to-be who are in a tight budget. I called prior to going to the store. However, the recent arrival of new stocks don't have Carter's but the type of cloth used in Carter's clothes are also the same as the one used in Okie Dokie and Baby Starter's.

Hello Baby Garments is located at 48 Zodiac St., Bel-Air 3, Makati. It's not really hard to find, if you're coming from north, you can just take a right turn at Estrella, the first street on the left is Zodiac. If you're coming from the South, you can either take a left turn from EDSA to Buendia (the first street on your right is already Zodiac), or if you missed the first right turn, you can still enter the village from Paseo de Roxas, and the guards at the gate will tell you just take a U-turn, turn left at Jupiter St., make another left (Zodiac) when you reach the end of the street. At the gates, you can just inform the guards that you're going to Hello Baby Garments at 48 Zodiac.

The shop is located at the back of the main house, you won't get lost since there is a sign that says "baby clothes for sale here" or something to that effect. We knocked on the door and was welcomed by Ate Vicky, the storekeeper. The place is filled with different baby clothes, from mittens, booties, frogsuits, receiving blankets, comforter sets, onesies, kimono tops, bibs, and there were gift sets too. You just have to ask Ate Vicky where to find what you need.

After two hours of shopping, our total bill amounted to Php2,130. Not bad at all, considering we were able to buy a LOT of clothes. I don't know all the exact prices for each type of clothing but I'm sure that onesies are billed at Php130, mittens at Php20/pair. A total deal for branded baby clothes, if you ask me. ;)

We were able to buy:

• 5 pairs of booties
• 5 pairs of mittens
• 2 burping pads
• 1 bib
• 6 binders/girdle
• 3 short sleeved kimono tops
• 6 sleeveless kimono tops
• 3 onesies
• 2 receiving blankets
• 3 hats
• 2 face towels
• 4 pajamas

We had to take a photo of what we bought because my father wanted to see the stuff. And yes it's on the dining table but we were gonna wash the clothes first anyway.

Shopping is still not finished but we figured to go ahead and just buy few of the baby essentials so that we're prepared once the baby decides to want to meet the world. After shopping for clothes, we went to Market! Market! to buy other baby stuff such as feeding bottles, bottle sterilizer, comforter set, and other accessories. We canvassed for cribs and strollers but the choices were limited and decided to look for other stuff at SM at other time. If we bought the same number of clothes at the mall, our Php2,130 bill would probably buy just half of the items we bought at Hello Baby.

Hello Baby Garments operating hours are from 8 AM-5 PM, and open from Monday to Sunday. You can call first at 896.4802 to inquire if there are new stocks, Ate Vicky is helpful and would even inform you the address. I have a feeling that I would frequent this store to buy budget-friendly clothes as gifts! ;)