Mission: Wooden Rails of Sleep (Baby Crib)

Hey there. I'm on a mission to sand and refinish my baby's crib. I managed to screw it up by leaving it out by the side of the house and the crib has gotten discolored. My wife is pretty upset with me because of it. My carelessness may or may not cost us a new crib. We really don't want to shell out the cash for a new crib so we're going to see what we can do to salvage the one we have. I made a quick trip to Home Depot last night to ask a guy what I would need to make it look like new. He suggested a simple sanding block and wood finish to polish it off. I made sure the stuff is baby safe because I don't want the finish to poison my baby. I started off the sanding yesterday but the guy handed me a finishing block to smooth wood, not actually sand it. My mistake for not really paying attention. I'm going to go and get the sand paper so that I can start this mission. Baby is 2 and half months away. Need to make sure it gets done! Later.