Preparations and Inspirations

I've had people tell me that I'm already nesting. NOPE, it's just a product of, with Eli, getting EVERYTHING in the two weeks before he was born. I never want to cut it that close again. It wasn't horrible, but I want to feel more relaxed while I'm waiting for the baby, not wondering if we'll have a place for his clothes or if he'll come too early and we won't have a car seat. Plus this time around brings on a whole new set of preparations like subs for primary, people to take care of Eli while I'm in the hospital and Aaron's working, and someone I can call if this baby decides to come in the wee hours of the morning.

So, this time around, I've started early.

Items completed:

baby swing

double stroller

bassinet

crib (left over from Eli)

Immediate needs (as in, before the baby comes):

clothes

car seat

Future needs:

A second crib mattress

Crib bedding (sheets)

maybe a bouncy chair if she doesn't like her swing

breast pump (I only had a manual one for Eli. I might swing for an electric single just so I can pump some for when Aaron gives me a break and I get to go out for a few hours)

Wants:

A new diaper bag that's convertible from a tote to a back pack.

a new cubbie bookshelf for the kids' room so I can move some toys upstairs.

Now for the fun part. The Inspirations. Decorating their room is really what I'm excited about. Poor Eli only had removable vinyl jungle stickers. He still doesn't have what some would deem proper bedding (he basically just has a crib sheet, pillow, and his favorite blanket). So I'm making both he and the baby quilts and then I'll buy bed sheets to accompany them. All in all, it'll probably cost as much as it would to buy them, but oh-well. It gives me something to do. Here's the pattern I'm going from. I am making them both toddler sized instead of crib sized. I will get girly stickers. Probably butterflies and flours. I know it won't be a room that's perfectly mixed for a boy and girl, but I want Eli to have his style in their too and that's ALL boy!

I'm also going to do a family wall where I'll put of pictures of the aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents so they can see them often and hopefully recognize them when they meet them. I feel so awful living so far away from family that we only see them once, maybe twice a year. Here's the project I'm going off of for the photo wall. My blocks will be smaller and I'll probably modge podge over the top to give the surface a nice gloss finish. Then I'll just tape a re-sized picture of the family on the block. There's no glass, so that can't be broken. Plus the modge podge will hopefully make it easier to update pictures without ruining the paper underneath.